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In the Middle Ages, people were weird. Don’t get us wrong — we’re not saying modern people are much better. Not at all. Still, sometimes we forget how incredibly bizarre the Old Continent was between the 5th and the 15th centuries. There were things about medieval times life that seem downright crazy when compared to our modern sensibilities — and that’s before you even start talking about the whole plague thing.
But why focus on the oddities of medieval life, you ask? Well, in the words of the great George R.R. Martin, “The things we do for love.” As lovers of all things strange, we find there’s something undeniably captivating about uncovering the unusual historical facts that lurk beneath the surface of remarkable time periods. After all, if we can’t laugh at (or be horrified by) the peculiar ways of some of our ancestors, then what’s the point of studying history?
Time to embark on an adventure through the tapestry of weird history, then! But instead of just visiting the grand courts and castles we often associate with this bygone era, we’re about to explore some of the lesser-known, quirky corners of medieval customs. And where did we unearth these medieval traditions and facts, you wonder? We chanced upon a treasure trove of weirdness in this Reddit thread — a gold mine of bizarre medieval tidbits, all shared by history enthusiasts. Trust us, you won’t believe some of the things people did back then!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
"CLOAKS! Cloaks are so freakin cool but they went out of style. I wish they weren’t weird today and so rare. Cloaks are so freakin amazing."
Norman Beattie 2 years ago
Do it, be a trendsetter, if I saw more cloaks being worn in public I would start wearing a Cape !
Martin Annau 2 years ago
Yes, they are cool, but not that practical if it's windy or you have to carry something. I'm doing medieval Reanactment, so I know what I'm talking about
RELATED:
#2
"Perpetual soup. Basically, a large pot would always be simmering and food would be tossed in before spoiling. So it was just a large vat of everything simmering non-stop." user replied: "This is still a Welsh tradition, there are stories in my family of my grandmother running a cowl pot for months on end."
Trophy Husband 2 years ago
I read about a restaurant that has a pot that had been going for over 100 years.
#3
"Fight instead of divorce. Why waste time on courts and child support? In medieval Germany, if a husband and wife reached a dead end on some important issue, they entered the ring. The rules, of course, equalized the forces of men and women. In the ring, the man was in a hole, and one hand was tied behind his back so that he could strike with only one hand. And the wife was given a bag of coal, with which she struck. Whoever wins the fight (inflicts serious injury or the defeated one asks for mercy) is, therefore, right in the dispute."
#4
"Duels over a bride at a wedding." IronBatNaz replied: "That leads to my favorite trivia of weddings, where the best man was not necessarily your best mate, but the best duellist you knew, in order to help fight over the bride at a wedding."
Frank Miller 2 years ago
It's not about her being ready to go, it's about somebody else wanting her.
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#5
"This was a love potion recipe from the 10th century: A woman will lay a cloth on the ground and cover it in grain. She will then strip her clothes off and cover her body in honey. After that, she will roll around on the cloth and try to get covered in grain. Afterward, she will get up and take the grain stuck to her body over to the mill and ground that into flour. She will then use that flour to bake bread and give it to her husband to eat."
Craftsman 64 2 years ago
It doesn't say she gets dressed after she takes the grain off...could explain why there are so many people named Miller...
Jen Hart 2 years ago
I've heard an anecdote about "there's a lot of people named Smith because metal workers knew how to get chastity belts off."
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Tom Nagel 2 years ago
Meh, the honey has antiseptic qualities, and the bread comes to temp in the oven. I'm going to allow this lol
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Jeremy James 2 years ago
Conversely, "a man may fascinate a woman with a piece of cheese." I'm not sure where the mustard comes in. Maybe when that's when they bring in a third to spice things up?
#6
"The name Lance isn't popular in this day and age, but back in medieval times people were called Lancelot."
mark glass 2 years ago
How much farther are Pandas Gawain with these puns? Hope it doesn't last all knight.
Mimi La Souris 2 years ago
I could never take that name seriously, lancelot = lance l'eau = throw the water in French :D
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
Possible connection with chucking the sword into the lake with the lady in it?
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StrangeOne 2 years ago
I had a manager named Lance at my last job. Still around but not common.
Jeremy James 2 years ago
There were people called Tiffany as far back as the 12th Century, but you hardly ever hear that name in historical fiction.
#7
"Women plucking their hairline to make their forehead bigger. In the C13th, there was this whole European aesthetic about women's sexy, sexy foreheads. So women would pluck their hair to make the forehead bigger and sexier."
