What Was Life Really Like for Women in Medieval Times
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- Опубликовано: 9 май 2023
- What Was Life Really Like for Women in Medieval Times'
Medieval historian Dr Eleanor Janega investigates one of the least recorded aspects of medieval life - working women. But dig deep and you can find the evidence - proving the medieval period is a fascinating window into the true history of women…and work!
In this video, Eleanor gets hands on in the medieval kitchen with experiential archaeologist Caroline Nicolay to explore the jobs of country women, from dairymaids to cheese-sellers to bakers, uncovering some crooked practices along the way...
It all ties in with Eleanor's fascinating new book: 'The Once and Future Sex: Going Medieval on Women’s Roles in Society'
Watch the full episode to see Eleanor take on the jobs and businesses of real medieval women, from Domina Agnes Ramsey, a highly skilled stonemason with a flourishing business making royal tombs, to Katherine of Bury, a blacksmith plying her trade inside the Tower of London during the Hundred Years' War.
Full episode: access.historyhit.com/videos/...
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Not to mention being a milk or dairy maid increased your chances of getting cow pox (good and you survived it), as opposed to getting small pox (bad and was a world wide killer). The 2 diseases are related. If you get cowpox, you generally were (more or less) immune to smallpox.
That was another reason why diary maids were lauded for their beauty. (If someone survived small pox they'd be scarred for life from how the pox blistered the skin).
Right! That's actually were the word "vaccine" comes from: "vacunas" come from "vacas" (cows in Spanish)
You are absolutely right 🎉
Thanks to Edward Jenner the 18th century who spotted the link and is the father of vaccination.
Same with chicken pox. Interesting fact, didn't know there was a cow pox. One of these things that make you say HMMMMM.
I remember reading accounts of how much the wives of master craftsmen worked alongside their husbands, especially if they also came from a family in the same line of work.
This is all the more apparent in cases of the widows of master craftsmen who would often take over their late husband's shop until their son/nephew/designated heir came of age.
This still exists today in blue collar jobs. The wife will sometimes be at work with her man assisting him.
Source: I’m an auto mechanic’s wife
The book the silver touch was about a woman who was a silversmith, but things she made were stamped with her husband's mark
Actually not only did a widdow inherit her husband's business, in Mediaeval English towns she inherited his vote, so long as she kept the business running. Often in a supervisory role (but not always) by hiring journey men (men paid by the day) to do the heavy work.
Nice video. Just a note: the names Baker and Brewer come from men doing the job, while Baxter and Brewster were the female title.
THANK YOU - thats really interesting
Most surnames come medieval era jobs, like Carter, Cotter, Mason etc. So interesting!
Interesting.
My friend is called Gertrude Carwash
Did you just mansplain?
This is why I hate when (mainly red-pill) men say that women aren't important because "who did/does all the dangerous jobs?" Women did alongside men! Women have consistently worked (outside of the house) all throughout history in every culture, not even taking domestic labour into account. It's such a strange and infuriating myth that women only started working externally in the 1970's.
No one says that they did not work outside.
But there was a great difference between the labor done by men and what women did outside.
@@leonardoferrari4852yet women still had to do both and much more, breaking their backs to get literal pennies of recognition
@@aquaabouttogetfunky where have I stated the opposite? Projecting much? Why are you so insecure?
Thank you! I hear this from the RP often too - it's just not historically true. Women worked hard, dangerous jobs outside of the home - especially in Victorian England - and were then expected to come home and continue working there. They also forget that women had to suffer and often died in childbirth. One documentary said that Medieval women had a 40% chance of dying with each pregnancy.
@@leonardoferrari4852No one says that? Have you spend just one day on the internet? Ever spoken to a sexist man? When I still had social media (apart from RUclips and messaging apps which I'm still using) I heard those accusations daily. Many people still don't believe women do any "real" work, even though they always did.
Noble women frequently ran their castles while their husbands were away on crusade or were at court. When you read the court rolls women had far more power than is commonly thought.
