[dktekno]

In the middle ages they ate more meat than we do today. According to a danish history book about the middle ages, it was common for a medieval peasant or worker to consume 1½ kg (or 53 oz) meat A DAY!, usually lamb, sheep or beef.

They also had beer at EVERY meal, because the water was considered distatesful and unhealthy.

They also drank wine more often than we do today, and while mead today is only consumed by medival geeks or at special occasions, it was consumed all days.

Conclusion: Life was better in the middle ages.
And they didn't have obesity or cancer as much as we have today. Just look at medieval paintings, they all look healthy and strong!

[Paradigm]

And they didn't have obesity or cancer as much as we have today.

Right. Just the black plague, which wiped out 1/3 of Europe. Not to mention cholera, typhoid, and all kinds of diseases that only occur today in countries without modern sanitation. And it was fairly common back then to be missing several teeth. Also, violent crime was unimaginably greater back then(despite a conspicuous absense of guns).

[Manuel]

BUT: They didn't have a septic system.

So life sucked.

[Dr House]

They also had no bathrooms, no anesthesia, and a life expectancy of about 28 years.

Oh, and no internetz.

-Dr House

[Ter]

They also had no bathrooms, no anesthesia, and a life expectancy of about 28 years

This is a frequent misinterpretation. 28, if that is the correct figure, and I wonder where they got the data from, is the average age at which people died. As we all know, the inventor of the average drowned in a river with an average depth of 0.5 meters.

One third of all children died before the age of three, and many young people died from all kinds of diseases or medical conditions like appendicitis and what have you.

So, people who lived through all that would happily live to be 70 or 80, just like today. Only now, many more people grow old and very few babies and kids die.

Author Jean Auel makes the same mistake in her books about the cave-dwelling people. She thinks people's hair was gray when they turned twenty.


Ter

[Nets]

Not for Jews.

[The Decay of Meaning]

If I recall correctly, there was an incident in Denmark where the water became poisoned so everyone would have to drink beer and wine instead. So everyone was drunk, and political decisions had to be done in the morning when the politicians were sober.

[Einherjar]

life expectancy of about 28 years.

That's misleading. Infant mortality rates were pretty high but whoever survived infancy lived up to old age.

[hannu]

The Decay of Meaning

Correct.

This is true in Britain as well. People used to drink about eight pints of beer per day.

I still try to keep up that tradition.

[Lokakyy]

Actually the common day medieval beer had considerably less alcohol than the modern equivalent.

[hannu]

Actually the common day medieval beer had considerably less alcohol than the modern equivalent.

My local publican waters his beer down, so it's probably about the same as medieval beer.

[Potemkin]

In the middle ages they ate more meat than we do today. According to a danish history book about the middle ages, it was common for a medieval peasant or worker to consume 1½ kg (or 53 oz) meat A DAY!, usually lamb, sheep or beef.

They needed that meat. They had to work for twelve, thirteen or fourteen hours a day. And they weren't just shuffling paper in an office, they were doing hard physical labour.

They also had beer at EVERY meal, because the water was considered distatesful and unhealthy.

The water was deadly. Especially in the cities, if you drank the water in the morning you'd be dead by nightfall. And the beer was very weak, by modern standards.

They also drank wine more often than we do today, and while mead today is only consumed by medival geeks or at special occasions, it was consumed all days.

Mead is overrated.

Conclusion: Life was better in the middle ages.
And they didn't have obesity or cancer as much as we have today.

They were thinner because they worked harder. And they did get cancer, they just called it 'canker' instead.

Just look at medieval paintings, they all look healthy and strong!

And all American are thin and beautiful. Just look at Hollywood movies!

[Einherjar]

They had to work for twelve, thirteen or fourteen hours a day.

Who?

[Dr House]

The peasants and workers, who else?

-Dr House

[Oxymoron]

Middle ages-----------------Present

Public executions Win American Idol

96 hour workweek 40 hour workweek Win

No School Win Too much homework

Men Rule Win Men are pussy whipped

Joust Superbowl Win

King Henry Win Bill Clinton


Middle ages Win by a landslide.

[dktekno]

And the beer was very weak, by modern standards.

Nahh... the distillation was invented in the middle ages.

I'm drinking a german medieval beer, called Willemoes Schwarzbier with an alcohol percentage of 7.0!

And I also have danish medieval beer mixed with mead, over 10 % vol.

[R_G]

I like the fact that pretty much before the 1900s men owned their wifes.

Good times.

Don't call me a sexist now because you ladies would love to own your man just as much, admit it.

[Dr House]

Don't call me a sexist now because you ladies would love to own your man just as much, admit it.

Just because they're sexist doesn't make you not sexist.

-Dr House

[Prosthetic Conscience]

This is a frequent misinterpretation. 28, if that is the correct figure, and I wonder where they got the data from, is the average age at which people died.

That's misleading. Infant mortality rates were pretty high but whoever survived infancy lived up to old age.

Both of you seem to think that the high likelihood of dying in infancy, childhood or early adulthood wasn't a problem with people's quality of life. Most people actually find young people dying to be a bit of a bummer. If you're trying to tell us you don't give a toss about any of your relatives younger than you dying, then it'd be better to tell us (and them) openly.

[Potemkin]

Nahh... the distillation was invented in the middle ages.

I'm drinking a german medieval beer, called Willemoes Schwarzbier with an alcohol percentage of 7.0!

And I also have danish medieval beer mixed with mead, over 10 % vol.

Actually, the beer most people drank was the "small beer" which was extremely weak. There were other types of beer brewed in the Middle Ages which were stonger than modern beers, as you say, but most were weaker.

Both of you seem to think that the high likelihood of dying in infancy, childhood or early adulthood wasn't a problem with people's quality of life. Most people actually find young people dying to be a bit of a bummer. If you're trying to tell us you don't give a toss about any of your relatives younger than you dying, then it'd be better to tell us (and them) openly.

Meh. I'm fine with it. Rather them than me.