Surviving the Middle Ages as an Old Person...

[@falsemaria1926]

I've just turned 35 and would be terminal from breast cancer by now if not for modern medicine. Cancer free as of June 2nd, and grateful for every single day. Edit: I'm humbled by the beautiful well-wishes. I cannot thank everyone enough. ♥️♥️

[@sproutsrevil6508]

I had terminal cancer. Cancer free since September 2020. So grateful for my 2nd chance. I’m delighted for you FalseMaria. 🫶🏻💕

[@rolltideroll8458]

Congrats!!!!!

[@isabelbeckerman9226]

🥰🤟Live long and prosper, Falsemaria.

[@falsemaria1926]

@@rolltideroll8458 Thank you so much ♥️

[@falsemaria1926]

@@isabelbeckerman9226 Thank you! And the same to you ✨😘

[@koriw1701]

"Let's travel back in time and discuss cougars, flying monks, fat children and their urine." Now who could resist an intro like that?

[@bernadineweber4382]

😂

[@Zorander.]

Surviving the Middle Ages as an Old Person: Tip #1: Be a Wizard. Tip #2: Keep it a Secret.

[@MissBlueEyeliner]

I’m 33 and would have died several times over by this age without modern medicine.

[@martinryan2370]

But you're DNA would be different As people who survived had stronger DNA . Also a trait of close breeding. Also remember the average age Includes children who died young So if you live to be 100 And I die a 1 The average age is 50 . Maths lie

[@Seraphim91]

Yup, I'm 42. Same

[@monicawylie3985]

Me, too!!!

[@rmj7306]

Same! I'm allergic to bees. I found that out when I was in 8th grade, almost died. Then I got pneumonia and almost kicked the bucket at 24. Covid almost took me recently too. Crazy now that I come to think of it lol

[@gja1605]

You probably would have only died once tbh

[@theimpossiblemary]

Hello! I am Portuguese and this is an interesting topic for us. Our first king D. Afonso Henriques was born sometime after 1106 (but not after 1111) and died in 1185, which is pretty amazing considering that it is said he had a malformation on his feet at birth. It is also speculated that the young king died during a travel to some thermae to be cured of that ailment and the baby was exchanged for an infant of a young farmer of somewhere in Trás-Os-Montes ... being that the reason why the king was perfectly able to ride a horse, was an amazing soldier, had an iron health that allowed him to live past 70s and was 1,80m (20cm taller than both his parents). So yeah, it is rumored that our first king wasn't the real deal. 🤣

[@sproutsrevil6508]

Watching this at nearly 59. I still feel so young!

[@flash_flood_area]

My dad used to say that since the global human life expectancy, at the time, was around 45; he considered anything beyond that to be gravy.

[@anthonyhudson3136]

at 63, ditto.

[@sproutsrevil6508]

@@anthonyhudson3136 Our attitude keeps us young. Plus not living centuries ago. Hard Labour. Dreadful nutrition.

[@DeidreL9]

I’m 59, we’re spring chickens…well maybe not our bones but our hearts are!🤭

[@francisfischer7620]

I'm nearly 70 and still feel young. Aren't we funny animals!

[@EA-js1me]

And to think I would have died at 20 from my heart arrhythmia. We are really blessed as anyone today living in a developed or developing country is truly living better than even a king in the Middle Ages.

[@rtk3543]

Just consider this, for you to exist today your ancestors had to live long enough and be healthy enough to produce at least one healthy offspring right from the beginning of life on earth. You are exceptionally lucky to be alive.

[@francisfischer7620]

Quite so!

[@bbmay7139]

When you're looking at "average" ages you've really got to take into account the high child mortality rate which massively skews the data 👍

[@user-ic9vz8sp1x]

He said ppl who survrived into adulthood tho didn't he

[@Njuregen]

If you lived to be an adult you would probably live to your 50s or early 60s at average. Most people died in the 50 and 60's cause life was hard and difficult on the body, so people worn out earlier. Though plenty records show people in their 70's as well or even more. As you got past the age of 5 you had a good chance to life relative long, the age of a medieval person not changed much with that of a pre-industrial 1600 or 1700's person. Age expansion with medicine that had a large impact is a pretty recent thing starting in the 1800's, with naturally improvements in hygiene leading the way first, Penicilline was a big changer.

[@valerietaylor9615]

So was indoor plumbing.

