liamc2 Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 Now here are three facts that I'm almost certain many of you did not know. [list] [*] Now we all know of the medieval idea of the chastity belt, ie unmarried maiden forced to wear steel belt until married etc etc. But did you know that husbands who went off to fight in the crusades made their wives wear them? That part I'm certain some of you would know. However, the real fact is that some chastity belts were equipped with...how to put this gently? Ah yes, [i]La Madame Guillotine.[/i] A very nasty, yet efficient, way to prevent your next door neighbours from sleeping with your wife when you're gone. Well, at least the second time round...I'm not so certain that many would come back to repeat offend when they guillotine had done its bit... [*] Fact number Two! (this coincides with the first) Why did you see men in the tapestries wearing those odd pointy shoes? You know the ones, that seem to be five or so inches longer than their feet? Ahem, well the promiscuous men of medieval lore were an inventive lot, they used their pointy shoes as a means to find out if a certain lady was wearing the [i]La Madame Guillotine[/i] equipped chastity belt. Hence the original term, [i]playing [b]footsies[/b] under the table[/i] [*] Fact number three (and yes, you can bring the children back into the room lol) It was the men who wore the first high heels. Yes you heard me correctly. Although it was originally more practical than fashionable. European shepherds used to wear the so that they could stand level on hills. It became fashionable, however, when english nobles travelled overseas and bought themselves pairs to take home and show off to their other rich friends. (maybe this is where the idea of souvenir came from) So rich men started showing off their new high heels and it gradually developed into women wearing high heels today. As they say, the rest is history. [/list] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sui Generis Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 Heh, awesome! How'd you find those?! I knew about the first one, but the second one I had no clue. Thats funny...and the third one....thats just odd....So men DID cross dress back then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liamc2 Posted January 10, 2003 Author Share Posted January 10, 2003 How did I find out about them? Well mum's got a friend who works in her division's library and he told her all about those weird and kooky facts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juu Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 [color=deeppink] [size=1]eep. o.o That's freaky, lol. But steel belts?? o_o; Wouldn't that be really, really heavy on top of everything else they had to wear? *tilts head*[/color] [/size] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liamc2 Posted January 10, 2003 Author Share Posted January 10, 2003 As I've never worn a steel/iron/whatever chastity belt, I can't give an expert opinion, but I can say yes...yes it would way a lot. A very, very large and insane amount of weight would come from wearing a metal chastity belt and more wet than dry crudely made woolen clothing. o.O; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesus Chicken Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 BAH!!! I knew it all! No I'm not just saying that, I knew... Yeah, I don't know how we got talking about this, but my drama teacher told me all about that kind of stuff in one lesson, So THARE!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 This is the sort of trivial knowledge I love, good call on putting it up. I also should mention that the whole chastity belt thing is kinda funny to me. Think about where we are today tell me what would be different if people wore things like chastity belts. Ummm... yea... sorry that was a bit off. Anyway, good call on the info, heres a little question. Did you all know that midevil wars were already using biological warfare during their day. Its not all that secret or anything, Im sure plenty of you know. But for anyone who doesnt,...Basically, when laying siege to a fortress the sieging army could catapault dead bodies, limbs and heads into the besieged castle. This would spread diease and was done specifically for that reason. Sorta vile... no, really vile. So, did you know that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liamc2 Posted January 10, 2003 Author Share Posted January 10, 2003 Yes, and they also used a form of quicklime to 'gas' out any opponents who might be digging underneath their walls. Also, I can't remember if it's true or not, during the wars of the roses the armies would catapult roses over the walls for the women inside, also as a challenge to the troops inside. (You see the two symbols of the two armies in the Wars of the Roses were a white rose and a red rose) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinobi Posted January 10, 2003 Share Posted January 10, 2003 LOL, they were great. Also i ahve one to add, they stuck their arrows into Cow Dung or Mud and then shot them, so if they did wound an enemy, it would infect the wound faster, likey to kill them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColourDeaf Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 Did you know that they would put a large oily rag on a pig and catapault it into an enemy castle after setting it alight? The pig would be panicing and running around, setting fire to anything that it touched (useful since the mass of buildings were still wooden) ...fear my mad trivia skillz? (yes, I did use a z there, what of it?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sui Generis Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 All those were great and I didn't know any of those, besides the first two that LIam put up! Ya know those people were pretty smart. I would've never thought of using a burning pig, instead of rocks o.O Go figure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zidane11 Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 I would have never known any of that. Especially the belt thing. That's gotta be pretty bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deedlit Posted January 11, 2003 Share Posted January 11, 2003 [color=009966]I knew about all those other things metioned with the exception of the belt thing. I didn't know anything about that. o_0;;[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Warrior Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Dude! I knew that stuff too! And here's something from me: Did you know that a sword weighed up to 2 pounds at the most? Shnazzy! And they used lime mixed with mud to build castles. No cement for them ^^ EDIT: Oh, they also built tunnels under their castles to escape in case of a large attack. Bet you knew THAT already, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deedlit Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 [color=009966]2 pounds? They make it look as if the sword weighs about 4 or 5...meh, oh well. Here's one some of you might not know, and I thought this one was wierd. Did you know that under Medieval law, animals could be tried and sentenced for crimes, just as though they were people? There are records of farm animals being tried for injuring or killing people. Animals were charged with smaller crimes, too. Some mice were taken to court for stealing part of the harvest, and, in another case, a flock of locusts was convicted of eating crops. Wierd, huh? o_0;;[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Warrior Posted January 12, 2003 Share Posted January 12, 2003 Now that's an odd thing. I knew it, but dang is it ODD! Even I'd not do that. Here's another: Some medieval people believed they saw Jesus. I wouldn't doubt it, but heh. It's true. They said that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now