The importance of river crossings in the olden days

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Fords, bridges, and ferries were major navigation marks in the minds of medieval folk. I talk about this, when I'm not digressing about Henry VIII.
Support me on Patreon: / lindybeige
Picture credits:
New London Bridge
By Hammersfan - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Twizel Bridge
By Kirsty Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Miravet ferry
Jordiferrer, CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons
Hampton ferry
Simon Robinson, 2004, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Clapper bridge
By Stefan Kühn - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
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Lindybeige: a channel of archaeology, ancient and medieval warfare, rants, swing dance, travelogues, evolution, and whatever else occurs to me to make.
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[@fishskin1185]

I'd like to imagine he's doing this in a public library.

[@QALibrary]

he moved house and he just managed to get a new ISP because the first one screwed up big time - he did a post about the sound and background - but he has a room just for video work now

[@urbantuckerman]

echo suggests so

[@frankbarnwell____]

@m_ the_Happy_Doc well. nice

[@RayPerkins01]

Sounds like he recorded it in a public toilet.

[@binkbonkbones3402]

He sleeps in a hidden cubby in a library, and eats mice and cups of coffee people leave unattended.

[@VladBokachev]

Lindybeige: let's talk about bridges. 10 minutes later: And that's why James IV went to hell

[@johnlittle8975]

Guess he should have built a bridge instead.

[@JarthenGreenmeadow]

The first guy to put an actual chapel on his bridge musta been so smug.

[@rafaelbalsan4512]

@@JarthenGreenmeadow ez prayer farming strat

[@superqwat8618]

I love it that this has 666 likes :D

[@theme7363]

and i wouldn’t want it any other way

[@maxs3812]

"Honey, come on it's dinner time" "I can't, that weird englishman has gone off again ranting about bridges and the french or something."

[@micahphilson]

"I said now!" "But James IV is just about to go to hell!"

[@ShadowDragon8685]

The biggest understatement ever: "The Earth's crust can support a lot of weight."

[@TheDennys21]

Ofc it can support the weight because it is the weight!

[@tyree9055]

😄😆🤣😂😅

[@AlexMoreno-zj7po]

it does sink down a very noticeable amount if you leave something heavy on it for a while, like ice sheets

[@pissiole5654]

My grandmother always used to say this when I was a kid, I never used to understand why. Frankly I'm still not sure but she had her demons just like the rest of us.

[@pacificostudios]

That fact doesn't come in handy when the top of the earth's crust is, e.g.,. water-saturated clay.

[@aarontkachuk]

Lindybeige has mastered the art of making all of his videos look like they’re filmed in 1997.

[@bigtoethementalist5037]

He should do them in black & white. And put the Open University Symbol on screen. Lol 😂

[@josephteller9715]

@@bigtoethementalist5037 he needs a sweater with leather patches on the elbows.... and a pipe to gesture with for emphasis.

[@MardiKivMusic]

@@bigtoethementalist5037 also he should throw in a few spice girls and blur references

[@eepsmakelijk]

And sound like he's in the bathroom

[@jackthurgood9614]

Maybe he is?!?!?!?

[@PoLaNd4life96]

I learned that as a 9 year old, defending one bridge crossing for 10 years stopping French onslaught while playing Medieval 2 Total War

[@CanadisX]

I stopped the golden hord for years with an extremly thin force on bridges in the east. I just conquered russia and had veeeeery long supply lines from Western europe, when those guys came riding in. Did the Same with like 10 full stake egyptian armies later in the same game. Until today still my most intense and glorious total war game^^ Edit: Was in medieval 1 though

[@JanTuts]

You must have been so relieved when it was finally over, at the age of 19. 😉

[@89Keith]

[Feels sad that campaign terrain doesnt effect battlefield terrain in modern total war battles]

[@PoLaNd4life96]

@@89Keith dont consoom new products, I still only play older games because I find them vastly superior to modern games

[@PoLaNd4life96]

@@JanTuts haha

[@doctorlolchicken7478]

In LotR, the books, Tolkien has his characters talk a lot about rivers and river crossings. Not so much roads. I think Tolkien was aware of the relative importance of rivers.

[@johan.ohgren]

Being a war veteran I suppose he had some real world experience on the matter.

[@seanbeadles7421]

@@johan.ohgren in WWI. He probably just sat in the same trench the whole war lolol

[@andrewbroeker9819]

Also, Frodo didn't know much about river crossings because he'd never done an honest day's work in his life.

[@KeluskTV]

@@andrewbroeker9819 Frodo would've known about that Ferry since he grew up in Brandy Hall on the far side of the river before he moved in with his uncle Bilbo. Also he made excursions across the river to steal Mushrooms from Farmer Maggot's land, so defo would've used that crossing.

