Surviving Winter in the Middle Ages...
How did people live and die during the harshest months of the year? How did they stay warm? What did they eat? How did they keep themselves entertained in an age before modern day luxuries like electric blankets, double glazing, and Netflix? The onset of the Little Ice Age, between 1300 until about 1870 meant that the long, dark winters of the Late Middle Ages were colder and more dangerous. With starvation and death from illness always threatening to strike, winter was a frightening time. Welcome to Medieval Madness.
0:00 Introduction
0:54 Houses
2:54 Clothing
4:34 Weather
6:30 Food
8:14 The Great Famine
9:10 Entertainment
🎶🎶 Music by CO.AG: / @co.agmusic
Narrated by James Wade
Written by Lisa E Rawcliffe
Edited by James Wade & Adam Longster
Thank you for watching.
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Copyright © 2022 Top5s All rights reserved. In this video, we've compiled information from a variety of sources, including documentaries, books, and websites, all with the aim of providing an engaging viewing experience. While we strive to ensure accuracy, we acknowledge that there may be variations in the authenticity of the content. We encourage viewers to delve deeper and conduct their own research to corroborate the information presented.
So in medieval times people shivered in their homes because they couldn't afford to heat them, but in 2022 we......oh.
Progress!
Well, at least we’re not chucking shit out the window these days. We pay a TV license to have it pumped into the the lounge instead.
History repeats itself
Improve yourself
@@MsKittyGirl2010 History may repeat itself however historians definitely repeat themselves
As a middle aged man myself . I felt this.
🤣🤣
Lol
😂
Whammy
😂
The fact that we are alive because all our ancestors survived these times always blows my mind. We owe them everything.
Very true
@AEG3587 your existence is based on their survival. How dimwitted are you that you don't have the comprehension skills that a 3rd grader could decipher
@@AEG3587your ancestors went through countless wars, plagues, wild living beyond your imagination, winters with no food or heat, hunting and being hunted, all of which resulted in you sitting in your heated house writing that comment. You may not ‘owe’ them anything per se, but you should certainly appreciate the hundreds of thousands of years of struggle it took to get us to where we are.
Most didn't survive long, they simply survived long enough to reproduce... a brutal life to be sure.
@@KazeHorsepeople like him are not able to comprehend the grim reality of what life is and care not for how lucky we are so naturally he can’t appreciate it
Prior to the early-mid 20th century, life in northern parts of Europe and America was practically spent preparing for winter. If it wasn't winter, you were generally preparing for winter. Gathering firewood, fur, harvesting grain, hunting for meat, maintaining the structural integrity of the home during the warmer months, and during winter, hunkering down with the provisions you've gathered. If you did a poor job, the likelihood of survival would go down. Life in a way revolved around winter.
Sounds like a good simple life
Its still like this in most of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
And now you know why some people are smarter
Wars as well
Sounds like life in Yakutia now!
In the fall of 2011 my furnace needed a new part not in stock. I went just over a week with a small space heater. Wore heavy clothes & spent time with my heating pad. I was waiting for my new job to start, so nowhere warm to hang for any length of time. When the furnace was repaired, I found it too warm for awhile. I'd gotten used to the chill - but given a choice - God bless my furnace!
It's kind of surreal when you think about it. Our homes today make Winter a mere inconvenience that we have to endure in between moving from our homes to whatever other place we go to... and in between, our travels are most likely effortless and reasonably comfortable due to traveling by bus, train or car. We've reached a point where people genuinely go outside to "enjoy" the cold, go for a walk and look at frozen trees and such. A few hundred years ago, it was a battle for survival. I've always wondered what it was like to live in a castle in the 13th or 14th century and during Winter, it must have been miserable.
Well to be fair I think people enjoyed going outside and looking at it back then too, people wrote poetry and stuff about it’s beauty even back then, if you didn’t have a good roaring fire and some fur blankets you were in sorry state 🥶
@@edanridge3023 Also, peoples dwellings were much smaller on average, or at least the places were one would normally spend their time. A peasant's one room house could be pretty easily heated by a good hearth. A noble's castle had many fire places spread out within it to keep warm, and of course there was always blankets and bed warmers.
Living in a castle actually would’ve been pretty nice. Stone holds heat really well, a big center fireplace does wonders in heating a building.
@@tiko4621 The thing is, I know a guy that lives in a castle, he has modernized windows and the walls are at least a meter thick in his main living room and it takes very long to heat it up - and even then it's far from being cozy. No insulation also means that they transport heat (or cold) rather well, so when a day is particularly cold, your fireplace might not be sufficient to fight that amount of coldness. Think of it like this: You have one comparatively small fireplace and a giant surface area of walls all around you, when those are exposed to cold winds, they lose heat extremely fast and the source of more heat is rather small. Fireplaces with a chimney have a severe drawback as well:the warmest air is sucked right into the chimney, so in the worst case scenario, you actually suck in cold air from outside and the only heating you get is whatever is radiated from the fire directly. And last but not least: There's a reconstruction of a wooden defense tower from the 13th or 14th cenutry close to where I live, that thing has an indoor fireplace and an oven... but no chimney. The smoke is let out through a window, so while you can heat up the tower with that method, it also means everything is exposed to smoke. Unsurprisingly, the area for the nobles is behind a door, so they can enjoy the heat from the oven with minimal smoke, while the kitchen area with the servants is exposed to both the smoke from the oven and the cooking fireplace.
Living in a castle would be awful, they didn't have windows, can you imagine how cold it would be
I live in a house in the alps at 1300 meters above sea that was built in 1366, which I am renovating myself. While working there, it always astonishes me how people were able to live under these conditions.
my grandparents also lived in an old house (tho not middle ages I suppose), and they litterally lived above the cattle to have it warmer. I can only imagine the smell...
