Transcript

Could You Survive Medieval Winter? With Eleanor Janega

From History Hit · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 44 min · 7,486 words · 118 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Could You Survive Medieval Winter? With Eleanor Janega", an episode of History Hit published January 1, 2026 (44 min, about 7,486 words). It mentions 18 people, works and ideas, including Elanor Yanaga, Caroline Nicolet, Tom Timberl, Wasailing, Jim Cley.

What this episode is about

The discussion explores how people in the medieval era adapted to the challenges of winter, highlighting both hardships and celebrations during the "Little Ice Age." Key points include insights into daily life, clothing, food, and seasonal traditions, as well as the impact of extreme cold on society, illustrated through historical art depicting the labor of the months.

Key takeaways

  • Medieval winters weren't just cold; they were a festive season ripe with celebratory feasting and community spirit.
  • Surviving the Little Ice Age required resourcefulness: from pig slaughter to strategic firewood gathering, adaptation was key.
  • Medieval dress was functional; natural materials provided warmth without the luxury of central heating or modern fabrics.
  • The term 'winter' hails from 'wet'—a reminder that even harsh seasons can inspire rich traditions and a sense of community.
  • Far from dreary, historical winters featured frost fairs and hearty meals; necessity often breeds creativity and revelry.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Elanor Yanaga, Cosmos Medieval Village
  2. – 10:00: Caroline Nicolet, Black Death
  3. – 15:00: Tom Timberl
  4. – 25:00: Beeswax candles, Jim Cley, Wasailing, Grae Cider Farm
  5. – 30:00: Gingerbread, Cider
  6. – 35:00: Laura Ash, Gingerbread, Siruane and the Green Knight
  7. – 40:00: Cabbage, Pottage
  8. – 44:23: Gingerbread, Henry III of England, Mulberries

Notable quotes from "Could You Survive Medieval Winter? With Eleanor Janega"

  • I'm Matt Lewis. And I'm Elanor Yanaga.
    about Elanor Yanaga · at
  • Helping me is living history expert Caroline Nicolet.
    about Caroline Nicolet · at
  • Somewhere that would have seen a lot of activity in the winter and in a warm place to work is the forge. Showing me how to handle the hammer and tongs is Tom Timberl.
    about Tom Timberl · at
  • So, for example, I have the usual beeswax candles. So, the other option I would have more than wax candle for myself here are tallow candles.
    about Beeswax candles · at
  • We're traveling to Devon to Grae Cider Farm to take part in a fine medieval winter tradition. It's called the Wasamail.
    about Wasailing · at
  • People have a lot of gingerbread, these little men and characters and things like that. When we do medieval gingerbread, it really is ginger and bread.
    about Gingerbread · at
  • But another tradition has been around for even longer. Storytelling. To discover more, I'm meeting historian Laura Ash.
    about Laura Ash · at
  • Henry III of England celebrated one Christmas with 30 oxmen, 100 sheep, five boores, nine dozen fowl, lots more food, and then to drink 19 huge barrels of wine.
    about Henry III of England · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Books & papers

  • Siruane and the Green Knight — Book · 1 mention · first at
    I feel like the best thing to do when we're warming up around a fire in the winter, though, is to tell some stories. and you are the best person to ask about every medievalist's.

Products & tech

  • Gingerbread — Product · 4 mentions · first at
  • Beeswax candles — Product · 2 mentions · first at
  • Tallow candles — Product · 1 mention · first at
    So, for example, I have the usual beeswax candles. So, the other option I would have more than wax candle for myself here are tallow candles.
  • Cider — Product · 1 mention · first at
    And then the most important bit is drinking of some cider. The tree gets cider, too. She'll get some around the roots to again remind it what it made last year.
  • Pottage — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Hard to know exactly what was served on a medieval feast table. Lots of recipes don't necessarily survive, but we can expect to see something like pottage.
  • Cabbage — Product · 1 mention · first at
    So, we've got cabbage pottage over there in some broth, a bit of saffron sprinkled on top to make it extra fancy. We've got cheese. I'm always here for cheese at a feast. We've.
  • Mulberries — Product · 1 mention · first at
    Now, check out these incredible pears that have been poached in red wine and mulberries. They contain a surprising delight.