[@andrewbroeker9819]

@@KeluskTV Maybe, but they also might only have been talking about crossings usable by ponies and horses.

[@thedeadcannotdie]

James IV: declares war despite having marriage alliance *James IV gained 50 infamy* *James IV got excommunicated*

[@imperialtutor8687]

Vassal opinion -20 for offensive war.

[@csmlyly5736]

Just slap up a stone bridge so your peasants pray for your soul. Jesus loves stone bridges.

[@vulture4117]

"He's doing God's work, fighting the French."

[@GuitarsRockForever]

Then French was doing god's work when fighting Brit.

[@kint87]

Love from France 😊

[@michaelmcneil4168]

You nearly decorated my keyboard.

[@davidbrennan660]

Like Klingons, the act of fighting each other in bloody battle is really more important than who and what it was all about.

[@hrotha]

This would be the War of the League of Cambrai, where everybody switched sides so much they were completely reversed a few times. It was hilarious

[@joescarratt9389]

“Doing God’s work, fighting the French”😂

[@frankbarnwell____]

let the French fight themselves. drop mic

[@numbers4851]

Well they did that on many occasions

[@daedraq]

@@frankbarnwell____ to be fair the brits fought themself constantly as well.

[@robertleonard1665]

Blaming the Jews for deicide for 1,945 years was just a typo - it was actually the french

[@bmyers8356]

@@robertleonard1665 : the Roman Legions never gets enough credit from Christians for Deicide. SPQR !

[@StephiSensei26]

12 minutes of tangent from the original subject matter, and he manages to Segway back to it before the commercial break. Brilliant! I had a chemistry teacher like this, he was brilliant too. This is the way to teach.

[@EdwardCree]

'segue', but who's counting?

[@StephiSensei26]

@@EdwardCree Thanks!

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

Person 1: "Where's the nearest river crossing?" Person 2: "How strong a swimmer are you?"

[@MrHack4never]

Swimming was an uncommon skill back then

[@krispalermo8133]

@@MrHack4never can't trust crossing open ice.

[@Cenobyte40k]

@@MrHack4never 'back then' is a very long time. Swimming is very common in many cultures even for the poor. Roman's would pretty much all know how to swim at least moderately. Swimming was a common sport for boys in Rome.

[@SxSxG666]

It is a lot harder and dangerous to cross a river by swimming then you might think. I know people died trying. Currents often don't look any imptessive but in fact they are very powerful and much stronger then even a trained and fit person could ever be.

[@dungeonsanddobbers2683]

@@SxSxG666 It's a joke, fella, just say "Funny, lol" and move one.

[@crazypomp927]

That Henry VIII tangent followed by, "But I can bring it back! I can bring it back!" is one of Lindybeige's finest moments.

[@CarthagoMike]

As yes, river crossings. Almost as important as rivers themselves.

[@3John-Bishop]

To get to the other side..theres a joke in there somewhere.

[@ArcticTemper]

No, no, they're far more important. We could do without the rivers but damned if we'll give up the crossings.

[@moosemaimer]

I'm building a fantastic bridge in my basement.

[@drewinsur7321]

@@3John-Bishop why the chicken crossed the river? to declare a civil war (or buy weed idk)

[@nevenpavlovic4448]

Anyone knows what's the highest practical depth where simple stone/rock crossing could be made?

[@susideguy]

I love these long tangent riddled lectures, each tangent is a wonderful example of Lindy being so in love with history/storytelling and having such encyclopedic knowledge he just HAS to talk avout X thing thats related to the current subject. It's what makes these videos some of the best educational content. Lindy is just an inspired, loving, passionate teacher gushing about interesting things.

[@guineapigsith699]

2:30 Point of order: Merry and Pippin are local to that part of the shire, Frodo is not.

[@incanusolorin2607]

Merry was. Pippin lived in Westfarthing, just like Frodo and Sam.

[@guineapigsith699]

@@incanusolorin2607 I stand corrected. Thank you. Merry Christmas, Incanus

[@incanusolorin2607]

@@guineapigsith699 Merry Christmas, mate!

[@peterknutsen3070]

Frodo was born in Buckland and lived there for maybe 15-20 years before Bilbo adopted him. Sam is the only hobbit who hasn't been there before.

[@erikvale3194]

"Welcome to Woodbridge." "Huh. Named after the wooden bridge?" "It's stone actually." "..."

[@kira_the_cat1187]

^_^

[@AlexanderRM1000]

The stone bridge across the Wood River?

[@therealunclevanya]

@@AlexanderRM1000 amusingly, a lot of rivers in the UK are named after water. Afon, Avon, Aber is water in Ancient British/Welsh/Gaelic.

