Author Archives: Ruth

Medieval death

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Ruth

So many ways to die, so many choices! Life expectancy was not generally over 40 years, with so many options. Childbirth could take out two lives at once, and it often did. Infectious disease removed perhaps the largest number, including … Continue reading →

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Life-death of a leper

Posted on March 12, 2013 by Ruth

Having mapped out the most common modes of adult life in medieval Europe, I turn to a unique life cycle that serves as a bridge to talking about death: the life of a leper. Lepers were legally dead while still … Continue reading →

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Life of a minstrel

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Ruth

For a medieval minstrel, this season, Lent, was the most critical time of year. During Lent, all entertainment stopped. But far from having nothing to do, minstrels spent these weeks at giant conventions, learning new material. They were the only … Continue reading →

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Life as a craftsman

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Ruth

In the early Middle Ages, craftsmen served their most local village populations and were far less specialized than later. Smiths who worked iron tended to handle smelting and refining, and then made all of the basic iron implements like edges … Continue reading →

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Life of a university graduate

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Ruth

Life of a medieval university graduate meant, probably, continuing as a scholar in the same place. Doctoral degrees could be in theology, law or medicine. The degree cost a large sum to purchase, so many students never graduated. (They went … Continue reading →

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Lenten fish

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Ruth

I’ll do another entry on Lent and fasting. It’s worth just talking about fish. Some fish came from ponds and were probably fresh. Monasteries knew in advance that they’d be fasting for every possible fast day year round, so they … Continue reading →

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Lent begins

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Ruth

The fast season of Lent was not nearly as unique in the medieval year as it is in the modern. Fast days punctuated the year, and the entire four weeks before Christmas was also a fast. Lent was merely the … Continue reading →

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By request: what was the world like, the last time a Pope resigned?

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Ruth

1415: the Battle of Agincourt, the burning of Jan Hus, and the only other resignation of a pope. The Medieval Warm Period was over; Arctic ice was growing, making Greenland harder to reach and cutting back cod and herring fishing. … Continue reading →

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The beginning of Lent

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Ruth

Shrove Tuesday, ca. 1200 meant three things: food, cockfighting, and mummers. Food, obviously. A forty-day fast was about to begin. Chiefly, they would eat no animal products, so any and all animal products, especially meat, had to be eaten. The … Continue reading →

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The peasant’s wife

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Ruth

The peasant’s wife had a pretty hard life. In addition to helping with a lot of field work as needed, she did a lot of everything else. Her most likely cause of death by accident was to fall into the … Continue reading →

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