How Humans Coped with Winter Hundreds of Years Ago

In this enlightening piece, learn how humans survived the winter hundreds of years ago. Discover the brilliant strategies and tactics our ancestors employed to make it through the chilly winter without the aid of modern technology. You'll develop a new respect for the inventiveness of earlier generations as they demonstrate how to construct durable homes and preserve food.

With its freezing temperatures, fewer days, and erratic weather, winter can be a difficult season. However, thanks to modern amenities and technology, we have the luxury of spending the colder months indoors, where it's warm and cozy. But what about thousands of years ago, when people lacked access to cutting-edge technology? How did they manage the challenging conditions of winter? In this article, we'll look at how our predecessors used ingenuity and resourcefulness to get by throughout the winter, from making sturdy shelters to canning food, and how these strategies have influenced how we think about survival in modern times.

A snowy winter night finds you inside your warm home, watching a historical drama set in the Middle Ages. As you take another sip of your hot chocolate, you can't help but wonder how people managed to survive the harsh conditions of the time. At that precise moment, your TV screen transforms into a portal that draws you inside.

First of all, let me tell you that conditions became extremely harsh when the cold arrived, and not just for the northern countries. You open your eyes to find yourself within the world of the movie you just watched. A man approaches you and says, "Welcome to my medieval village." We typically associate winter with old age and poverty because of all the changes that occur in nature during this time, such as the fact that we can't really grow any crops when snow covers all of our land. By the early 14th century, things started to get even worse because we started seeing the first signs of what you may know as the "little Ice Age colony."

In the French region of Luzon, there was such heavy snowfall that many people's homes and farms were damaged. We’ll notice when you start shivering. So, you were not prepared for this journey back to medieval winters. Let's walk to my home and find you some warmer clothes. As you can see, I'm already wearing a cloak, a scarf, and mittens, which are all made out of wool. I also have boots that are made out of deer leather, but all these are not really enough to stay warm when one is outside. That's why we usually layer other clothes underneath them all to keep the warmth trapped. By the way, the wool can get heavy and itchy sometimes.

So beneath our woolen outer clothing, we wear linen undergarments too. The linen acts as a barrier between the wool and the skin, therefore making things a bit more comfortable for us. It is also easier to wash linen clothes, and they dry way faster than wool ones. The wealthier ones can line their winter clothing with fur, and the regular peasants sometimes use rabbit and lamb for the same purpose; it's not as glamorous but still effective.

We can also hunt some wild animals and birds with the permission of the Lord. Yet again, the sumptuary laws, or in other words, consumption laws, are very clear on who can wear what according to their social standing. Take the 1363 English Sanctuary Law, for example, which states that the wives and daughters of craftspeople and land-owning peasants were only allowed to wear lamb, rabbit, cat, and fox furs.

Now you notice a weird-looking hinged metal sphere in the guide's (Bartholomew's) pocket and ask him what that is. “It's a hand warmer,” he says as he gives it to you. If we are going to be outdoors for a long time, we bring one of these with us. Otherwise one's fingers can get numb, you know. Now take a closer look at it, and you'll see that it has tiny holes on its surface. This helps the heat escape so that we can warm our hands without burning them.

Once we fill it with hot coal, that's kind of heavy, you say, and you think about how lucky you are to be living in modern times. With just one click from the comfort of your home, you can order Hot Hands instant hand warmers from Amazon, and no coal is necessary. You can even put those inside your shoes to warm your toes since they're pocket-sized unlike this metal orb. When you arrive at the guide Bartholomew’s house, you realize that he does not take any of his outer garments off.

"We put everything on during the coldest months because the indoor heating isn't always great," he says. As you can see, the fireplace stands here at the center of our homes. Right above it there is a ventilation hole rather than a chimney, which causes us to lose so much of the heat. Yet again, we don't usually sleep in our outside clothes; instead, we put bricks and stones in the fire, wrap them in fabric, and take them to our beds to warm the sheets. Wearing our night caps all night long also helps, and when we're not sleeping, we usually try to stay close to the fireplace as much as possible.

You surely appreciate that hot water bottle of yours more now, right? And you didn't even need to cover it with a cloth like these folks have to do; it already came with a knit cover for your convenience, and the best part is that it's much softer than a brick and can be heated in the microwave within seconds. “How rude of me! I forgot to offer you something to eat," says Bartholomew. “Winter, as I'm sure I've already mentioned, is a time of stillness for us, but in order to survive these medieval winters, we still need to put in some effort in order to avoid starvation.”

In order to preserve the food we harvest in the fall so that it will all last over the winter months, we must preserve it in a special way. The methods we use for grains include pickling, drying, and brining. We also have to preserve the meat we harvest in a special way. Cereals and pulses are dried and kept in ceramic or clay pots for subsequent use in potted stews and soups, together with vegetables. Basically, we add anything we can find to the pot.

“Among the most frequently consumed foods in our daily lives are onions. Despite this, we still need to add protein to our diet, which we do by consuming cheese, eggs, lentils, and herbs like parsley. You think, "If only these people had a food dryer at home, their lives would be so much easier; they could use it for all the foods." Fresh fruits and berries are hard to find during the winter, so we preserve the ones we already picked by the air drying method as well. I wouldn't want you to assume that because Bartholomew just said everything from fruits to meat, there is no electricity here. “Despite everything I've told you, winters are still very long and boring, but we still engage in a lot of activities to pass the time.”

“We play in the snow a lot, adults and kids alike, and you can see many peasants ice skating on the frozen lakes. To be able to do that, we used to use pieces of polished wood or horseshoe bones, but now we have iron skates too. I need to mention that here in Western Europe, ice skating is not as common as in Scandinavia because they are more used to snow. We also enjoy playing indoor games like chess, backgammon, and other dice games in addition to sledding. Not unexpectedly, nobles have more options for recreation as well, with boar hunting being a popular pastime for the aristocracy and wool weaving and story-telling among the common folk.”

In conclusion, it is quite amazing how creative and resourceful our ancestors were in overcoming the difficulties of winter hundreds of years ago. They created novel methods for creating solid shelters, conserving food, and seeking warmth. These strategies established the groundwork for contemporary survival abilities. We may take for granted the conveniences of today, but it's vital to keep in mind that our forefathers lived in far harsher circumstances since they lacked modern conveniences. By examining their methods, we can gain insightful knowledge about resiliency, flexibility, and inventiveness that still influences how we think about survival today.