The hazards of Medieval life

nice_guy80

Wibbs wrote: »

Mad thing about them is they have very shallow foundations, like a foot deep kinda thing. They were also regularly hit by lightning and the top blown off. The other thing that was taught "in my day" was their true purpose was unknown. Were they defensive - like you said a daft idea, a storehouse of sorts - possible some writings suggest that important religious items were kept there and the high doorway(not found in all of them) was a platform for exposition of relics and such to assembled crowds.

The annals themselves are quite clear, they're named as bell houses(though possibly stone houses). A couple of lads up at the top ringing handbells through the open windows calling monks and the faithful to prayer at specific times. Prestige was another aspect of course as they were the tallest buildings around by some measure. They would have been so so as lookout points as the windows openings at the top were small and the walls thick enough so field of view is limited. A few were later converted to flat topped battlements. Way back in my youth I was brought into the example in Clondakin in Dublin(smelled of damp and pigeon poo) and you can see remarkably little out of the top. Even then I thought how many changes has this old thing seen. It's an unusual one as it still has its original top. The only one that has IIRC. The one in Glendalough was rebuilt in the 19th century. Not bad for a thousand years plus old. And even today it's still bloody high.

The earliest ones were built using pretty much neolithic building techniques with the addition of mortar. Though the monks were well travelled and had lots of classical sources for building and the like, they never seemed to bother using them. At the beginning anyway. EG they knew about the arch, but in early ones they made the tops of door frames from lintels, but carved an arch into it. Later round towers were much more finely built. The last of them built in Ardmore Co Waterford is one such example, with fine stone dressing and more contemporaneous construction. It was built not far off the time the much fancier(cos Italians ) Leaning tower of Pisa went up. Funny thing is both lean, though the Irish one hasn't needed saving from itself. So far...

Think of them as Irish versions of the Islamic minaret. Before Islam. They stole our idea!

gozunda

Not quite Medieval but the Hidden Killers series were quite interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgbEVDi8Zdc

.

To get rid of the ads - fast forward to the end and hit replay.

Wibbs

Note how the walls are covered with wood to keep the heat in. Notice too how all the furniture appears to be dark heavy woods like oak and yew. Originally they would have been lighter in shade, but those woods darken over time. Plus they're very solid woods that resist damp and last longer. Many items were made of lighter woods like pine, sycamore etc, but they usually didn't survive the centuries so we're left with the impression of dark woods everywhere. The pewter would have been polished to shine like silver too.

Though like you say Tudor England, but with few more recent exceptions what did them in and the lives they led were pretty much the same as in the medieval. For a start England was in the north on the periphery of Europe and lagging behind in a few respects compared to say Italy at the time. The "first" health and safety stuff she mentions were already in play in places like Italy and Germany.

One of the biggest differences compared to the medieval would have been the presence and remarkably sudden introduction of the printed word and the world feeling so much bigger than before in the cultural consciousness.

Aside.. she's lovely she is.

Bannasidhe

My favourite Irish tale of the Middle Ages is what I can only imagine must have been if Month Python had 'done' Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

I will preface by saying if I hadn't read it in a primary historical source I would have said nawh... no way that happened. But apparently it did.

Story goes that in the Summer of 1171, High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair was so successful in driving the Norman's back that Strongbow approached him and offered to swear fealty.
Ua Conchobair was so sure of victory that he declined.

Things continued to get worse for Strongbow to the extent that himself and two compadres (I think it was Raymond Le Gros and Hugh de Lacy) were effectually trapped. The Gaelic Irish controlled all the exits.

The three lads decided to go out in a blaze of glory and with yells and brandishing swords rushed out ready to die in a hail of arrows (That's the Butch and Sundance bit).

They were met with.... absolutely nothing.

It was a lovely warm Summer's day so the Irish, High King included, had gone for a swim.

A fecking swim.

It must have been like a scene from Monty Python and The Holy Grail as the three armoured knight realised they were alone and just wandered off...

If it had been a typical Irish Summer's day (ie a soft drizzle) the Norman's would have been defeated.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Capt'n Midnight

They say Fr. Clippett does a good, long mass. Three hours he does on a good night, since his stroke.

Yeah, this. And in Latin. And the churches weren't heated. And God help you if you don't go.

And back in the middle ages there were so many "feast days" that it was like one day in thee.

nice_guy80

Also, meant to say the Irish monasteries might have got the idea of the round tower from the Coptic monasteries in Egypt, on which the idea of a monastery was based.
There is evidence of a link between Egypt and Ireland as one of the manuscripts - the Irish Bog Psalter which was written in a Tipperary monastery around 800AD, actually had papyrus in the cover of the book, when it was found in a bog

Marengo

Bannasidhe wrote: »

My favourite Irish tale of the Middle Ages is what I can only imagine must have been if Month Python had 'done' Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

I will preface by saying if I hadn't read it in a primary historical source I would have said nawh... no way that happened. But apparently it did.

Story goes that in the Summer of 1171, High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair was so successful in driving the Norman's back that Strongbow approached him and offered to swear fealty.
Ua Conchobair was so sure of victory that he declined.

Things continued to get worse for Strongbow to the extent that himself and two compadres (I think it was Raymond Le Gros and Hugh de Lacy) were effectually trapped. The Gaelic Irish controlled all the exits.

