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Hygiene:
» A typical myth of medieval people is that are very unhygienic. Although they did not bathe daily, like most Americans do, they still trimmed their beards and tended to their hair. In most cases they washed their hands as they could, before and after meals. Despite the absence of indoor plumbing and garbage being tossed into the streets, there have been documented work teams that took care of this. Any townspeople that saw a slacking work team were not afraid to comment about it. The public knew enough to quarantine the sick when a plague hit a town, even if that didn't detur the disease (like the Bubonic Plague.) The Renaissance ultimately lead to the source of this myth, when Europe's water supply had been contaminated with sewage. After the contamination, frequent bathing became dangerous.
Paganism:
» Paganism did not have such a hard time surving the middle ages, contrary to what many neo-pagans might claim. Paganism was kept underground and exposed only if the church needed to persecute someone for "witchcraft." While naming the Renaissance "the Burning Times" (burning witches at the stake for their beliefs) sounds plausible, there is only evidence that this started taking place later on, in the 13th century. The early 13th century was the time of the Albigensian Crusades. Still the people persecuted at that time were mostly heretic Christians or Jews, not pagans or witches. One such group persecuted for "witchcraft" were the Knight Templars (the first 'warrior monks' banded together to protect christian pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land.) Truely they were wiped out for political and economical reasons, however a theological pretext of witchcraft would insure their demise.
Noble Luxury:
» Many people are under the impression that Kings lived extraordinarily rich and magnificent lifestyles. It's true they did live a good life, but it was mostly a life of subsistance (enough to get by.) This included most people in medieval society and the lower ranks of nobility. The seigneurs and the knights were the lowest rank of nobility. Their income was determined by the serfs who worked the lower nobility's land. A Knight might get up to 2/3 of his serfs' production, but this had to go towards certain expenses. Keeping squires, buying weapons and armor, and funding his fellow footsoldiers were just some of the expenses. Not to mention taxes which seigneurs and knights had to pay to the nobility above him, and so on, until the king. Of course, there was also the duty to tithe, or send 1/10 of one's income to the church. The Knights even joined alongside their serfs during harvest and planting times, while the lady of the manor directed the womens' efforts of sewing. If ever there were a drought or famine the knight would also suffer along with his own serfs.