Misreported Historical Facts That Are Anything But Factual

1. Middle Ages Boozing Facts

While people in the medieval era did not avoid, many preferred beer and wine. Provided, of course, that they could get and afford such alcoholic beverages. People did drink a whole lot of beer and ale and wine in those days, but it was not because their water was bad. Instead, they consumed such alcoholic beverages simply because they liked both their taste and effect. The authorities knew and catered to that preference, such as during public celebrations. For example, when King Edward I returned from the Crusades and when King Richard was crowned, London stopped the flow of water in its pipes, and replaced it with wine for a day. 

Wine was the drink of choice of the upper classes and those who could afford it. However, like the ancient Greeks and Romans before them, medieval Europeans did not drink their wine neat. Instead, they mixed it with water to dilute its potency. For those who could not afford wine on a regular basis, beer and ale were plentiful and cheap. It should be noted, however, that beer and ale back then were far weaker than they are today. Also, considering the long days and hard labor medieval workers put in, whether in the fields or shops or other employment, beer and ale did more than just quench thirst. They also provided a significant intake of calories throughout the day to fuel their hard physical labor and exertions.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Bird, William L. – Design for Victory: World War II Posters on the American Home Front (1998)

British Library – Travel, Trade, and Exploration in the Middle Ages

Cracked – 22 Historical Things We Imagined Completely Wrong

Curtin, Philip D. – The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (1969)

Daily Beast – This Myth About the Spartans Just Got Blown Up

Drury University Humanities and Ethics Center – ‘Witch Hunts’ Now and Then, Myths and Realities

Dunn, P M, Archives of Disease in Childhood, Fetal and Neonatal Edition, Volume 91(1), January 2006 – Aristotle (384 – 322 BC): Philosopher and Scientist of Ancient Greece

Encyclopedia Britannica – Bartolome de Las Casas

Encyclopedia Britannica – Was Napoleon Short?

Forrest, William George Grieve – A History of Sparta, 950-192 BC (1963)

Gonick, Larry – The Cartoon History of the Universe I (1990)

Gresham College – How to be an Atheist in Medieval Europe

History Collection – Abraham Lincoln, Hall of Fame Wrestler, and Other American President Facts

History Extra – 8 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Medieval Elections

Insider, May 14^th, 2014 – How Bad Medical Advice Helped Make Beards Trendy

Medievalists – Did People Drink Water in the Middle Ages?

Medium – Medieval Peasants had More Days off Than the Average American Worker

Motley Fool – Here’s How Many Hours the Average American Works Per Year

National Geographic, February 17^th, 2010 – King Tut Mysteries Solved: Was Disabled, Malarial, and Inbred

National Post – Why People Think Napoleon Was Really Short (Even Though He Wasn’t)

New York Times, March 4^th, 2020 – Rosalind P. Walter, 95, First ‘Rosie the Riveter’ and a PBS Funder, Dies

Patterson, Cynthia. Transactions of the American Philological Association, Vol. 115 (1985) – ‘Not Worth the Rearing’: The Causes of Infant Exposure in Ancient Greece

Pennsylvania Gazette, November 1^st, 1998 – The Flu of 1918

Rhetoric and Public Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Winter 2006) – Visual Rhetoric Representing Rosie the Riveter: Myth and Misconception in J. Howard Miller’s “We Can Do It!” Poster

Russia Beyond the Horizon – ‘Children’s Friend’: The Dark Story Behind Stalin’s Popular Photo With a Soviet Girl

Science, December 10^th, 2021 – Ancient Greeks Didn’t Kill ‘Weak’ Babies, New Study Argues

Slate – What Was the Drink of Choice in Medieval Europe?

Smithsonian Magazine, September 21^st, 2018 – Philadelphia Threw a WWI Parade That Gave Thousands of Onlookers the Flu

Sneed, Debby. Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 90, no. 4 (2021) – Disability and Infanticide in Ancient Greece

Withey, Dr. Alun – The Medical Case for Beards in the 19^th Century