Darkest Facts About Life In Medieval Times

The world has been around for billions of years, with medieval times making up just a fraction of the timeline. The period is anywhere from the fall of Ancient Rome in 476 CE to the start of the Renaissance era in the 1300s.

Even though it took place hundreds of years ago, many still want to know all there is to know about the Middle Ages. Still, the darkest facts about life in medieval times might put the time period into a new perspective.

Piling up garbage outside people’s homes was a huge issue

It’s perhaps no secret that indoor plumbing is a modern luxury. What did people do with all their waste in medieval times? That was easy: throw it out the window. It wasn’t just the contents of chamber pots that lined the streets, as people in the Middle Ages would let garbage pile up outside their homes.

It’s said things didn’t change until the 14th century when King Edward II introduced laws that all trash was to be cleared within a week of it being left. Sadly, no one listened. Instead, the wealthy would carry perfumed clothes to their face to avoid the smell, while chivalrous men allowed women to walk on the inside of the sidewalk.

Rain brought about floods of sewage and trash in the streets

The smell on the streets of any town in medieval times was bad enough already, yet somehow, that got worse when it rained. Although the Middle Ages did have streets - something that was helped by the Ancient Romans - they were made from cobblestones and dirt. They also sloped in the middle to catch rainwater and avoid floods.

While it was good in theory, the practical side didn’t have the payoffs they hoped. That’s because all the trash thrown out of windows quickly clogged the road ditches and meant the roads simply flooded instead. The problem? The floodwater included everything left in the streets, including all those emptied chamber pots that they dried out again in the sun.

Farm animals were a lot smaller in the Middle Ages

The lack of offices and tech work in the Middle Ages meant that working life was a little different for people at the time. One of the most common ways that people made money in medieval times was through farming, but even this was very different. It turns out farm animals were a lot smaller in the Middle Ages.

Sheep were about one-third the size, while fully grown cows were about the size of a modern-day calf. Sheep also produced a lot less wool than they do in the 21st century. Today, special breeding and advanced farming techniques mean that sheep now yield about 7.2 pounds of wool compared to the one pound from medieval sheep.

There are records of various animals being tried and charged with crimes

Just because farmers made their money through farm animals didn’t mean they all got to spend their time living the best lives possible. Instead, even animals could be tried and convicted of crimes if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some were for smaller crimes, while other animals were charged with ending lives.

One swarm of locusts was tried and charged with eating crops, while mice were taken to court for stealing food from a harvest. The most common animal put on trial was a pig, with humans acting as defendants for the animals in court. Just like human court, they would then have to serve various sentences, including capital punishment.

Public shaming was a massive thing in medieval England

People in the Middle Ages had unusual ways of punishing people who did something wrong. One of their favorite ways to put people off breaking the law was none other than public shaming. Just as it sounds, the idea was to humiliate someone by parading them through the streets as the local townspeople all watched and threw things.

The punishment was tailored to the crime, such as a pub landlord tampering with drink being forced to drink it all. Pig thieves were also pretty common and had a special public shaming punishment. They would be paraded through the streets with a body of a passed pig on their neck and a crown made from pigs’ feet.

The pillory might have been the worst public shaming method on offer

Public shaming was one thing, but pillory was another. This punishment might have been one of the worst from medieval times and is thought to have started as early as 1318. It all started with someone poking their head and hands through a wooden board, but that was just the beginning. Once there, the hands were often nailed in place.

People would have to stand on the platform as the crowd threw all kinds of things their way, such as broken glass, stones, and even the bodies of cats who had passed away. As if all of that wasn’t enough, many people would slip on the platform and end up slowly strangling on the plank until they lost their lives.

There were hundreds of crimes that could cost someone their life in medieval times

The UK abolished capital punishment in 1965, but it wasn’t always that way. In fact, there was once a time when hundreds of people would lose their lives at once for various reasons. The start of medieval times saw 50 crimes ruled as enough to see someone sentenced to capital punishment, such as treason, taking someone’s life, or robbery.

That was a list that only grew throughout the years, with 200 crimes eventually finding their way onto the list. Things such as cutting down a sapling tree, damaging Westminster Bridge, or petty theft could all see someone lose their lives, but there was still hope. That’s because a jury still had to decide someone’s fate after each trial.