@@longfadestarlink my dude
Videos or you lying
….I lived in a similar home in Bayern as a child (Vogtareuth, GER), built in 1387….Though built of timber & heavy stone (with at least 1 fireplace in every room), the lack of insulation was FELT every winter (and our area of Bayern was in the lower Alps)….
@@longfade I have a 5G cell phone tower in the next village further down the valley, so I put an external 5G antenna up on a pole on the roof, plugged two coax cables into it and installed a netgear nighthawk and some WiFi repeaters in the house. So: Yes, I can even watch Netflix.
That pic of the Scandinavian guys skiing with a baby is a famous incident in early 1200s Norway where an heir to a contested throne had to be brought from the countryside to his party's controlled area before the opposing part seized the throne or killed the baby. So two guys had to ski the hundred of miles in winter with a baby. There's a super cool movie about it called The Last King.
I was thinking exactly that, like wait I've seen this before.
Awesome, thank you for this info
Good movie
Awesome thanks! Ill check that out
@@shinrapresident7010 the aristocrats thought the heir baby to be dead
If you're of European heritage. You should be proud that your ancestors not only survived but were able to produce offspring during this time. Either they were wealthy or strong. Either way, Kudos to them for making it so that I could be born.
You literally only need a heat source and the ability to plan ahead and stockpile food. While survival got more difficult during the winter most of the time it wouldn't have been as dramatic as you're making it seem lmao. I say this as someone from finland where poor children sometimes didnt habe shoes during the winter and they where relatively fine, because they knew how long to be outside barefoot
You are the winners child of the winners child of the winners child throughout history
Irs like how everyone in England has a grandad or great grandad that survived the war. Of course ye do the dead don't get to procreate
I mean other places have winters too my guy and people from places without winters know hardship as well. But whatever. I think luck is a more determining factor. Sometimes you're at the wrong place at the wrong time. River floods at this bank but not at that bank, too bad you die. Your home catches flame because of your neighbor, too bad you die. Wrong person sneezes on you, too bad. etc, etc. Most people are of comparable strength.
I should be proud that my ancestors copulated? The bar is low, man.
Thank you for including the vast majority of the population, the common people, in your historical perspective. One gets weary of always hearing about the lives of the wealthy and royalty, who in reality make up such a small part of the human experience.
Problem is there's very little documentation about the poor. Only the rich could afford to have anything written about them.
I spent a year in a garden shed in France, in 1995. I very quickly changed my clothes. Lots of thick layers (long dresses) made from blankets was the only way to not freeze. Shower and toilet were outside. No fire. Now, December 2022, Europe has many people freezing in their homes. My prayers are with them (I have returned to Africa.)
Jesus!! I’m so sorry to hear, sir.
Lmao another Made Up KZhead Hensel and Gretel story. Europeans freezing. Lmao
@@alig8680 I mean after how crazy-high our electrical bills have been this year I'm glad the weather has been mellow so far. Not sure how many ppl can afford to get slapped with bills like that again in my country.
@@matenzo Change your electricity Firm, you are being ripped Off 😆😂
Solar Minimum didn't write why He is Back in Africa. Someone got deported and is now angry 😂😂
Even with all the goings-on this is definitely the golden age of human civilization. Enjoy your life , it has never and probably will never be as good as what we're enjoying now. Be grateful , love on those you care about every chance you get. When I'm not at work I'm with my children and partner every moment of every day. It's truly an amazing blessing , love is the only thing worth having in this world. My partner had to have a c section with our first born and just thinking.. not that long ago I would've lost them both right then and there 100%. My quality of life is phenomenal. Make your happiness and hold it tight. Life is fleeting and in this age we actually have a chance to enjoy it far more than all of our ancestors did.
glad to see a positive comment about today's world, it isn't all so bad. i'm enjoying being alive every day!
Hopefully, c-section technology will still be around when it is time for the next generations to have children, or nature will again have to be the selector. I'm not trying to be rude. My sister had two of them, love those kids. Eventually, humans won't be able to reproduce without medical intervention.
@@cyborgpistol1650 i wouldn't live in a country that my race wasn't the majority in but that's just me
@@MrRedberd hopefully so
@Cyborg Pistol What about Black people in Africa? What about Indians in India? Who is oppressing them? Nice try baiter.
The great famine actually greatly contributed to why the plague of the mid-1340s was so bad. Children born during a famine will ultimately develop weaker immune system during those crucial times in their lives. That definitely happened during the great famine. Fast-forward 30 years and everyone gets sick with plague. An entire age group with a weakened immune system on top of the other factors at play (rats, etc.) led to how horribly successful the bubonic plague got to be.
Isn't it humbling to think that we are the descendants of those very survivors.
@@LumiSisuSusi Absolutely. Couldn't agree more. The mere fact that we exist is a testament to the survivorship of our ancestors, who braved truly difficult and horrific events.
I think about this all of the time. I do not think I could have survived without the modern advances we have- medical and otherwise. It saddens me to think about the hardships our ancestors had to endure yet I feel amazed that they were able to survive and thrive. And thanks to them we are here today.
@@jrjubach ✨👌 well said..it makes me all the more intrigued to try to research my family tree.
@@LumiSisuSusi Indeed.Relating to evolution, mutation and survival of the species I used to say to my students that they should be pretty proud of themselves. So many humans (and pre-humans!) in the past had gone by the wayside due to natural selection. Their set of DNA had the right genes to survive all the way throughout biological time for them to be sitting there today.