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago
I must be the epitome of feminine beauty, then XD
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#8
"Sleeping with your entire family in one bed. Or if you are a king, sleeping in the same bed with a rival king to cement your friendship and respect for each other, as brothers. Privacy was just not really a thing in the middle ages!"
Demosthenes 2 years ago
I mean with “co-sleeping” being all the rage in parenting these days we’ve come full circle.
#9
"Having rules about what colors and what type of clothing and hats you could wear, based on your occupation or social level."
Mabelbabel 2 years ago
They were known as sumptuary laws. Queen Elizabeth I passed a law making every person over the age of 6 wear a woolen cap (known as a Monmouth cap) every Sunday. If they didn't, they got fined. It was to help support the English woolen industry.
#10
"Boiling fruit before you eat it. People in medieval times thought raw fruit was bad for you - so they boiled their fruit before eating it. Boiling removes vitamin C from fruit. This habit is thought to be one of the reasons why there were high rates of scurvy in medieval times. One of the symptoms of scurvy is hallucinations. Scurvy-induced hallucinations are thought to be one of the reasons why so many people in medieval times were documented to have had religious visions. LPT - if you want to see Jesus, stop ingesting vitamin C. Possible side effects include loss of teeth, bleeding gums, aforementioned hallucinations, suppression of immune system, and death."
David H 2 years ago
Not exactly, they thought raw of some types of fruits would create digestive issues. However pickeling was more common than boiling, which doesnt remove the vitamin C. Further they believed that cooking most vegetables were bad for the body, so veggies were eaten raw. There is ZERO historical evidence of high rates of scurvy outside of famine periods. Sailors had scurvy because of the lack of fruits and veggies on ships, which is why the Brits went with Lime Juice in the 17th Century, German and Dutch sailors went with Sourkraut, etc.
Frances M 2 years ago
Because some fruit needs to be boiled. Example : Elderflower berries taste very good but are full of cyanide that boils off really easily, thus making them safe to eat.
Hey! 2 years ago
Interesting fact. Now I'm wondering who thought of boiling elderflower after seeing someone die.
Load More Replies... that weird wallflower is demi 2 years ago
Omg the Tik Tok challenge would be all over the news because of 'The Return of Scurvy- It Was Started by TikTok"
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visacrum 2 years ago (edited)
Not directly related, but every time I see the word 'scurvy' I can't help but bring up this piece of trivia: The slur 'Limeys' is used against the British because of scurvy. Instead of getting lemons for vitamin C, they would get (cheaper) limes, which didn't actually work as well. Nevertheless, well, now you know why the slur exists.
#11
"A barber doing surgery." showMeYourPitties10 replied: "It was more like a surgeon was also doing haircuts."
Mabelbabel 2 years ago
The original version of the Hippocratic Oath traditionally taken by doctors states "I will not cut for stone." (Kidney and bladder stones were common back then). Basically, surgeons were not considered doctors, so doctors weren't allowed to do surgery. The effect of that today is still seen in the titles we give doctors in the UK. Surgeons are obviously now medically qualified, but once they've become accredited as surgeons, they are given the title Mr/Mrs/Miss and don't use Dr as their courtesy title. Physicians, the non knife wielding medical practitioners, have the courtesy title Dr.
#12
"A doctor taste-testing urine." AngelFox1 replied: "This is how they determined if you were diabetic."
visacrum 2 years ago
I found patient 329 to be a cheeky little c*nt, with notes of cedar and gaming, but with an undeniably sugary finish. Undoubtedly diabetic.
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Bonesko 2 years ago
Imagine the first person to think 'if I want to save this person I should probably drink their pee'.
SkyBlueandBlack 2 years ago
Ah, that's the catch -- you couldn't save them. But at least you knew they weren't dying of something contagious.
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Jesus Ortiz 2 years ago
It really works, the urine though had to be the first urine of the day, after waking up.
#13
"Animal courts. By far the most serial offenders were pigs, accused and convicted of chewing off body parts and even eating children. Most were found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging or being burned at the stake. In 1386, a convicted pig was dressed in a waistcoat, gloves, drawers, and a human mask for its execution."
Jeremy James 2 years ago
I remember something about woodworms (or termites maybe?) being tried and excommunicated by the Church for eating the Pope's chair-leg and making him fall over?
ConstantlyJon 2 years ago
Took me a second to realize this was not talking about a royal court full of farm animals.