[@marcelosilveira2276]

Might be a bridge near the woods... or the old wooden bridge burned down and they built a stone one

[@erikvale3194]

@@marcelosilveira2276 T'was a joke. For all I know it was named after a wooden bridge, I just thought it'd be funny if they named it woodbridge despite being stone, and used it to confuse tourists/tax collectors.

[@TheBananenbeer]

lindy pls more infrastructural topics in the medieval age i love this stuff

[@davidrafferty2491]

I concur! If he did a segment on the Venetian arsenal and the logistics of Venetian trade i would be thrilled.

[@user-ih3jl9um6e]

@@davidrafferty2491 yessss, that would be amazing!

[@mark8200]

Next, airports of the middle ages.

[@a.d.9415]

Absolutely this! As much as I love the stories and tales, and I do, the details of life in the past are my favourite videos.

[@AndyJarman]

Vitruvius and the uniformity of Norman fortifications would make a good subject.

[@wwoods66]

Did I miss the part where he explained that the Pope is also called the _pontifex maximus_ -- the "Great Bridge-Builder"?

[@synapticburn]

Huh? It means priest-greatest (or greatest priest)

[@jorislemoine1488]

@@synapticburn Scroll down the wikipedia page to the bit about etymology. Bill Woods is mostly right.

[@peepshow090]

@@jorislemoine1488 Pontifex, (Latin: “bridge builder”, ) plural Pontifices, member of a council of priests in ancient Rome. The college, or collegium, of the pontifices was the most important Roman priesthood, being especially charged with the administration of the jus divinum

[@Joel-uv5tg]

It could be that it's referring to a metaphorical bridge between man and god like the one which connects midgard to asgard.

[@bolionce]

@@Joel-uv5tg or even more metaphorically, the bridge between the word/will of God and the people. In olden times it was regular for only clergy or the like to be able to contact or understand God (like not being allowed to read the Bible, etc). So they are the metaphorical bridge between the will of the people and the will of God. I love etymology like this

[@davidharris2517]

Earlier we find out that sam is the farthest away from home that he's ever been, similarly Frodo doesn't venture very far from hobbiton, however Merry and Pipin do venture out this far relatively frequently, shown by how much they've stolen from the local farmers. This would explain why they know the local area , whereas sam and Frodo don't

[@compulsoryevacuationdevice]

Thank you for explaining this. The "furthest away from home" line consistently confused me all throughout the movie, just like in scenes like this.

[@reaver1414]

Pippin is also from tookland and merry is from buckland. Frodo grew up somewhere else but has lived at bag end for a very long time. So the other 2 would have more knowledge about the lands they were traveling through and frodo may have head knowledge about where things are generally but not know where they are now and where places are in relation to there

[@bohemicbohemian9190]

Merry and Pipin are more traveled than Frodo and Sam, who actually never left the Shire. Few scenes before, just before frodo and sam run into Merry and pipin, Sam says that this furthest from the home he ever was.

[@kallisto9166]

Further, Bucklebury is in Buckland, which is Merry's home region. Merry's father is the Master of Buckland, so Merry has reason to know the area (book-Merry is more learned than film-Merry). Frodo and Sam by comparison, are from Hobbiton, which is about fifty miles away. So the exposition is quite well justified.

[@JanTuts]

To the question "Wait, did Tolkien get this wrong?", the answer is often "Nope, you're just not seeing the whole picture".

[@oldoddjobs]

Frodo spent most of his childhood in Buckland

[@kallisto9166]

@@oldoddjobs That is an excellent point. He's not been there in decades though.

[@andersmusikka]

In the book, Frodo does spend a lot of time hiking, in the years leading up to the trip to Rivendell.

[@soupordave]

James IV and his soldiers probably thought they were all right in the eyes of God because he was excommunicated by an English Cardinal, not the Pope. So the army was likely to accept that this was not legitimate and just a ploy by one of the King of England's stooges. It also should be pointed out that there was a lot of religious turmoil during this period. The papacy lost a lot of prestige and legitimacy during the Avignon Captivity (three simultaneous Popes will do that) and the Reformation was just starting out. Many people were of the opinion that the Pope should stay out of secular politics and remain strictly a spiritual leader.

[@wolliveryoutube]

A great point. Likewise, among the English, many felt that Latin Catholicism was forced upon them ever since the Norman Conquest. William, after all, got the Pope to bless his invasion, and once he was done, he sacked all the English bishops and replaced them with continental Latin ones. Basically, between England and Scotland and Ireland, the British Isles were, throughout the Middle Ages, more on the fringes of Roman Catholicism. The isles had a rich Christian tradition, but it was more rooted in local liturgics and church government.

[@sylvainrobert5156]

Aha! My senses were telling me there was a fallacy in Lindy's telling of James IV's excommunication.