[@rickwrites2612]

​​​@@valerietaylor9615 Only half of Americans had indoor plumbing by 1940 and we already had penicillin by then. However they were largely rural -- in cities plumbing was earlier and it definitely mattered for typhoid and cholera. Vaccines mattered too. The first smallpox vaccine was in 1798.

[@dennisthompson2350]

Almost 60 years ago l remember reading an Icelandic Sage of a Viking warrior in it he recounted his life history and exploits. The one thing that has struck me at time was that he started his saga by lamenting his age he was over 60 years weak and felt the cold and to the curses of the women tried to stay warm by the fire,getting under their feet. How he wished he had been killed in battle. Old age was a curse to him.

[@morrigan908]

Are you referring to The Wanderer (modern styling)? Where have the horses gone? Where are the riders? Where is the giver of gold? Where are the seats of the feast? Where are the joys of the hall? Alas the gleaming cup! Alas the armoured warrior! Alas the prince’s glory! How the time has passed away, grown dark under the helm of night, as if it never were. J.R.R. Tolkien, himself an Anglo-Saxon, Old English, and Norse scholar, adapted that part of the poem into his Lament for the Rohirrim, although he did not particularly approve of the translation of the title. Edit: Fixed line breaks that YT decided to mess with.

[@82dorrin]

If you're an old person in the Middle Ages, you've already done a pretty good job at surviving in the Middle Ages.

[@Shineon83]

Nothing like watching a 90-year-old grab your army’s banner to battle the foe alone-to shame th out of you….

[@koriw1701]

4:23 I'd love to know what the medievals thought of menopause. In the middle ages, women lost their ability to bear children much earlier than they do today, and with all the crazy symptoms (many of which I suffered from greatly, although I completed mine a decade ago, was a nightmare) such as mood swings, hot flashes and so much more must have really confused them, being as prone to believe in demonic possession as they were. I know that *_I_* felt possessed at times.

[@zammap]

We laugh today at the folk remedies of the ancient poor, and forget that not long ago it was fashionable for people to swear by the healing properties of coconut oil.

[@TheJacali]

Haha hahaha hahahahahahhaa So true 😂😂😂😂 you got me good!

[@thememeteamdream]

I think the most important thing I learned from this week's video is that doge is a real word.

[@bigtex4058]

I would never have made it to 70 without modern medical care.

[@amh9494]

Even with it I doubt I'll make 50 😂

[@Njuregen]

Question is would you have suffered the issues in a pre modern era when you likely had a different diet and far more active lifestyle?

[@amh9494]

@@Njuregen you realise life expectancy has consistently gone up right?

[@andyhobbs2812]

Brilliant, I'm 70 years old on Dec 05. Enjoy your speak with of our beloved history. It's amazing how us old guys managed in the day to get through!!!!

[@danjelkewl6949]

That's awesome, I'm 29. I love the fact that the medieval madness community is quite diverse age wise.

[@tinygrim]

It's awesome. Beloved.... Well, ok then 😮 😢

[@tinygrim]

I mean Sweden was around and Germany...so on ...I don't get it ...?

[@andyhobbs2812]

@@tinygrim You mean the Vikings???

[@tinygrim]

@@andyhobbs2812 sure. I'm Scandinavian Baltic...not everything happened in UK. It was everyone's history.. May I mis understood? Our history? Like who's? Human history. I get that. But ours sounds of self. Here to me.

[@fizzimajig]

I probably would have either died of one of my many childhood ear infections or been rendered deaf and shunned for being “infirm”.

[@tricivenola8164]

Enrico Dandolo was buried in Hagia Sophia, in the Constantinople he had ruined, after ensuring the desecration, sack and looting of the Imperial and sacred tombs at the Church of the Holy Apostles, including several saints, their gold seized and their bones thrown to the dogs. A priest who witnessed this said that if Jesus Christ had been buried at Holy Apostles, they would have done the same to him. Sixty-one years later, the Byzantines expelled their loathed Italian rulers. They dug up Dandolo and threw him out the second-floor window of Hagia Sophia. They say even the dogs would not touch those bones.

[@morrigan908]

He also said that Raynald of Châtillon was the only Christian leader to face Salah ad-Din. I wrote a longer response in a separate post, but for anyone to say something so ridiculous... I would assume Chat GPT writes his scripts, but I think that would be an insult to Chat GPT at this point.

[@Shineon83]

Considering the huge number of knee & hip replacements required by ppl in their 40s & 50s-esp. athletes/dancers/very active ppl, just to continue walking-can’t imagine the # of peasants with a life of hard work who would be crippled….

