Abstract
AT a meeting of the Society for the Study of Inebriety and Drug Addiction on July 11, a paper on alcoholism in medieval England was read by Dr. J. D. Rolleston, who said that the chief sources of information concerning the prevalence of alcoholism in the Middle Ages were lay writers, especially poets, historians and ecclesiastics, whereas little was to be gleaned from contemporary medical works. In the Middle Ages, distilled liquors were unknown as a convivial beverage and alcoholism was due mainly to indulgence in ale and to a less extent in wine. Inebriety was widely spread in all classes of society, but predominated among the clergy, in spite of the protests of leading ecclesiastics such as Anselm, Bede, Boniface, Dunstan and Wycliffe, and among the university students. The medieval publican had a bad reputation for fraud and dishonesty, while the tavern was often regarded as a place of ill-repute. Alcoholism during the Middle Ages in England, as elsewhere, resembled in many ways the alcoholism of classical antiquity, which Dr. Rolleston discussed in a previous paper before the Society (see NATURE, Oct. 23, 1926, p. 601). Legislation dealing with drunkenness or control of the liquor trade was practically unknown in the ancient world, whereas taxation of drink, reduction in the hours of sale and the number of taverns and other restrictions were introduced in the Middle Ages. The absence of syphilis in both ages was noteworthy in view of the fact that alcohol was such a frequent incentive to exposure to infection and was liable to aggravate the disease when once it was acquired.
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Alcoholism in Medieval England. Nature 132, 130 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132130a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132130a0