[@boku5192]

@David Transou exactly what i thought

[@AlexanderRM1000]

"The Papacy lost a lot of legitimacy" is sort of just a way of saying "these people didn't really believe the Pope was God's vicar on earth", which was the point Lindy was making. Likewise English cardinals are appointed by the Pope and while I'm not an expert on excommunication and Wikipedia's only got a few lines on this particular one it sounds like he was acting on the Pope's behalf, meaning on God's behalf if you're a Catholic.

[@Bane_questionmark]

@@AlexanderRM1000 "which was the point lindy was making" No, he clearly said this indicated to him that people must not have really believed in God, heaven, and hell. 13:26

[@EmilGlockner]

Ironically, my sister told her son the other day that he'd have 'to go to the left after the bridge', when telling him the way to his friend's house. 'What bridge?' was his reply.

[@onionbard178]

4:12 Important news from Lloyd: the Earth's crust is thicc, and can take huge loads

[@p7outdoors297]

😁

[@acurafillfilip9868]

@@p7outdoors297 she should definitely start an OnlyFans

[@ctastrophe]

Is the Scottish-English-French rivalry the longest running game of Rock Paper Scissors?

[@lucaswatson1913]

Idk but as a half French Englishman living in Scotland I'm very on edge

[@ctastrophe]

@@lucaswatson1913 Your internal conflict must be raging! "Do I invade my other half? If I do, will the local Scots try to invade my right arm?" 🤣

[@manfredconnor3194]

I thought it was Haggis, paper, scissors, but ok, whatever.

[@Soitisisit]

@@manfredconnor3194 Næ, but me mate's called Haggis and he weigh 20 stone.

[@OPTTWoodrow]

Lindy during the Advert: "With gestures like that you know you are in safe hands!" Looks at advert: Screen reads *Punch to Groin*

[@johnladuke6475]

"Gestures like that speak for themselves" I didn't think that the ads for Great Courses Plus could get any better, but somehow a lack of home internet caused an improvement.

[@VictorianTimeTraveler]

One interesting tidbit that's related to this is that during the American war between the states the North would name battles after the nearest town and the South would name battles after the nearest river

[@richardross7219]

My first command was as a US Army Float Bridge Platoon Leader. It was interesting work and taught me many lasting lessons. I later used those lessons as a civil engineer. A good video. Good Luck, Rick

[@clausroquefort9545]

2:20 Frodo lives in the central part of the shire whereas merry and pippin are from a clan that lives right at the eastern border of the shire. it's just aksing the locals who also happen to be your relatives.

[@oldoddjobs]

Frodo is from Buckland

[@clausroquefort9545]

@@oldoddjobs sure, that's where he comes from, but he lives with Bilbo unlike his relatives, not in Buckland

[@freshfresh5205]

Add to that two of the hobbits had never left the shire

[@incanusolorin2607]

Tuckborough (where Pippin lived) was in the Westfarthing, just like Hobbiton (where Sam and Frodo lived). Merry was the only one that lived in Buckland, although in the books Pippin and Frodo also knew the region well, because they often travelled there.

[@ResonantRTS]

Hope ya like your new place. I can only imagine the knowledge on thoes shelves

[@sussurus]

might blow your mind if i told you that there are some buildings specifically built to contain orders of magnitude more books than in this video.

[@Mira_linn]

I mean you can access many times more knowledge at your fingertips anyways

[@edgarbanuelos6472]

Why does he have two copies of Lenin?

[@safraeLeDragunov]

@@edgarbanuelos6472 to share with a friend

[@TheGhostOperative]

don't be fooled. they are all dr seuss and goosebumps in different covers to impress you. but if you look closely, one of them is a lever to open the secret passage behind it. if you follow the passage, it will lead you to his actual bookshelf with all the seasons of "the office".

[@sailorgeer]

“Henry the 8th married a lot and in those days lots of folks got excommunicated because they probably didn’t really believe in God and that, students, is why river crossings were so important.”

[@SplendidFellow]

21:37 "Gestures like that speak for themselves." *Punch in the Groin* 😂🤣😂🤣

[@johnladuke6475]

The new best ad on the channel.

[@patrickcharette2151]

“Fords needed to be maintained regularly” Wow so the new f-150 really isn’t all that much different now then it used to be

[@williamswenson5315]

Well, less rust with the al-u-mini-um body anyway.

[@cherryzestful4854]

Harrison Ford in a Ford crossing a ford.

[@williamswenson5315]

@@cherryzestful4854 Or failing to yield right-of-way and landing on a taxiway.

[@cherryzestful4854]

@@williamswenson5315 Yeah he's a real character, huh.

[@williamswenson5315]

@@cherryzestful4854 Zesty. I'll bet office hours with him last a while.

