Despite their reputation as a bleak era defined by disease, dirt, and terrible hygiene, the Dark Ages weren't as dingy as their name implies.
Despite their reputation as a bleak era defined by disease, dirt, and terrible hygiene, the Dark Ages weren't as dingy as their name implies.
Enter the scientific advances, expert artisans, and chefs that made Medieval Times a little less terrible with savory soups, quirky illustrations, and medicine similar to some drugs in use today.
From the invention of pie to medieval astronomers knowing more about our galaxy than modern flat Earthers, here are 22 bright, positive facts to illuminate the Middle Ages.
1
“In the late Middle Ages, books were so valuable that libraries would chain them to the bookcase. This was widely practiced until the 18th century.”
2
“Beer soup was a common breakfast in medieval Europe.”
3
“The anti-diabetic medication, Metformin, is derived from French lilacs. In medieval times, French lilac was used to treat the symptoms of a condition we now know today as diabetes mellitus.”
4
“TIL of the Medieval candle time clock, before electricity, a nail was placed at certain places on the lengths of the candle and people would hear the nail hit the ground when lit, letting them know a certain amount of time had passed.”
5
“TIL about Perpetual Stew, a stew popular in medieval inns. The stew was made with bread, ale or water, then whatever the inn had on hand was added to the stew.”
6
“In medieval manuscripts there are many depictions of knights fighting giant snails. There's no solid reason why.”
7
“A moment was a medieval measurement of time and corresponded to 90 seconds.”
8
“Apple pie is not American. Pie was invented in Medieval England, while the modern recipe for apple pie with a lattice crust was created and perfected by the Dutch.”
9
“To a much greater extent than today, European languages existed on a massive dialect continuum. In, say, the 12th century In latin Europe, you could start in Portugal and hop from village to village through Spain, through France, into Italy and all the way down into Sicily, and there would be no hard line where people didn't understand one another perfectly aside from the Basque Country.”
10
“Due to lack of sugar in their diet the average person in the Middle Ages had teeth that were in very good condition.”
11
“During the Middle Ages there was a legal category called "enbrotherment" that allowed two men to share living quarters, pool their resources, and effectively live as a married couple. The couple shared "one bread, one wine, one purse."
12
“Alchemy. While we know now that a lot of the basic assumptions were flawed at best and that a lot of alchemists were little better than frauds, there's still a lot of interesting stuff in there. You see the development of the scientific method and empiricism, the slow development of the foundations of modern chemistry, a number of actual inventions and discoveries, and even the invention of distilled spirits. Plus some really fascinating symbolism and analogy in all of those encrypted notes.”
13
“Almond milk has existed since the middle ages.”
14
“The short average life expectancy in Medieval Britain (30 years) was mainly due to high infant mortality. If you made it to age 21, you could expect to live an additional 43 years (total age 64).”
15
“In the Middle Ages, onions were such an important food that people would pay their rent with onions, and even give them as gifts.”
16
“In the Middle Ages, rhyming nicknames were becoming common and that is the reason why Bill is short for William (Will), and D—k is short for Richard (Rick)”
17
“The Middle Ages had retirement homes, where seniors could buy residence for the rest of their lives at a monastery with food, shelter and clothing included.”
18
“In the Middle Ages, Knights in full harness (full plate armor) could contrary to popular belief, move quite well and were still agile enough to climb, run, roll, and wrestle with little difficulty.”
19
“In the middle ages it was an accepted political act for two kings to sleep in the same bed as a symbol of unity between their two countries; much like the modern day photo-op.”
20
“Virtually all Middle Ages scholars believed that the Earth is spherical. The myth that people in the Middle Ages thought the earth is flat appears to date from the 17th century as part of the campaign by Protestants against Catholic teaching.”
21
“Craft guilds were pretty cool. They led to a lot of really important modern things like quality standards and universities. One fun thing was the history of the term ‘masterpiece’ which proved a member had mastered his craft in one fantastic piece.”
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