The three lads decided to go out in a blaze of glory and with yells and brandishing swords rushed out ready to die in a hail of arrows (That's the Butch and Sundance bit).

They were met with.... absolutely nothing.

It was a lovely warm Summer's day so the Irish, High King included, had gone for a swim.

A fecking swim.

It must have been like a scene from Monty Python and The Holy Grail as the three armoured knight realised they were alone and just wandered off...

If it had been a typical Irish Summer's day (ie a soft drizzle) the Norman's would have been defeated.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Brilliant story! Thanks for sharing. Our history could have been so different.

Marengo

Diarmaid McMurrough turned to the Normans coming up to 1169 as he got in trouble with O'Ruairc from the north who expelled Diarmaid as he had run off with and possibly raped, his sister from a nunnery! The rape of Derveguilla.

DS86DS

Some interesting facial reconstructions of people from the Medieval era based on Forensics technology

Man found at College Green, Dublin from the 16th century




Robert the Bruce, early 1300s



Copernicus, 15th century




Medieval Knight, late 1200s

Collie D

That last guy looks like a Chelsea fan

DS86DS

Collie D wrote: »

That last guy looks like a Chelsea fan

From what I remember from the article he would have had the build and strength and stamina of a heavyweight boxer. Basically from years of intense training and needing to be able to swing heavy swords in battle.

The Enbalmer

harry Bailey esq wrote: »

Wibbs wrote: »

"Ireland is filling the world with a herd of philosophers".

Philosopher=Professional arse scratcher. Ireland is abundant with them currently, it's a bit of stretch to believe that there was no lazy cu*ts in medieval times. There where philosophers aplenty though.

There would've been a fair number of wack-jobs too.
Prophets and quacks and faith healers and travelling freak shows.

A huge number of people relied on begging or thievery for thier livelihood,just like today.

Duckworth_Luas

Collie D wrote: »

That last guy looks like a Chelsea fan

DS86DS wrote: »

Medieval Knight, late 1200s

"Insert Brain Here"

ohnonotgmail

Collie D wrote: »

That last guy looks like a Chelsea fan

He looks a bit like Brian Moore, the ex rugby player, who is coincidentally a chelsea fan

Marengo

gozunda wrote: »

Not quite Medieval but the Hidden Killers series were quite interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgbEVDi8Zdc

.

To get rid of the ads - fast forward to the end and hit replay.

Good series and Susannah Lipscombe;)

Marengo

Ian Thorpe, former Australian Olympian Swimmer

DS86DS

Anyone remember this scene from Braveheart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S7QARslq74

gozunda

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvET1-e3aJI

:pac:

DS86DS

Interesting article about animals on trial in the Middle Ages

https://www.hedweb.com/animal-trials.html

gozunda

DS86DS wrote: »

Interesting article about animals on trial in the Middle Ages
https://www.hedweb.com/animal-trials.html

That's one very strange and scary website :eek:
https://www.hedweb.com

"The Hedonistic Imperative"

The Hedonistic Imperative outlines how genetic engineering and nanotechnology will abolish suffering in all sentient life.

        The abolitionist project is hugely ambitious but technically feasible. It is also instrumentally rational and morally urgent. The metabolic pathways of pain and malaise evolved because they served the fitness of our genes in the ancestral environment. They will be replaced by a different sort of neural architecture - a motivational system based on heritable gradients of bliss. States of sublime well-being are destined to become the genetically pre-programmed norm of mental health. It is predicted that the world's last unpleasant experience will be a precisely dateable event.

Created by this guy

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pearce_(philosopher)
...

Not too sure any of that philosophy would have been understood in Medieval times ....

Eamonn8448

https://irishhistorypodcast.ie/category/podcast/medieval-life-podcasts/

some very good podcasts covering most of this era on the site above - beware can be very addictive !

Capt'n Midnight

gozunda wrote: »

That's one very strange and scary website :eek:
https://www.hedweb.com

nanotechnology will abolish suffering in all sentient life.

I'd rather the middle ages than total Grey Goo.

People Came From Earth is a really depressing story by Stephen Baxter
The future will be better but a lot of generations will have to work to get there. A bit like Cathedral building .

Electric Sheep

PopePalpatine wrote: »

Nah, the traffic just crapped in the street instead. I'll bear that in mind next time I get stuck in the car park waiting for the Fionnuala O'Carroll-Kelly in 2 tons of BMW Chungus to back out of a parking space.

Most places didn't have "streets" as such yet.

DS86DS

gozunda wrote: »

That's one very strange and scary website :eek:
https://www.hedweb.com

"The Hedonistic Imperative"


Not too sure any of that philosophy would have been understood in Medieval times ....

Honesty had no idea of that. Just found an interesting article among others on Google Search.

DS86DS

Eamonn8448 wrote: »

https://irishhistorypodcast.ie/category/podcast/medieval-life-podcasts/

some very good podcasts covering most of this era on the site above - beware can be very addictive !

That looks like a brilliant website. Thanks for sharing, I love this type of stuff.

Capt'n Midnight

Much rather Medieval life than
The hazards of the first humans in Australia.

Giant two tonne lizards and land crocs :eek:

NOPE.

Some Yoke

But what about the daily grind under the relentless oppression of the patriarchy nowadays?

BBDBB

Help, help, I’m being repressed!