^ This. All the rest are pointless comparisons with modern day life.... a life that didn't yet exist.
I mean really, think about it. Apart from the social pecking order, how would you know anything better? What was there to compare to?
I agree. We look back on these times with a modern perspective. Life was very different but they knew no different. Most people they knew would have been in the same predicament...for social mobility did not exist. The life of the gentry would have been as unobtainable to the peasant as a trip to the moon. I would imagine most people got on with life as best they could and made the best of the little they had.
I wonder how our descendants will look back at the early 21st century 600 years into the future? Probably with the same incomprehension.
How did they manage to survive like that?:o
We are products of our time.
Most people they knew would have been in the same predicament...for social mobility did not exist. The life of the gentry would have been as unobtainable to the peasant as a trip to the moon
Social mobility came in with a bang after the Black Death; see the appropriate epsiode of the Seven Ages of Britain for a better explanation than I can do here
Well they had it in Roman times so I don't suppose they dropped it as a bad idea in the Medieval period...
I doubt they did, that probably only came as printed porn became more common in Victorian times influenced or directly lifted from continental sources, and then probably only with ladies of a loose nature.
Being Jewish, I think it would have been horrific, having read Ivanhoe and read accounts from the Henry III-Edward I era. Not good.
Having said that, there was something strangely romantic and simple about that era which disappears in the more cynical Tudor years and later. I think it was 'The Holy Grail' that did it for me and that entertaining series on Medieval life by Terry Jones, which showed that life was not all bad.
On a side note, I thought the social mobility after the Black Death was pretty much short-lived and by the end of the 14th Century, with the corrupt, utterly useless Richard II on the throne, you had the peasants revolt and then the failure of that movement left the lower classes in a bigger mess than before. Maybe not.
Being Jewish, I think it would have been horrific, having read Ivanhoe and read accounts from the Henry III-Edward I era. Not good.
But then....not for long ;-) The jews were soon to be thrown out of England and weren't allowed back until Cromwell arrived. The Roundhead one, that is...
And there were plenty of places in Europe that treated them worse at that time...as well as better; Moorish Spain for example had a large and propserous jewish population.
But then....not for long ;-) The jews were soon to be thrown out of England and weren't allowed back until Cromwell arrived. The Roundhead one, that is...
And there were plenty of places in Europe that treated them worse at that time...as well as better; Moorish Spain for example had a large and propserous jewish population.
And then Philip IV of France (the slaughterer of the Knights Templar) booted us out there.
It's always nice to belong to such a much-loved and never-ignored group
It must have been absolutely shite. Cramped houses, earth floors, beds full of lice, no water on tap, no democracy, barbaric surgery, high risk of death from disease, just horrible.
They'd probably last a lot longer in a Post Apocalyptic world situation than moden human civilisation ever could. We can learn a lot from these dark age/Viking/tribal cultures. Who knows? One day, we might need the same skills and end up in a similar version of society as them one day.
The last five words're for the politicians to chew over.
Who knows? One day, we might need the same skills as them.
Especially the Vikings "That lot over there have got something we need..."
Seriously though - even the medieval population was at the mercy of certain extremely "specialised" skills like metalworking/smithing ;-) and a raft of lower-level ones like potters, carpenters etc.. The population REALLY suited for survival after an apocalypse with be that of the late Neolithic, people like the archer found in the glacier in Switzerland.
Much the same as now but with fewer idiots , druggies and paedos
And dragons occupied the skies.
Ever read a book called the Real Middle Earth? You might find some similarities between Tolkien/Dark Age Britain there. Don't forget, it was that sort of history and culture that influenced him and the Holy Grail has it's roots in Celtic myth.
Social mobility came in with a bang after the Black Death; see the appropriate epsiode of the Seven Ages of Britain for a better explanation than I can do here
I always thought the Black Death made folk stick together in way that every one who was left, had to fill the gaps.
On the plus side we were teaching the French not to fight on sodden ground.
Oh, yeah. Trolls were supposedly real an didn't exsist on the internet as there was no internet at the time but they were real to the people of the time.
Comments
It was obligatory, actually!
Much the same as now but with fewer idiots , druggies and paedos
Well it is a Friday night...:D
....and "going clubbing" involved a real big stick...
I agree. We look back on these times with a modern perspective. Life was very different but they knew no different. Most people they knew would have been in the same predicament...for social mobility did not exist. The life of the gentry would have been as unobtainable to the peasant as a trip to the moon. I would imagine most people got on with life as best they could and made the best of the little they had.
I wonder how our descendants will look back at the early 21st century 600 years into the future? Probably with the same incomprehension.
How did they manage to survive like that?:o
We are products of our time.
Social mobility came in with a bang after the Black Death; see the appropriate epsiode of the Seven Ages of Britain for a better explanation than I can do here
Having said that, there was something strangely romantic and simple about that era which disappears in the more cynical Tudor years and later. I think it was 'The Holy Grail' that did it for me and that entertaining series on Medieval life by Terry Jones, which showed that life was not all bad.
On a side note, I thought the social mobility after the Black Death was pretty much short-lived and by the end of the 14th Century, with the corrupt, utterly useless Richard II on the throne, you had the peasants revolt and then the failure of that movement left the lower classes in a bigger mess than before. Maybe not.
But then....not for long ;-) The jews were soon to be thrown out of England and weren't allowed back until Cromwell arrived. The Roundhead one, that is...
And there were plenty of places in Europe that treated them worse at that time...as well as better; Moorish Spain for example had a large and propserous jewish population.
Really, do you mind???
And then Philip IV of France (the slaughterer of the Knights Templar) booted us out there.
It's always nice to belong to such a much-loved and never-ignored group
Wait, we have that now?
Knowing the character of the man - I take it the jewish population wasn't allowed to take any wealth with it?
The last five words're for the politicians to chew over.
Yawn..
Nope, Philip the 'Fair' managed to keep a hold on that. He was the Gordon Brown of his day, wealth destroyer
Especially the Vikings
Seriously though - even the medieval population was at the mercy of certain extremely "specialised" skills like metalworking/smithing ;-) and a raft of lower-level ones like potters, carpenters etc.. The population REALLY suited for survival after an apocalypse with be that of the late Neolithic, people like the archer found in the glacier in Switzerland.
That's a suprise - not!
We don't know how life was in the dark ages, that's why they're called that.
For all you know it might have been great, orgies etc but they want to keep quiet about it
And dragons occupied the skies.
Ever read a book called the Real Middle Earth? You might find some similarities between Tolkien/Dark Age Britain there. Don't forget, it was that sort of history and culture that influenced him and the Holy Grail has it's roots in Celtic myth.
ditto
On the plus side we were teaching the French not to fight on sodden ground.