It only stank indoors for someone visiting and probably not even noticed. When you stink or are living in it, your smell and those in your dwelling are no longer noticed by you. The analogy of the fish market will work nicely in this scenario. When you first enter the market the smell is overpowering but if you worked there everyday you would no longer notice it. We are so fortunate to be living in a time where we can not only survive but thrive in the winter. Even Inuit learned how to survive constant killer cold before any life-saving inventions.
I worked at the Philly Zoo as a kid. People asked me, how can you stand the smell. I'd reply, "What smell?"
The Inuit survived and thrived in the harshest environment on Earth. Pretty amazing.
@@squamish4244 Somewhat surprisingly, European explorers who came from cultures from northern climes with centuries of winter experience had to turn to Inuit clothing technology (all of which was based on using readily available natural products) to survive their arctic and sub-arctic treks. Never underestimate the ingenuity of the people who lived in allegedly backwards, hunter gatherer cultures.
@@dpeasehead Indeed. The ingenuity of peoples we used to call backwards was truly astonishing. Oddly, the worst Arctic disaster of European explorers came after the British had become quite good at surviving in a polar environment. That would be the Franklin Expedition, where all 129 men perished trying to find the Northwest Passage. However, what appears to have happened is that they fell victim to lead or zinc poisoning from eating canned food from poorly soldered cans, which damages your ability to think rationally.
I like being stanky
I lived outside for a few years, at the base of a mountain. So, cold and moderately snowy. You'd be amazed at how much a few layers of clothes can keep you warm, provided you keep moving. A tarp set up to protect from winds and some good sleeping bags and cardboard to insulate. There is always at least one person that dies on Mt Shasta every winter, though. People, especially houseless people, will sometimes drink to feel warmer. But your temperature doesn't actually rise so hypothermia can set in quick after you pass out.
You’re channel has no content, maybe it should. You’re experience’s would be interesting.
@@blindfredy6128 I have SO MUCH to say about so many things. I'm desperately trying to get my voice heard, actually. Just have no idea how to start!
@@juliana.x0x0 Please don't. You may have the need to run your mouth as an attempt to fill the void left by your unattentative parents, but we don't actually need more drivel clogging up the information commons. Trust me, nothing you've experienced or learned can either actionably move our culture forward, or isn't already written about in a book (or explained about through some other media.) Blind fredy is just either lazily admitting he doesn't read, or is misapplying a human social strategy to uplift someone in his local environment. As you're not actually in his local environment, nor would your content benefit his life (he's probably too stupid to realize the consequences of his actions, and only seeking his dopamine hit (his attempt at morale boosting you is mostly so he can "feel good that I made someone else feel good")) it would probably just further dilute the internet.
@@austpem I'm not sure you know what you're talking about 😁 but I'll be doing whatever I'd like, but thanks for the unsolicited advice!
Allah سبحانه وتعالى said, وَلَوْلَا أَن يَكُونَ النَّاسُ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً لَّجَعَلْنَا لِمَن يَكْفُرُ بِالرَّحْمَـٰنِ لِبُيُوتِهِمْ سُقُفًا مِّن فِضَّةٍ وَمَعَارِجَ عَلَيْهَا يَظْهَرُونَ And were it not that mankind would have become of one community (of disbelievers, desiring this worldly life only), We would have provided for those who disbelieve in the Most Gracious (Allah), silver roofs for their houses, and elevators whereby they ascend, وَلِبُيُوتِهِمْ أَبْوَابًا وَسُرُرًا عَلَيْهَا يَتَّكِئُونَ And for their houses, doors (of silver), and thrones (of silver) on which they could recline, وَزُخْرُفًا ۚ وَإِن كُلُّ ذَٰلِكَ لَمَّا مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۚ وَالْآخِرَةُ عِندَ رَبِّكَ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ And Zukhruf (adornments of gold). Yet all this (i.e. the roofs, doors, stairs, elevators, thrones of their houses) would have been nothing but an enjoyment of this world. And the Hereafter with your Lord is (only) for the Muttaqun (God-fearing). [Az-Zukhruf 43:33-35] There were no to little atheists among the people of the past. They were dependent on rain for sustenance for themselves and their cattle vs today where you pick whatever you want from the supermarket. The feeling of dependency, hope and belief in God wanes when the materialism, security and luxury increases. Today on the other hand, the diseases of the heart like depressions, anxieties and pain of the heart from too much materialism is becoming the way to make people return back to their Creator. Every era has it's on fitan (trials and tribulations). The trials of the people of the past were more physical in nature, whereas our trials are more mental in nature.
And the most amazing part is that our ancestors survived all this so WE would be able to watch this. How special and incredible is that? ♥️
You are the descendant of those few who survived the Black Death and all the other multiple plagues and famines and terrible weather disasters. All of us are here by the chance of one or two people somehow passing through the numerous population bottlenecks and producing offspring who also managed to survive. Natural selection in action! Many Europeans today have some resistance to sepsis, bubonic plague, and even HIV infection because the genetic mutations that gave them resistance to the Black Death and allowed them to survive was conserved and passed on (and by chance gives some resistance to HIV as well if inherited from both parents), while those who didn't have it died out.
@@Pipsqwak look at that, a first class KZhead commentator in action. Well done!
They endured it so we wouldn’t have to. Thank you ancestors.
It’s sad.
😷☕
I still cut all my own firewood to keep myself warm in my old shack in the forest that's how I get through the winter and keep warm also I grow my own food so if you don't mind root vegetables and stews and soups you can get by it's not glamorous but it's fine with me I have a radio but no tv. But have my cell phone so i can watch stuff on KZhead and that im grateful for. Thank you for this presentation.
Old shack?