Looking at someone’s passing was supposed to predict the future

They say that we should keep an eye on our passings to check our health, but the time of checking the color, smell, and taste of what’s left in the bathroom is - thankfully - long gone. It all started before medieval times when people used these ideas to tell if something was wrong or what their future held.

There were even books with charts to tell what the color of passings could mean. Apparently, if passings were white, then someone was healthy. If it was blue or black, someone had either been dancing too much or their lives were in danger. Green passings? That meant the end of someone’s life was just around the corner.

Traveling through Europe in the Middle Ages was highly dangerous

Plenty of people have backpacking through Europe at the top of their bucket list. While it might be a great idea in modern times, it was not the thing to do in the Middle Ages. People had to hope that towns had a local inn, where flea and rat-infested straw beds you shared with other travelers were considered luxury.

If not, you had to sleep out in the open - which was a terrible idea. People lurked on the roads after dark to take the lives of anyone for the chance of getting some small pocket change. Then there were the wild animals, which were much more dangerous. It’s why wealthy people often sent others on their personal pilgrimages.

Medieval England had a fraction of the population that it does today

It can be easy to think that with all the capital punishment and violence that took place throughout the Middle Ages, there was no one left by the end of it all. Well, there almost wasn’t. That’s because medieval England was much smaller than the nation so many know and love today, with just one million people in 1086.

By the 1300s, that name had climbed to four million before the famous Black Plague wiped out around 1.5 million people across England. In the end, so many towns and villages had so few people that they ended up getting completely abandoned. To put that into context, England has almost 56 million residents in 2022.

The population of London boomed and caused horrific living conditions

London has long been the place to be in England for those looking to make it ahead in the rat race. While it’s been the center of plenty of notable times throughout history, life in The Smoke hasn’t always been the best. The capital had just a few thousand residents at the start of the Middle Ages.

That number jumped up by 500% from the 12th century to the 14th century, going from 17,000 people to around 100,000 in 200 years. Of course, the city was designed in Ancient Roman times, meaning narrow streets and cramped homes along the River Thames weren’t designed to house all the new people suddenly trying to survive.

Bridges weren’t that common during medieval times

Getting around in medieval times was easier said than done. At least, that was the case whenever someone found themselves at a river bank. Most of the time, roads would get to a river and stop before starting again on the other side, with no bridge in between to get across the water. That wasn’t all.

If someone was lucky, there would be a few stepping stones in between the roads to help try and get across, but even this usually came with the risk of someone losing their life. The reason there were so few bridges was that they were so technical and costly that most places merely couldn’t afford to have one constructed.

Medieval dentists once thought tooth worms were down to teeth decay

Just because medicine wasn’t as advanced in medieval times as it is now doesn’t mean everyone just guessed things. Instead, people believed the holes in teeth - the things we now know as cavities - were caused by tiny worms known as tooth worms. Apparently, they looked just like a small eel, and dentists had an unusual way of getting them out.

It started with someone taking a candle made from seeds and sheep fat. They burned this as close to the tooth worms as possible as it would supposedly cause them to squirm from the heat and fall into the dish of water below a patient’s mouth. The other option? To simply pull the tooth… With no modern tools… Or anesthetic.

Getting married was a simple affair throughout the Middle Ages

Gossip is nothing new. It turns out people in the Middle Ages loved nothing more than talking about people in town, especially when it came to whether they were going to heaven or hell. One of the main talking points was whether or not someone had been intimate before they got married, but how did someone tie the knot?

Medieval times were highly religious, and most believed God was the only witness they needed. That’s right; two people could simply say their vows in front of God, and the job was complete. Only then could someone be intimate with their partner, but even then, it appears most didn’t believe it was a marriage until the deed was done.

Peasants would only have to fight in battle for 40 days before they were free

Going to war in the Middle Ages was as simple as two people not liking each other or people in line for the throne wanting to ensure they were the ones with the crown on their heads. The problem? They needed an army to back them up, with most people enlisting unwilling peasants from across the land to fight.

That didn’t mean everyone was destined to lose their lives. Instead, peasants would only have to fight for 40 days, and if they survived, they could go back home. That’s because they knew it would be bad for the economy to draft every peasant into the army at once, as there would be no one left to work.

