7 Things That Prove the Middle Ages Were Not Boring at All

Have you ever wondered what ladies and gentlemen really did in fearsome stone castles? Forget fancy ballads and jousting tournaments — behind the massive gates of a medieval castle, there were surprising customs and unexpected everyday details. From ablution rites to unusual hospitality rituals, these facts will give you a new perspective on life in the Middle Ages.

They traveled almost all year round.

Medieval castles, though they served as family residences, were rarely permanent residences. The lord and his wife and their servants, who could range in number from 30 to 150, spent most of their time traveling from one castle to another with all their possessions: beds, linen, tapestries, crockery, candlesticks, and chests.

Therefore, during the year, most of the chambers were simply locked up. The heart of the castle was the great hall, the warmest and most ornate room, where receptions, celebrations, dances, plays or chants were held. The more secluded rooms boasted 4-poster beds and special portable hearths. In the walls of these rooms, one can still find niches where servants would bring and place lamps and candles in the evening.

They were enviable employers.

The servants’ quarters were usually located just above the kitchen. They were cramped, but warm and smelled better than other corners of the castle. The lower-ranking servants couldn’t dream of their own beds, so they slept wherever they could.

Their day began before dawn and ended around 7 o’clock in the evening, and they had to work without days off and for a pittance of pay. But they were given uniforms in their master’s colors and were fed all the year round, so there were plenty of people willing to compete for a job in the castle.

They didn’t use forks.

The cooks had more trouble than anyone else: it was no joke to feed up to 150 people twice a day. On the menu of that time you could find swans, peacocks, larks, pheasants, and, of course, a little more familiar to us meat dishes: beef, pork, lamb, rabbit, venison. Mostly they cooked directly over the fire: soups and stews were cooked in cauldrons, game was cooked on a spit.

They seasoned everything with mustard and spices, but salt was used mostly to pickle meat for winter in huge vats. The nobility ate most dishes with their hands or knives: forks appeared only toward the end of the Middle Ages, and many noblemen at first considered them only an amusing nonsense.

Medieval sweet tooth had a lot to choose from.

The nobles didn’t mind sweets, either. Over time, especially during and after the Crusades, cooks got access to a variety of ingredients — including new spices that were added to recipes. So the thin, crispy dough baked in iron molds eventually evolved into a more refined delicacy, later to be called waffle. Around the 15th century, rectangular molds instead of round ones were used to make it.

It is interesting that waffle makers in those times, just like nowadays, were often given as wedding gifts. This instrument was decorated with coats of arms, patterns, animal images or other symbols associated with a noble family or a particular locality. It was a personalized and very practical gift.

Medieval carpets made of reeds

The castles were always kept clean, even though it took a lot of work. The floors were usually covered with reeds or straw mixed with fragrant herbs.

These peculiar mats could be swept out and replaced when they became too dirty, which in turn helped to keep the rooms clean and even insulate them from the cold. The windows, if there were any, were thoroughly cleaned of soot and grime.

Business and small talk were often conducted while bathing.

As for personal hygiene, the nobles had many more opportunities to wash than the common people. The castles often had baths where the servants prepared hot water in advance for bathing. And it was a common and even secular affair. Nobles often invited guests to take a bath together, and the water was scented with herbs and flowers.

In addition to bathing, the nobility had other rituals to maintain hygiene. They regularly combed their hair, used primitive toothpaste and washed their hands before eating. Clothes were periodically changed and washed, and perfume and aromatic oils were often used to mask unpleasant odors.

Common people, however, couldn’t afford clean water, so peasants limited themselves to washing their hands and faces every day. They washed their body, usually before major festivals or on summer days, by the riverbank.

They set trends.

Noble women followed various beauty procedures: depending on the fashions of the time, women removed hair from their legs with pumice stones or sharp shells, and sometimes plucked unwanted hair with tweezers, even though the clergy didn’t approve of these practices. Perhaps this is why it was not popular among peasants.

Surprisingly, even in the Middle Ages, some women dyed their hair and men dyed their beards — a few documented recipes for hair dyes have survived from those times. We can assume that this way the nobility showed their desire to look resplendent even within the gloomy walls of stone fortresses.

And these things prove that medieval life was practically a horror story.