[@xboxhomie4]

Lindy’s transition into a berserker is nearly complete.

[@ArcticTemper]

I don't see a bearskin or a Dark Age Nordic lord for him to serve anywhere... ways to go yet.

[@williamswenson5315]

Needs more manic.

[@sotohigake4902]

If he really was a Berserker, 9yo's would have certain fantasies about him

[@davidbrennan660]

He is passionate about his subjects of his lectures..... never stand within 3 metres of him at any time or the length of his weapon reach when he is in full flow ( if you forgive the subject pun). We should never get Lindy started on history and stuff...... be always needs a little lie down afterwards.

[@williamswenson5315]

@@davidbrennan660 You refer to the length of time between his offerings, perhaps? His passion for the subject matter is what makes him so attractive as a lecturer. That, and his rather endearing histrionics when he is going full-tilt down some alleyway on a round-about attempt (usually successful) to rejoin the main thread of his lecture. He is rather refreshing in his way; unlike most pedants whose workman-like habit of dropping words one after the next, always in the proper sequence, leave one regarding the inner lining of one's eyelids. Nickolas reminds me of a comment made by Jose Philip Farmer; he differentiated between the intellect that opens an encyclopedia and extracts exactly the facts they want, then closes the volume vs the intellect that performs exactly the same operation and then, proceeds to turn to one page after another. Finally, opening one volume after another, forever hunting the elusive snark.

[@Templarkommando]

I remember reading that one of the strategies that was used by England and France to try to contain Danes that were going a-viking was to build a bridge along the river because it would slow down the movement of longships.

[@niels.brouwer]

Living in Arnhem, you definitely get a feeling for the importance of bridges.

[@Dalexb]

Groeten vanuit Plattenburg.

[@Block1618]

It's insane how you can do a nearly 40 minute rant in a single take with no script.

[@calebchristensen8207]

I would imagine it's probably a combination of 4 things: 1) Knowing your shit, which our boy Lloyd is a shining example of 2) Not being concerned about having a flub in your video and just rolling with it as you would if you were giving a speech or having a simple conversation. This being opposed to the very common practice of editing it out, restarting your sentence, (or more commonly) picking up where you flubbed, and then adding a cut in your video 3) Similarly to 2), not being concerned about "long pauses" in your video, i.e. dramatic pauses, natural pauses, regaining thoughts or composure, or breathing. This being opposed to the same things as 2) 4) Being either a good speaker, or a very comfortable speaker, and not needing to do multiple takes in order to "get the best take".

[@Ozymandias3505]

@@calebchristensen8207 I would add a 5th point, loving your topic.

[@calebchristensen8207]

@@Ozymandias3505 Oh, definitely. I hadn't even thought of that. Not surprisingly, another thing that Lloyd is such a good example of.

[@oldoddjobs]

Is it insane though

[@nicholasvandervelden450]

@@calebchristensen8207 i think he's had some not inconsiderable training in rhetoric, too

[@francesbadger3401]

13 minutes into a lecture on bridges and we're discussing (belief in) the existence of heaven and hell. I love this man!

[@pierrelahaie6359]

Lindybeige: "I want to talk about an interesting ferry, 5 minutes top." Then does a 39 minutes video about river crossing and Scotland kings going to hell. Classic Lindybeige.

[@luiscarlosqg]

😁

[@doublintucksveto5321]

10 minutes of staying on topic followed 30 minutes of tangent this sounds like something I would make lol.

[@ljlk8583]

"bridges were a bit holy" well I sure hope not, I wouldn't want to fall through!

[@willek1335]

*heavy sigh*

[@dirtyblueshirt]

Unholy bridges are called dams.

[@ambjornborjesson5481]

Bridgebuilder here: They are indeed Holy. You can't imagine the meticulous work of building a modern bridge. It's quite difficult.

[@SilverMe2004]

Well they are if you look at them side ways

[@johnnyjohnny6174]

@@ambjornborjesson5481 I feel like that still doesn't make them Holy.

[@nucleargandhi2709]

River Crossings, or On the Nature of the Godless Scots

[@TheReykjavik]

One benefit of a "reaction" ferry is that it can be sent back to the other side quite easily. The tiller can be made with a locking mechanism so that once you've unloaded your wagon, you can switch the tiller over, lock it in place, hop off (or the tiller can be accessible from the pier), and let the empty ferry go back to the other side. This way, if you two ferries close to each other (maybe anchored to opposite sides on an S curve section in the river), one can stay on one side of the river, while the other stays on the other side. Whichever side you walk up to the river from, you can reasonably expect that a ferry will be waiting for you, no matter which direction the last person ended up crossing.

[@ross.venner]

23:50 Ah yes, the Australian term is punt. The Putney Punt still operates on the Parramatta River in Sydney. The river is also used by high speed ferries and a plethora of pleasure boats.