It was highly likely men would lose their lives in a violent crime

Medieval England was a dangerous time. The chances of getting ill or losing your life at the hands of another were high, with people being ten times more likely to pass away due to a violent crime in the Middle Ages than they are today. Still, that didn’t mean that everyone had the same risks.

The most common reason for women to lose their life was during childbirth, while men faced a much more violent end. 46% of men aged 15 years old or older lost their lives at the hands of someone else, meaning men in medieval England had almost a one in two chance of someone else taking their life.

People were often judged by their tears and whether they were the Gift of Tears

It was common in the Middle Ages for people to burst into tears - and not because of the darkness that came with living in the time period. Instead, people were almost expected to cry all the time and were judged for it. The frequency, duration, and quantity of someone’s tears were all topics of conversation at the time.

The Gift of Tears allegedly happened when someone was thinking of Christ’s suffering, and someone became so overwhelmed by it all that they burst into tears. Still, crying too much or too loudly would make people suspicious. Some believed people were faking their Gift of Tears, while others thought they might be possessed by a demon.

Barbers were allowed to perform medicine, but they weren’t surgeons

Many people have heard about barber poles being red and white to symbolize the white bandages they used as doctors and blood drawn from medical procedures or a shave that was a little too close. While barbers were later combined with doctors when Henry VIII combined the two in 1540, things weren’t always that way.

Barbers in medieval times were still allowed to do some medical procedures, such as bandaging surface wounds or setting broken bones. Still, surgeons had their own profession and were in charge of more important procedures, such as amputations and operations. That didn’t mean they had all the medical knowledge that surgeons have nowadays, but at least they didn’t cut hair.

Bloodletting was a hugely popular medical procedure in the Middle Ages

One of the many medical procedures that people turned to throughout medieval times was none other than bloodletting. This was the idea of draining a certain amount of blood to help cure various ailments, such as epilepsy, gout, smallpox, and even the plague. This is where the image of leeches also became popular in medicine from the Middle Ages.

Still, leeches weren’t the only way that people performed bloodletting. Other methods include scarification, which involves scraping away certain areas of skin until someone bleeds. Some even used sharp medical tools to slice veins. The problem? They sometimes used the jugular, aka the vein that causes someone to lose their life pretty rapidly unless the bleeding is controlled.

Medieval doctors had some unusual ways of treating wounded soldiers

Believe it or not, but medieval battlefields came with their own doctors who were on hand to get wounded soldiers back on their feet. The problem? They didn’t necessarily know what they were doing. That’s because one of the most popular methods to treat wounds was for doctors to merely relieve themselves on a wounded patient.

That didn’t stop at cuts, as bites, burns, sores, and just about any other ailment were all treated with the same bathroom methods. One of the most unusual stories comes from Italian physician Leonardo Fioravanti, who claims he relieved himself on a soldier’s amputated nose before reattaching the nose. The twist? The soldier allegedly survived and could still smell.

Midwives and monks would pray that expecting mothers survived the ordeal

Childbirth has long been the reason that women have lost their lives throughout history. It can be a dangerous procedure, and without the knowledge we have today, plenty of women passed away in medieval times before they got to meet their little ones. One of the only ways people involved with the birth knew to help was through divine intervention.

That’s how midwives and monks came to pray for each expecting mother in the hopes their prayers would be answered, and everyone survived the ordeal. It’s said many also relied on magic. Here, they would feed the expecting mother sugar and vinegar before covering her in eagle droppings in the hopes it would keep her safe.

Doctors had questionable ways of protecting mothers during childbirth

It wasn’t just the midwives and monks who tried to help expecting mothers. Doctors were also on hand to ensure everyone made it out the other side, such as using the sacred girdle. Apparently, the churches had sacred girdles in their collection that they would loan to expecting mothers during childbirth if they made a large donation to the church. 

It’s believed the girdles were made of sheep’s skin that had been stretched incredibly thinly before being stitched together and worn for the main event. It’s reportedly shaped off a girdle they believed was worn by Mary while she was pregnant with Jesus, and they were often covered in prayers and religious images, such as images of Christ.

