Research suggests cancer not as rare as thought in medieval Britain

Analysis of bones from sixth to 16th centuries reveals the disease was 10 times more prevalent than expected

It was a time when battles, plagues and ghastly accidents caused many a misery, but now research suggests the inhabitants of medieval Britain were no strangers to another tribulation: cancer.

According to Cancer Research UK about 50% of people in the UK born after 1960 will receive a diagnosis of cancer during their lifetime. However, such diseases were thought to be relatively rare in medieval times.