Advice for time traveling to medieval Europe

Watch this video before visiting the European Middle Ages.

SUGGESTED READING

• Steven A. Epstein, An Economic and Social History of Later Medieval Europe, 1000–1500 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).
• Urban Tignor Holmes, Jr., Daily Living in the Twelfth Century (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1952).
• Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England (London: The Bodley Head, 2008).
• Paul B. Newman, Daily Life in the Middle Ages (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, 2001).
• Jeffrey L. Singman, Daily Life in Medieval Europe (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999).


FAQ

• What about traveling there as a woman?
My advice applies to both men and women (except for the bit about clergy, obviously). Men and women will have to give the same amount of attention to constructing their backstory, including their marital status, because people will ask either way. Women went on pilgrimages. While most women (and men) worked on farms, women in towns did engage in economic activities like shopkeeping and weaving. It was rare for a woman to work as a long-distance merchant, but it did happen, typically as a widow whose husband had been a merchant.

• But what about a woman traveling alone?
When I said, "Travel in a group, don't travel alone," I meant it. Solo travel is not advised, regardless of gender. Even the medieval people themselves traveled in groups.


CORRECTIONS

• I said William of Rubruck was from the Netherlands but he was actually Flemish. Apologies to my Flemish viewers.
• In the anecdote where William of Rubruck met the Buddhist monks, he was confused at first but he did figure out in the course of talking to them that they were not Christian. I misremembered the passage. So I'd say Buddhists would probably just be understood as pagans in medieval Europe.
• The magic I discuss in the video is known as natural magic. There was also another form of magic I didn't talk about where you perform occult rituals to persuade demons to do things for you. That's known as demonic magic.



0:00 Intro
1:52 Health
2:56 Personal safety
7:49 Do not leave personal items unattended
11:35 Money
14:25 Where to sleep
17:01 Where to eat
17:57 Language barrier
22:54 Social class
24:42 Backstory
30:22 Shopping
30:47 What if you're not white?
40:16 What if you're not Catholic?
46:32 Witchcraft
48:25 Arriving via time travel
49:31 Time travel discretion
51:49 More on witchcraft
55:25 Medicine
59:45 Good luck!