[MR] Drinking water during the Middle Ages

[Stefan li Rous]

<<< Though, I'm sure a lot of water sources were perfectly safe.  You wouldn't
want to drink from a river in a city, but you make a good point about wells
being likely safer than they are today.  The problem is, without germ theory
or any way to test water, it's hard to tell which is safe and which isn't.

Adriana >>>

This is correct. Even without precise instruments for testing the water, they did have an idea where water was safe to drink and where it wasn't.  And they did drink water.

However, much of our records come from feasts and celebrations and at those a host would not serve water, no matter how clean it was. He would have been considered quite a cheapskate and part of the idea behind the fabulous feasts was to show how rich and generous you were. 

Here is some more info on the drinking of water in our period.
bev-water-msg (30K) 6/11/06 Water as a beverage in period.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/BEVERAGES/bev-water-msg.html

Stefan

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****