You're living a true mans dream im jealous
Yes my old Shaq actually it's an old story and a half house but it's not insulated very well and I don't have the money to fix it up so since I'm almost dead anyway there's no sense syncing any money into it. Besides I have an addiction and well I guess it's not an addiction if you're not trying to quit but I seem to always end up with these rescue animals and they're a little more important I feel
@@paulcharpentier7095 If you really don't care, remind you that you can get an abundance of insulating materials essentially for free. A lot of stuff is packed with styrofoam, with some acetone or gasoline, you can also dissolve it and make glue(although foam spray would save a lot of time) Glue it together, cut out flat using a metal wire and some voltage, et voila, styrofoam.
More than half of this still applies to some people in remote areas of my country, especially mountain villages
Which country?
whic country exactly?
@@samplesample7178 Serbia
Likewise in remote parts of Scandinavia and Russia. Just 100 years ago, this was everyday life for my Swedish ancestors.
@@GhostSamaritan True, for scandinavians this was normal just two or three generations ago
It's so easy for us in this era. Warm houses, warm clothes, warm cars, warm workplaces. These are fantastic luxuries we just assume must be there. In the vastness of time it was a blink of an eye ago that winter was a time of mass suffering just about everywhere outside of the tropics. Food? Often you had to go into the freezing air and either dig in the ground for frozen roots or chase after small creatures. Heated supermarkets? Don't be ridiculous. It's time many of us stopped complaining and just started counting our blessings
And indeed acknowledge things worthy of complaint and thus maintain your blessings, as they had to as mentioned
Root crops can be mulched appropriately, and will not be frozen. Look up how that is done. Old farmers did it, back in the day. Things like carrots, etc.
In old homes where the basement floor is a dirt floor, people kept a sand box to place carrots in, covering them completely in sand. A wooden box for potatos. Onions and garlic hung from the rafters. Cabbages where placed upside down to prevent drying out, on a wooden shelf. Smoked sausages and bacon also hung from the rafters. Sauerkraut was kept in crockpot type containers, other vegetables were pickled. Seeds were carefully kept, sufficient for the next two seasons, in case of crop failure, enough for the season that followed. Of course there was honey. Dry herbs were hung upside down in the kitchen. That is how people survived. Some might have hunted as well, but that was a privilege kept for the upper class. Of course there also is fishing, which can be challenging to do in the freezing winter.
@@heidimisfeldt5685 ...Sure, there were ways to lessen the sufferings of winter cold and hunger, but you couldn't eliminate them if you were a commoner. An English wattle and daub house, for example, with its usual dirt floor will be painfully cold. Even if you have a fire, the smoke has to get out and fresh but cold air has to get in. The vast majority lived at a subsistence level without the luxuries of canned fruits or potted meats. Basically, if you didn't fatten up in the summer and fall, you starved in the winter. We can romanticize the pre-1900s and we can imagine living in those times, but I guarantee most are dreaming about summers of plenty back then. They aren't romanticizing famine, disease, starvation or freezing which were the daily winter companions. There is too much taking for granted what we have now. It wasn't like the movies depict back then. We should have more gratitude. It was only yesterday. We could find ourselves back there in a minute.
Wild animals do it every day. Trying to find food while also trying to not become food. Those lovely bird songs you hear every morning are actually them screaming and cursing in horror as they awake to their existence.
More people freeze to death during the winter in souther Europe than in northern Europe. It was probably like this very long ago too. People living with a winter simply learn to do it in comfort. I am a Nordic and I have never had such a cold winter at home that I had studying in England.
Say-what? Do you have warmer homes there?
@@throughthoroughthought8064 , yes
I was always told it’s the moisture in the air that makes it feel colder. Being an Oregonian I think they were right. I never felt warm in winter.
They don't have serious insulation or windows so it's always drafty and cold - I found this in New Zealand as well
Swedes and Norwegians love the UK it seems.
I think its important to mention that medieval Windows were usually made of Horn or just shutters! It wasnt so common to have just hole in the walls
Dried animal mesenteric tissue could also be used for windows.
medieval Windows… also known as Windows 3.1 Usually made of 1’s and 0’s
@@notmenotme614 funny asf underrated comment
And yet medieval windows still had viruses
Yah the transparent material we call glass was probably an luxury.🤌💵
I have relatives in France who live in a lovely restored 13th century farmhouse. The ground floor was for the animals in winter and the people lived above. The heat from the animals kept them warm. When we visit we sleep in what was the pigsty.
While doing research in far Northern India near the border of Tibet, I stayed with in a village where all the residents still actively use this method to manage their livestock and heat their homes in the Himalayan winters! They harvest animal dung all summer for fuel during the long cold months since there are very few trees at their altitude, which is around 13,000 feet.
@@michaelalovejoy2016 For all those twisting their noses, sun-dried animal dung has no strong odors at all. People in African countries use it as fuel as well, in place of wood, as wood is scarce in some areas.
A laithe house. I used to play in an old abandoned one on the farm as a kid. By the time I was born it was where the bantams lived😅
So compared to us, medieval people were actually multi skilled at surviving winters. Whereas we couldn't even knit a pair of socks if our lives depended on it.
To be fair, they wouldn't know how to drive a car etc. Different times need different skills.
I bet they could fill gaps to prevent draughts.
With daub
It doesn't take a genius, just a lot of preparation. They didn't work 8 hours a day doing something completely unrelated to survival either, so that helps.
This is why humans have become so successful because we have become specialised. The down side is you are more reliant on other people.
As a histfic author, I think this has been the single most helpful channel in my career. Thank you so much for what you do.
Is there a certain age you focus your content on ?