Concepts & topics

  • Wasailing — Concept · 1 mention · first at
  • Black Death — Concept · 1 mention · first at
    The 1363 sanctuary law was brought in after the Black Death to reinforce social hierarchy.

Places & events

  • Cosmos Medieval Village — Place · 1 mention · first at
    We're in Cosmos Medieval Village in Wales to discover how people dealt with winter in the Middle Ages.
  • Grae Cider Farm — Place · 1 mention · first at
    We're traveling to Devon to Grae Cider Farm to take part in a fine medieval winter tradition. It's called the Wasamail.

Full transcript with timestamps

When I see the weather turning cold and starting to freeze and the trees going bare and winter coming, then I want to ease up and spend time with a good fire and a glass of clarret in a warm house. The medieval year turned with the months our ancestors lived amidst the changing fortunes of the seasons, each of which brought its own challenges and joys. Now, you might expect that medieval winter is a time of cold and darkness. But it was also a time of celebration when rare treats and timehonored traditions took place.

I'm Matt Lewis. And I'm Elanor Yanaga. We're in Cosmos Medieval Village in Wales to discover how people dealt with winter in the Middle Ages. We'll investigate how you dress, work, play, and eat in that and my favorite era. We are of course going medieval. But what was life really like for medieval people who had no choice but to make the best of the seasons? And how did they survive and thrive in the deepest, darkest depths of medieval winter?

The word winter comes from the Germanic winar which derives from the root wed meaning wet or water.

In the 14th century, Europe was exceptionally wintry. It was a period we call the little ice age. Temperatures dropped by 2°. In the winter of 1363 to 1364, it got so cold that the River Ryan in Germany froze and a frost fair was held on the ice. But it wasn't all celebrations. When it's that cold and you live in a world without central heating, well, you need to know how to handle the weather. One of the ways we know how people dealt with this is by a series of art motifs that we call the labors of the months. And I have some incredible examples of that for you here from the tre the Duke deb or the incredibly rich hours of the Duke de.

These gorgeous detailed illustrations were handp painted into a prayer book detailing saints days and devotions throughout the year. So this is the labor of the month for November and it shows that the pigs are now being driven into the forest. You do this because they are going to go out there and they're going to eat lots and lots of acorns and get nice and fat for the winter. So, here we have some of the servants that are driving the pigs in and the servants kind of trying to encourage them to spread out. Then moving on to December. What? Well, what do you do when all those pigs get nice and fat? Quick answer, you slaughter them. So, in this case, we have not just a regular slaughter, but a hunt of the pig. The slaughter of the pigs was a yearly task.

They used everything from nose to tail, blood to endrails. Delicious seasonal shakurerie is nothing new. People have been salting and curing for centuries. And this is a really important thing to do in the beginning of December because you're going to be basically getting ready for the feasting period that comes from Christmas onward. Now, you are going to be incredibly happy that you have a whole slaughtered pig when the snow starts coming down as we see in the labor of the months for February. So, here the snow has completely drawn in. It's covering the bee houses. It's covering the shelter where you've got your sheep. We have people using mules to carry firewood back from the woods. And we've got people doing the chopping of that firewood. But here we see a woman shivering on her way in from the bars.

And you can see her breath out in front of her. and she is probably the one who is responsible for feeding all of these animals. But then the good news is you get to go inside as all of our friends are doing here. You can see they're kind of hitching up their clothing to get their feet warm and their actual genitals. Look, medieval people have a real different idea of privacy than we do. And if you want to warm up fast, maybe that's one way to do it. Medieval art gives us a great insight into how they lived through the seasons.

One of the key things was to dress for the weather. No synthetic fabrics in the 14th century. So, I need to get ready for the cold of winter, medieval style. Helping me is living history expert Caroline Nicolet.

Caroline. Oh, hey. How are you? You look amazing. Thank you very much. Obviously, you are exactly the person that I need to talk to because I'm trying to figure out what medieval people wore in order to deal with the winter.

Right. Okay. So, there are a few things, but what about we dress you up in winter clothes from the medieval ages?

Yes, please. Now, I get the very special outfit of a fancy medieval lady. Oh, and that this and this. Caroline on the other hand.

And you can also have this and you should be fine. Is rather lower down the social pecking order.

