Who would like to go back to the middle ages?

[slowmotion]

Geoffrey Chaucer made it sound quite fun in a drunken and debauched way. The goliards' music and poems were pretty good.

I'll give it seven out of ten.

 

[Andy in Germany]

No thank you. As far as I can tell, in my family tree, my ancestors were all "serfs", "peasants" or Coal Miners, I don't fancy that. Lord of the Manor, with optional wenching may have been OK, but, eating turnips and shovelling sh*t, doesn't appeal, thanks, not to mention the discomforts of no central heating, hot water, medicines etc etc. I don't even want to go back to the 1970s, let alone the Middle Ages.

Hmm, a good point: my family were either Welsh miners or German/Scottish weavers.

Beautiful Wife's family, on the other hand were once part of the Japanese nobility, and have connections to this nice little pile.

We didn't know this until recently, but the connection potentially goes back as far as Yamauchi Chiyo, a woman with a mind like a razor, strategic thinking that would make Napoleon retire, and no time at all for the idea that good Japanese wives should be quiet and deferential to their husbands.

She was married for political reasons to a minor samurai called Yamauchi Katzutoyo and everyone thought that was the end of that. When her husband was called to war, he went on foot like a commoner, which didn't offer many promotion prospects. Chiyo spent her entire fortune on a war trained horse on the eve of a major battle, so her husband could play a more important part of in the battle; through this he and with him his clan rose to prominence in the Japanese nobility.

Kaztutoyo and Chiyo then worked as a team for many years to continue the clan's rise, building Kochi Castle, which itself took some serious engineering, and which is now one of only 12 intact castles in Japan.

If anything Chiyo is more famous than Katzutoyo, and she has long been considered a role model for women in Japan.

Before you ask, yes, the family resemblance in Beautiful Wife is noticeable.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Geoffrey Chaucer made it sound quite fun in a drunken and debauched way. The goliard's music and poems were pretty good.

I'll give it seven out of ten.

Is that a TripAdvisor Rating:

"The Past: Quite fun in a drunken and debauched way with good nightlife and poetry but was annoyed to catch rickets and dental care was disappointing. 7/10"

 

[Dogtrousers]

I'm just wondering what music was in the charts in the middle ages. I'm sure Cliff Richard has hits going back that far🤔

Butt music

 

[slowmotion]

Is that a TripAdvisor Rating:

"The Past: Quite fun in a drunken and debauched way with good nightlife and poetry but was annoyed to catch rickets and dental care was disappointing. 7/10"

If rickets and bad teeth (and death at an earlier age than these days) were perfectly normal, nobody would comment on them. They didn't whinge at every opportunity back then.

 

[tyred]

If rickets and bad teeth (and death at an earlier age than these days) were perfectly normal, nobody would comment on them. They didn't whinge at every opportunity back then.

People with large sports utility horses bullied people with Connemara Ponies off the road.

 

[slowmotion]

People with large sports utility horses bullied people with Connemara Ponies off the road.

.....and there were no head cams to record the injustice......

You would be lucky to have a scribe but the vast majority of the population couldn't read anyway, even if the printing press had been invented. They had it tough.

 

[cougie uk]

https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/arid-40898054.html

I can see the appeal in some ways of living a simpler, more sustainable life but I think most would get bored very quickly and it's no great fun sitting in a smokey room with your eyes watering.

Can we please not have a vote on this. I'd not trust the public to make the right decision.

Then again lifespans would be so much shorter so that could be an advantage.

 

[tyred]

Can we please not have a vote on this. I'd not trust the public to make the right decision.

Then again lifespans would be so much shorter so that could be an advantage.

The government would love it. They'd not need to pay old age pensions as few would live long enough.

 

[slowmotion]

Can we please not have a vote on this. I'd not trust the public to make the right decision.

Then again lifespans would be so much shorter so that could be an advantage.

Splendid idea! Only the barons get to vote.

 

[classic33]

The "school" he "taught at", had some of the problems that have been given on here.
Not too certain about the reduced age thing as the " teachers" were replaced on a fairly regular basis.

 

[Andy in Germany]

If rickets and bad teeth (and death at an earlier age than these days) were perfectly normal, nobody would comment on them. They didn't whinge at every opportunity back then.

Probably didn't have time between having teeth pulled scrabbling for food, and dying.

 

[MichaelW2]

If you survived the Black Death, then opportunities abounded to work fewer hours for more reward, and for the first time, a bit of social mobility to move into the Lord of the Manor's empty gaff.

 

[slowmotion]

This thread would make a passable Monty Python film script.

 

[a.twiddler]

If you survived the Black Death, then opportunities abounded to work fewer hours for more reward, and for the first time, a bit of social mobility to move into the Lord of the Manor's empty gaff.

Ironically, the black death benefited the survivors and brought about social change due to the shortage of labour. Market forces meant that if conditions didn't suit a worker, there was plenty of competition for their services if they were prepared to move.