@@Black-Sun_Kaiser I generally write about but not necessarily for teenagers. Usually a coming of age type story or loss of innocence tale
@@strangementalitypaperYT I didn't mean the age of the reader I meant the Era of the story's setting 😂 that's nice though
@@Black-Sun_Kaiser Middle Ages, WWI and US Civil War
@@strangementalitypaperYT the us civil war is my least favorite subject in world history but I think it's only cause I'm American and was just over saturated with stuff about it growing up. I love ww1 and 2 especially and very fond of the napoleon Era also. I used to write also but just lost touch with it over the years. It's the only form of art I have any talent with. I can't play any instruments or draw or anything of that nature but for some reason I had a talent for writing stories. Anyways have a great day and good luck
I absolutely love your channel!!! Sending you best wishes from Kiev, Ukraine
Hope y'all are doing ok!!
Hope you are safe. Maybe you will use some of these techniques to keep warm when the power is down. Take care.
Hang tough Ukrain. Help is on the way.
ZOV
Do you have electricity, water and heat now?
Actually as I know, in central Europe peasants used combination of clay, hay and moss as wall isolations in basic houses. This have pretty decent issolation properties also according to modern standards. It is not suitable for industrial processing in mass production.
Wattle and daub isn't difficult to repair so you don't have draughts. They weren't idiots.
@@julianshepherd2038this. if you would be uncomfortable today, you would’ve been back then as well. they surely insulated their homes nearly to full efficiency. They weren’t morons
Yeah mate those types of walls were efficient even during summer as it kept the dwellings cool enough. Chimneys were also a thing from fairly early on.
Yeah i'm a bit tired of these kinda documentations that make it look overly dramatic and act like people had nothing. But most houses in the middle ages were probably better insulated than modern american cardboard houses
I've been watching this channel for around 2 years now, I have to say that aside from the wonderful images, dark humour and wealth of knowledge on offer; this channel is one of my go-to sources of gratitude, perspective and humility. If you're ever having a bad day, feeling low or just down on your luck; before you sink into self pity, pop this channel on, I guarantee 95% of your problems will seem futile in comparison to what your forefathers (and mothers) endured. Try it, it's a powerful antidepressant ☺️
I just found your channel and I wanted to tell you, that I really like your content. You bring some light in the quite dark and often unspoken or misunderstood era of the medieval times. Thank you for your input and your stunning historical reviews. Greetings from Germany 🇩🇪 Frank
This video is right up my comforting half dozing off half paying attention last video of the night alleyway.
So glad you mentioned the 'Mini Ice Age' as a lot of younger people and 'planet panic' protesters don't realise that the earth has cycles/patterns of hot and cold weather.
This guy has the best art work, and let me not even mention the impeccably put-together content!
As a DM, I really appreciate this channel for it helps to make my players' life even more difficult
Shut up
@@colorad6018 make me, goblino slime ball!
hehe
DM: _You forgot to pickle your food before heading to the dragon's lair in the dead of winter, and your provisions are rotten. 1 d8 hunger damage._ Players: _We go hunting._ DM: _Ah, forgot that the dragon killed all the wildlife. Starvation damage gets worse; 2 d8's._ P: _We plunder any farms we see!!_ DM: _The lack of wildlife has led to a Great Famine, and most of the outer farmholds have died. You find small cottages full of stinky rotting corpses. Also a couple recently burned down ones._ P: _So the dragon must be close, right!?_ DM: _Nope! Just huddling next to fires in wooden shacks. Ain't no fire department in Fáerun! 3 d8's!_ P: _... We eat the dwarf player?_ Dwarf: _Hey now!_ DM: _... Roll initiative._
Pig spooning as a game mechanic.
Another factor to consider would be the herbs and plants medieval people would use to treat colds and winter illnesses. They would have to harvest herbs like hyssop in the fall to make these remedies. Great video!
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. It was very useful and informative, as well as entertaining to watch
I am full of admiration for those who research and produce these videos. Very often as good as anything from a professional studio with all of the latest in techy stuff and experts in their field at their disposal.
my Canadian relatives said they used fire and rocks, specifically rocks with high iron content.
I’ve been playing medieval dynasty recently and even though it’s only a game when it turns to winter you’re constantly nearly dying. I can only imagine how hard real life must’ve been back then.
Try "banished". Winter will seriously F**** you up.
Is it computer game?
I lived through a winter in Russia 20 years ago. -25 degrees C at the coldest. The heating system was poor and the radiators were luke warm only. The indoor temp was about +10C and I wore 2 jumpers and a bath robe indoors. Still it was miserable so I was drinking hot tea or coffee most of the time. Its hard to imagine how medieval people survived year after year even worse conditions.
Sounds like the tenement living in nyc in the 50s that i experienced.Bang on the radiators to get the supers attention without luck.Rope in our frozed longjohns on the clothesline in the morning and ram them against the radiators to get the frost off.And top floor living was the worst.We had a gas burner stove in the kitchen that we shared with the rodents and insects who were looking for warmth also
I witnessed minus 47 C in Russia in 1979
This was interesting thank you, and nicely presented and edited. It is a fascinating period of history so I look forward to watching more.Have a well-fed, warm and Happy Christmas!
You are an AMAZING STORY TELLER AND THE FACT THAT ITS ALSO A HISTORY LESSON, LIKE I SAID AMAZING. U are a channel I've shared with My Grandchildren, they love and look forward to more!!! Thank you
I'm so happy this channel is finally getting the love it deserves.
I grew up in a household that heated with wood. The only help we got was knowing tree services who would leave a tree for us to de-limb and section up. We mostly used a maul to split until someone gifted my grandfather a splitter. We would do a tree or two a week in the spring-summer. We still usually only had a little left over and had a furnace for the coldest days. I’m from about as far north as it gets for an American and there’s still people north of me that get it 3x harder with the cold.