Sorceresses used babies as a part of their potions

What happened to the babies that didn’t survive childbirth? It’s estimated that one in three newborns didn’t make it to their fifth birthday in medieval times, with sorceresses stepping in to make use of their bodies. Apparently, one of the most common things that sorceresses sold were magical amulets to help women avoid falling pregnant.

Inside the amulets were none other than a severed finger from a fetus, a child’s tooth, and the private parts of a weasel. On top of this, people could buy love potions that were none other than fetuses, which people had to drink to fall in love. Amazingly, most people didn’t bat an eye at the unusual remedies.

Witchcraft wasn’t a major issues throughout the medieval times

It might come as a huge surprise to many that the Middle Ages weren’t filled with witch hunts and people being burned at the stake. While the fear of all things magical did take over Europe - and the majority of the world - that didn’t come until much later in the Elizabethan era after the 1400s.

Instead, most Christians put all things magical and witch-themed down to a pagan superstition and merely refused to believe they existed. That meant people who did practice magic or sorcery were largely ignored. Of course, there were times they wound up in danger for not believing in Christianity, but the rest of the time, witches were left alone.

Many believed bathing too much could cause the Black Plague

Plenty of people think that medieval times were filled with unclean people who refused to wash. However, it was quite the opposite. The time period came after the fall of Ancient Rome, which was known for its love of bathing. Plenty would spend a lot of time at the local baths and actually had pretty good personal hygiene.

That was until the Black Plague came along. Suddenly, people began to fear that bathing too much was the reason so many people were getting sick and decided to stop washing altogether. Doctors told people that the water opened their pores and weakened their bodies, leaving them open to catching all kinds of illnesses - including the Black Plague.

There was a time in the Middle Ages that bathing was a huge deal

It turns out a lot of medieval thoughts came from the time before them, aka the Ancient Romans. They took the idea of cleanliness that had bothered the Romans for so many years and turned it into something even more extraordinary. In fact, people in the Middle Ages thought that being clean was as important as religion.

That didn’t mean that taking a bath in the Middle Ages was an easy task. Instead, people would have to head to their local bathhouse and get scrubbing to ensure they washed away anything that could make them impure. The town of Southwark alone - found alongside the River Thames - had 18 bathhouses to serve everyone in the local area.

Heading to the public baths usually meant someone would get more than they expected

It turns out bathhouses took a bit of a turn from the luxurious places built in Ancient Rome when it came to the Middle Ages. That’s because they soon became a place where people could get a little more than they bargained for, such as the Southwark bathhouses that eventually became known as the Stews.

Here, adult workers would keep guests entertained, with the church allegedly turning a blind eye to it all. It’s reported the church knew they couldn’t eradicate the extra activities going on at the bathhouses, so they merely decided to join them instead - kind of. They ended up profiting off the activities in return for their silence in it all.

Groups of up to 200 people were burned if they weren’t religious

If there was one thing most people wanted to avoid in medieval times, it was being different. That was especially the case when it came to religion, with most people of the time identifying as Catholics. That was until people started to question the church - including the wealth and power they had over most people in the Middle Ages.

The idea they might be overthrown was enough to see plenty of churches take matters into their own hands, stating it was the will of a higher power to wipe out non-believers. No one is entirely sure how many people lost their lives. All we do know is that sometimes, 200 people at a time were piled up and burned.

Men in medieval times wore outfits to accentuate certain areas

If there was one thing that people wanted to do throughout medieval times, it was apparently shake what their momma gave them. Leaving anything to the imagination was out of the question for men in the Middle Ages, as people of all ranks started wearing courtpieces to try and accentuate certain areas of their body.

These were nothing more than a small piece of cloth that stretched a couple of inches below a man’s belt, with nothing but their undergarments on underneath. Sometimes, it was even padded out. This seemed to inspire fashion for years to come. After the end of medieval times, knights were known to alter their armor to showcase their manhood.

Long-toed shoes were the height of fashion in the Middle Ages

Fashion was seemingly a huge part of life in medieval times, with men doing everything they could to keep up with the latest trends. At one point, the longer the toe, the more fashionable someone was. It resulted in toes on shoes sometimes reaching up to two feet long and having to be reinforced with whalebone, moss, or wool.