Well, Caroline, I look a treat. Yes, obviously. Of course. Uh but uh first question, what am I wearing?

Well, delightful garments that are warm and all natural materials. So, it's breathable and it keeps you warm in the winter but cool in the summer. So for the moment you have well underneath so

you have your very long linen shift then on top of that you have what you're wearing beautifully there a woolen dress. Now we are wearing two different styles of things. If you are like myself lowerass very much lowerass you have this very wide overdress so split on the side is just a bit like a large large apron. It has no shape and my dress there is very loose on me so I can move around. I can work. Whereas for yourself, you have on the side of your sleeves really nice buttons to make it really close fitting.

Mhm. Same thing. You have some lacing at the front so it brings everything closer to the body. That will be the main difference.

Okay. So, this is for inside the house. What do I put on if I'm going to go outdoors?

Well, for a start, you started really, really well. you didn't forget to cover your hair.

Now, if you are fairly cold, you can have a hood. And I love this one. Again, you see it mainly for ladies.

It's basically a short cloak that's completely closed with a hood. So, there's everything in there. If you fancy putting it on, you absolutely can.

Is there any way to do this? Oh, and be dignified. I would say you need a maid, but uh I'm a very rubbish maid. Boom. There you go. And basically, you are trapped in a lovely blanket.

Oh, it's incredibly warm, though. It really just The temperature just kind of goes up by 2° immediately

straight away. And to complete the outfit, some mittens. Yay. These ones are just very simple. Wool and linen inside.

But one of them is like this. The other one is now lined with rabbit fur. Oh, and that is the softest, warmest.

Oh, that is soft. And the one I'm allowed because you might have access to furs. I don't. You might have access to colors I cannot wear by law.

Well, that's right. Because from 1363, we have the suary laws come in and they regulate what different classes are allowed to wear. The 1363 sanctuary law was brought in after the Black Death to reinforce social hierarchy. This terrible plague killed nearly 50% of the population in England. This forced wages up. The surviving lower classes had more money than ever before. So to keep them in their place, new laws restricted how they could splash their cash when it came to clothes.

Okay, I'm very fancy, obviously. What am I allowed to wear that you are not? In terms of furs, you can pretty much wear whatever you like. I am only allowed rabbit, uh, sheep skin, so the normal, you know, fuzzy sheep skins and cats. Ah. Oh, and fox as well.

Oh, okay. So, what would be a step up for me? Things like man or Oh, that is Yes.

I love to see man in medieval manuscripts. So, unfortunately for me, it's only rabbits and usually sheep skin, but it does work exactly the same way. So, it keeps you incredibly warm.

I think it's time we try my medieval makeover in public. Let's hope our fellow villagers approve. We've got an incredible day here, but still, I'm toasty warm. This is completely fine with me. I'm very, very happy to run around in this as long as I can. really to be fair that's just great. It not only looks good, it's just really comfortable.

I forgot to put extra things on my head. I have unproper. So, I will quickly readjust.

Hopefully, the neighbors won't have seen anything. If the weather wasn't as glorious as it is today on snowier days, our medieval forebears also did something very similar to what we do. snowball fights. This Italian 14th century fresco shows exactly that. And although they might not be appropriately dressed, those are definitely snowballs. Somewhere that would have seen a lot of activity in the winter and in a warm place to work is the forge. Showing me how to handle the hammer and tongs is Tom Timberl.

Hi there. How's it going? I'm good. It's great to meet you. Well, this is our forge and uh well, if you're going to be coming and giving me a hand here, I think we first have to actually get you kitted out before we do. It's

probably a good idea. I'm in lovely medieval clothes, which are nice and safe. But uh I think you'll be wanting an apron. There you go. And I'll take that one for you.

Thank you. And of course, as we are not medieval people, we have to have our good old health and safety. So, why is winter a particularly good time for this kind of work? Well, this is a time when a lot of the jobs have kind of slowed down. There's still a lot of things to be doing. Um, and we're preparing for next year essentially. Okay. Is there anything I can do to help? Absolutely. You can uh take over pumping the bellows for me. So, it's just a nice good grip up there and bring that lever all the way down. So, we're just going to top up the charcoal on there. And inside we have a lovely piece of iron that will become our ditch digging tool. So, keeping a nice good go with the heat there. And we can bring our metal. You can see we've got that lovely temperature on our metal.

