Post by Creative Consortium on Jan 22, 2008 19:36:36 GMT -6
One aspect of Medieval life that is hard for 20th century people to comprehend is the lack of individualism and privacy. Both of these characteristics can be accounted for largely by a relative poverty and the fact that most people lived close to the edge of survival, and, most important of all, this was the way it had been for time immemorial...
Privacy and individualism are relatively recent developments. In the Medieval period there was little room, literally, for privacy. The cramped living quarters, even for most nobles, and the lack of central heating did much to foster togetherness. It was not uncommon for nobles to have huge beds (12 feet wide) that allowed a noble, his wife, their children, some servants, and key members of the lord's "fellowship" (his knights) to sleep together in the dead of Winter. A noble household usually dined together in the Great Hall of their keep.
This was an old German tradition, a useful method to get everyone fed at once, to pay off one's help (in the form of food), and to foster loyalty and good will. It was also practical. There was no refrigeration. If an animal was slaughtered it had to be eaten promptly lest it spoil. The same was true of any cooked food, and Medieval diners knew well the dangers of eating spoiled food.
There was some segregation of the sexes, but not nearly as much as in the East .
Households wealthy enough to afford several female servants, would often find it prudent to have the adolescent, unmarried girls sleep in the bedroom of the lady of the house. A noble lady, particularly after she had had a few children (and her husband had found a girlfriend) would usually sleep in a separate room. She would have the unmarried female servants sleep with her, along with her female children and young male children (the older boys would hang out with the men of the household). During the cold weather, all would often sleep in the same bed.
While female modesty was respected, it was not a fetish.
The old German custom of women and men bathing naked together in lakes and rivers was still common during the period. Communal baths in most cities, towns, and even villages, allowed for mixed, and separate gender bathing, although the former was often an excuse to run a bordello and was constantly preached against by the church.
People lived in close quarters and thought nothing of privacy as we know it. Those who sought to go off by themselves were thought especially pious, or mad (or perhaps a little of both).
Collective responsibility was another carryover from ancient times. For example, if someone from a village committed a crime, was caught and judged guilty, a fine would be levied against the culperts entire village. And the village as a whole was responsible for paying the fine. There were no prisons in the modern sense. If a capital crime was committed, the felon was promptly executed. Lesser crimes were punished with beatings, or limb loppings, but the most common judgement was to make restitution.
This was an old German custom, that of weregeld (literally "man-gold") and was even applied to cases of murder.
In the feudal period, weregeld and tribal custom was replaced by written laws administered by the king's judges or the local lords. But the concept of collective responsibility remained. The only consistant exception to this, after a fashion, was among the nobility.
Although an aristocrat's life was constrained by even more customs and rules than a commoner's, a noble, and his male family members, had the resources to be their own man.
Sons would rebel against their fathers, or would simply go off to seek their fortunes. Commoners also did this, but at much greater risk.
It was the beginning of individualism, a trend that was to find full flower (or wretched excess) in the 20th century.
During medieval times, the importance of love in a relationship emerged as a reaction to arranged marriages, but was still not considered a prerequisite in matrimonial decisions. Suitors wooed their intended with seranades and flowery poetry, following the lead of lovelorn characters on stage and in verse. Chastity and honor were highly regarded virtues.
In 1228, women first gained the right to propose marriage in Scotland, a legal right that then slowly spread through Europe.
Privacy and individualism are relatively recent developments. In the Medieval period there was little room, literally, for privacy. The cramped living quarters, even for most nobles, and the lack of central heating did much to foster togetherness. It was not uncommon for nobles to have huge beds (12 feet wide) that allowed a noble, his wife, their children, some servants, and key members of the lord's "fellowship" (his knights) to sleep together in the dead of Winter. A noble household usually dined together in the Great Hall of their keep.
This was an old German tradition, a useful method to get everyone fed at once, to pay off one's help (in the form of food), and to foster loyalty and good will. It was also practical. There was no refrigeration. If an animal was slaughtered it had to be eaten promptly lest it spoil. The same was true of any cooked food, and Medieval diners knew well the dangers of eating spoiled food.
There was some segregation of the sexes, but not nearly as much as in the East .
Households wealthy enough to afford several female servants, would often find it prudent to have the adolescent, unmarried girls sleep in the bedroom of the lady of the house. A noble lady, particularly after she had had a few children (and her husband had found a girlfriend) would usually sleep in a separate room. She would have the unmarried female servants sleep with her, along with her female children and young male children (the older boys would hang out with the men of the household). During the cold weather, all would often sleep in the same bed.
While female modesty was respected, it was not a fetish.
The old German custom of women and men bathing naked together in lakes and rivers was still common during the period. Communal baths in most cities, towns, and even villages, allowed for mixed, and separate gender bathing, although the former was often an excuse to run a bordello and was constantly preached against by the church.
People lived in close quarters and thought nothing of privacy as we know it. Those who sought to go off by themselves were thought especially pious, or mad (or perhaps a little of both).
Collective responsibility was another carryover from ancient times. For example, if someone from a village committed a crime, was caught and judged guilty, a fine would be levied against the culperts entire village. And the village as a whole was responsible for paying the fine. There were no prisons in the modern sense. If a capital crime was committed, the felon was promptly executed. Lesser crimes were punished with beatings, or limb loppings, but the most common judgement was to make restitution.
This was an old German custom, that of weregeld (literally "man-gold") and was even applied to cases of murder.
In the feudal period, weregeld and tribal custom was replaced by written laws administered by the king's judges or the local lords. But the concept of collective responsibility remained. The only consistant exception to this, after a fashion, was among the nobility.
Although an aristocrat's life was constrained by even more customs and rules than a commoner's, a noble, and his male family members, had the resources to be their own man.
Sons would rebel against their fathers, or would simply go off to seek their fortunes. Commoners also did this, but at much greater risk.
It was the beginning of individualism, a trend that was to find full flower (or wretched excess) in the 20th century.
During medieval times, the importance of love in a relationship emerged as a reaction to arranged marriages, but was still not considered a prerequisite in matrimonial decisions. Suitors wooed their intended with seranades and flowery poetry, following the lead of lovelorn characters on stage and in verse. Chastity and honor were highly regarded virtues.
In 1228, women first gained the right to propose marriage in Scotland, a legal right that then slowly spread through Europe.