Thomas Parr and the Longevity Trade – The Public Domain Review

Therefore, rather than trying to prove or disprove Parr’s birth date, contemporary accounts focused on answering two questions: why did Parr live so long and why did he die so suddenly? The answers to these questions reflect the early modern preoccupation with healthy living, and in particular the belief that a series of factors known as ‘the six non-natural factors’ (namely air and environment, food and drink, exercise, sleep, excretion and emotions) had a significant effect on an individual’s health. According to both John Taylor and the royal physician William Harvey (who is now best known for his discovery of the circulation of the blood, but who also served as physician to both James I and Charles I), Parr’s longevity was largely due to the clean, pleasant environment in which he lived, and to his simple country habits. During his long life he had worked hard, eaten a healthy diet of brown bread, unripened cheese and onions, avoided strong alcohol and worries and slept well.