To top things off, the shoes were highly impractical. Rather than opt for something a little more fitting to the times, nobles would simply tie the tips of their shoes to their legs whenever they needed to run. Crusaders would even cut off the tips if they found themselves in danger and needed a quick exit.

Medieval homes were infested with rats, largely thanks to the flooring

There’s a good chance that living in medieval times would mean someone didn’t have proper flooring. That’s because it was a luxury that was reserved for the elite of the time, with people instead opting to cover the mud and dirt with straw and other things they could find. Although it kept things warmer, it didn’t always pay off.

That’s because rats would often move into homes alongside a host of bugs and creepy crawlies. A lot of this wasn’t helped by the fact that dropped food would merely fall into the straw, meaning the rats had somewhere warm to sleep and plenty to eat. Of course, the rats’ constant breeding meant it wasn’t long before people were overrun.

Families would often sleep on the floor as they had no beds

Walking across a floor made of straw and plants that’s filled with rats is one thing; learning people in the Middle Ages usually didn’t have beds and had to sleep on the floor was another. That’s right; people would have to sleep among the rodents as they had no choice. Of course, this led to plenty of other health issues.

Illnesses were common, as rats were blamed for spreading diseases at the time. Even if someone didn’t fall ill, it was common for people to be infested with fleas from the rats and suffer a huge number of bites as a result. To make matters worse, the floors weren’t changed and were merely added to over the years.

People would pick lice and fleas off one another in the Middle Ages

All of those rats led to fleas, but that didn’t mean people in medieval times merely sat there and let them infest everything they owned. It turns out they didn’t try to keep on top of the infestations, but it was often too little too late. After all, if there’s one thing many have learned, it’s that fleas get everywhere.

It was common for families to sit around picking fleas and lice off each other in a bid to try and keep the bugs under control. People who often traveled, like crusaders, were even known to take laundry women along. Not only would they clean their clothes, but they were also in charge of removing as many fleas as possible.

Medieval bread could be enough to end someone’s life

Things have come a long way throughout the years, especially when it comes to how we eat and store food. We have learned the dangers of letting things go past their expiry dates, but these weren’t even a thing in medieval times. Instead, someone had to eat whatever they could or run the risk of going hungry.

The problem? There was a good chance bread from the Middle Ages would end your life. Stored rye often got infected with a fungus called ergot in the summer before they had time to harvest the new grain. This would be enough to cause gangrene, hallucinations, and could sometimes even end someone’s life if they had too much.

A medieval cookbook called for porpoise as the main ingredient

Cooking has changed a lot throughout the years as people have learned how to make the most of their food and new cuisines have been introduced. Believe it or not, but porpoise was once on the menu for people living in the Middle Ages. We know this thanks to one of the oldest known cookbooks, 'The Forme of Cury.'

Here, a chef wrote all about using porpoise blood as the base for something similar to haggis. This was added to spices, pepper, and oatmeal before it was all stuffed into a porpoise's stomach and boiled. Once cooked, the meal was ready to serve. Although it's similar to haggis, porpoises and dolphins are now protected.

Soccer was incredibly violent and eventually became illegal

Soccer is now one of the most popular sports across the world. While the sport has come a long way, there was once a time it was almost lost to the history books - and it’s all thanks to “mob football.” This was a sport that involved a ball made from a pig’s bladder, teams with unlimited players, and few rules.

Mob football could see the streets filled with players all doing just about anything they liked to score points, but King Edward II eventually had enough. The king ruled it was illegal in 1314 due to the amount of noise, destruction, and violence that followed the sport. Of course, things have changed quite a bit for soccer since then.

Every male once had to practice archery for two hours a week

It turns out that some sports weren’t just encouraged, they were a legal requirement for people. Archery was one on the list and followed on from the ban on soccer by King Edward II. His successor, King Edward III, created the Archery Law in 1363, which meant all males across the land had to practice archery every Sunday.

That wasn’t all. They had to practice for at least two hours a week and were supervised by a local clergy to ensure no one skipped practice. This was seemingly just the beginning of a switch in sports, as all others were eventually banned until only archery remained. It was seemingly so everyone was always ready for battle.

