10 CURIOSITIES ABOUT THE MIDDLE AGES THAT WILL SURPRISE YOU - HISTORY - 2024

From the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 until the end of Constantinople in 1453 passed the Middle Ages or Middle Ages. During this historical period, most people used to have a series of beliefs and habits, almost bordering on the unusual.

Today we will talk about 10 curiosities about the Middle Ages. Join us through this interesting list, in which you will learn more about the incredible customs of the people of this time.

Source: lifeder.com

10 curiosities about the Middle Ages

One bath a year

In today's times, hygiene habits are far from what was customary in the Middle Ages, since in those days, people used to take a bath once every 365 days. More specifically, they did it during their birthday, in order to celebrate that special date.

Other people even omitted this tradition. Some of them chose to clean themselves at the beginning of May, which is why most of the weddings had the days after this month as their favorite date. The main reason for this was to avoid at all costs the bad body odor that the newlywed couple would have on the eve of the marriage if it was celebrated in April.

In the case of religious people, this habit worked a little differently, since most clergymen and priests. An example was that of San Fintán de Clonenagh. This saint used to clean his body on the eve of Easter, to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Although it is difficult to believe the Viking people had a conscience a little more similar to that of our days, since their personal hygiene was carried out once a week. While there are those who shower more frequently these days, this is something that is closer to current standards.

Witchcraft accusations

The Holy Inquisition was an institution that operated during this dark age of human history, with methods that are totally reprehensible today. Here feminicide was openly practiced, using as a pretext the practice of witchcraft by women who were burned at the stake.

The Inquisition was founded in France during the year 1184, and spread to various countries in Europe and America. It came to be practiced until 1808 when it was abolished by Napoleon Bonaparte in Spain, the last country to practice this doctrine.

The guide and moral compass was not the Bible but the Malleus Maleficarum, also known as The Hammer of the Witches. This abominable text originating in Germany described all kinds of torture, which had to be carried out on those women who practice witchcraft.

The Pontifical Inquisition was the highest institution of its kind, created in 1231 by Pope Gregory IX. Its main function was the persecution of heretics and witches by bishops.

It should be noted that accusations of witchcraft were common in those days. According to many historians, more than 80 percent of those accused of paganism were women. The average age of heresy practitioners used to be 60; Perhaps this is why in the stories of the Brothers Grimm old witches are often seen, as for example in the story of Hansel and Gretel.

No laughter in church

During the Middle Ages, religiosity was taken very seriously, to the point where laughter was banned from all religious venues. This went against what ancient figures such as Aristotle thought, who said that laughter was an innate characteristic of all individuals. The reason for this veto originates from the belief of a malevolent, and even diabolical, origin in human laughter.

The origin of this controversial theory lies in the lack of laughter on the part of Christ in the Holy Scriptures. Additionally, the sense of humor was associated with libertine behavior, bad habits and other inappropriate behavior for religious events. The ultimate purpose of this restriction was to show the greatest possible seriousness during the stay in religious temples, as a show of respect and fear of God.

To date, there is knowledge of an ordinance dating from 789 from Germany, which explicitly prohibits both clergy and parishioners from practicing buffoonery.

In contrast, many libertines had the custom of wearing the clothing of nuns and priests in order to ridicule this custom. This was harshly judged by the Catholic Church, since the desecration of religious clothing was often punishable by excommunication.

Healing blood

Although epilepsy treatments have evolved remarkably during the last decades, the origins of the search for a permanent cure for this disease have its origin in the Roman Empire and in the later Middle Ages.

In these times, more than a scientific investigation with all the laws, strongly rooted superstitions appeared in the historical context of the time. If to this is added the belief that the vital energy contained in the blood can be transferred through the consumption of it, the result is undoubtedly eccentric to say the least.

When a member of the Roman aristocracy suffered from epileptic seizures, the first option was to seek out the most seasoned of gladiators available. The reason was that it was intended to extract his blood, since it was believed that it served as an effective healing elixir against this neurological condition.

This belief, far from disappearing, was adopted by members of the nobility in medieval times, in which case the source of this bloody priest used to come from the so-called serfs. These were unfree men who considered themselves another property and from whom the greatest possible benefit should be obtained.

It should be noted the uselessness of this and other alleged properties such as the aphrodisiac, which have been attributed to human blood throughout history.

Demonic music

The belief of linking music with infernal entities comes from the Middle Ages, since according to ancient texts, there was a musical interval called a tritone whose sound seemed to come from hell itself. The penalties for making use of these musical notes ranged from high tributes that had to be paid to the crown, to jail.

This was motivated by the disruptive sound that the “SI-FA-SI” notes had and the difficulty they posed when being brought to singing. The lack of symmetry in these notes was associated with the lack of divinity and its origin linked to the bad arts.