[@kaystephan2610]

"and sleeping next to a FAT child was thought to improve a stomach ache" What a sentence lmao

[@OstblockLatina]

Average ag being 34 or 44 is not life expectancy, people didn't usually die at that age. This is calculated by adding all the infant and child deaths, death in young age due to illness, war, malnutricion etc. as well as adults and the elderly who had made it through childhood, and divided by the number of individuals. If one made through their childhood and youth and avoided to die of war etc., one had a good chance to live to old age.

[@wolfzmusic9706]

The data he collected was from 300 adult serfs. I think it was like 30 if you include child mortality

[@Njuregen]

@@wolfzmusic9706 In medieval Europe, around 30-50% of children died before their 1st birthday. Mortality remained high into the 1500s-1600s. Some historians estimate that up to 50% of children died before age 15 during this period. Infant and child death was a common occurrence.

[@italianpc4119]

Love this content thanks!!

[@flash_flood_area]

Gorgeous portrait you chose for the thumbnail!

[@JonasLjunggren]

It was common for younger men to marry older women, for example apprentices marrying the dead master’s widow.

[@heatherfeather1293]

Don't forget Eleanor of Aquitaine. She had 10 children and lived to be 82!

[@davehoward22]

Old? As in your 40s? A northern European winter would've been grim whatever age you were

[@jujubees5855]

I would have been dying from tuberculosis if there was no treatment.

[@kellykane7586]

Soo, this old lady hit my truck today,now her car was moving extremely slowly, im motioning to her to STOP..so I rol my window down, and she attempts to do the same. When I see her fumbling and then the back window goes down I immediately think of my grandmother, who does the same thing. When she finally gets her front window down,she says "oh my did I hit ur car!?" I say "yeah, a little bit, but I'm not worried about this truck, it's a million years old" (22yrs) she goes "so is this" and nods to her own car which looked 10× Better than mine. She backs up a little bit and I see (I'm only really concerned about hers, my license is suspended anyway) only a small scrape. I tell her it's only a small scrape. I told to be careful and enjoy the rest of her day. This lady looked so relieved and I felt so bad...my grandmother had accidents she was afraid to tell anyone about when she was still driving. Elderly ppl can be a pain in the ass, but they deserve to be they are special now as they were back then

[@Mothhour]

_'Time makes fools of us all.'_ - Philip J. Fry

[@krollpeter]

Around that time a small infection could mean the end. I myself would have died around 60 from heart conditions.

[@jingles123456789ify]

"You're old and blind? Here, have a child pee in your eyes!" Lmao wut

[@robbabcock_]

Fascinating episode! Thanks.

[@kimberlypatton205]

With all the disease, horrible water, parasites, wars etc, it’s no wonder that 40-50 was considered elderly. At least in our modern age we have the ability to make choices for our health. But society still has a youth oriented slant.

[@shantolion1576]

Actually even if thay had good living conditions just not having antibiotics alone would have killed them.young. i can think of at least 3 times i would have died young if not for antibiotics

[@Njuregen]

Old age back then was more 60+. People were not stupid to drink bad water and even though they not knew what disease caused they had some precautions. People also had some hygiene forms not as much as we do now on average. Infant mortality screws up the numbers badly but if you managed to get to 5 you pretty much could become 50+ or even get to 60 or 70's.

[@zacharyrome3432]

Even just 40 years ago 50 seemed alot older than currently , look at photos of a 50 year old in 1983 vs a 50 year old now .

[@toffthe]

No cougars ?! Read the Prologue to the Wife of Bath's Tale.

[@iantalbot7364]

You'd think that everyone alive today would have super immune systems from such powerful natural selection forces.

[@natalieeis9284]

The time passed since the middle ages is only a mere blink in our evolutionary history.

[@iamblackthorne]

Modern medicine has tipped the scales.

[@theconqueringram5295]

Imagine suffering from dementia in the middle ages.

[@francisfischer7620]

Oh my goodness!

[@jackmoorehead2036]

They really didn't live long enough to, or they were called bewitched and exicuted.

[@Norfolkgal22]

They would just think you were possessed or mad…

[@margaretr5701]

Some people in previous times, referred to dementia as, the second childhood, and treated sufferers as children.

[@richardgreiner9264]

I am 66 so I am beyond the medieval life expectancy !

[@princesshannahbanana2090]

Life was so hard back then that the person in the thumbnail is actually 32 years old!