Some medieval kids were kicked out as young as seven years old

The turn of the century has seen kids continue to live with their parents for longer than ever before. It seems that was far from the case back in medieval times, as children as young as seven years old could be sent away to make a life for themselves. Still, the exact age has long been debated by historians.

Some claim children between seven and nine years old were sent to work in other homes, where they would stay for another seven to nine years. Others argue that children would live with their parents until they were around 10 to 14 years old as people didn’t want to feed another person’s child just to have help around the home.

Medieval children had a high chance of losing their lives

Having so few records for peasants means it’s impossible to tell just how many people lost their lives in medieval times. If they weren’t born into the Royal Family or part of an important bloodline, there was a good chance that most people were lost to history. Still, we know that children had a good chance of passing away.

Today, the CDC claims infants have a 0.54% chance of losing their lives, with those aged one to four years old having a 0.02% chance. The Middle Ages? Infants losing their lives sat around the 25% mark. Things improved a little, but those aged one to four years old still had a 12.5% chance of passing away.

A friar from the Middle Ages successfully predicted several future inventions

Living as a Franciscan friar meant Roger Bacon was a name that would live down in history. It wasn’t just his job role that saw so many people turn to Roger throughout medieval times, as he also made plenty of predictions in his lifetime. The friar lived from 1214 to 1292 and somehow knew all about the future.

Roger claimed that we would one day have “cars” that would be made “without animals,” and they would move “unbelievably rapidly.” As if that wasn’t enough, the friar also spoke about “flying machines” that would make use of “artificial wings.” Still not convinced? Roger somehow predicted diving suits, submarines, and steamships throughout the years, too.

Most people were peasants in medieval times - and lost their lives

The workforce of any time period has long been the largest, even if they’re the ones who usually seem to get dealt the short straw. That’s why it might be little surprise that most people in medieval times were peasants who suffered the same fate as most other lower classes have faced throughout the years.

90% of the population were most likely peasants, with people living off whatever food they could grow or cook themselves and wearing pretty itchy wool outfits. The problem came when the weather turned - which it so often does in the UK. Getting drenched and having nowhere warm and safe to go usually meant the end of a peasant’s life.

A huge portion of the population passed away from starvation

One of the joys of modern times is having access to so many things from around the world. That means importing foods from across the planet and usually having a huge supply of things to eat. Sadly, that was far from the case in the Middle Ages, meaning people solely relied on what they could grow and their animals.

The problem? When it rained, food was pretty scarce. From the summer of 1314 to the end of 1316, England was pretty much constantly underwater due to the unfathomable amount of rain. Animals drowned, crops rotted, and people ultimately starved. By the end of the period, it’s estimated 5% of people living in England had passed away.

A brawl between townspeople and Oxford University ended the lives of many

Believe it or not, but Oxford University - aka one of the most famous and prestigious colleges across the world - was founded back in 1096 and has been running ever since. That doesn’t mean that things have always been easy, such as the dramatic fallout that came between the college and the local townspeople on February 10, 1355.

A student allegedly complained about the standards of drinks served in the local tavern, with people pouring into the streets to defend their local. The students fought back, and a huge brawl ensued. By the time the final punch was thrown, 60 students and 30 townspeople had lost their lives in it all - all over some drinks.

Most trades were passed down through the family in the Middle Ages

Peasants had to make their living any way they could in the Middle Ages. However, the idea of going to school or college to learn new skills was almost entirely out of the question. So how did they make their money? It all depended on what their family had done for generations - and they better hope they liked it.

If your family had spent their years working as cobblers, there was a good chance that’s what their children would end up doing. It’s also how plenty of people earned their surnames. Names such as Taylor, Smith, Knight, Fletcher, and Cook were common in medieval times and have stood the test of time all these years later.

Medieval knights were known to do terrible things to innocent people

Plenty of people have it in their minds that knights were there to protect the land and were the most chivalrous men that the Middle Ages had to offer, it seems that things couldn’t be further from the truth. At least, a lot of the knights were some of the west, including Sir John Arundel, who rode to a convent.

The moment came in 1379, with John asking the nuns to stay the night. Sadly, the night ended with the knights storming a nearby church, where they stole and assaulted a new bride and looted the nunnery. The entire thing was complete with them taking the nuns to the middle of the sea and throwing them all overboard.

