Medieval Living

I took a few days off from the blog, as I was feeling just a little frustrated by the lack of a new topic. Yeah, I could have rehashed costumes and weapons and battles and such. . . but my goodness aren’t there literally hundreds of websites devoted to those topics already? Surely there is something out there of interest that hasn’t been over worked! Found it! Well, at least I think I did. Now I have to be the first to tell you . . . I despise watching those fishing shows on television. Ugghh! What a snooze! And I confess, I haven’t been fishing in quite a few years, although in days gone by I was quite the avid angler, tying flies and fussing about the quality of bait types. But what about the Medieval angler? What was his or her equipment like? Yes, the could just jump in the water and catch one . . . that’s the simplest way to go. But we all know its probably one of the least desirable ways to fish and also not the most productive. Well a group of archeologists from York have been digging up the shores of England and finding a treasure trove of Medieval fishing items: hooks, weights, “reels” and more. The University of York have put together a nice little research article with excellent drawings and written details in a PDF file. Entitled “The Archeology of Medieval Fishing Tackle,” the article describes the known history of Medieval fishing. Not an exciting read, but if you’re into fishing, or just curious about what these fine folk have dug up, it might be worth a look.