I'm heating my house with wood. Nothing like the joy of warming your family with the firewood you've personally split.
Good to think replanting is part of the system. Reforestation is key - no matter what part of the world.
@@TheLegendaryLore I think we rely on heat and AC a little too much. At least in the sense you don’t have to live in a city where mass heating/cooling is viable.
@@FumblsTheSniper 100%
@@mortalclown3812 We can never have too many trees 🌳🌳🌳
Love the thumbnail art. Pieter Bruegel the Elder is one of my favorite painters. So much LIFE in his work! Great video too!
That painting is in the movie Stalker 1979 and not incidentally Melancholia 2011.
I have a copy of that painting, but as a tapestry. It's a really nice piece.
Thank you! I knew I’d seen the painting before but couldn’t remember the painter and was hoping someone would mention the artist in the comments
Reminds me somewhat of L.S. Lowry
Another cheery episode! But seriously, I love your overviews of the lives of the hardy and misfortunate peoples of the Middle Ages.
Love this content, it's so fascinating and inspiring to the imagination. Thanks a million, and best wishes!
You didn't mention the use of Dovecotes to provide a supply of fresh meat in winter, although the text you quoted mentioned eating pigeon. In medieval Japan, people huddled around tiny fireplaces at night to keep warm, wore thick clothes made of silk and padded cotton. The houses had steep roofs to shed the snow. Many people used winter for crafting and weaving silk.
People still ate pigeon in my area of the UK when I was a kid. Pigeon pie usually.
@deniseelsworth7816 pigeon is popular in Asia, and I've seen Squab on European menus. Until I watched Time Team, I didn't realise that Dovecotes were for winter food, rather than the enjoyment of birds flying around.
@@theharper1 same here with the dovecotes. I had thought how lovely until I knew the real use.😯
Growing up in the 60's was pretty much the same. No central heating, no double glazing. We ran around all day, it was the only way to stay warm.
It was not pretty much the same as living in the 1400's. Very typical boomer conflating the two
@@frank6842 grow up.
It was definitely hard but not nearly as rough as 1400s bro
Another brilliant chance to learn about life in these times especially as winter is here, we’re all cold and having a moan but this really cheered me up thanks❄️
What inspired me to watch this they don’t speak on in the vid is there apparently has always been a winter vomiting virus that I just got it’s horrible only lasts about 24 hours but I almost choked as I would projectile vomit if I moved the slightest bit so when I did vomit I would vomit repeatedly and violently while moving to a bucket I had an extremely hard time staying hydrated and I imagine in a time when survival was hard this would have taken many lives shockingly as it comes on suddenly likely with 1 meal prepared by a sick person and you rapidly become violently ill
As an Australian living in houses built out of paper I relate heavily to this video
As a New Zealander living in a poor excuse for a house I can relate heavily to your comment!
Ikr I'm fixing to spend the winter in a tarp shelter. We're expecting a blizzard at the end of the week
@@perarduramcintyre5578 it’s the AS/NZ standard
@@tammiebroggins we bought an older house about 3 years ago and I’ve slowly been going through and putting proper insulation in all internal and external walls except lounge areas because meh but all the bedrooms, 1 bathroom and laundry (more for sound suppression) have thick earth wool bats inside them. It makes an incredibly huge difference. Next step is 2 Whirly birds on the roof for excess heat in summer
@@frenchys_prospecting good for you. Good luck on getting it finished
Some Baltic, Nordic, and Finnish people had masonry stoves even as early as the medieval period. These were basically indoor brick and clay ovens built into a corner and vented through a chimney. The massive masonry stored heat, radiating it slowly over time, and a single hot fire once a day could cook the family's bread and other food and keep the house warm for many hours. Also, these people in the far north had abundant sources for warm fur clothing and dense forests for firewood and log house construction. Well-built log houses are much warmer than the tile-roofed stone or wattle and thatch used further south. The far north was not suited for agriculture, so the people there had not cleared the forests to grow crops as they did in the UK and most of continental Europe. Thus, the northerners had plenty of firewood and quality building materials. There are log buildings in Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Faeroe Islands that are over a thousand years old and still functioning well.
They had to build castles to stay warm in
Dutch, too
Much wassailing to you and yours this season. 🎄🎄🎄
I "remember" (I mean I heard from my grandmother) winters in Poland in 30's that could isolated and killed entire villages. F'Swedes came to us through frozen Baltic Sea in XVII century. War was ruthles but can't blame them. Their land was literally frozen so they have to move to south to literally survive. When I move to Gdynia in late 80's I remember Gdańsk Bay was frozen as well. This days such a condition are unprecedented.
The smoke in the huts was useful for delousing . All types of bugs were kept at bay from this practice. 👊☘️
I'm sure the smoke caused cancer, tho.
@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 I think cancer was the least of your concerns back then.
With all our luxury today there are still people who complain. This series is a good way for people to realize how well we are off nowadays.
I recall Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs from college Psych 101. It's basically saying that once we satisfy one level of need, we move to a higher level. For most of history the majority of people were at the bottom level striving for water, food, shelter, clothing, employment, resources, personal safety. Now that many of us have achieved that, we focus on higher levels: love and belonging, esteem, and self actualization. It seems like a lot of Americans are stuck at level 3:love and belonging. We report record high levels of loneliness and isolation, especially men and the young. There's always something to long for.
Except there’s people freezing in poverty today as well
There are people who would say the exact same thing in the medieval ages. Just because things were worse before doesn't mean you can't complain about things now and try to make them better. And I don't think I have to point out the irony in complaining about complainers
This is definitely written by a privileged boomer with a nice house, good pension, internet access, central heating, public infrastructure, 3+holidays a year etc etc
Luxury isnt everything
Anybody who says they love the cold, has never been truly cold.
