The
truth about the Middle Ages
As you can see from the pictures above, hefting and swinging a sword would be no easy task.
Besides which, the armour would be hot, uncomfortable,
and largely inconvenient. Look at the way it is put together! Try to bend
at the waist in that! It would be very heavy as well, and you would also
have to support a sword and shield. It doesn't seem like much fun!
The weapons and armour would be the least of it, too.
Castles were frigid and drafty in the winter, sweltering
hot in the summer, and constantly smoky and smelly. The castles were continually
infested by rats, fleas, and other illness spreading pests. There was no
plumbing system, and the bathrooms, then called garderobes, were usually
just stones with a hole in them leading outside or to a cesspool. A detachment
of serfs and peasants would be sent weekly to clean out the cesspools into
buckets to dump into the moat.
The moat was another problem. With all the waste
and sewage products dumped in, you would be literally surrounded by refuse.
Not only would the stench be almost unbearable, especially on hot days,
it would be an ideal breeding ground for diseases.
Due to disease, a good percentage of the population
didn't live to be five years old, and the average life span was only about
30 years for a serf or a little longer for a noble. Most people drank
impure rainwater, which helped carry diseases as well. Some people also
had wells, but if any moat water seeped through the ground into the wells,
the water would be toxic. Very little was known about medicine, and diseases
were often treated in exactly the wrong way. Superstition was a major factor
in how they treated diseases. Often healers and physicians would use leaves
or bark because it resembled the organ that was thought to be causing the
problem. Some illnesses were thought to be caused by 'bad blood', so doctors
would slice open wounds or use leeches to drain blood from the patient.
Cobwebs and other unlikely treatments were also used which didn't help
the cause any. No antiseptics were used and infections were rampant.
Wars were also the killers of many, many people.
As we mentioned before, soldiers had a very short life expectancy. Foot
soldiers had the most dangerous task, they were usually the first to march
out, as a shield wall. It was a very effective strategy, in that it protected
all the main warriors who were more skilled, but the foot soldiers would
always be the first to die. Behind them there would usually be pikemen,
mace carriers, flail (ball and chain) holders, and swordsmen. They
would fight and protect the archers, who were responsible for more than
half the deaths in wars.
Footmen's life expectancy was 18 years old or so, pikemen, macemen,
etc. were a bit longer, on the whole, and archers were fairly old, at least
for back then. Knights' training was long, (about 14 years), grueling,
and unless they performed some great task or service, they would not be
knighted until they were about 21. They were in excellent physical shape
and were some of the most elite of all the warriors. They were in more
danger than archers but could better defend themselves. Theirs and archers'
life spans were about the same, somewhere around 30 years. Archers were
very deadly, as they caused puncture wounds which were easily infected.
Infections actually caused more deaths than wounds, because nobody knew
how to treat them.
Serfs were the lowest on the medieval hierarchy.
They had the worst jobs and were considered to be property, rather than
people. They could be sold from place to place as easily as not, breaking
up families. Their living quarters had the bare essentials for living and
nothing else. They got the hardest and most degrading jobs, like cleaning
out stables and cesspools. They led generally unhappy lives. They worked
hard for their lords, in return for food, protection, and a place to live.
They would sell themselves to work for lord, so he would protect them from
incoming armies. On the other side of the farthing, the lord needed them
to work as much as they needed him to protect them. That was the
whole basis of the feudal system.
Being a monk would be another unpleasant job in
the Middle Ages. Usually the youngest sons of noble families would be sent
to a monastery, where monks lived and worked. They had a very ascetic lifestyle,
they slept in small rooms called 'cells', and spent eight hours a day praying.
Except for about 2 hours a day, they could not speak, and if anyone did
they would be punished. Punishments included wearing uncomfortable hair
shirts, fasting, and spending an entire day in prayer. Many worked in scriptoriums,
copying books word for word by hand. They were only allowed one meal a
day and only bathed twice a year. Being a monk was a lifetime occupation.
The Church had absolute power over the people, both nobles and commoners. Anything they said was law, and that much power would corrupt anyone. Many unjust penalties and laws resulted, making life generally miserable. During Lent, a six week period, nobody could eat meat, and that caused no end of trouble. They had to go to Mass each day, as well, which lowered morale even more. Anyone who didn't follow their religion, (Roman Catholic), or customs was killed by burning at the stake. The Church also taught people to believe that if they missed a single service or commited any sin whatsoever, they would be doomed to Hell. With this in mind, simply dropping a hint of excommunication, (Banishing a person from the church), was enough to stifle any complaints or rebellion.
