3 ms·
1000 plus or minus 200 years covers a huge range. 1000 was just about the fulcrum of the medieval period: life in 800 would have been a complete disaster, wher
by pg 18y ago
1000 plus or minus 200 years covers a huge range. 1000 was just about the fulcrum of the medieval period: life in 800 would have been a complete disaster, whereas life in 1200 was in some places a mini-Renaissance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_of_the_12th_century http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance_of_the_12th_century
If you really got dropped at a random place, it would probably be grazing land or forest, especially in 800.
You'd have to find the nearest tiny village and convince them you weren't dangerous. The stuff you had on you would seem miraculously fine, so could be valuable in trade if it wasn't stolen from you first. But the best way to extract value from your stuff would be to give it as a gift to some powerful protector; money wouldn't be any use unless you could protect yourself against robbers. So it would be all about finding a powerful protector.
In 800 you'd want to find the most enlightened bishop nearby, present yourself as a traveller from some obscure pocket of Nestorian Christians in the far east (drop hints about Prester John), and get work helping to administer his estates. This wouldn't work everywhere, though: a lot of Europe was still pagan in 800. If you landed in the north or the east, you'd have to try to find some enlightened local warlord instead. Hard to say what use you could be to him, though; probably your only hope would be that he'd keep you around as an adornment to his court.
In 1200 you might still want to find a bishop, but if there was a town nearby (especially a great one like Florence or Venice) you could also find work in a bank or for one of the great wool merchants.
Generally: Be compulsively clean, and keep your opinions to yourself.
- robg 18y agoWhat one invention would you introduce ahead of its time?
- pg 18y agoHygiene.
- robg 18y agoHow can you make money with that? Purveyor of scented soaps? ;)
- bprater 18y agoOne of the commentors at Kotte's mentions that you could sell boiled water as "de-sprited water", good for all menner of medical procedures. Unfortunately, another commentor recognized that firewood would be difficult to access, and cow poo doesn't fire hot enough.
- time_management 18y agoWhy would firewood be difficult to find? I could be wrong, but I don't think the European deforestation had set in yet, at that time. Is the wood in most European forests not of sufficient quality?
- robg 18y agoDidn't the ancient Chinese mine coal? Not a bad map to bring with you: surface coal deposits. Still, start global warming 500 years early?
- inklesspen 18y agoIt belonged to the nobles.
- pg 18y agoDepends where you were. In feudalized, agricultural bits of Europe, everything did, at least nominally. But especially in 800 there would have been large expanses of uncultivated and mostly depopulated forest.
- gjm11 18y agoThere might be reasons for doing it other than making money. For instance, (1) making life more pleasant for yourself and (2) saving a whole lot of lives. Perish the thought that anyone might think either of those more important than making money, of course...
- robg 18y ago
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- russell 18y agoI would introduce the horse collar. It existed in Europe as early as the 10th century but was not widespread until around 1200. It enabled horses to pull plows and was much more efficient. In order to use my much increased grain production, I would introduce distillation and whiskey. Ah the riches.
- bootload 18y ago"... What one invention would you introduce ahead of its time? ..." The fireplace chimney as it wasn't introduced before the 13th century and fire smoke is a major cause of lung ailments.
- markessien 18y agoI think your ideas about this period are similar to ideas that the chinese people have about the U.S - many think that the U.S is overrun by gangsters and terrorists and lots of other dangers. Why is that? Because people only write about the drama. If you actually travel to any existing country where there are small villages, you will see that strangers are always treated with great friendliness and respect. If someone walks in to break the monotony of your cow herding, your instinctive reaction will not be to kill him. It's the same with robbery - there are a lot of stories about robbery, but in reality, human societies don't function when people steal a lot. It's not true now anywhere, and I doubt it was true back then. So robbery will likely not be a problem. (Remember also, those who wrote history where those who rode in fine carriages, and such people likely thought a lot more about robbery than the common guy) Warlords in the north did not have an information apparatus - you could live for a while before they would become aware of you, and even then the interest shown in you would probably be more benign than not. Cleanliness is something you really would not be able to maintain. Imagine the process: 1. Wake up 2. Get a bucket 3. Walk a kilometer to the next well 4. Walk back holding 10 kilograms of water 5. Bath yourself with this freezing water (be careful not to catch pneumonia) 6. Somehow either invent soap or buy some expensive soap 7. Do the same, but for your clothes 8. Avoid being too close to any children or anybody who is in any way grubby, because they will instantly void your work 9. Be considered wierd for doing this everyday Cleanliness is not that easy in a cold climate, and it's not that neccessary compared to a warm climate.
- pg 18y agoThere are a lot of stories about robbery, but in reality, human societies don't function when people steal a lot. By present standards, society didn't function in most of medieval Europe, especially in 800. That's why the flourishing trade of the Roman era was replaced by subsistence farming. Banditry had replaced pax Romana. The rich didn't ride in carriages in the period we're talking about. The roads were too bad. Carriages didn't come into widespread use till centuries later.
- biohacker42 18y agoThis discussion is going of the deep end, but... are you sure? Pax Romana had little to do with common muggery. The Eastern Holy Roman empire, a.k.a Byzantine was still doing OK. And for that matter the barbaric peoples at it's border, like the ones I am descendant from were as the above poster described, mostly peaceful and friendly.