Very true
I love the cold and lived through the ice storm of 08 with single digit to negative temps and no power for 3 weeks. Would much rather prefer this than crazy florida people.
There are multiple degrees of coldness. I like the cold but do not like the very cold or the extremely cold.
Unless they're a menopausal woman...who suddenly have an EXACT, very narrow comfortable temp. Often too HOT.
I love the cold. I was born in December, and since I live in Finland I know what serious cold is like. -25C enough? With proper clothing, good boots, nothing is better than a cold starry night with snow crackling under your boots. Take cold any day instead of wet.
One December, we had an ice storm (I live in Canada), that knocked the power out for 2 and a half days. Thank goodness for snowsuits and sleeping bags, and a cat and dog to keep you warm. We would warm ourselves up in the car. At one point we managed to hook the generator up to the pellet stove. It was interesting to realise how cold you actually were, after warming yourself up by the stove. All of my ancestors are from northern nations, I can't imagine how they did it.
You guys don't have wood stoves? What
Canada is not a contry its a ice rink
@@meisrerboot I am in Canada and remember this event. We have wood-burning fireplaces in some houses and gas fireplaces in others. Apartments have none usually unless they are very expensive. .
25° degrees in St Louis Missouri today ,nice and freezing had to walk home from work about a mile but inside warm and watching this video now // support from the Midwest💯
I was born in St. Louis. Are you from west St Louis?
@@69Jackjones69 I was born on the Southside it's all pretty connected nowadays but the Southside is a mix of new business and poverty many of the houses are from 1903 and made of bricks
Great video. Thank you for posting. Fossil fuels make it possible for people today to have fun during the winter with no fear of freezing to death, starving, etc. At worst we have to contend with a mere inconvenience.
Our winters are certainly quite a lot milder than Medieval winters, a time when the Thames froze over so much they could actually have fares on the Thames ice. However, winters are still cold in the UK and people still need to heat their homes. And in America I see that New York still gets very heavy snow..
While houses were indeed smokey/sooty they had clever smoke wents, which actually helped getting rid of the smoke while keeping the most of the heat in. The vents created what is essentially air replacement systems.
Let’s disabuse the public about the notion that all water was polluted. Not so. A lot depended on where one lived. Downstream from a major town or city, yes. Out in the country, probably not. A private well in a castle or fortified manor, you can bet no pollution. Another thing: when the show mentioned salted fish, it showed a picture of salmon. Yes, if one could afford it, one had salmon. The fish were generally caught in streams and rivers. They didn’t become a nobleman’s dish until much later. Trout were indeed a noble’s fish. One trout cost perhaps six pence in the 1340-60 period. One could buy at least two pounds of salmon for that. (Mind you, a townsman made 1-3 pence per day. So, think about it: a trout would cost you at least two days wages!) Bread back then was still from einkorn grains, and was far more nutritious than our bread today. (Starting in the mid 1950s, wheat was bred for much more gluten. Today’s bread contains at least 19 times the gluten of medieval bread. And you wonder why so many people have intolerances and allergies to gluten? Big Ag is your answer!) Or me last comment to close: “man”, back then, meant “person”, not a male. The word springs from Anglo-Saxon. The word for a male person was “wappenman “ (a person who carried weapons, the usual habit of males) and a female person was a “wifman” (a person who wove on a loom, generally a woman’s job; hence, “wife”).
You are so right about the kind of grain that Americans have developed since the 1950s. It’s full of gluten, and over 90% of people in the United States have some degree of digestive intolerance to it, either mild, or all the way to celiac. Even today, parts of Europe, harvest and make bread and pasta that is much lower in gluten and much better for you.
I love these types of videos, thank you. Subscribed!
I’ve been doing this for many years already. Interesting, and a little validating that it’s becoming common enough amongst the younger generations that it’s getting talked about in the media. ✌🏻🇺🇸
Snow was very rare during the Middle age warm period, it was approximately 2 degrees Celsius warmer then today and even wines were growing well in England also agriculture was possible in the costal areas of Greenland 🤗
wines growing in england? farming in greenland? isn't that existenial?
@@jameshudson169we still grow wines in England. We have champion country, the English version champagne country.
@@Secretname951 maybe folk meant NEW england.
@John Willings English sparkling wine is regarded as some of the best in the world
That was prior to the 1300s. Vineyard in England were common in the 1200s but then the weather changed in the 1300s.
I feel a lot warmer now thank you
says the man with a Biritish accent. Thanks for the vids. Big Respect for the Indigenous people of Quebec, Canada, where we have a lot of - 30 Celsius!
This channel deserves way more subscribers
Excellent channel, thank you for all your hard work!
I’m new to this Chanel and I just love it! I love the humour! 😂 Excellent! Keep up the good work, 👏🏻 All the best from Freezing Scotland
Get along w Russia to be warm
As always! Another great video
I’m glad the algorithm recommended this channel. Great video, you have a new subscriber. It’s interesting to see how the medieval folks stayed warm… some concepts will likely never change. Though heating is expensive this year, it’s more affordable to layer clothes. These people had just a few outfits a piece. Imagine the smell of wearing the same set of linens all week. Yeesh!
This was an excellent post. Thank you. I, like many others, enjoy and admire the old ancient castles in Europe BUT, whenever I see a picture of an old, ancient, stone castle I always wonder just how COLD it would have been in the winter. It looks like the kings, Queens and Lords of the castles lived in luxury but I would not call freezing your ass off living in luxury no matter how many servents you may have.
