Why You'd Never Survive Life During The Middle Ages

If you believe what Hollywood tells you, then life during the Middle Ages might seem romantic and glamorous - chock-full of noble knights on noble steeds, beautiful ladies with pointy hats, chivalry, honor, and, if you're lucky, a dragon or two. Sadly, the truth is that life in the Middle Ages was about as grim as it gets, and death lurked around pretty much every corner. Here's why you'd never stand a chance.

Grief is awful no matter what form it takes, but the passing of a child can be an unspeakably tragic turn of events. Luckily, we in the west are far less likely to experience this. In America, infant mortality is only around .006 percent, and that rate drops once kids leave infancy. Mortality for children between the ages of 1 and 4 is around .0002 percent, and for kids aged 5 to 14 it's around .0001 percent.

Now compare that to childhood mortality in the Middle Ages. According to Representing Childhood, exact figures are impossible to come by, but estimates place the medieval infant mortality at around 25%. That means one out of every four babies born during that time period wouldn't make it past their first year of life. The odds went up a bit for children who made it to toddlerhood - kids between the ages of 1 and 4 had a mortality rate of around 12.5%. If they made it to 5 then things looked better, as the mortality rate for kids between the ages of 5 and 9 was only about 6%. Still, that was still far worse than even the highest mortality rate for infants in modern America. The sad truth is that being born in the Middle Ages didn't guarantee you a life - not by a long shot.

Watch the video for more about Why You'd Never Survive Life During The Middle Ages!

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Childhood | 0:23
The Black Death | 1:38
Religion | 2:45
Childbirth | 3:30
Squalor | 4:15
Travel | 5:07
War | 5:52
The justice system | 6:55
Poison and fungus | 7:48
Bad doctors | 8:59
Violence | 9:41

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