Bill McDowall 2 years ago
Why do I now have a picture in my mind of a vast crowd of medieval peasants holding knives, forks and bread rolls at the execution. 🤔
Thegoodboi 2 years ago
This one pig LOOKS guilty! Let's go huff and puff and blow his house down!
#14
"Carrying a sword." Farnsworthson replied: "More like not having enough money to be able to afford a sword. A decent sword cost several months' wages for the average man."
Craftsman 64 2 years ago
Which puts to bed that stupid trope about Baby Boomers were poor blacksmiths compared to 11the century Saxons. Blacksmithing was a very specialized trade requiring tools, setups, etc. It wasn't something that people did in their backyard in their spare time.
Sami-Jo Ross 2 years ago
You realize that was a meme and hyperbole because of boomers complaining that millennials don't have the same skills as them, yes?
Load More Replies... Brittany Grawe 2 years ago
You know what else costs several months' wages? Buying that bmw instead of a Toyota🤷♀️
#15
"From an American context (and possibly other places too), the amount of time off work in Medieval times would be utterly bizarre compared to now. The idea that the peasantry toiled dawn to dusk in the fields before dying of exhaustion and plague at age 45 is incorrect. Farmers worked the land when it needed work, and the calendar dictates that schedule. Festivals, harvests, Religious holidays, and everyday life took up more time than work did. We've disillusioned ourselves into thinking that our ancestors lived to work so we should too."
Hugh Cookson 2 years ago
I suspect the idea of constantly working came in with the Industrial Revolution.
Shane G 2 years ago
It is indeed a result of the industrial revolution. Machines could work non-stop all day long so workers were.expected to do the same.
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A Schlosberg 2 years ago
The idea of work to live ... working more than living... came about with rise of capitalism... owners want you to believe it.
L.A. Trefry 2 years ago
The idea that we work more than Medieval peasants is a fallacy and has been debunked.
Mike Y 2 years ago
Yes. Because of generous Medieval public assistance, everyone had plenty to eat and beautiful public housing, enabling them to enjoy their leisure.
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
The point is that they had to work to live, as they made they own food, but didn't need to do more than that. It's only with the industrial revolution that surpluses of food and time became available.
Load More Replies... #16
"The hue and cry. Literally shouting that someone stole something and having the whole village chase after them." clarkjedi asked: "I mean... Have any better ideas for when you get robbed in a public place? Sounds like a sound idea to me." theminef replied: "But imagine getting wrongly accused and getting lynched by a handful of peasants."
#17
"Public baths. Not on the same scale as they were in Rome, but it was still pretty common to have a bathhouse in medieval Germany and surrounding places to bathe in a group in a large tub of hot, fragrant water, called a "Zuberbad" in German. Now everyone's all hung up on nudity. Even among friends, so it's way less common (although you can still enjoy a public Zuber bath at medieval markets and renaissance fairs in Germanic countries)."
Hugh Cookson 2 years ago
Go to a Sauna in Germany - if you wear clothes, you WILL be in the minority !!
Clare La 2 years ago
Same in the Netherlands. Once you get used to it, the idea of wearing clothes in a sauna is quite unhygienic
Load More Replies... #18
"Sleeping twice. In medieval times life effectively revolved around the sun. But particularly in the winter, there was far too much time in the night to fill with just sleeping. It was still common for people to go to sleep at dusk, after a hard day's work. But they would wake up in the middle of the night and do something (chat with the neighbors, have sex in front of the whole family, have a snack, etc. Then you'd go back to bed for your second sleep, waking up with the sun."
Brittany Grawe 2 years ago
In all seriousness, this kind of sleep schedule works REALLY well for me. My body just naturally wakes up after a few hours. It is much more productive to give in to insomnia and do some stuff for 3 or 4 hours, then fall back asleep for a while before actually starting my day, instead of tossing and turning in bed, doing nothing, and getting no sleep.
L.A. Trefry 2 years ago
Yeah, no. I know that idiot claimed that this happened but, no, you didn't go out in the middle of the night and chat with your neighbors..
Carter McBride 2 years ago (edited)
Yeah, my family prefers it that way too
Load More Replies... #19
"Assuming that most women you meet can't read. Assuming that most men you meet either can't read or can also read Latin."
Nilsen 2 years ago
Only boys of good families went to school in (late) medieval England, but they had "learned their letters" from their mothers before starting school. Most women in upper middle class and above could read and write. And most men of lower middle class or lower couldn't write. It was more a class thing than a gender thing.