My ancestor Brita Larsdotter was the Royal Housekeeper of Nyköping Castle in the late 1500s-earl 1600s, so she was basically running everything. Some of her records still exist there, so she could read and write, probably because her father was a vicar and must have taught her. I'm not sure if this was common in other castles of the time in Sweden, I've only looked into my own family history, but I'm assuming it wasn't rare.
Catherine of Aragon, queen to Henry Vlll, ran the country while Henry was away in France trying to out king the French Monarch. I think she even had a war with Scotland.
Part of the reason people wanted to get rid of Erszebet Batory. She had too much power, so they claimed she killed girls in her care. At least, If you believe what most historians believe of the Blood Countess now
Women whose husbands were in the crusades or fighting for the king. Many noblemen were gone from home for years at a time. The women held down the castle
Women always had huge roles in the society and important jobs, despite what the feminist say.
"I live in the late Medieval England" lol this woman is amazing
I live in a town with a lot of thatched roof houses. One of them recently caught fire and they had to remove the thatch and then the tiles on the neighbouring house. The road was closed for around three weeks because the road needed to be repaired and the chimney of the thatched house was unstable. Fires in these types of houses are no small matter
They need to be boraxed
Yeah, I once saw an ancient style thatched roof cottage burning, and it went up in flames spectacularly.
@PieterBreda wow that's very rare. Thatched roofs usually don't flame at all but smolder. Where was this thatched roof was it in the carribean? Was it a wooden house? Wood can flame very well but thatch is very hard to flame so maybe it was the wood underneath the house making it look like it was the thatch flaming. Or maybe it was not real thatch. Maybe it was sone kind of fake for show. Real thatch is a huge layer of thick damp rushes ...unless you poured petrol on it it would never flame. Only smoldering and steam.
@@Padraigp No, it was in the Netherlands during a very warm summer. It was a brand new thatched roof and and they had just finished that same day. The thatch was all fresh. Nowadays, the thatch is more for decoration and there is insulation and fireproof material underneath. But this was an old farmhouse barn with nothing beneath the thatch. As far as I know, someone made a mistake and the brandnew thatch caught fire and it burnt fiercely. It burnt fiercely because the thatch was the only thing on the roof and it got plenty of air.
Fires in the Middle Ages were terrible, especially in cities. Thatched roofs were outlawed in London in 1212 in an attempt to prevent fires.
We made our own wholemeal bread daily or every 2 days from the 1950s when it was mum's job until we got old enough to help. About 12. It only takes about 15 mins to get to put the bread to rise. (1hr ish) Another couple to knock it back and put in tins to prove. (30 mins). Then in the oven to bake, (30 mins). So for most of the time you can get on with other stuff. Its really easy. Getting the temperatures right for rising and proving can be the trickiest part. Too cold it takes ages, too hot you kill the yeast.
This was before temperature controlled ovens
@@nataliaalfonso2662 Yeah, AND you often had to mill your own flour if you didn't have a wind/watermill nearby or couldn't afford to pay a miller to do it for you. Hand-milling is long, tedious and strenuous work, involving ginding grain between two massive, heavy mill stones, and it easily took hours to make enough for one or two loafs. It would also have to be done every day or every other day because there were no preservatives in flour back then and it could mold and go bad quickly. Saying making "oh, I make my own bread now, it's easy" is the same as saying "Oh, I wash all my own clothes now in the machine, it's easy," like yeah, of course it is because of modern machinary and convenience.
The 13 bakers dozen came from punishment from stealing dough , high punishment from Kings made bakers so paranoid they added a extra 1 to dozen .That's where a bakers dozen came from .
There is another root. A baker would add a thirteenth to make sure the weight met/ exceeded the legal standard. Have only a proper dozen meant the baker could come up short of the required weight, therefore to be sure, the bakers dozen is introduced.
All bread was sold at market. For every 12 loaves sold the salesman kept the money for the 13th loaf. That was his commission.
so maybe thats where 13 become an unlucky number?
@@thecocktailian2091 way to repeat what OP said
So cool…ha, ha, chuckle…
Also a thing to note re: women doing dangerous jobs - the second most common cause of death for ladies (just after dying in child-birth) was catching fire in the kitchen and burning to death. Because large flammable dresses etc.