I will give you one interesting fact so that you can imagine what winter was like in Europe at that time. If the chronicles are to be believed, in the years 1322-23 or 1323-24 the Baltic Sea froze completely for many weeks and it was possible to travel across it in sleighs, and an inn was actually built in the middle of the sea, where travelers tired of the monotonous ride could relax and enjoy warm food. medieval German chronicles state: "During the time from St. Andrew's Day to Mid-Lent, there was such a frost that merchants carried their goods in carts from Norway to Sweden and back, and on the sea there were inns and taverns where they ate their beer and food." In turn, the Lübeck chronicles contain information about "robbers coming from the Slavic Land" who plundered Denmark. Coming on the ice, let's add, because, as we read: "The entire Baltic Sea was frozen between Denmark, the Slavic Country and Jutland."
Interesting Thanks
Awesome program. Thanks for sharing.
excellent video, highly informative, interesting, and well put together. Great work!
Where I live it is normal for winter temperatures to hang around -30°C for weeks at a time. A friend of mine spent a few years where winter temps don't normally dip much below -10°C and he said he found it awful because people there didn't normally have central heating like we do so indoor temperatures weren't comfortable.
And here I am watching this from Alberta, Canada during a -33°C cold snap.
Awesome video! The intro was great, got me instantly hooked!
Absolutely looove your videos! Great stuff
The picture "the hunters in the snow" was not really Medieval, it was painted by a Dutch artist Pieter Brueghel in the 16th century. I have read that the 16th and 17th century were the coldest time of the Little Ice Age, and in this time a lot of Dutch artists made winter pictures like this. On this picture you can really see and feel the coldness in this time, where hungry wolfes came into villages, and freezed birds fell from the trees. But the Dutch folks made the best out of this weather, and had a lot of fun by ice-skating....
Peter Bruegal the Elder.
Yes i remember the painting from Andrei tarkovsky's solaris
It was also used on a Monty Python album sleeve
Pieter Brueghel was Belgian though
and kolf on the ice, too
Please do a video on wolves & the role of professional wolf hunters in Europe. I've always found it so terrifying & fascinating to think of wolves being a constant threat to not only livestock but also human life.
The wolves were everywhere during the black death I probably don't have to explain why 💀
Lmaaaoo
Great to watch this on a cold winter night.
Really enjoyed this video thanks ‼️
This video is kinda perfect for all those who think that we are living in a terrible time.
Keep in mind. There was no proper way to light rooms or streets until 150 years ago. So back then, during Winter, days were 8 Hours Long, and That’s it. At 4 pm You’d propably light a candle and make a fire, but other than that it was pitch dark 16 hours a day until very recentely.
They didn’t have the moon?
@@matthewcasagrande231 Did you ever try to read a book in the moonlight?
Until very recently?
Until very recently 👍
@@ohhhSmooth If it's a children's book, the letters are probably huge and you could read them
I have so much respect for my ancestors for living in these medieval days. Thankful for my fully heated home and all the luxuries modern comforts provide
Well done! Thank you.
Have a feeling a lot of us are about to get a real life crash course in Medieval Winter.
I heard Buffalo people got stuck for DAYS in their cars!
@@windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 With all that hair they were fine.
for 3 days out of the last 10 my Livingroom was between 3 ° and 4°C , I took it for as long as I could but when steam started coming out of my mouth I couldn't take it anymore so put the fire on. Even with the fire on full blast it still too 14 Hours to get the room to 18°C God knows what it must have been like in Medieval times.
Don't you have a space heater?
My apartmant right now inside is 22°C and i am not even heating it. It' 18° outside and stupid rain.
My brother has bought me an oil filed radiator as an early Christmas box. It's quite a good one. It's apparently very economical too. With that and my fire on low at least I'm not sitting here wearing a Thermal shirt, a Thermal hoodie a thick fleece lined dressing gowned and a woolly hat.
Steam came out of your mouth 😂
like I was smoking
Awesome peter Merry Christmas and happy new year Bravo winter
love the bruegel thumbnail :) staring at it on my wall ... one of my favorites. incredible artist, beautiful piece! loved the video. very interesting...keep up the great work
Your acid wit is killing me. God I love this channel.
HOW did I not know the Little Ice Age went on for so long?!? I'm glad I have the correct info now, but damn, that's horrible. Also, I LOVE the animation at the start of the videos!
I have always loved the painting of Hunters in the Snow.
Great Video! I love a cold winter and very deep snow.
In some places, animals were kept on the ground floor and the humans lived on the first floor above the animals. The heat from the animals rose and helped to warm the human occupation rooms above.
Had to do a little double take when you mentioned Maguelone as I know the the place from my time living in Montpellier. Incidentally a cousin lived in an old house further inland in this part of France, the living quarters were positioned directly over pig pens which presumably would have warmed the inhabitants even without spooning.
Medieval northern peoples, especially Germans, built the living quarters were over the cattle barns. Same principle. Cheers!
You still see this many places, go to the rural areas of Austria and Switzerland, very common to see the buildings that used that system.
What a great video, thanks mate
‘Spooning a pig’😂😂A good dose of history with some humour,BRILLIANT ❤
That’s crazy I live in Florida and couldn’t imagine being that cold.
Good, stay there
@@MrRedberd I will. Couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Perfect state besides the mosquitos and and humidity.
@@MrRedberd never come to Florida We believe in self defense Trayvon Martin Otis brown Andrew coffee Fuck around find out.
In the UK we've been having average temps of -6 degrees celsius or 21 Fahrenheit recently.... I'd give anything to be back in Florida.
@@brianpeppers8236 the cold is nice and keeps the environment from making as many parasites, insects and snakes.