Hello - once again - dear history buffs and curious readers. Today’s topic is the marvelously strange medieval ages. The period ran from the 5th to the late 15th century and was a very weird yet important time in human history. This was a time of learning in many fields such as - law, medicine, astrology, food, and everyday life in general. However, while researching these things, mistakes were made. And from those exact learning mistakes, we get this hilarious culture that the medieval ages had. To us, it may seem weird but to people back then it was just a usual day. You may be wondering “Why am I still reading this?” The answer: because it’s in human nature to be intrigued by the weird. And those were some of the weirdest times. For example, there was a period in which they thought bathing made them ill. But instead of babbling on, let me just show you some perfect examples of strange things that people did during the medieval ages.
Divorce by combat
Divorce is something ordinary in this day and age and it is usually settled peacefully in court. However, during medieval times it was a bit different. Couples in Germany didn’t have time to waste in court to solve their disputes. Rather than just arguing, they took it to the fighting ring. Trial by combat was one of the most popular ways of solving disagreements in the marriage. And it was as wild as it sounds. They also had crazy restrictions while fighting which made it sometimes unfair. One example is that the husband must stand in a hole with a hand behind his back, while his wife would run towards him with a sack filled with rocks. Personally, I think we all know who the winner would be, but hey I guess it was still a “fair” fight. So, if you’re ever having relationship troubles you can always bring this up with your significant other as a solution proposal.
Animal Court
Life during the medieval ages wasn’t tough for people only. Animals had it just as rough. Just like their owner’s animals could be put on trial if suspected of breaking the law. Yup, nobody gets away from justice. There are at least 85 recorded animal trial cases and you guessed it, they are very random and absurd. Some of these trials included pigs accused and convicted of eating body parts and children, roosters guilty of “unnatural crimes” such as laying eggs. Dolphins and rats were also trialed. Some were found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging or burning. Some were even dressed in clothes and had a human mask put on them for their execution. Sounds like me they had too much free time on their hands. But not all animals were found guilty, most of them lived out their lives as normal.
Getting high from bread
Today people search for various ways to get high, whereas people in the medieval ages just did it by accident on the regular. This was due to the fact that summer was a difficult time for most villagers, as they often ran out of grain before the new crops could be harvested, so they would have to use old rye. Unfortunately, most stored rye would be infected with a fungus called ergot. This type of fungus caused hallucination as if you’re on LSD and could also cause gangrene (death of body tissue) and even death. The last one definitely doesn’t sound as fun as just getting high, but as we say in Bulgaria – risk wins, risk loses. You never know what you’re gonna get. Plus, they really didn’t have a choice as it was either hallucinogenic bread or no food at all.
These were just some of the many strange things people did during the Medieval period. Thank God we’ve progressed so far from then because I don’t like the idea of playing Russian Roulette at dinner. What am I going to get with today’s slice of bread - a weird drug trip or death? Who knows? Wild. Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this second part of Weird History!