I think thats particularly true in the 18th and 19th century. Not saying it wouldn't have happened before, but in the middle ages most women would've worn wool, which isn't very flammable. But, wool is very absorbant, so washing clothes in rivers would have come with a risk of drowning
@@reknae One of many arguments for why more of them should have taken up witchcraft
What an utterly horrible fate. Can you imagine? Your dress catching fire and you being burned alive, screaming in pain, unable to get it off yourself quickly enough. Jesus.
This is a myth. Women a) wore natural fibres that don't burn like modern artificial fabrics and b) were not idiots who don't understand the fire is hot.
Women were far more likely to die from infection/disease or drowning.
@@raraavis7782you just have to get on the ground and roll over.
Are your clothes made out of kerosene?
I like all videos with Doc Eleanor. She tells just how common folk lived and worked in Medieval times.
I'm glad you are breaking down this myth that women only entered work in the 1960s, people think the idealised 1950s housewife was the standard and not a dream in the USA that most people never even reach then, let alone any decade before or since.
Agreed
The '1950s housewife' was for the middle class. This video, let's be honest, is about poor women who have always worked hard to make ends meet.
@@DanBrown96 I mean seen as the middle class didn't exist back then, almost all women were working class and there where certain jobs upper class women would do as well.
As a fifth-generation business-owning woman, I find the whole weird idea of “pet” women disturbing. But to each her own. I warn my sons to avoid those who are not industrious, and cannot save money.
Nice to see Made in South Africa on the three legged pot. These are extensively used in this country for anything from making stews to pot bread and porridge.
Potjiekos 🫶🏽
Food cooked in them is sumptious
@greighax do you know where someone might acquire one of these pots? I like the size and shape of it.
@@anonthehousemouse I'm not sure but you could do a Google search for cast iron cauldron?
This reminds me of an old 1970s Ladybird book called The Magic Porridge Pot. The illustrations were brilliant.
The practice of taking your bread dough to the baker was still going on during the Holocaust. My Maternal Grandmother who was a slave during the Holocaust did this as one of her many tasks.
The baker who was a good person would give her cookies sometimes at risk to their own life.
For if they had been caught they would have paid with their own life for a simple human kindness 😢😢😢
It was a dark horrible time, but here we are today. Our ancestors would be happy to us thrive.
What a terrible time when you could die for giving cookies to a slave. Wait. It's even darker. There were slaves, as well. What strong people who made it through this time.
like my husband's grandma says "a man works from sun to sun, a woman's work is never done"
Although womens work tends to be less taxing
@@cfcfan72 😂
@@cfcfan72 show your comment to every women you know
I think that saying doesn't apply nowadays because of all the technology we have making our lives so much easier. Life back then was so much harder for men and women, but they made the perfect team.
@@erinrising2799 Tell every woman you know to carry 100 lbs bags all day.
Tell me how many are able to do it even for a single day.
I frequently make ricotta cheese, basically using the method shown here. Combine equal amounts of milk and heavy cream, a bit of salt, bring to a boil, take off the heat and add vinegar. Let sit for a few minutes and then pour into a bowl through a sieve lined with a couple layers of cheese cloth. The resulting cheese is to die for and a favorite in my family. (When I'm done, I always feel sad throwing away the whey instead of maybe having a couple of pigs to feed it to...)
I use liquid whey for my bread dough. It's rich in protein and other nutrients. Commercially whey powder is used in protein drinks and commercial baked goods. It can also be used in soup.
That sounds amazing! Making the cheese and then using the whey for dough. Sadly I know ADHD brain will have dropped that out of my memory by the time I'm awake and in a position to try >
The whey can also be used to ferment drinks and other things. There's a channel Off Grid with Doug and Stacy, where she makes a fermented lemonade with whey from cheese making or from yoghurt.
In India people still do those milkmaid staff at home regularly. So I was sursprised to see how surprised she became after making butter. 😅
I've only ever known butter to be made in a churn, so seeing it made just with the hand is interesting!
Well India is still largely a backward country so of course its normal
Where I come from we can go to the store to buy butter so there's really no need to make our own. I was surprised to find out that you can make candles out of butter too.
