Just one thing to comment on that distinguishes KQ from actual history, KQ didn't believe in hysteria, that is, the process of bleeding someone to rid them of "disease". ;P
In the KQ world, they were treated/healed by magic:
(Warning: Do not read the following unless you want certain KQ series endings spoiled for you :P)
- Graham's Fairy Godmother casting a "protection spell" over him
- the woodcutter's wife being cured of starvation from a magic bowl
- Alexander using magic to turn Manannan into a harmless cat
- Rosella curing Graham's heart attack by the magic fruit
- Cedric being revived via magic wand
- Allaria & Callphim being revived mainly due to the magic mirror
- Edgar being revived from the cat's extra life
- Connor and the repaired Mask of Eternity reanimating all "still life" ;P
So, one can assume that the lives of many KQ citizens were prolonged due to supernatural things and people that can heal injury or reverse death itself. 8)
Alright;
IIRC, bleeding gets mentioned offhand in one of the novels. However its a last resort(and only by professional medical personal), if physicians, magic healers abilities and potions do not work. Rosella's darn lucky she got back in time before they resorted to bleeding Graham. :suffer:
The fairy godmother protection only protected him from random encounters, and it wares off after about 30 minutes of protection. It does not extend life. This is covered in the peter spear novel as well.
Additionally the good fairy in KQ2's spell was the same type of spell. Only making him invulnerable to enemies for a short period of time not actually extending his life. Again covered in the game and Peter Spear's novel.
Magic Bowl just gives you unlimited food it doesn't actually 'extend life". It just has normal every day stew. It does not have any properties to "extend life".
Cedric had turned to "stone" apparently by Manannan's spell, so he was physically restored. He's also a familiar and not a normal owl if that means anything. He's already apparently immortal like crispin. Crispin may not even be human as he left with the first withdrawal which was mostly fantastical creatures.
Allaria and Caliphim were revived by the Lord of Death, not by the magic mirror. The mirror only made him cry. They were revived to the age they were when they died. So they have the rest of normal life they would have had before them.
Cats have 9 lives, so by giving one of cat's lives to someone else they can be resurrected.
Apparently resurrections are uncommmon though, since most afterlives do not normally want to give up their souls. Being resurrected does not mean that their life is extended however(they may just continue on with what would be their normal lifespan). So called "old age" deaths probably have limits to resurrection.
As for Magic Fruit its apparently may have extended his life(while also healing his bad health), but did not stop him from aging, as he still continues to age throughout the series including MoE.
shows very little sign of any plague or anything,
The plague came around in Edward's time. Healers and physicians were not able to cure it. It wiped out most of the citizens of Daventry. Only the strongest survived, or to avoid the disease were forced to leave the kingdom to other lands.
YOu would think, sionce Tamir is much more desolate than Daventry,
I woud have to disagree. the mansion is of victorian architecture, thus showing a higher level of civilization than in Daventry. Hell they had writings of William Shakespeare. So they exist after renaissance time.
Thus more modern living than in Daventry. Which as we have seen are mostly shacks(KQ1, KQ3), and one room stone buildings(MoE).
Hell tamir has the technology of grand father clocks. Clocks do not exist in Daventry. Again evidence of a more modern civilization.
They tell time more through hour glasses or sun dials.
Beyond that the kingdoms look about the same, meadows and forests, so show the same level of 'desolation'(if you consider forests and meadows "desolate").
Green Isles on the other hand is more modern than Daventry(as its advanced nature is commented on by Guidebook, Alexander, and in TSL's game), but not necessarily as modern as "victorian style" architecture.
As a bit of trivia most of the kQ4 headstones are actually headstones epitaphs found on earth, and are of real people that once lived on earth.