#20
"Gruesome executions that took a while to actually kill someone. Seriously medieval people, what the hell is it with sentencing people to be burned at the stake or crucified or drawn-and-quartered? A swift beheading was the most benevolent way to kill someone in the old days but not widely practiced as it turns out."
Norman Beattie 2 years ago
A good Stoning allowed for crowd participation and fun for the whole family !
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
It's making a very painful example to deter others. Worth considering?
#21
"Using stale bread as plates." Malkariss888 replied: "This was kinda debunked. It wasn't stale bread, it was the "normal" bread of the times: black, not much risen. So it was hard, and it was usually given to the poor after each meal. Eating the "plate" was very impolite and shunned, as you would steal the meal of a person, and on the other hand, you would eat like a poor. Also, bread was almost never eaten cold and without a soup."
LizzieBoredom 2 years ago (edited)
They must have had yeast since it was healthier to drink beer than to drink from the local watering hole.
N Miller 2 years ago
Barm cakes (aka baps, rolls, myriad other names across the country) are so named because they were made using the barm, or frothy yeast by-product of beer fermentation
Load More Replies... #22
"In medieval times it was a common practice to display tapestries on walls instead of oil paintings and other works of art."
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
Tapestries can be confused with embroideries - the Bayeux one being the most famous example.
#23
"I’ve taken medieval literature college. There are a lot of strange things that were normal for them but strange for us. Selling off your daughter so the rest of your family can eat, putting iron near your baby to protect them from changelings, etc."
#25
"Salt being extremely expensive. Getting some comments here - expensive is a relative statement, and when you consider that less than three hours of minimum wage buy a 50 lb bag of salt today... it's safe to say that a modern person would be surprised at how expensive salt was. Additionally, salt in West Africa was expensive even in absolute terms."
Pedantic Panda 2 years ago
I believe Roman soldiers got at least since of their wage in salt, the word for which was sal, origin of the word salary. Was necessary for the preservation of certain food.
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
According to QI, that's a bit of a myth. They had to buy salt, and their uniforms, but they weren't paid in it.
Load More Replies... #26
"Marrying second cousins. When nobody travels and villages are small... it's pretty much unavoidable."
Craftsman 64 2 years ago
Makes doing genealogy research maddening since they all tended to name their kids after each other as well.
Nilsen 2 years ago
And they changed names with their profession, so John Smith's son could be Will Miller
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#28
"Donating your urine to a Dyer."
David H 2 years ago
urine was used in tanning, and there was a job in ancient times called a urine collector, there also was a job to collect bird poop for tanning as well.
Tim Fawcett 2 years ago
Up into victorian times there was the "pure seller" who collected dog turds to sell to tanners to pocess for saltpetre.
Load More Replies... Nilsen 2 years ago
Selling your urine to a dyer as your only income = P**s poor. Or even poorer when you didn't have a pot to p**s in.....
Ripley 2 years ago
Urine was a valuable resource for vastly longer than the medieval period. IIRC there was evidence found in Ponpeii of collecting pots throughout the city. It's not just used by dyers and tanners, left to sit for a while it basically turns into ammonia, so was a valuable cleaner (often to clean the grease out of wool) as well.
#29
"You have insulted my honor, I challenge you to a duel!"
mark glass 2 years ago
With most insults coming from anonymous trolls, no comeback likely for this one.
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
That would be "honour", since there were no American spellings in those days.
#30
"Just tossing your feces out the window in the morning."
Pedantic Panda 2 years ago
This didn't really happen that often I believe. Buckets were filled nightly and in the morning disposed of in rivers/stream/cesspits or collected by night soil men.
Tiffany Denchfield 2 years ago
I am morbidly curious about the stench. Likely nothing we could ever imagine. Yuck!
#31
"More horrifying than weird, but burning cats alive was a popular form of entertainment in medieval and early modern France."
Hugh Cookson 2 years ago
Even worse. In parts of East Anglia (in the UK) cats were bricked up, alive, into cavities in newly built buildings to ward off evil spirits and witches. Horrible. I worked in a place in Suffolk that had uncovered one of these unfortunate cats and had it displayed behind a glass partition in the cavity it had been buried in. A talking point for sure but I hated it and lasted about 6 weeks.
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Alex Ruddies 2 years ago
Well, time to go back in time with an AK-47 and shining plate armor and impose the fear of God into these cat hating folks...