[@BigRed2]

I’ve done my paternal side genealogy back to late 1500s and all my grandparents lived past 76 except one who died from a tree falling on him 😂😂😂😂

[@LerVal-x1h]

great channel with great content. Thanks

[@YuriBoyadjian]

No cougars? That’s a deal breaker!

[@peppylepewpewpew]

"Seeing that the soldiers were hesitant." Hilarious line about a blind guy. Top knotch writing! 😂

[@flash_flood_area]

Can you provide the identity of the painter who did the portrait in the thumbnail?

[@valentinkambushev4968]

Wait... old people existed back then?! I thought they were a twentieth-century innovation.

[@kimberlypatton205]

Kind of feels like it was shades of that movie where there were no old people in the future and at 29 everyone was eliminated.

[@valerietaylor9615]

There were old people back then, just not as many of them. And the movie you referred was “ Logan’s Run.”

[@FrankStein-e8u]

I've had 2 complete shoulder and arm rebuilds in the last 3 years and I'm over 50 so I'm pretty sure with those injuries in those days I would have been finished.

[@twhite3850]

Classic! No cougars allowed!!!!

[@Monatio79]

7:10 "Seeing that the soldiers were hesitant to advance..." Despite being blind this guy could somehow see his soldiers' hesitation and personally lead by example.

[@Sumerlamountain]

The blind have their own way of seeing the world around them.

[@alisonbrowning9620]

I would have died at birth and my mother too, I am 56 now and lots of brushes with the old grim reaper , not in the best of health but still here

[@morrigan908]

Did you honestly just say that Raynald of Châtillon was the only Christian leader to face Salah ad-Din? Please tell me I misheard that? I know this channel isn't big on fact checking, but really? Nope, I actually went back and relistened to that part just to make sure I wasn't missing some context. I am very sorry to say that I was not. Raynald was, by all accounts, a right-proper ass, and Salah ad-Din eventually beheaded him for it. (I'll use the more common but less correct Saladin from here on out for readability.) So, yes, he did fight on opposing sides to Saladin, but so did plenty of other Christian leaders. He was, for anyone who knows even a smidgen of medieval history, what we might call "a big deal" in the Holy Land during this time. To cut down on what could be quite a long dissertation, I point out only a few obvious figures of the many Christian leaders who led troops against Saladin. King Baldwin IV, the leper king of Jerusalem; King Guy of Lusignan, husband of Baldwin's daughter, Queen Sibylla; King Richard I of England, styled Richard the Lionheart; and King Philippe II of France, styled Philip Augustus later in his life. In contrast, Raynald of Châtillon ambushed a supply caravan, despite a truce with Saladin. He took captives, disobeyed the then-King Guy of Lusignan (a long story in and off itself) killed and tortured many of the captives, and was ingloriously beheaded by Saladin himself. There is a somewhat amusing story about how he comes to be beheaded at Saladin's hands for anyone who cares to look it up. While Raynald did lead troops in actual battle, overall, he was a terrible man to choose to make "the only Christian leader" who fought Saladin when you had at least four kings to choose from.

[@thelastbison2241]

You had the serenity that you believed in religion wholeheartedly. Not possible today and less so in future.

[@davehoward22]

Thunder, lightning, clouds,wind,rain,sun,moon,stars ,the ground they are standing on,etc,etc, they didn't know what any of these things were,so it's hardly suprising everyone was religious. .Today we know what they are.

[@Br1an.J]

It is still possible to have wholehearted faith and humility at the mystery of life and the ineffable, you only perceive it to be impossible because atheism has closed your mind and heart. Not your fault, but that you make a trifle of something you cannot understand in no way makes it impossible, you only hear about fanatics in the news cycle, but religious understanding is not blind obsession over dogma, it is the humility of the ego when held against the immensity of all creation, and the understanding that life emerges from not nothing, and that same condition which has no comparison in the world, is what the soul returns to upon the demise of the body.

[@jujubees5855]

​@@DG-iw3ywso much edge, like a petulant teen. 🥸

[@tinygrim]

Yes. Then colonialism happened. 💀🙁

[@thelastbison2241]

@@tinygrim The more I understand the people of those eras - the less I blame them for wanting to do it at least initially before it like the french revolution took a turn for the much worse. Colonialism in its initial form was not much different than trading infrastructure or trying to get ports to resupply. It was then some of them realized 'wow I can capture an entire people for labor and line my own pockets with them' that it entered its worst phase. The clergy (not always honest) that went had different motivations and morality than the profiteers. Without a doubt, we live in that era's shadow, but considering 3+% on interest rates is really bad...maybe high interest rates in gov't with high debt will be the final nail that ends the legacy of that era.