[@chrissim4386]

Ok, that LOTR reference immediatly got me.

[@nesa1126]

I thought he would talk about GoT

[@StickTheGlue]

I feel like we've had too many Lindybeige videos in the last few weeks. Said no-one EVER

[@LittleHotels]

Reaction ferries: never heard of them! But the modern equivalent would be the “ferry glide”, where a boat uses just enough power to stem the tide or current, adopts a slight angle to the stream, and moves sideways. Great for getting in or out of tight alongside moorings.

[@schlepedits7486]

THIS is why i sub to this channel. Not enough people think about pragmatic and common issues like this to the peoples of the past.

[@ElijsDima]

I really wish more historical things were explained by referring to the LOTR books/movies.

[@northernzeus768]

I believe that style of sweater is called a LindyBiege.

[@AndyJarman]

That's his no. 6 sweater, chain knit Shetland, Coir brown. There's a three volume guide to Lindybeige Sweaters on Wikipedia.

[@ursa_margo]

Sweater? No. Shirt? Yes.

[@davidkafka2452]

For anyone legit wondering what the style is called, look up cable knit sweaters.

[@northernzeus768]

@@davidkafka2452 maybe you don’t recognize sarcasm. Or maybe I’m not “ legit” enough. Whatever that means in this context.

[@skinnytoaster7524]

@@northernzeus768 that wasn’t sarcasm though. You were definitely proclaiming that like it was a fact.

[@buggs9950]

13:19 No, he didn't go to hell, he went to _Hull_ . Patchy education at the time meant mistakes like this were common. But Hull is much worse than hell so it's not like he got off lightly.

[@PeterHumburg]

According to the German Wikipedia page, many of the reaction ferries on German rivers were introduced in the 19th and 20th century. This was to allow the use of chain boats to drag convoys of boats upriver. The chain boats functioned very much like a rope ferry but going up and down the river rather than across. While that made for cost-effective river transport it made the use of traditional rope ferries impossible (as the two cables would cross) and the existing rope ferries were replaced with reaction ferries.

[@erdojan13]

Love the background, hate the sound. (a bit echoisch)

[@nathanlevesque7812]

yeah it's kinda hard to hear clearly so I'm out

[@comradesoupbeans4437]

he's just moved and probably has yet to set up a decent sound space

[@midshipman8654]

It sounds like his older videos. in a way, its a bit nostalgic.

[@Les537]

Bare walls. He seems aware.

[@bam538]

He reads so many books, he had to expand his personal library into his living room!

[@edgarbanuelos6472]

Why does he have two copies of Lenin?

[@cookingonthecheapcheap6921]

What living room lol, it's easy to imagine them slowly enveloping all the walls in the house.

[@cookingonthecheapcheap6921]

@@edgarbanuelos6472 2 part book, I think lol.

[@caradocapcunobelin2875]

I think it’s a green screen. The shadows don’t look right.

[@toad3222]

@@caradocapcunobelin2875 I think he's got a few stage lights which would make weird shadows

[@AdvancePlays]

The practice of paying for a bridge as a form of advertisement is apparently alive and well today - there's a big footbridge near Edinburgh Airport with a great big RBS logo on it that you see when leaving the city on the M8. It currently connects a big empty plot with another big empty plot, but its the thought that counts.

[@myparceltape1169]

I think that the taxpayer is the owner of RBS. At least they didn't put a politician's name on it, and I have seen them.

[@The88Cheat]

I love how Lindybeige talks about things that today seem a bit esoteric but were common knowledge in the time periods.

[@helmuthelmlos5067]

"Doing gods work" -> fighting the French, something the Italiens, English and Germans can agree on

[@Original-Yellow]

@@sexyshadowcat7 😭😭 too right haha

[@SirAntoniousBlock]

Don't encourage the brexitards.

[@ZerpaDavid]

"He was busy doing God's work. He was in France fighting Frenchman"

[@schoo9256]

The old prejudice is alive and well lol

[@James_I_Archer]

@Frank Wharton-Hughes bababoooey

[@skinnex3236]

As a german i support this claim xd

[@CMZneu]

That was surprisingly an extremely interesting and educational video, especially the part about reaction ferries that i weirdly did not know existed.

[@MRL86_]

Thank you so much for yet another fascinating video @Lindybeige Hope you are keeping well and settling in nicely to the new place!

[@Brave_Sir_Robin]

“Progress dammit!” -Lyindybeige

[@YeeSoest]

Are we 100% certain that "The Battle at Stamford Bridge" wasn't in fact just a particularly wild footie match?

[@chasbodaniels1744]

I’m an American baseball fan, and yet still I caught this joke. Well done, me.

