Monthly Archives: February 2013

Life of a university graduate

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Ruth

Life of a medieval university graduate meant, probably, continuing as a scholar in the same place. Doctoral degrees could be in theology, law or medicine. The degree cost a large sum to purchase, so many students never graduated. (They went … Continue reading →

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Lenten fish

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Ruth

I’ll do another entry on Lent and fasting. It’s worth just talking about fish. Some fish came from ponds and were probably fresh. Monasteries knew in advance that they’d be fasting for every possible fast day year round, so they … Continue reading →

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Lent begins

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Ruth

The fast season of Lent was not nearly as unique in the medieval year as it is in the modern. Fast days punctuated the year, and the entire four weeks before Christmas was also a fast. Lent was merely the … Continue reading →

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By request: what was the world like, the last time a Pope resigned?

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Ruth

1415: the Battle of Agincourt, the burning of Jan Hus, and the only other resignation of a pope. The Medieval Warm Period was over; Arctic ice was growing, making Greenland harder to reach and cutting back cod and herring fishing. … Continue reading →

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The beginning of Lent

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Ruth

Shrove Tuesday, ca. 1200 meant three things: food, cockfighting, and mummers. Food, obviously. A forty-day fast was about to begin. Chiefly, they would eat no animal products, so any and all animal products, especially meat, had to be eaten. The … Continue reading →

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The peasant’s wife

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Ruth

The peasant’s wife had a pretty hard life. In addition to helping with a lot of field work as needed, she did a lot of everything else. Her most likely cause of death by accident was to fall into the … Continue reading →

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Peasant life

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Ruth

One medieval life pathway that I’ve ignored so far is that of the peasant farmer. He hasn’t entered into our stories yet because his life had so few transitions from infancy to adulthood. He didn’t go to school or get … Continue reading →

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Life of a castle lady

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Ruth

Adult life for a knight’s wife probably began in her late teen years; her husband could be anywhere from 21 to 35, depending on how soon land and affluence had come to him. Traditionally, the lady of a manor or … Continue reading →

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Life as a knight

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Ruth

Adult life as a knight divided into two typical stages. In the first, the young man was a member of another man’s household; later, he would have his own manor or castle to govern. In the first stage, he had … Continue reading →

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Life in the monastery

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Ruth

Having traced the major ways that children transitioned into adult life in the Middle Ages, I’ll describe briefly what it was like to live and grow old in each of these life pathways. Since I was just talking about becoming … Continue reading →

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