Medieval Europe has always been able to bring a lot of mystery, and some film and television dramas portray the people of that era as very elegant and brave. Women always wear elegant long skirts, while men ride on horseback in armor. But in any case, the Middle Ages were even more backward than they are now, so what was the life of Europeans at that time? An overseas woman named Maria repeated this. Let's take a look at her simulation.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="2" > simulation experiments do not truly reproduce the Middle Ages perfectly</h1>
Mary simulated the scene before she was ready to experience life in the Middle Ages, but soon she realized that she simply could not reproduce the scene perfectly, because she could not actually go to the nearest but already 5 kilometers away to get water, she could not do so, because it would be treated as a strange act, and she could not do it independently. Therefore, she chose to take water directly from the tap.
In the morning, she fills the basin with a tap and wipes her face and hands with a cloth dipped in water. This was something that European women in the Middle Ages often did.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > the way teeth were cleaned in the Middle Ages</h1>
Many people may think that medieval Europeans would not clean their teeth at all, but this is not true. People at that time also had some ways to care for their teeth, but for modern people these experiences are absolutely very bad. Because people at that time would wipe their teeth and gums with a cloth. Others chew on mint leaves or use charcoal powder, pepper and salt to clean their teeth.
Mary tested wiping her teeth with a cloth and chewing on mint leaves, but in a mixture of charcoal, pepper and salt, she removed the salt because she could not accept its presence. When she applied the mixture to her teeth, she quickly burst into tears. There is no doubt that these several ways of cleaning her teeth have brought her a very bad experience.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > medieval bathing routine</h1>
Mary consulted many sources about the Middle Ages and found that medieval women either bathed in the nearest river, used scrubbing tools to wipe away dirt from their bodies, and sometimes took steam baths at home. Maria could not take a bath in the river, and could not find a similar metal tool to remove dirt from the body, so she tried a steam bath, or sauna.
She simply heated a large pot of water in the house and sat on the floor to cover it with a blanket. After the body is sweating, wipe the body with a damp cloth. The process was still very comfortable for her.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > smell bad</h1>
In the Middle Ages, people had great problems with their personal hygiene, wearing thicker clothing, but they did not have products like modern deodorants, and white Westerners were more likely to sweat and smell. This meant that Mary had to endure the strange smell that appeared on her body.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > for hair washing</h1>
On weekdays, Mary usually washes her hair once a week. But after assuming she lived in the Middle Ages, she arranged for herself to wash her hair only once a month. And instead of using shampoo or soap, she took the ashes that women would use in the Middle Ages to clean her hair.
After wetting her hair, she began to sprinkle a lot of ashes on her hair and carefully applied it. But when she purgesed further, she began to feel genuine despair. Because the ashes are difficult to clean, many hard lumps are left on the hair, creating real plaques. Later, she had to use a lot of shampoo and conditioner to re-wash her hair.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16" > try porcelain faces and purple-black eyebrows</h1>
Ordinary women in medieval Europe, especially rural women, simply didn't have many opportunities to wear makeup. Delicate makeup usually appeared on aristocratic women. It is said that European women at that time popular porcelain white face and purple-black eyebrows. Mary tried some ways to recreate it all. For example, using protein to apply to yourself, but for a few minutes, the face is very tight, which indicates that the experiment failed. Later she used flour again, but the final result was not very good. Later, she also used charcoal to draw her eyebrows, and the final result was not good.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="18" > how to wash clothes</h1>
Before the advent of detergents and detergent, clothes were usually washed with soap root. The wool is brushed and dust removed. Since no medicinal soap was found, Maria decided to use a small piece of laundry soap to wash clothes in the basin. Later she also experimented with the medieval period technique of placing dry clothes on the grass and then ironing them with hot stones. But since she didn't find the grass, she tried it on the masonry in her yard, but the ironing worked badly.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="20" > medieval dishes</h1>
It was not easy to manage to simulate the dishes of the medieval period, and considering that meat was rare on the farmer's table at that time, Maria prepared beans to cook the food and added some spices to it, but the final taste was very bad.
The only good thing is that Maria doesn't seem to have to think about washing the dishes anymore. Because people at that time would eat food directly on a slice of bread, and then scrub the pan with ash and sand.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="23" > sleep is not comfortable</h1>
In the past, when there was no electricity or even candles, farmers began to fall asleep in the evening. Because of poverty, the peasants had no beds and were able to sleep on the floor with a warm shawl. They often wake up at one o'clock in the morning because they go to bed too early.
Maria did some simulations and found that she had no way to fall asleep on the floor. After a full hour had passed, she had to go to bed, but didn't fall asleep until 2 a.m. and didn't wake up until 10 o'clock the next day. This kind of behavior of hers would not have occurred in medieval women.
In general, the life of the people of the Middle Ages was not only backward compared to modern people, but also quite bad.