Deborah Rubin 2 years ago
They, especially black cats, were thought to be evil. Burning them was purging the evil.
#32
"Having multiple children, over many years, while living in a 1 room dwelling."
visacrum 2 years ago
Honestly, how much chill would there be after the 3rd newborn? I think it would just be escapism and hate s*x at that point.
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Hugh Cookson 2 years ago
Still happens in far, far too many countries around the World today !!!
PeepPeep the duck 2 years ago
And by choice sometimes, my cool and crazy neighbors from France lived in a unit next to me (1 bedroom) with 4 kids and said it was normal back home
Load More Replies... #33
"Bloodletting."
KombatBunni 2 years ago
I have it on vinyl! Cost me all of $5 from a charity shop :)
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#34
"At the table, in the Middle Ages, it was considered impolite to scratch your face unless you did it with a piece of bread and then ate it. This was a sanitary concern because people typically ate in what is now commonly called family style (everyone serving themselves at the table from communal dishes). You wash your hands before dinner and if you have to scratch your face, to avoid soiling your hands again, you tear off a hunk of bread, scratch your face with that and eat it."
Tiffany Denchfield 2 years ago
That sounds quite reasonable considering there was no clean running water to thoroughly wash with. But I am skeptical if this was a truly common practice or just one perpetuated by people who didn't die of the plague
#35
"Believing that that pleasant smelling oils can cure the plague."
Fiona Parky 2 years ago
This was down to miasma theory. Disease is caused by noxious odours. It isn’t of course but the theory was so deeply ingrained that when John Snow proved that contaminated water was to blame for the cholera outbreak around Broad St in London, he was dismissed. Despite his research and evidence being just one of the best examples of proper scientific research and conclusion. He even discovered that the reason the workers at the brewery were not getting ill because they mainly drank beer and that was effectively pasteurised by the brewing process. He managed to trace almost every case back to the Broad Street pump, and had the handle of the pump removed, which instantly stopped new cases. He was dismissed by everyone, and they then put the handle back. It was, after many more deaths, shown that a cracked sewer pipe was contaminating the well that supplied the pump.
Ace 2 years ago (edited)
Was more that they thought that a bad smell itself caused many illnesses, so if you could disguise it enough that you couldn't smell it you couldn't then catch the disease.
Taz Pengra 2 years ago
Sounds like some people I know today...looking at YOU, essential oil sniffers...
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Aidan Pite 2 years ago
They believed that bad smells caused sickness. They were half right: things that smell bad tend to be unhygienic, so if you stay away from them you'll be less likely to fall ill from sicknesses caused by a lack of hygiene.
Tiffany Denchfield 2 years ago
Can't imagine how badly people smelled back then with no deodorant, toilet paper, or running water. I think I'd believe it too if I finally smelled something pleasant
#36
"Believe earth is the center of the universe."
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago
No, the Kardashians think that THEY are the center of the universe, not the Earth XD
Load More Replies... #37
"Going to sleep as soon as it gets dark, waking up and hanging out with your family for a few hours in the middle of the night, and going back to bed until sunrise." RandomLuddite comments: "Before the industrial revolution, sleeping habits were different. It changed because of street lights, working hours, and such modern things, into a single 8-hour cycle.
Chucky Cheezburger 2 years ago
I know a funny little rhyme pertaining to that, but it would probably be auto edited to death...
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#38
"Brushing your teeth with a stick."
Hugh Cookson 2 years ago
My late Great Auntie Mary still used Liquorice Root to clean her teeth right up to her death in 1998. Her teeth were'nt brilliant but she still had most of them when she died at the age of 92 !!
LizzieBoredom 2 years ago (edited)
and then rinse your mouth with 3 week old urine. It's sterilized!
#39
"People walking around carrying weapons in public."
Joots (shants/jorts) 2 years ago (edited)
Your obsession with the US is frightening - I really hope you’re on a couple “no fly” lists.
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Demosthenes 2 years ago
Never mind the billions of people driving around 2 ton weapons all day long…look that fellow over there is carrying a large knife!
Martin Annau 2 years ago
Not that many people could afford "real" weapons, but they had a knife for eating...
#40
"Outlawry, which stripped a person of all legal rights and allowed anyone to kill them with impunity." user replied: "I don't think it minds being an outlaw. Sure I could get killed, but doesn't that also means I could operate outside the laws with no consequences? Until I’m killed obviously."