[@therealunclevanya]

I'm sure the story about the Chelsea fan who put Stamford Bridge in his Satnav and ended up in York is purely apocryphal 🤣

[@jonrolfson1686]

Not for the Norwegian guy who stood alone over a hole in the planking...

[@Brinta3]

@@chasbodaniels1744 It’s not easy for an American to catch a joke. Well done!

[@eugenecbell]

As always, your analysis is right on, interesting, and entertaining. Thank you for all your research and especially for all your rants.

[@sweetrumman6496]

New home? So the old background with the big pencil ,and lizard and pictures on the wall are GONE?! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@Jsi01]

Wait. What? I can’t watch this if he’s not in his usual spot!

[@benjaminbliss4704]

A moment of silence for the usual spot if we may

[@Jsi01]

@@benjaminbliss4704 I will indulge you this pleasure. Pray silence please gentlemen...

[@bannermanigans]

He mentioned on Facebook that he's moved.

[@marcusfraser2790]

@@benjaminbliss4704 *moment of silence... Now a cheer for new beginnings and to Lindybeige's new "spot". Huzzah! 😂

[@bmyers8356]

Maybe he’ll finish Stoke Mannly now, due to the new location having similar acoustics.

[@somtimesieat2411]

"whereas in the wilder, rainier, hillier areas of Britain" *Looks out the window* yep that's me

[@MrDmitriRavenoff]

I thought that was all of Britain, but then again I'm American and do not understand Britain and all.

[@somtimesieat2411]

@@MrDmitriRavenoff aha yeah Britain's weather is pretty horrendous but North West got it worst lmao

[@feldgraufox4927]

The area where I live in England is all flat open fields and it only rains most of the time, not all of the time.

[@lucaswatson1913]

From Cumbria so yes for me too

[@somtimesieat2411]

@@lucaswatson1913 Cumbria gang💪💪💪

[@alexwyman8380]

"Crazy man yells about rivers for 40 minutes"

[@skylers_a_bum]

yells about james the V and Henry the VIII for 10 of those minutes.

[@BrowningM2A1]

Here I am again always learning new things. Thank you Lloyd.

[@alejandrorojas1423]

"As Pharoah I invented the original bridge; It was terrible but as it was the only one around everyone loved it!"

[@lordpowell3788]

Is. Is that a yogioh abridged reference. I feel like this is what he would say

[@willpat3040]

Awesome ref.!!!! Yugioh Abridged FTW!

[@omariscovoador7486]

Next up: aerial ways of transportation in the medieval period

[@cJ-nz4mf]

Catapult is 1 , nevermind the landing

[@alexanderpalm5262]

Well they obviously used trebuchets because they can launch 90kg projectiles over 300 meters

[@sirBrouwer]

they used swallows.

[@carlwegener7544]

@@sirBrouwer African or European swallows?

[@m_fredi9549]

@@carlwegener7544 african, they carry more weight

[@SplendidFellow]

Lloyd you make such interesting content that this is the one and only channel where the length of the video doesn't matter one bit, I'll always watch every minute whenever you put out a new one, even the hour-and-a-half videos

[@scottpeterson5913]

The topic is interesting, but the enthusiasm of your presentation is outstanding! So very glad I’m a subscriber.

[@Battleship009]

The 1831 London Bridge still exists, it's in the USA.

[@historyofpolitics5338]

The reason only Merry knows about the Crossings is because he lives near the river, Frodo, Sam and Pippin actually live quite far away from the river and Hobbits are famously parochial so its not surprising they don't now, remember the scene where Sam says its the furthers away from home he's ever been.

[@oldoddjobs]

No

[@sualtam9509]

Frodo is from Buckland and came to Bilbo in the Shire after his parents died. But this in the movie only because the whole Tom Bombadil plotline was cut out.

[@georgethompson1460]

@@sualtam9509 back when he was like 8, by the time of the books he's 35. Most people would forget that little detail at that point.

[@darthhodges]

The way that bit of the Fellowship of the Ring was filmed (including prior scenes) leads me to believe that Frodo was fairly overcome with fear and may have been unable to accurately deduce where he was. By comparison Merry comes off as quite cool headed, thus explaining why Frodo had to ask.

[@popperbare1563]

Good to see another video always puts a smile in my face. Thank you 😊

[@shramo]

That's a nice reverberating room you have there.

[@AmryL]

I'm honestly a bit annoyed by the echos. I hope that room acquires some clutter soon.

[@daedraq]

Please make a video about Henry VIII. And please never stop having digressions.

