Re:Survival tips if you find yourself in the Middle Ages?
by pg on Sunday January 04, 2009 @12:23PM
(#419320)
There are a lot of stories about robbery, but in reality, human societies don't function when people steal a lot.
By present standards, society didn't function in most of medieval Europe, especially in 800. That's why the flourishing trade of the Roman era was replaced by subsistence farming. Banditry had replaced pax Romana.
The rich didn't ride in carriages in the period we're talking about. The roads were too bad. Carriages didn't come into widespread use till centuries later.
Re:Survival tips if you find yourself in the Middle Ages?
by biohacker42 on Monday January 05, 2009 @11:14AM
(#420618)
This discussion is going of the deep end, but... are you sure?
Pax Romana had little to do with common muggery. The Eastern Holy Roman empire, a.k.a Byzantine was still doing OK. And for that matter the barbaric peoples at it's border, like the ones I am descendant from were as the above poster described, mostly peaceful and friendly.
Re:Survival tips if you find yourself in the Middle Ages?
by evgen on Sunday January 04, 2009 @05:09PM
(#419603)
Soap = fatty acid + lye. How can anyone not know this? Run water through wood ash, boil a bit to concentrate, then mix with any accessible oil. Use eye protection at all times for those trying his at home.
Re:Survival tips if you find yourself in the Middle Ages?
by Tichy on Monday January 05, 2009 @08:53AM
(#420409)
I don't think it would ever have occurred to me to try to turn ash into something I could clean myself with (given that jumping into coal is a quick way to get dirty). Should I find myself in the middle ages, I hope to remember your comment...
Why is that? Because people only write about the drama.
If you actually travel to any existing country where there are small villages, you will see that strangers are always treated with great friendliness and respect. If someone walks in to break the monotony of your cow herding, your instinctive reaction will not be to kill him.
It's the same with robbery - there are a lot of stories about robbery, but in reality, human societies don't function when people steal a lot. It's not true now anywhere, and I doubt it was true back then. So robbery will likely not be a problem.
(Remember also, those who wrote history where those who rode in fine carriages, and such people likely thought a lot more about robbery than the common guy)
Warlords in the north did not have an information apparatus - you could live for a while before they would become aware of you, and even then the interest shown in you would probably be more benign than not.
Cleanliness is something you really would not be able to maintain. Imagine the process:
1. Wake up 2. Get a bucket 3. Walk a kilometer to the next well 4. Walk back holding 10 kilograms of water 5. Bath yourself with this freezing water (be careful not to catch pneumonia) 6. Somehow either invent soap or buy some expensive soap 7. Do the same, but for your clothes 8. Avoid being too close to any children or anybody who is in any way grubby, because they will instantly void your work 9. Be considered wierd for doing this everyday
Cleanliness is not that easy in a cold climate, and it's not that neccessary compared to a warm climate.