Dr Eleanor does it again, another great video and seeing her make butter, bread, cheese is there no end to the brilliant lady's talents. I love all of her insights.
Hmm. I find her pretentious, self-satisfied, and marble-mouthed. Her Twitter persona is combative, self-righteous, and unprofessional even as she glibly flaunts her credentials to legitimize slurs in place of substantive arguments. She seems propelled far less by curiosity than hostility, and less concerned with edification than ideological deconstruction. It's fine that you enjoy her work, but I find her unserious and altogether unappealing. I'll stick with Bettany Hughes.
@@willmercuryyou both applied for the same tenured position? 😂
@@carpediem6431Ya got me, Doc; right in me epiglottis.
Aw..My great granny had her own dairy! Nice to hear they were well regarded, as clean and lovely with soft hands.
The "women didn't work" thing is from the victorian era when it became a status symbol for men who made enough money that their wives didn't have to work. Literally all of history women worked. Even if you were upper class, there were specific responsibilities for women. The big difference today is that working women work away from home (think city instead of farm) and can't have their children with them.
In other words, the more civilized society is, the less women have to work.
@@LynetteTheMadScientist kind of. The victorian era had a lot of strict social rules, but it was also a time of double standards. Opium dens were a huge problem, syphilis spiked.
Literally. And feminism was SUPPOSED to be about women, finally, for once, being adequately compensated for all their labor. And given equal rights to voting and land ownership. Instead, it was totally confused and co-opted by people thinking it now should mean women have to work MORE, and give themselves FOR FREE to men who have to contribute LESS. It’s bananas how everyone fell for it.
I love all these medieval shows!
"Things were hard for most people throughout history. Women most affected."
I just finished Dr Janega's book, The Once and Future Sex. It was fantastic! I highly reccommend it.
I love these two historians together! Lovely video.
Everything was so labor intensive, but satisfying in a way that’s foreign to us as modern women.
Men too!
Not necessarily, for many women yes. But so many rural women still live their lives in more traditional ways. Even in western countries.
@deejayk5939 we often don't see this view on history though, all we hear I'd the typical "women were oppressed" rubbish. Women were so much stronger and more resilient back then compared to women today.
@kcarter0265 Aside from the Amish and Orthodox Jewish, I don't see many western women making their own butter and bread. If you mean gender roles, what a shame since traditional roles are linked to higher rates of domestic violence. It's an inferior way of life and I will die in that hill.
@@AmandaMerkelJust because you don't see it, doesn't mean it doesnt happen. Look at the bread loving country Germany. Many people learned how to make "butter" in elementary school and still do it from time to time, especially with herbs and garlic, even though not entirely traditionally. They also often make their own bread (which isn't really necessary since we have excellent bakeries but it's a nice hobby) - with or without a bread baking machine. If you're also thinking about flat breads and not just loafs there are tons of Western countries that make those regularly. I don't get how people say "The West never does..." when in fact it does. Are you US-American by chance?
Dying at the bread scam! 🤣 Love the medieval content!!!
You just have 'IT' Eleanor! I could watch your content all day you're a fantastic Historian that leaves me hanging on every word! Gold Tier entertainment
I love Dr Eleanor. She’s the reason I watch these.
Awesome!! I didn’t know you had such great videos!
I have watched every video and now I'm watching them again. Joyfully addicted❤
Great episode ❤
The AI art is extremely distracting during this video - idk if it saves money or what but I would think taking the time to just pull in images of actual medieval art (or really anything else) would be better
Really interesting, enjoyed this very much
The AI images are hilarious in terms of number of fingers 😂
😂 Definitely noticed that myself.
The AI images are so very very cursed. It's a bit off-putting.
I watched a video on youtube on how to make butter with an electric mixer.
I had no idea it was that easy. It is as easy as you see here, just a lot faster and easier because you are not using your fingers.
Bonus, you get butter milk from it and you can also make whip cream using the same process.
*whipped cream
@@NachaBeez - no, whip cream.
You use it on the whips in BDSM.
Also easy to make by putting cream in a lidded jar and shaking until the butter separates. Takes about 5 minutes.
😂😂😂@@MrYfrank14
Can we please get to know whick medieval era we are talking about or which specific century?