[@RaidsEpicly]

God yes. I want to hear him talk more about how "progressive" it was to form your own religion so you can divorce your wife and also establish the divine right of kings

[@Dwarfman01]

I found this video very informative. I've been dabbling, putting together a map for a D&D adventure of a sizeable town, set on the more civilised side a wide spanning river. There is a point where the river meets two other rivers, then separates into more rivers flowing down stream. At this point the are several large islets, one of which features the now unused - and potential adventuring hook - lord's castle. The Islet next to it holds a structure that once acted as a prison/sanitorium. The past lord forbade a bridge to span between these two islets, as the later held dangerous criminals and secrets - that is to say, more adventure hooks. But then I started asking myself. 'How the heck would you transport prisoners across to the islet?' Boats seemed flimsy and I started thinking about cable ferries, but worried that would inhibit river traffic. But then you mentioned these reaction ferries...'Eureka!' I exclaimed. Thanks very much for the inspiration Lindybeige!!!

[@jonathandinkle3871]

As soon as Lloyd started talking about battles named after bridges I was hopping that The Battle of Great Bridge would be on the list, and sure enough it was! I live in Great Bridge, which is a rather nice district of the city of Chesapeake Virginia, so I grew up learning all about that battle. How awesome to see my home brought up in a video by one of my favorite personalities, and one living in a land across such a large pond at that!

[@memaw3610]

Never thought I’d be so hype to hear about river crossings, but here we are

[@mensen4488]

Do you even Lindybeige!?

[@KarltheKrazyone]

And then there is Australia where roads are marked with "you might not die if the water is this deep" and "you will certainly die if the water is this deep." The hard part is remembering where those signs are, in case they get washed away.

[@st0rmforce]

That choice of lecture footage for the advert was perfect

[@lazlolazlolazlo]

With a similar enthusiasm and frenetic delivery as the late great Professor Magnus Pyke, you never fail to enlighten me. Thank you.

[@moonasha]

I'm digging the half naked bookshelf in front of the soviet green wall

[@oz_jones]

I'm surprised it's not beige

[@Openeyees]

Interesting good videos, these last 2 ones! Hope you do some more on this general subject, maybe about sailing, navigation, long range trade/travel/expeditions?

[@AFatalPapercut]

I must say the fella that originally came up with "selling time off in purgatory" was a marketing genius.

[@amiscellaneoushuman3516]

If I may, I would like to congratulate myself on thinking about reaction ferries before he mentioned them. If anyone is interested Tom Scott has a short video called "The Reaction Ferries of Basel: What have we missed?" in which he shows one in use.

[@HairEEck]

This is maybe the only british guy talking about history that I can tolerate I'm French and live in Ireland

[@barryirlandi4217]

welcome

[@leaddice]

I think the point of merry and pippin having the local knowledge and Frodo and sam not knowing is done intentionally to show a) why they are included in the party, and b) it makes Frodo and Sam’s journey more significant

[@wheelmanv]

These gestures really speak for themselves, "punch to the groin." Truly masterful editing

[@klinischbrot]

New disclaimer regarding the unheard donor "This episode is sponsored by inaudible." . Sorry couldn't leave that one be ;-)

[@daedraq]

Anyone else forgot that the video was about bridges during the Henry VIII digression?

[@GigMe]

Well, he was working for the Pope, or Pontiff, or even posher, the 'Pontifex Maximus' - Bridge-Builder-in-Chief !

[@joshhorne1915]

11:33 James 4th excommunication 14:30 Henry 8th renaissance king 17:00 Oh yah, bridges..

[@AlexanderRM1000]

I for one was wondering when he'd finish the boring war and royal politics stuff and get back to medieval infrastructure

[@chasbodaniels1744]

I’ve happily learned to sit back and go with the Lindy Flow. He’s one of life’s real pleasures. (Treasures?)

[@hamsters247]

Love you Lindy! Your videos are a treasure of mankind

[@KiithNaabal]

sooo relaxing listening to you!

[@hallod1]

Me: why should i care about stupid river crossings? Also me: clicks superfast on video

[@rdt1104]

Walder Frey liked this

[@edgarbanuelos6472]

Lindy could make a 2 hour video about literal dung and we'd still click immediately.

[@jockmcscottish7569]

You would almost think the Scottish don't like their neighbours to the South.

[@beardedbjorn5520]

Can’t blame them really

[@Scarlioni]

You are a gem of youtube. Stay Beige and don't ever change.

[@thothtahuti5509]

I love you Lindy, yesterday I discovered I was into old English coinage, today I realise I am fascinated by how old peoples managed logistics including rivers. Every time you broaden my horizons ::)

[@Balpindo]

Its 2am, I haven't slept *Lindy uploads* Looks like I won't be sleeping until 3 am

[@SplendidFellow]

"Ahh yes I can just listen to this lecture and it could help me drift off to sleep..." (3 lectures later) "Thats fascinating... Hmm yes..."