мои сохраненки

«In the thirteenth century they are little more than battles without a cause. Men are frequently killed: in 1241 eighty knights are killed in a single tournament. But you need to remember that in those days it is said that a man ‘is not fit for battle unless he has seen his own blood flow, and heard his teeth crunch under the blow of an opponent’.17 A fourteenth-century behourd is gentle by comparison – undertaken for the benefit of the spectators rather than actual military training. »


The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England
Ian Mortimer

«Roger de Wensley is hired to track down both the Folvilles and the other notorious gang in the region, the Coterel gang (led by James Coterel), but when he finds the Coterels he simply joins them.»

Хыхы ⭐

“As a result of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), the Church forbids priests of the rank of subdeacon or above from engaging in any activity likely to draw blood. They are forbidden to cut into the skin, and anatomy is regarded as unholy (the Church refuses to permit Christians to dissect corpses until the late fifteenth century). The division leads to the growing separation of the professions of physic (medicine) and surgery”

🌟

«The Great Plague – the term ‘Black Death’ is not invented until the nineteenth century – is one of the most horrific events in human history, comparable only with those traumas which people have inflicted on each other in modern times. Arriving at the eastern end of the Mediterranean in 1347, spreading along the sea lanes to «France, Southern Spain and Italy, and making its way up across the continent to England by August 1348, it shakes society in every conceivable respect. It destroys large portions of the population and leaves parts of the country completely empty of people. It starkly reveals the limits of both professional and amateur medical assistance. No doctor of medicine can help the victims; no one can attend the dying with any feeling but revulsion and despair. It reveals the inadequacy of a concept of society based on the ‘three estates’. Frankly, if ‘those who pray’ cannot protect the population, and ‘those who fight «simply run away, why should ‘those who work’ feed them? Similarly, the plague forces men to reappraise the fundamental relationship between themselves and God. This horrific disease does not just affect the sinful; it kills the innocent too. If this is the work of God, then He is indiscriminate in his judgements.»

The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England
Ian Mortimer

"What is in that painted and glazed ceramic jug on the yeoman’s table? The answer is almost certainly ale: that is to say, a drink made from malted barley or oats without any hops in it (the inclusion of hops being the difference between ale and beer). Ale is so important in the medieval diet that its price, like that of bread, is governed by statute law. Four gallons of ale should be sold for 1d when the price of barley is 2s per quarter. The very best ale – which can be sold for as much as 2d per gallon – is made in Kent. But do not expect to find Kentish ale throughout the country: it does not keep. Without hops it goes sour very quickly. When ale-wives have brewed a new vat, they set about selling it straightaway, putting a bushel on a pole above the door of the house to advertise its availability. In peasant families, the brewing is done on a regular basis by the women of the household, and when the ale begins to turn sour, it is flavoured with herbs and honey or caudled with egg yolks. If spices are available, the sourness might be concealed with ground pepper, galingale (blue ginger), cinnamon and other exotica, purchased from the local market. In this way, ale is turned into a sort of mulled drink."

"The modern convention of three square meals per day does not apply in medieval England. Here you will eat just two. With the exception of a few high-status, self-indulgent individuals, people do not normally have breakfast. A householder might take some bread and cheese on rising, especially if he is planning to ride a long distance or be very active, but on the whole he will eat nothing until dinner. This, the main meal of the day, usually takes place between ten and eleven o’clock in the morning, depending on the season. It is followed by supper, a more modest affair, in the late afternoon – between four and five o’clock.
[...]
The Church forbids the consumption of animals on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and throughout Lent and Advent. This equates to just over half the year. In Lent even the eating of eggs is forbidden. As this applies to the whole of society, even the king, no host or patron will break the rule in your presence. Anyone who eats meat on a non-meat day is liable to find himself or herself hauled up before the church courts.
[...]
You would have thought that fish would provide a welcome, non-meat source of protein for the peasantry. Welcome it is indeed, but it does not figure greatly in most rural families’ diets. For those living inland, there are obvious problems of obtaining fresh fish – transportation adding greatly to the cost. But there is another, underlying reason. The Church’s prohibition of meat consumption on certain days helps to create a strong demand for fish among the nobility, gentry and clergy. For this reason fish is expensive. Manors where the peasants are allowed to fish for themselves (like Alrewas in Staffordshire), are the exception, not the rule.7 Normally the common man is not allowed to fish on the lakes, ponds and rivers near his home – such rights belong to the lord of the manor. If you are hired to go fishing, your catch will go directly to the lord’s table. Even if the bailiff quietly allows you to keep a fresh trout, you might well sell it. Your peasant host will certainly have no difficulty choosing between two days’ wages and eating a status symbol. Members of the royal family send fish as presents to each other. The duke of York regularly sends pike, sea bream, tench and salmon to his cousin, King Henry IV. When the royal family set such a high value on fish, what hope does a commoner have? Pickled and salted herrings are the peasant’s usual fish dinner, with salt fish (normally a white fish, like cod) and stock fish (dried cod) the next most common. These are available throughout the year from town markets. Eels may also be bought, either in sticks of twenty or in pies and pasties, being plentiful in medium-sized rivers and relatively inexpensive."