Surviving Winter in the Middle Ages

YouTube ^ | December 16, 2022 | MedievalMadness

[SunkenCiv]

How did people live and die during the harshest months of the year? How did they stay warm? What did they eat? How did they keep themselves entertained in an age before modern day luxuries like electric blankets, double glazing, and Netflix? The onset of the Little Ice Age, between 1300 until about 1870 meant that the long, dark winters of the Late Middle Ages were colder and more dangerous. With starvation and death from illness always threatening to strike, winter was a frightening time. Welcome to Medieval Madness.

Surviving Winter in the Middle Ages... | MedievalMadness | 178K subscribers | 605,503 views | December 16, 2022

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

Prepper ping - Human Winter Survival in History especially during the Medieval period
Read the comments for real insight, and learn how our multi-generational forefathers and grandparents survived and compensated for the loss of warmth !
See what they had done, ..and which techniques you can employ for yourself and your family

" The onset of the Little Ice Age, between 1300 until about 1870 meant that the long, dark winters of the Late Middle Ages were colder and more dangerous.
With starvation and death from illness always threatening to strike, winter was a frightening time.

Welcome to Medieval Madness.
The onset of the Little Ice Age, between 1300 until about 1870
meant that the long, dark winters of the Late Middle Ages were colder and more dangerous.
With starvation and death from illness always threatening to strike, winter was a frightening time.
Welcome to Medieval Madness."

[Tilted Irish Kilt]

See Post #14 for a video Format on Human Survival.
It tells about the effects of inadequate sunlight during 436 AD, and the resulting health and social repercussions.

None of us were around for "Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death",
also known as the "Year without Summer" which started massive population migration in this country.
When we ignore history,.. we are destined to repeat it again.

[gundog]

....and they were also smarter...

Reading about the difficulties of keeping stone and glass buildings warm reminded me of an event some years ago. There was an upholstery shop in a converted gas station. The structure was cinderblock, with large panes of glass across the front. I was walking around, and a drop of water hit me on the head. The owner looked up and said “The insulation is leaking out.” ???? I asked what he meant, and he explained that the building had been designed to hold three feet of water on top, to keep in heat. I guess someone sold him a line of BS about the water accumulated up there being something other than plugged up scuppers. No telling how many tons of unnecessary weight were up there.

[MtnClimber]

Matt (Travis McGee) sent this to me this morning:

Here is an excellent 16 minute video on the events following the AD 536 volcano:

536 AD - Worst Year in History

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7ab0D36x4U&ab_channel=KingsandGenerals

[gleeaikin]

My late husband told me that when serving in the Korean War as a 2nd Lt, he had many a 3 private night. Also since he had the fear of being captured, he learned to eat Kim Che, the far east’s answer to saurkraut. Every hut had a big crock of Kim Che outside the door. He figured that if captured, he could escape, travel at night, and eat his way back to our lines.

[Albion Wilde]

bump

[4Liberty]

Thanks!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

S.C. Timely article! I bought another small propane heater 3 days ago in anticipation of the eventual power outage! Hoping I do not need it anytime soon.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

Soddies were homes made of sod. My Grandmother in Colorado lived in one until she was 8, when they move to town and lived in a frame house. She said she never knew why anyone would want to live in a frame house because they were so drafty . Soddies had their own problems with dirt, of course, but, were a lot warmer to live in in the winter. They were usually a temporary housing solution with farmers intending to build a more permanent house.

[Bob434]

yeah those were pretty common in the early days from what i understand=- I would imagine though that mice and rats and bugs and such woudl have no problems getting into the structures- They woudl be warm, soaking in the heat and retaining and radiating it back inwards for long period-

The ranch i stayed in was an old stagecoach stop/inn, and had no insulation, and when the wind blew- the curtains would nearly stand on end lol- so yup- they were quite drafty in the early days-

[Ellendra]

One of the wilderness survival books I have talks about something similar. The author even said that, when he was a kid, he sewed two sweatshirts together to form a double-layered shirt, with openings at key points so he could stuff the space between with dry leaves. He claims it kept his parents from having to buy winter coats for a few years!

[Ellendra]

My farm has a limited amount of wood available, and I have relatives in parts of the country where trees are scarce. Over the last few years I’ve been experimenting to identify annual crops that could be used as firewood.

So far, the best ones have been corncobs and sunflower disks. Don’t know if that helps anyone, but it could be useful if firewood becomes harder to find.

(It’s also useful if anyone has trouble with the cutting and hauling side of things, because they’re a lot lighter weight and don’t require a saw or splitting ax.)

[misanthrope]

Bkmk

[SamAdams76]

This was an interesting video still live on YouTube.

It is true that humans adapt to their conditions.

I recently read a book about Valley Forge, the 1776-1777 winter camp for the Continental Army led by George Washington. Many of the men had no shoes so spent the winter barefoot and with no overcoats. It seems hard to imagine spending a winter in Pennsylvania in those conditions yet it was done.