Shamus Young (of DM of the Rings fame) asks, “Would you have survived in the Middle Ages“? Assume no particular accidents (or standard plagues) of the day — would your personal health have done you in?
Scarlet fever, baby. As a child. I’d probably have been on the cart.
Aside from that — hmmm. Inguinal hernias — two of them, in fact. Probably would have done me in eventually, too (rather than simply have meant that, post-surgeries, I learned folk dancing with the girls in third grade rather than kick ball with the boys).
And aside from that — well, actually, darned healthy. I’m assuming my near-sightedness wouldn’t have overly affected my ability to farm, shovel filth, or any of a dozen other Medieval occupations out there (archery would have been right out, but that’s about it).
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
4 years old, spinal meningitis, no antibiotics. On the cart.
I would of been gone…
That walking ammonia will get you every time. :-)
Nearsightedness isn’t probably that huge a problem. Remember, no corrective lenses at all, yet the populace survived. As long as you aren’t a hunter-gatherer, though, or a soldier, it’s probably not a big deal in Medieval times. Crafting is up-close work, farming doesn’t require visual acuity (or it can be provided). It might lead to more accidents, though, which could be fatal pre-antibiotics.
I don’t remember ever hearing you mention that you had inguinal hernias, Dave. Another thing we have in common! Fortunately, my doctor didn’t keep me from going to Camp Cherry Valley with the Boy Scouts for a week. It did mean, however, that I was happily exempt from that stupid game of “Snatch” some of the guys insisted on playing. (Of course, I tell everybody that it’s a Heidelberg dueling scar!)
I think that’s the only potentially life-threatening condition I ever had.