The "mortality was skewed by infant mortality" myth can't die soon enough. Yes the life expectancy being 35 didn't mean everyone died at 35, but your mortality

The "mortality was skewed by infant mortality" myth can't die soon enough. Yes the life expectancy being 35 didn't mean everyone died at 35, but your mortality at any given age was substantially higher than today. Whereas today living into your 70s is nearly a given and people have decent odds of remaining healthy into their 80s, in the past living to such ages was exceptional. Of course it happened on occasion, but if you look at the ages people actually died of natural causes, it was typically between 50 and 65. Even when people were noted for their incredibly long life, it was still rather short compared to today. Louis XIV, for example, was the longest reigning european monarch of all time, living to the ripe old age of 76, outliving his son (who died at 49) and grandson (dead at 29), to be succeeded by his great grandson who would live to be 64. The modern life expectancy in France is 82.