Loved this! I want to see Dr Eleanor do everything.
The way Caroline says "Oh! Devilry" was perfection lol. This video earned a subscription. Great great stuff.
Very much enjoyed this presentation!! 👍 👍 👍
Thank you for this interesting video!
Blessed are the cheesemakers.
Great video. Thank you!
Thank you. This was so interesting.
This was very informative, thank you!
I’m a simple person- I see Eleanor Janega, and I watch.
Sorry for the cliche, but it just felt right.
Thank you so much for posting this material. I coincidentally had Dirty Work by steely Dan playing in the bac😅
That was excellent, thank you!
They didn't have chimneys for common houses in the English Middle Ages. That came later in Tudor times, and indeed they were a serious fire hazard when embers were allowed to rise up the flue.
That's why it was the law to have a metal surround around the chimney so hot embers couldn't land on the thatch.
@@Trebor74 Source? I doubt peasants could afford a massive metal object to put around the chimney.
Fascinating. All women, even the supposed "privileged" women of the nobility. Taking everything into account, I think the women who had the easiest (not that it was really easy) life were the wives of wealthy burghers in London and other large towns. Despite what might seem as being privileged, the women of the nobility were too often married off or sent to a convent no matter what they wanted. These videos bring history to life.
Barbara, I don't think it was really the case that privileged women of the nobility were up to their elbows in barley malt. What they said was that brewing was so lucrative "that even members of the nobility got involved". That didn't mean that they were _working_ manually, but rather were probably owning the taverns and hiring people to run the ale houses so that they could pocket the profit. And specifically, they didn't say that it was female members of the nobility. It is very likely that it would be men who would buy the building and open the bar, and simply hire peasant women to run things.
Blessed are the cheese-makers
we need a show between Dr Eleanor Janet’s and Ruth Goodman !
Such an interesting take putting modern language on historical lives.
My favorite line “medieval women WORKED” … as if, back in the days when there were no supermarkets, it would be assumed any peasant couldn’t work in order to eat?
We’ve been reading the Ingalls-Wilder books aloud again, and hearing how industrious Carline Ingalls was reminds me how we aren’t that far off from the labor required just for basic existence.
Great video
I've never seen butter made that way! So neet. My grandmother would take a stick, the very same kind our behinds knew from discipline, and would chew the end and sorta abuse it a bit until it was like a mini broom and then wisk that cream lile it wronged her haha. The used the same stick for weeks just sitting there by the stove. No idea why it never made us sick but that butter was soft and sweet. I bet what you made was very similar!
Amei o vídeo! ❤️
Principalmente a parte de tentar fazer as pessoas pensarem sobre a compra dos animais.
Por favor mais vídeos assim.
this is a gread documentary, thank you. It's nice to know what life really is like for these women. They work very hard
Wow I loved this video but I’m too drunk to write I comment with beautiful and rarely used words but I just wanted to let you know. Interesting, informative, historical, Great personalities and great real world backgrounds. You deserve to get paid more.
I loved this video! ❤️
Yes no dishwashers , no washing machines, no supermarkets, no vehicles to jump into
It is really interesting. Like the video a lot.
What a great episode. Shortest in the series? A reflection of medieval times, mabes :)
Very interesting, thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you
Thank you!
I learned so much!
I'm surprised to see History Hit using AI art in their productions.
As much as things change thing are the same. I know how to do all of these things. I have a homestead and I have always lived in a farm setting.
Very intriguing
So interesting! Glad I found your channel!
Thanks!
Never seen or heard of anyone making butter with their bare hands before! I had no idea it was even possible to do it that way and I was shocked you could do it with such a small amount of cream!
literally in school aspiring to be like Dr Eleanor
I'm today years old when I learned that you can have ale (and beer?) without hops. That's why I won't drink it. I don't usually drink but when I do I drink mead and that's about it.
Weirdly enough, I just started to shake my cream to make butter when I put this on. An 800 year flash back..
Great piece, but really NOT a fan of the AI generated imagery, was this in the original?
the added detail of the curfew really made me giddy. I love learning etymology
So grateful to live today!
Extremely dissapointed at the use of AI generated images.
