32 Facts About The Middle Ages That Are 100% True Despite Being Quite Weird

In the Middle Ages, people used to host theater performances, trials, local elections, and many other social activities in cemeteries.

In the Middle Ages, a disease called leprosy, now known as Hansen's disease, became visible in communities across England. It affects the skin, mucosal surfaces of the upper respiratory tract, the peripheral nerves, and the eyes. Sometimes, during medieval times, it was referred to as the “living death,” as its victims were often treated as if they were already dead. Funerals were organized to declare those with the disease “dead” to society, and after this, relatives were allowed to claim their inheritance.

During the medieval period, the length of a man's shoes reflected his social status. So, to extend their shoes, some men used materials like whalebone.

Some scholars prefer the term medieval instead of the Middle Ages because the latter makes the period sound like it was unimportant.

In 1314, football was officially banned in England by more than 30 royal and local laws. This was due to complaints by London merchants to King Edward II of England about “great noise in the city caused by hustling over large balls from which many evils may arise which God forbid[s].”

In medieval times, mirrors weren’t as reflective as they are now, so people went their lives only having a hazy idea of what they looked like. Also, mirrors were considered luxury items and were owned mainly by upper-class women.

It is believed that the invention of mechanical clocks originated from the tower clocks built in the region between Germany and Italy between 1270 and 1300.

There were two main types of dances in medieval times. One was the farandole -- a line dance. It was danced with people holding hands, but the leader left their left arm free. The dancers moved in a winding labyrinth pattern, mainly clockwise, and the leader sometimes did other movements.
The other type, branle, was a side-to-side movement, and it was performed by partners, either in lines or circles, who alternated large sideways steps to the left with an equal number of smaller steps to the right.

The Tower of London was initially designed to be a battlement, but it became a prison after King Henry I assumed the throne in 1100. One of his first acts was to order the arrest of Ranulf Flambard, the Bishop of Durham.

People in the Middle Ages believed that bad weather could be caused by bad people who unalived others, got into incestuous relationships, started family quarrels, or simply performed other sins. Some also believed that bad weather could be caused by witches and sorcerers who aim to destroy crops.

During times of heightened anxiety about the plague, rogue practitioners sometimes sold counterfeit medical remedies. Some of these counterfeit remedies prevented sick people from seeking more beneficial help, and some of them were even poisonous.