[@halldorherm]

7:11 Well, he didn't see much

[@y2keef]

You're a Saladin with that pronunciation of Tripoli 😆

[@RopeDad1]

I’m 20 now. I’ve got a lot of health issues in the past year. But what’s keeping me in bed today is a strep throat, ear infection, thigh is numb to the point it feels like it’s on fire, and my bum is bleeding. Going to get it all checked out when I have insurance. 😃 I would have died.

[@martinryan2370]

Remember if you live to be 90 And your child died at 1 Average age 45 . Maths lie 👀👀

[@jaekn]

11% were over 60... Interpretations lie, the math is correct.

[@ImTheCrew]

Thank you!

[@grapeshot]

I can get my Buckeye Golden Card at the age of 30 in the Middle Ages😂

[@shaned7158]

I was premature so they would of tossed me in the river.

[@hlatt9868]

based

[@MightyGladWrap]

6:30 Reynald was not the only christian leader to go up against Saladin, and he was not executed "for refusing to convert to Islam". He was offered conversion as an alternative to death and as a mercy, one that he refused.

[@JamesFromTexas]

At least you're still on this channel! Think I might have to unsub from CCD if y'all keep the other guy narrarating (he sounds too much like every other true crime KZbinr)

[@TheRainbowBlob]

Nonono, you don't become old until after your middle ages

[@astrid703]

Eleanor of Aquitaine, the mother of Richard the Lionhearted and King John, and wife of Henry 11, lived to be 82.

[@rindyebatchelor9943]

There has been a study, I believe. That children do help the elderly continue on. Just not in the way medieval scholars thought. This is my opinion and is not backed by any other means, just my opinion. Don’t come at me Bro😅

[@euphoria9027]

Can you do about books

[@landrum3893]

Back then 40 was the new 70. Like most people here, I wouldnt have made it to 50. A broken bone means you're lame for life, pneumonia or a bad flu in winter means you died or had permanently breathing issues. Thats all before injuries from field labor. Just shows the cruelty of nature. We as a species are designed like all the others - the strongest survives to procreate, everyone else just didnt live long enough. We are elevated by our knowledge, our faiths (basic goodness, not religions as institutions) and our technologies. Until the next big reset knocking us back to the middle ages happens, we now live in a magical time.

[@infinitejest441]

I couldn’t agree more, especially about the next reset.

[@gedrooney9305]

Sold at flying Monks 👍

[@helenweatherby1694]

For an insight into mediaeval life read Mediaeval Woman (Sometimes listed as Down The Common) by Ann Baer. A gem of a book. Makes you wonder how anyone survived.

[@aegisofhonor]

Men of the church enjoyed many healthy luxuries most other including nobility would not have been able to enjoy. Clergy often not only ate well but a relative balanced diet, fasting for lent to stay a modest weight and eating good meats the rest of the year. Also, due to their need to keep their stations clean at all times for " religious purity" purposes, they were far less subject to disease. These factors are the reason why the Clergy class was always the longest living on average of all other peoples including kings and queens.

[@koriw1701]

For centuries, many have called gout "the disease of kings although many men with rich diets such as thy clergy came down with it because it affected men who ate rich diets and drank heavily. As early as the ancient Greeks, doctors wrote about gout, claiming that only wealthy men could become afflicted with it. And when royals like Henry VIII came down with gout, it transformed into a fashionable condition. Just like the French imitated the royals at Versailles, Europeans aimed to get gout as a status symbol. In the 16th century, men claimed that gout prevented other maladies and even called it an aphrodisiac which is surprising because gout is so painful a condition.

[@kkupsky6321]

I woulda been long gone but at 38 considered a village elder prolly…

[@catherinebirch2399]

I'm sure that I wouldn't have survived my childhood if it hadn't been for immunizations. As for old age, I wonder if we really are lucky to live into our 80's and 90's when diseases like Alzheimer's heart disease and strokes are prevelant. I think that I would rather die young than face all that.

[@jennamorris4443]

Living to the age 98 these days is considered a very long life but to live to 98 back then 😮must have been very lucky that’s all I can figure

[@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307]

The MAYBE "Gliding" monk story is clearly exaggerated. The trip would have been mainly downward and clearly not that far or he would have died!