There are records that prove some female knights did exist

It turns out that male knights weren’t the only ones on the menu. While female knights weren’t that common, there are a few women who have made their name in the history books throughout the years. Petronilla, Countess of Leicester, is one, as she fought with her husband in 1173 during the rebellion against King Henry II.

Although things were going to plan, it’s recorded Petronilla took a turn in the final showdown. It’s said she dropped her shield and sword before fleeing the battle. The twist? Petronilla was allegedly found in a nearby ditch after the fight, where she was trying to end her own life by drowning in the dirty water.

The Middle Ages was filled with butchers dumping animal parts into the River Thames

The River Thames has long been one of the most famous aspects of London, especially as it has been a part of many historical moments. Still, it wasn’t always the flowing river that so many of us have seen in modern times. There was once a time that most people wanted to avoid the water at all costs.

One of those moments came in medieval times and was all thanks to the local butchers. It was normal for butchers to gather up all the animal remains from their store and take them down to the River Thames, where they would throw them in, earning the bride the nickname “Butcher’s Bridge” thanks to the smell.

Branding was a common punishment throughout medieval times

Justice in medieval times was often swift and painful for anyone on the wrong side of the law. While public shaming was a common practice, other times, people wanted others to know just what someone had done. That’s where branding came in. This was used to mark people for the rest of their lives in just how it sounds.

Most of the time, people were branded on their faces, and it was a practice that stuck around well into the 1800s. It was often one letter standing for what they were convicted of, such as the letter B being used to show someone was blasphemous. This also meant someone couldn’t hide from their crimes, no matter where they traveled.

People in the Middle Ages had a huge number of torture devices

The Middle Ages was filled with people being put through as much pain as possible until they never committed the crime again or were so hurt that they lost their lives. As if that wasn’t enough, torture was often used to see if someone was guilty or not before the trial. It turns out there were a few tried-and-tested devices.

Thumbscrews saw someone have a wooden bar tightened onto their thumbs until they were completely crushed. The rack was used to stretch someone slowly until their arms and legs were dislocated. The Pear of Anguish. This might have been the worst, and saw a metal object inserted into someone before a crank opened the internal pear’s leaves.

English kings were thought to have powers to cure the sick in the Middle Ages

Being a king in the Middle Ages usually meant someone had more power than most combined, but those on the throne had to be careful that they weren’t taken out along the way. It seems people also thought they truly did have incredible powers, including magical ones that were enough to cure all kinds of ailments.

Various kinds welcomed thousands of people to their court throughout the years and would merely touch someone afflicted with illness or ailments who claimed they would walk away cured. Edward the Confessor was the first after he supposedly cured someone with scrofula, which is just like tuberculosis that happens outside the lungs and sees someone covered in lesions.

Some families altered their passed loved ones, so they didn’t get haunted

The idea of ghosts is nothing new, but people in medieval times took their superstitions to new levels when it came to protecting their loved ones. Why? Apparently, they were worried that their family would come back to haunt them. Most people lost their lives at home, and it was up to the family to organize a burial.

Although it was rare, there were times that people claimed they were being haunted by those who had recently passed, not helped by their bodies being intact when they were exhumed. To try and avoid being haunted, some people removed their loved one’s hearts and buried them elsewhere before placing their decapitated heads at their feet.

The Black Plague likely started in Asia and was spread by trading ships

The Black Plague is one of the biggest global events that has ever gripped the planet. It was a type of bubonic plague that gripped the world from 1346 to 1351 and eventually saw somewhere between 75 million and 200 million people lose their lives, meaning it’s the largest global pandemic we have ever faced.

So, where did it start? It’s thought that would be in Asia in the 1340s. Syria, Persia, India, Egypt, and China all reported an unusual illness, and is thought to have spread around the world through trading ships. Still, tests show that the Black Plague might have been on Earth since as early as 3000 BCE.

Twelve ships likely spread the Black Plague to Europe - and the rest is history

Believe it or not, but 12 ships could have been all it took to see the Black Plague dominate all of Europe. That happened when trips traveling across the Black Sea landed in Messina, Italy, where people gathered to greet the sailors. Sadly, they were greeted by something that would change history and cause unheard-of devastation.