Agreed, it's just art theft and this channel, its historians & editors should know better. It's really their own work being stolen (as historians & artists), just for some plasticated, 'dust-filter' AI images, that look terrible and fake, especially in a real-life history video. Either use your own images or pay for copyrighted images. Not acceptable.
Dr Eleanor is anything but a mere desk girl.. A born dairymaid if ever I saw one. 🌟👍
This is really interesting, but I assume this is all from English records? When she says there are records of such and such? Or just European in general? Would be interesting to know.
Great video, thank you very much , note to self(nts) watched all of it 12:10
Brilliant.
Fascinating 👍🏻
If I was a dairy maid I would pretend to be lactose intolerant and everyone would say "Oh no, thanks for your self-sacrifice, have a free pilgrimage to Canterbury but you can be carried the whole way and not have to do any prayers, and we'll throw in a pie." But secretly I wouldn't _actually_ be lactose intolerant and on my pilgrimage I'd be having milk all the time, although only under cover of darkness.
Deviousness
I like how specific this is and how much you've thought it through, plus the inclusion of a pie which I'm imagining with a satisfying crust and some pastry leaves on top. I think you should develop this into a story, The Devious Dairy Maid/ The Dairy Maid of Canterbury.
@@katec9893 We could call it _The Canterbury Pails_
Make it a book 😂
They didn't even know what lactose was 😂😂😂😂
Not sure the title they were working more than 9 to 5. Every farmer in the UK works more than that, as do emergency workers, medical workers, police, and many more.
Nobody works 9 to 5, except in winter. They worked from sunup to sundown, but usually at a leisurely pace, with a lot of breaks.
Wow, great-ish looks!
I live now in Andalucia. S Spain. My best Spanish friend born december 1947, 1 month before me, told me about life here during the 1950s and 60s. During Franco's dictatorship.
Andalucia was punished for being, mostly, on the opposing side during the war. Pre war industries eg leather work, quarrying and furniture making were not allowed (according to an elderley lady who ran a little myseum). Free, formal education ended when children were 8. Children then went to work on the land or as servants for the wealthier people. Until 1954 when a communal laundry was built clothes were washed in local streams and springs. Water was provided by springs and taps in the street. There was no oven in the small stone built houses bur just as mentioned in this video about the middle ages women took their dough to the local bread shop to be baked.
Life under Franco for country dwellers was not much different from that of the English medieval peasant.
Ps. In 1971 I lived in Ibiza for 3 months in winter. The old stone built houses had wells for water. No electricity or toilets. We cooked over a small fire using a large clay pot similar to those excavated from iron age archaeological sites. They stood on a small iron tripod. The bottoms would drop out of the pots after a while leaving sherds the same as those also found on iron age sites. The local shop had a stock of clay pots. Life for Spanish country dwellers was primitive until the 1970s. Then they blossomed into a thriving 21st century society. Amazing people.
They forgot to add about short beer.
Thats beer not fully fermented.
Which was pretty common also.
If you hear of people drinking ale at breakfast and during the day.
That was typically short ales or short beer. Less alcohol content.
For a full beer / ale. It take 14 to 30 days of ferment.
Shorts was 7 to 21. But mostly 7 to 14 days.
Never knew you could make butter by stirring with your hand! I’ve always churned mine. Interesting!
Did she heat it a bit before stirring?
I love Caroline Nicolay's blue and white outfit. I have worn such clothes in reenactment and they're so comfortable. I would love to try making medieval ale sometime. Will need a recipe. Is it barley?
Loved this. Im so sick of the narrative that women didnt work ubtil ww2.
The ai I,ages really threw me off .. you could have easily pulled real images off the internet
This was utterly informative.. Thank you
Great! I'm allergic to hops (headaches) so I'd fit right in. At least with the drinking. I wouldn't even want to try to hack it in medieval times.
1:09 being a dairy or milk maid sets you up to be immune to small pox though.
Love it ❤
It's funny how explicit the names are: Cottage cheese? An easy to make cheese any idiot in a cottage can make. Buttermilk? The milk left over from the butter-making process. Etc.
Interesting.
Who wasn't life horrible for in the middle ages?