Interesting facts about the era of knights, castles and the plague

In the Middle Ages, many states and empires were born, which later became the forerunners of modern countries. But those were very dangerous times – only the strongest, most durable and adapted survived in this raging cauldron…

Interesting facts about the Middle Ages

• In the Middle Ages in Europe, it was not customary to wash. And neither in poor shacks, nor in luxurious palaces. The custom of washing was brought to the homeland by the Crusaders, who adopted it from the Arabs. That is why perfumes were popular among the medieval nobility – they repel unpleasant odors.
• In one of the French museums there is a letter from King Henry IV, in which he writes to his wife that she may not wash before his arrival, since he will arrive soon, in just 4 weeks.
• It is interesting that even palaces in the Middle Ages were usually not equipped with bathrooms, but even toilets. Guests and residents defecated right on the stairs, or wherever they had to. Yes, there was no toilet in the famous Louvre, the residence of the French kings.
• A real problem in the Middle Ages was the plague, epidemics of which wiped out entire cities. Then the now widely known “plague doctors” who wore a mask with a beak appeared. Medieval doctors believed that the infection spread along with smells, and fragrant herbs were placed in this beak so that the doctor could breathe through such a peculiar respirator.
• Dogs were not usually expelled from noble banquets. There was a benefit from them – they ate the leftovers that were thrown to them on the floor and licked the dishes, making the tasks of the dishwashers easier.
• In those distant times, earwax was actively used in the economy. So, seamstresses used it to lubricate the ends of threads so that they would not fray, and scribes used it to extract the pigments they needed for drawing illustrations in books.
• Contrary to popular myth, the average life expectancy in that era was low only statistically. Mortality was much higher, that’s a fact, but people with normal health had every chance to live to old age.
• At the beginning of the Middle Ages, buttons were only a decorative element of clothing. They began to be used for fastening later, around the 13th century. Buttons were also a status item. So, on one of the outfits of the King of France, Francis the First, there were more than thirteen thousand of them.
• Medieval doctors considered it an unnecessary whim to wash their hands before examining a patient.
• To increase the shelf life, food in those years was usually salted. It helped, but it negatively affected the taste of the food. Spices also helped, but they cost a lot.
• A high forehead was considered the standard of female beauty in the Middle Ages. Many fashionistas even shaved part of their hair and plucked their eyebrows to emphasize the beauty of their foreheads. That is probably why the famous “Mona Lisa” has such a high forehead.
• The most popular drink in the Middle Ages was beer. This was not due to alcoholism, but to the fact that in the process of fermentation, not very clean water became less dangerous for the digestive system. And they didn’t know then that boiling cleans water.
• The Italian city of Taranto (in ancient times Tarent) gave its name to both the “tarantella” dance and the tarantula spider. In the Middle Ages, local residents believed that this spider was poisonous and its bite caused a fatal disease. They considered the only method of treatment to be a dance, the performance of which could last several hours. The tarantella’s movements were ecstatic and almost convulsive, symbolizing the agony of the bite.
• Medieval churches in Western Europe were equipped with special openings in the walls through which one could listen to what was happening inside and see the altar. This was done so that lepers and other sick people, as well as those excommunicated from the church, could see the service and not lose spiritual comfort.
• In the 13th century, a giant Montfaucon gallows was built near Paris (not preserved to this day). Montfaucon was divided into cells by vertical posts and horizontal beams and could serve as a place of execution for 50 people at a time. According to the plan of the creator of the building, Angueran de Marigny, the king’s adviser, the sight of many bodies decomposing on Montfaucon was supposed to warn other subjects against crimes. In the end, de Marigny himself was hanged there.
• In medieval Europe, on the eve of winter, the mass slaughter of livestock and meat harvesting began. If the meat is simply salted, it loses its original taste. Spices, which were brought mainly from Asia, helped to preserve it almost in its original form. But since the Turks monopolized almost the entire spice trade, their price was unattainable. This factor was one of the reasons for the rapid development of navigation and the beginning of the era of great geographical discoveries.
• In 1456, the Teutonic Order successfully defended the fortress of Marienburg, withstanding the siege of the Poles. However, the Order ran out of money, and there was nothing to pay the mercenary soldiers. This fortress was given to the mercenaries as a salary, and they sold Marienburg to the same Poles.
• In the medieval Czech Republic, in order to obtain the status of a city, a settlement had to independently hold a court, have a customs house and a brewery.
• Spiral staircases in the towers of medieval castles were built in such a way that climbing them was carried out clockwise. This was done so that in the event of a siege of the castle, the defenders of the tower would have an advantage. Attackers who climb the stairs and hold a sword in their right hand have a much harder time fighting than those who defend themselves.