These notes used to be considered as an invocation that attracted demonic presences. On more than one occasion they spoke about the sensation of evil presences near the person who played the dreaded tritone.

Babies felt no pain

The medicine of the Middle Ages was very unsophisticated and its methods are much more than questioned today. Many today wonder how people could blindly believe some theories. There is one in particular that involves newborns, who according to medieval medicine practitioners did not suffer from pain of any kind.

Although science has been able to verify that even fetuses are capable of feeling pain, this belief was maintained until the middle of the 20th century. But that's not all, since there is a wide range of crazy advice that medieval pediatricians used to give mothers, who diligently followed them, providing dire experiences to their children.

The indications ranged from the importance of the wrap to the appropriate age to drink alcohol. The good shelter provided under a well-fitted blanket was of vital importance for the good distribution of the body's organs according to the doctors of the time, since the fragility of the neonate's bones provided deformities if this advice was disobeyed.

According to Bartolomeus Metlinger, who wrote the Children's Book published in 1473: “Girls can taste wine at 12 and boys at 14. The reason is because until then children are growing and need moisture. The wine is dry and eliminates the humidity of nature, preventing the growth of the child ”.

Spontaneous generation

During the Middle Ages, scientific postulates were imposed that today have lost their validity, but which do not cease to surprise due to the creativity of their arguments. Spontaneous generation is a theory that was taken for granted in those days, since it provided an answer to a great unknown about the origin of certain organisms.

The appearance of larvae, worms and some types of insects in food and other places represented a mystery to the scientific community. Thus, medieval people thought that these animals arose spontaneously out of nowhere.

These beliefs managed to reach the seventeenth century, when the naturalist Jean Baptiste Van Helmont became one of the most famous defenders of this hypothesis. This scientist of Belgian origin claimed that fleas, flies and ticks came from human waste.

According to his analysis, he developed a formula that was intended to create mice. The components of his recipe were sweat-filled underwear and various grains of wheat. These ingredients had to be mixed in a container of considerable size and then left to rest.

According to the thinker, after 21 days this aromatic mixture would give results to several rodents of different sex and colors. Something that always caught Van Helmont's attention was the fact that the mice generated were already in adulthood.

Holed teeth provided strength

Perhaps many dentists faint at the oral hygiene measures that were practiced by people who lived in the so-called dark ages. And it is that the implements of those times are far from toothpastes, currently used daily for the prevention of cavities and other diseases that usually affect the teeth.

In fact, this is one of those cases in which the cure is more damaging than the ill suffered. Throughout medieval times, many men used to open holes in their teeth, since they believed this technique guaranteed them a strength greater than that possessed by nature.

But this is not all, since the recommended toothpaste was neither more nor less than urine. These bodily secretions were believed to provide the necessary protection against all oral infections, in accordance with the traditions of the time.

When it came to talking about the instrumentation used in the extraction of teeth and molars, the outlook was not encouraging. Those in charge of carrying out this work were known as tooth pickers, and in reality they used to be barbers who also performed these functions.

Of course, the large tweezers used for this purpose did not have proper hygiene; and in some cases they ended up providing gum infections, which were usually treated with the intake of wine.

Trials against animals

The laws created during the ancient world and in the Middle Ages, have served as inspiration for hundreds of laws that are still in force in today's world. While this is true, there are many statutes and legal procedures from those days that would perplex any attorney today.

One of the many strange customs that were had at that time, consisted of legally judging animals for any infraction committed. In the year 1522 an unusual trial was carried out on neither more nor less than a few mice, in a town in France called Autun.

The reason for the lawsuit filed against these rodents was due to the fact that they had eaten almost all of the barley crops located in that village. The rats were summoned to appear before a court made up of an official, who went to their respective nests and read aloud the statute that required them to appear in court.

The matter did not end there, as these elusive defendants had a court-appointed attorney, who was later known as the rat advocate.

Bees were considered birds and beavers fish

The classification of species during this time was a complicated issue, since there was no further reference to the genetic makeup of an animal. That is why the environment in which each species develops was of special interest to most of the medieval naturists.

When seeing the beavers assembling a prey in the water, it was concluded that this hairy specimen was nothing but another fish, despite its strange physiognomy. It was common to see many fishermen in search of this supposed aquatic being, due to the interest that their genitals had for medicinal use. It was believed that they served as a cure for headaches and even epilepsy.

The case of bees is also an example of the curiosities found in the Middle Ages, since because they were almost always flying and lived in huge shells considered nests, it is not surprising that they were considered birds by the inhabitants of Europe mid-second millennium.

The general belief was that within their habitat, they used to have wars with other hives, and it was even thought that they could be sentenced to exile if they broke the laws of their social environment.