[@Susan.Burns63]

Is this the thoughty 2 guy?❤

[@astardustparade]

I’d be dead from blood poisoning.

[@Gustaf1965]

In 1920, just 5% of Americans were over age 60. According to this video, in medieval times peasants were twice as likely to be that age.

[@beveik]

wonder if people 1000+ years in the future would be amazed how we lived to ~80-90 years old only. That is if our civilization goes that long. Never the less, i will be long gone and forgotten much like all of you.

[@StephenRahrig]

Surely the average death age was skewed by high infant/child death rate??

[@tinygrim]

YES 😊 👍 lets. Thank you my lord . 🤫🙂

[@playernumber3.]

FINALLY A CHANNEL I CAN LISTEN TO BEFORE SLEEP edit: I'm so happy, thank you!!

[@shantolion1576]

I would have died of a tooth infection at the age of.27

[@ArnoGraf-u9f]

How do we know that those high Ages are correct. Who authenticated them

[@Wolfenstein69924]

I had chickenpox when I was 10, mild in this century. Probably would’ve died 800 years ago.

[@hlatt9868]

based

[@matyas_vladeka]

Why so many dislikes?

[@egosum7]

"Middle-aged" would be the word.

[@deborahberger5816]

Does anyone know where in the bible it says that sex is for procreation only?

[@RuthenianGirl]

Nowhere😅 it's a common misunderstanding

[@patrickcocobassey6810]

Terribly researched, it's a pattern

[@lexirae7889]

I'd have died at 26 from an ectopic pregnancy

[@DarkJediMindTricks]

Can you do a video 'surviving the middle ages as a gang member'?

[@kremepye3613]

Surviving the middle ages as a crack addict

[@rachelnise2473]

Guilds or outlaws?

[@DarkJediMindTricks]

@@rachelnise2473 Gangs or something with the same similarities as one.

[@rachelnise2473]

@@DarkJediMindTricks got a feeling medieval society was too controlled for that. Or it may be that the lords or their youth could terrorise their tenants and have a dispute with a neighbouring lord to do attacks etc. Gangs as we now it now would not be tolerated. A gang would have to raise an army and fight for its new kingdom if it were to survive.

[@dolo_minolo1812]

Only the strongest survived and we are their descendants. We have a lot to appreciate with regards to having superior survival genes. However, modern medicine has also played a significant role in the continued survival of humanity. This leads to the question, how does all this play out in the end with regards to the future of humanity?

[@erictonyes]

Seems a little misleading calling St. Hildegard of Bingen a 'mystic' and leaving out her canonizing and theological work.

[@danlhendl]

But what was considered to be middle aged in the middle ages? Huh? I bet you get that one all the time😅

[@alisonbrowning9620]

age is still mocked..dinosaur, Hazbeen, Wrinklies,,,

[@tinyteeth4777]

wow! back in the day I probobly would have died in childhood since i got really sick about every year lol

[@Princess_Paranormal]

In another video you said men aged 24 women 33 ???

[@cadenceclearwater4340]

We're stubborn bastards 👵👴

[@matthill3293]

"81 which is a great innings by today's standards" - No it isn't...

[@twhite3850]

I was surprised that men lived longer than women. Now, women live longer. I think it would have been terrible to have lived into your 50s. You would have felt out of place, with a bunch of teenagers.

[@lancevance1612]

Day 5 of asking for the intro music

[@ssimplyshen]

check the description box.

[@lilitheden748]

That we all are here and can watch this video means that our ancestors must made it at least to the childbearing age and succeeded to reproduce. Girls married at 14 years old and were mothers the next year. If they didn’t die in childbirth women were probably pregnant every year. Combined with hard labour, poor nutrition and bad hygiene their bodies were worn out if they reached the old age of 50. Men were not much better off. They had to work from when they were just a child. If there broke out a war they were drafted for the king’s army and could die a terrible death. Otherwise most men worked in the fields. This backbreaking work combined with injuries, poor medicine , no hygiene and poor nutrition made men probably die earlier than women. It must have been a ruff time.

[@rachelnise2473]

The poor nutrition would have decreased fertility.

[@hvarthtonn6870]

i was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes only a few months ago. were it not for modern medicine, i would have died at age 25 this year sometime, having had two daughters. juuuuuust long enough to continue my bloodline. depressing stuff.

[@SupremeGreatGrandmaster]

If you lived in the Middle Ages, you wouldn't have diabetes at all. They had no access to sugar and definitely no refined sugar.