Most of the sailors had lost their lives by the time the ships pulled in. Those who did survive were covered in large black boils that were oozing pus and blood. Although the authorities ordered the ships to turn around and leave immediately, it was too late. The plague had spread, and it was about to grip Europe for years.

No one in the Middle Ages understood how the Black Plague was spreading

Now, scientists know all about the Black Plague and how it spread so quickly, ending millions of lives in the process. A lot of the problem came from a lack of knowledge in medieval times, and no one could understand how it was spreading so quickly. The answer was mostly the fleas that often lived on rats.

A lack of understanding meant the ships carried on their way, with tainted ships soon landing in Tunis, North Africa, and Marseilles, France. Things got even worse when the ship arrived in Florence and Rome - both in Italy - as these were in the middle of an elaborate web of trading routes, meaning the rats spread between the ships.

People in medieval times assumed anyone who touched an infected person would get the illness

Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio was one of the many to document everything that happened during the Black Plague, giving us much of what we know about the time. Here, he wrote about how “the mere touching of clothes” could be enough for the illness to spread from person to person, with people falling ill in a matter of hours.

Nowadays, many believe that the nursery rhyme ‘Ring around the Rosy’ is all about the Black Plague and how people would all fall down if they were around anyone who had already caught the illness. All people knew was the plague didn’t discriminate against anyone and would take down anything that stood in its path.

Medieval doctors had uneducated ways of treating the Black Plague

Although doctors of the time had no idea about what could be causing the Black Plague to spread, they did have an idea about ways they thought they could treat the illness. Plague doctors weren’t a thing yet as they didn’t come until the next wave of the illness a few hundred years later in the 1600s.

Instead, medieval doctors relied on bloodletting and boil-lancing, with the latter involving making cuts in boils and draining the contents. Of course, a lack of sanitation meant both were already dangerous procedures. Other superstitions of the time involved burning various aromatic herbs and taking baths in vinegar and rosewater to cleanse the entire body and keep bad luck at bay.

Healthy people did all they could to flee the Black Plague throughout the Middle Ages

The panic was enough to grip most of Europe, with healthy people doing all they could to avoid catching the Black Plague. Priests stopped administering last rites, shopkeepers shut their stores, and doctors refused to treat their patients. Those living in the cities also looked to the countryside in a bid to escape the dangerous illness.

Sadly, the Black Plague was so dangerous that it even spread to animals, including chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, and cows, meaning the countryside was no safer. In the end, so many sheep lost their lives in the Black Plague that it led to a wool shortage across Europe. Eventually, many started abandoning their families all to save themselves.

Many believed prayers and earning forgiveness were how to end the Black Plague

The lack of understanding about the Black Plague also led many to believe it was God’s way of punishing the world for everything they had done wrong in recent years. That’s what led so many religious people to start praying for their safety in the hopes it was all they needed to keep the plague out of their homes.

Some communities thought the only way to protect their villages was to cleanse the area of anyone who didn’t believe in God or troublemakers. This led to hundreds of people from different religions losing their lives, with Jewish people fleeing to sparsely populated areas of Europe in a bid to escape the mobs of the cities.

Flagellants publicly hurt themselves to try and keep the Black Plague at bay

Some upper-class men decided to try and save everyone in local areas by forming flagellant groups. These were ones who traveled through towns and engaged in public displays of punishment and penance, meaning they would beat each other and themselves with studded straps of leather and sharp pieces of metal. All the time, the townspeople would merely look on.

Apparently, this continued for over 33 days, with the group sometimes repeating the performance three times a day. Still, the movement was enough to worry the Pope, who thought the flagellants were trying to take over. It wasn’t long before the group disintegrated, and their public displays stopped once again, with no evidence that their work helped fight the plague.

The Black Plague saw the birth of quarantining people

Although the Black Plague initially gripped Europe for years and eventually settled down, things didn’t last that way. It never really went away and actually returned several times throughout the years, just not as dangerous as it did the first time around. So how did they slow things down and get the illness under control?

It turns out this was the first case of quarantining, as sailors arriving in Ragusa, Italy, were forced to stay on their ships for 30 days. This was later upped to 40 days, with the time being called their “quarantine.” Of course, this word has stuck around ever since and was the first evidence of it being used.