Have you ever wondered why we've always heard that we're taller than our predecessors? I've read and heard that our ancestors were short and just assumed that meant every generation before us, but that just isn't the case.
According to The Year 1000 by Robert Lacey & Danny Danziger, one of the first things noticed about people living in or around the year 1000 is they were tall--very much like we are today. The truth is we are taller than most of our more recent ancestors (1700-1900). Georgian and Victorian England residents, who were malnourished and overcrowded, did not have the good health nor the stature by the end of the twentieth century that we share today with our access to food and medicine.
So when we picture those knights in shining armor as tall and muscular,
good news, you are correct! According to Lacy & Danzinger, nine out of ten people lived in the country. A lush green and unpolluted land that provided plentiful food and nourishment, allowing the medieval man to grow strong limbs and very healthy teeth. So that knight who is the hero, guess what? He really does have a full set of white teeth!
If these people were so healthy one would think they'd live as long as we do, but here the differences are drastic. Life was short. A simple cut or wound could take a person's life. In the medieval time period, an illness or childhood disease that today we can stop with a visit to the doctor could spread like a fire and wipe out a whole village.
Because of this, a boy of twelve years of age was considered old enough to swear an oath to the king. Young girls were married off in their early teens to much older men. Life expectancy was almost half of what it is today. Most people died in their forties, and for a person to reach into their fifties was quite impressive and they were revered.
Life for the average person was hard, but pretty simple. There obviously wasn't the local grocery or clothing stores for running down to get the needed item as we have today. That being said, television often depicts the medieval man like he only wore brown clothes and lived in a drab world. But that couldn't be farther from the truth. They may not have had the rich dyes that produce the vibrant colors we have today, but that didn't keep them from having colored clothes. They used vegetation to dye fabric and with those dyes they were able to produce bright yellows, greens, and reds.
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By Muhammad Mahdi Karim - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6699147 |
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By user:Abalg - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2834782 |
Debbie Lynne Costello is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube
Agency. She attended Heritage University, where she studied Journalism and
worked in the editing department.
She has completed five full length
novels set in the Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA area in the late 19th century along with one Medieval,
and is now seeking homes for them.
She and her husband have four
children and two grandbabies. They live in upstate South Carolina with their family. She spent
thirteen years coaching cheerleading and trying to make a difference in young
girls’ lives. Debbie Lynne has raised Shetland sheepdogs for eighteen years. In her spare time, she sews, paints, knits, camps, and enjoys the grandbabies.
WEBSITE: www.debbielynnecostello.com BLOG: www.theswordandspirit.blogspot.com BLOG: www.fictionaddictionfix.blogspot.com Bee and propolis picture from Wikipedia.
WEBSITE: www.debbielynnecostello.com BLOG: www.theswordandspirit.blogspot.com BLOG: www.fictionaddictionfix.blogspot.com Bee and propolis picture from Wikipedia.
I'd actually prefer to read about people as they really are-size, height, etc. Thanks for your interesting post. I liked the part about honey used as money. sharon, CA wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com
ReplyDeleteHey Sharon, Thanks for coming by. The first part of the blog mentioned size. They were around the height of men today. Six feet tall was normal. Weight, they ate healthy and had plenty so the assumption is they were not malnourished. So I'd assume that means a good healthy weight. Something I didn't put in there is that (I'm not sure how Lacy & Danzinger got this information unless from paintings) is that again like today the desired figure for a woman was slender.
ReplyDeleteDebbie, what a fascination blog! I prefer reading (and writing) about exceptional people. I don't want to know that my heroine took a bath six months ago or the hero smelled to high heaven when he took off his armor. I read to escape reality. Thank you for sharing,
ReplyDeleteLOL! I'm with you, Margaret! I prefer to forget some aspects because I too, read to escape. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteGreat post, Debbie Lynne. I love to see the way things really were, except without unnecessary forays into hygiene issues, for example. When you asked which item we might think was valuable, my guess was salt, for that was also used as money in ancient times. As a person who loves honey, however, I liked finding that out. (All the more reason to protect the bees, today!)
ReplyDeleteYes! Salt was very precious in ancient times. I found it so interesting myself, Linore. But more than the honey I thought it interesting about the propolis and also that the wax was worth as much as the honey! I love honey, too, So good in tea. Hmmm It's a cold rainy day here today. Tea and honey sound good. Just may go fix a cup. :o)
ReplyDeleteLoved this interesting post. I didn't know the worth and uses of honey and other by-products of the bees. I do prefer the history in fiction books to be as authentic as possible, so I'd rather see topics omitted or skirted than to blatantly portray things in a way that was totally not true. On the other hand, I don't mind showing the hero and heroine as exceptions to the norm, if that is somehow portrayed to the reader. I often chuckle to myself over the hygiene thing of times gone by, as I'm reading of romantic interludes--for example, on ship's voyage of several weeks.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Yes, I know what you mean, Kay. But who wants to read she gazed into his eyes and then almost gaged. LOL>
DeleteThank you for this interesting post! I have to admit, even though I consider myself a historian and generally prefer history to be portrayed as it was, there are definitely some instances in which I would prefer fiction authors take some liberties in their writing and make their hero and heroine exceptions to the rules. I would probably imagine them in my head as exceptions even if the author didn't write them that way. I mean, I personally would feel uncomfortable reading a novel where the main characters are a girl in her younger teens marrying a man in his upper twenties or thirties. And as Margaret said, I read to escape--I'd rather not think about the hygiene of the day. Eww! :-)
ReplyDeleteHeehee. I'm with you, Mallori! Eww! Nothing romantic about that is there? Thanks for coming by and for sharing.
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