MEDIEVAL WISDOM FOR MODERN LIFE

In an exclusive guest post for History, Etc, Danièle Cybulskie shows you how a little bit of medieval can make your day a lot better

A million thanks to my old friend the historian, podcaster and author Danièle Cybulskie for agreeing to take the reins on History, Etc while I kicked back and enjoyed a UK bank holiday weekend. I have known Danièle since she first interviewed me for medievalists.net, so many years ago that it basically was the Middle Ages. Since then she has written a clutch of authoritative and entertaining books about the Middle Ages. This post draws on her latest, How to Live Like A Monk, which I highly recommend. You can buy it here and support the author twice over. I urge you to do so.

I’ll be back later this week. Be good, and if you can’t be good, be quiet.

dan x

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Medieval wisdom being dispensed

While the medieval period wasn’t as barbarous as it’s frequently accused of being, it’s safe to say things were much more difficult for everyone than they are for most people in the world today. (Dan once asked me how far back I would time travel if I could, and we both agreed that visiting any time period before antibiotics and anaesthesia was a very bad idea.) But one point has always piqued my curiosity: how did medieval people cope in the face of plague, war, and uncertainty?

As it turns out, it’s the same way we do. Here are three ways we can lean on medieval wisdom to lead better lives.

Take a Hike

The vast majority of people in the medieval world got everywhere by walking, rain or shine. Even if they owned horses, it would seem odd to saddle one up for short distances – those quick trips to the store that modern people regularly take by car. Getting your 10,000 steps in was a regular part of life rather than a goal, and walking in nature day after day taught medieval people about how the world worked – knowledge that they needed for survival, such as weather patterns, growth patterns, and animal behaviour. It also led to social relationships with the people in their local environments, of course; relationships which were also vital to survival. For example, beyond borrowing a cup of flour from a neighbour when you needed it, medieval judicial verdicts often hinged on the defendant’s reputation, as attested to by witnesses in the community. Being a good and friendly neighbour could sometimes save your life.

Science has proven again and again that walking makes us happier, healthier, and fitter, as well as fueling our creativity. Walking in nature is even better, as in addition to the natural endorphins we get from exercise, we become happier just by looking at plants. (It’s true.) By taking a walk in nature, nodding to other walkers and observing squirrel behaviour, we can get in touch with the medieval world while improving our own lives.

Be of Service

When the distance between field and plate was much smaller, it was extremely clear to people that no man is an island. Good relationships (as we’ve already seen) could make or break a person at a very real level, so it made sense to work together. Besides the charity practiced by monks and nuns, who offered hospitality, financial help, and medical care, service was a regular part of medieval life.

In addition to being part of the judicial system by serving as jurors and witnesses, other civic duties like the night watch required people to serve the community by taking a rotation on patrol. Of course, there was always the possibility that a man might be called up to fight for his lord as part of his own commitments, so not every aspect of service was a particularly pleasant one. Voluntary service in the form of charity was definitely encouraged and practiced by ordinary people, especially by women, and donations to churches (as well as synagogues and mosques), monasteries, and almshouses were a regular part of life, as well as death, in the form of bequests.

While we – like medieval people – might not be crazy about jury duty, many studies have shown that service not only makes our communities stronger, but also makes us happier people. Our gestures don’t have to be big for us to feel the benefit: something as simple as holding the door for a person can give us a mood boost, which means that helping a neighbour with their groceries is something that connects us through time as well as making us all a little happier.

Read

Although literacy tended to be the domain of the rich and holy, the medieval perspective on reading is one that is still useful to borrow from today. In the Middle Ages, reading was considered an essential skill for those who wanted to understand the world. It was the cornerstone of education, and the most valued activity for anyone aspiring to be holy, aside from prayer (in some sources like The Ancren Riwle, it was said at times to be more important than prayer).

While this might seem obvious, what’s less well-known is the emphasis medieval people placed on the breadth of a person’s reading. Most medieval manuscripts contain a wide variety of written material bound together, including saints’ lives, romances, lyrics, prayers, recipes, medical advice, and historical information. Even monks were encouraged to read beyond just holy texts, with their libraries holding works on philosophy, history, botany, medicine, astronomy, and even astrology. They were meant to read and understand the works of the Ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as Islamic thinkers like Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna) and Ibn Rushd (Averroës). Rather than being fuel for a righteous fire, books from other cultures were valued for their information.

In addition to making us more informed, reading is said to make us more empathetic, and reading broadly gives us the ability to make connections between subjects, something that is both good for the brain, and helpful when it comes to driving innovation. Like medieval people, we can benefit from reading a wide range of material by ourselves or by proxy: by having someone read aloud to us (in our case, via audiobooks or podcasts).

Wisdom like these three little tips is said to be timeless, and that’s exactly what makes it interesting: that our human needs and tendencies connect us across time and culture. Luckily for history fans, these simple things that make us happier are the very things we can use to bring us closer to the medieval past.