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
An outlaw was outside the protection of the law - ie you could be killed and the killer wasn't considered to be committing a crime. It doesn't mean you can operate outside the law with no consequences - you're still guilty of any crime you commit, and can be punished accordingly.
Joots (shants/jorts) 2 years ago
Thanks for clearing that up - never knew the complete meaning of “outlaw”
Load More Replies... #41
"Never traveling more than a few miles outside of your village or town."
Jesus Ortiz 2 years ago
This isn't 100% true. Many people, in fact, more people than expected traveled to various far away places as part of: a pilgrimage, selling their grown goods to a market, if one was a craftsman; for their expertise was in high demand across the land, as part of a crusade, or even trades persons. The dark ages, middle ages, and on weren't so secluded.
Bill McDowall 2 years ago
Landowners in England were legally obliged to let their tenants and serfs to go on pilgrimage, it was kind of like a gap year!
Load More Replies... Hugh Cookson 2 years ago
This was normal until quite late on, in fact, until the 1850's or so, the furthest you could go in a day was as far as you could walk, or, if you were rich, ride. However, the invention that expanded he gene pool the most was the Bicycle, especially when it started to be mass produced which meant that a young man or woman could travel what were then huge distances, have a liaison and still be back before bedtime .....
Pedantic Panda 2 years ago
Was just about to post something similar; "Before the invention of the bicycle, the average distance between the birthplaces of spouses in England was one mile. "
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margaret carradus 1 year ago
People did go on pilgrimage, as far afield as the Holy Land. Folk travelled further than you think.
#42
"Thinking God could save you from the plague."
Ripley 2 years ago
How is this any different from now? How many antivaxxers would claim that god was the only vaccine that they needed?
Jesus Ortiz 2 years ago
Very different, back then people had either no true relief, or something that could just provide some comfort and dull the senses...while they died. As a result from the lack of knowledge of germ theory, the microscopic world, and the transmission of most diseases, of course the only thing those people turned to was God, who could blame them? Not I. Now, in our current day anti-vaxxers have modern technology, medicines, and cures for most diseases that those people didn't. And yet, they deny the efficacy of such treatments, because they either have room temperature IQ, or are willfully ignorant.
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Alex J 2 years ago
Uh, Theocracies exist on this earth that are way more religious then the US. Europe has Vatican City for crying out loud.
Load More Replies... Alex J 2 years ago
Yeah why didn’t those peasants denied any education just invent the entire germ theory of disease instead!
Ripley 2 years ago
Don't be an arsehole. They did have a sound medical theory - it was just wrong. And most people were not denied an education, it just would have been different to that which we think of as an education today.
Load More Replies... #43
"The concept of killing the wife by burning when the husband dies, called as Sati."
Jeff Jefferson 2 years ago
Only in India/Nepal, I doubt the rest of the world knew about this. And certainly would not have practised it.
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
It's mentioned in Around the World in 80 days. Phileas Fogg attempts to save the woman (I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it).
#44
"Wearing a codpiece."
#45
"Leprosy."
A Schlosberg 2 years ago
Sung to the tune of "yesterday".... leprosy... I'm not half the man I used to be... all my parts are falling off of me... oh why do I have leprosy...
Kare Deter 2 years ago
Still exists, currently called Hansen's Disease and is curable with antibiotics.
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
Another myth - leprosy does not cause limbs to fall off. At most, there's necrosis - a bit like frostbite, blackening of the extremities.
SkyBlueandBlack 2 years ago
And bubonic plague, actually. And consumption (tuberculosis).
Load More Replies... #46
"Huge age disparities between husband and wife, both of whom are getting married for the first time."
#47
"Let's sleep on some hay on the floor."
Thomas Gilfoyle 2 years ago
The poor in London in the nineteenth century paid for a place on a rope line to drape themselves to sleep.
#48
"The concepts of paying a bride price or a dowry (they're the exact opposite). Back then you had to pay to get married; now you just pay after you're married."
Bookworm 2 years ago
I've read that you can tell whether a culture was historically short of land or people by the form of marriage payment. In Europe they had tons of people but very little free land, so they mostly had dowry cultures where the woman had to bring property into the marriage. African cultures had plenty of land but struggled with lack of population, and they mostly developed bride-price cultures where a man had to pay to marry a woman.
#49
"Having people help you get dressed and undressed as an adult."
Apatheist Account2 2 years ago
This carried on well into the 20th century - have you not seen Downton Abbey?
#50
"Eat foods without processed sugar."
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