And the hotter it is, the easier it is to work. Absolutely. It becomes basically like plaster seam. So, when it's nice and hot, I can bring it to my anvil and strike it and start to shape it. And also, by doing this while it's hot, the metal doesn't get damaged. We could potentially break the grain structure apart. we could damage the iron and it could split. You can see though it doesn't stay hot for very long. So, we've got to get it back into the fire and reheat it. So, it's a constant art of knowing when it's hot enough in there to get it out work for a bit and then when it's cool enough that it needs to go back in the fire again.

Not only that, I might even work two pieces of metal at the same time. Especially if I've got someone helping me. If you're pumping the bellows or I have an apprentice or someone else working in here with me, I could have many irons in the fire. We have evidence of workshops with anywhere up to 25 blacksmiths in there and they're all taking on different jobs, maybe multiple forges. So, if this was a blacksmith workshop in the 14th century, I would have multiple apprentices working with me. Uh, not just pumping the bellows, but also hammering at the same time to help move the metal along quickly. So, I think that's the next job we'll get you doing as well. Exciting, but scary.

Okay. So, if you'd like to come around to my side and I shall give you this hammer here. Okay. So, it's basically going to be a simple game of follow my lead. Wherever I strike, you then strike. Exactly where I just hit. You say simple. I'm worried already. So, I'll hit. That's it. Bit quicker. Follow my hammer all the way TO THE END. NOT BAD.

BE HONEST. HOW MUCH OF A mess did I make of that? It's all right. We'll we'll hone your skills a little bit. But that was a very good first go.

I'm just beginning my apprenticeship. So yeah, we won't kick you out just yet. So for someone on their own on a farm making this, how long would it take you to make a functioning hoe? So on a forge like this on my own, refined, completed, finished, sharpened, uh the head of it only takes about an hour and a half. Um with someone else helping, you know, I reckon we could do that in 30 to 45 minutes. If you were trying to do that on a commercial scale though for the for the blacksmiths at the time, you do need those extra people in. Uh maybe a set of three people forging the heads, someone else doing the sharpening, the grinding, the finishing, and then someone making the handles to fit it as well. I think I'm good to carry on, refine this, and I'll bring it to you when it's done.

Right. Well, I'm sure I can find something else to keep me busy while you're finishing this then. Two questions though. Can I have a job?

Absolutely. And can we get someone else to do the bellows, please? Absolutely not.

It's amazing to take part in a process that remains the same as it was 500 years ago. Tom, is this the finished product?

This is indeed. We got it all ready for you. Put it on a nice ash half for you as well.

That's incredible. I mean, I'm pleased that I was a tiny tiny part of being involved in that. But it's incredible to think you've turned that thin strip of metal into a workable tool that you can use on the farm.

That I think will help with the winter ditch digging to come. Fantastic. If you can find a use for it, I'll leave it with you.

Wonderful. Thank you very much for showing me that. Thanks for your help. Well, now that we've made a hoe, we better use it. Although winter largely wasn't a time for growth, farmland couldn't be left to its own devices. Work weeding and prepping the land for the next season was a factor of daily life.

Tom, you take me to the nicest places. That's not that bad, is it? Well, I'm away from the hearth. I'm outside in the middle of winter. What are we doing here?

People tend to think that when you hit the winter on medieval farms, this is when work would stop. But the winter months are still time where you've got a lot of important jobs to be doing. And one of which is actually ditch digging and irrigation.

Ah, see. Yeah. Because if this is our main water course, got rather a lot of reads building up, don't we?

Absolutely. During the winter months, we would go in, we would strip away all these reads, but also as water's flowing through, it is drawing soil in. So, we now need to widen that water course and deepen it as well to help keep the lands well irrigated.

Tom has crafted a full kit of medieval style tools, including shovels and the hoe that Matt helped make. What else might we use? So, if the ground is really frozen, this shovel ain't going to cut it.

Absolutely. I mean, there are texts saying that if the ground's too hard, go chop firewood. However, fortunately, with the help of Matt, uh, he has come and join me in the forge, and he's actually helped us forge out this hoe or matic, depending on what you would call it. You can see tools like this being used on the calendars of labor. You have your typical blade at this end, what we're using to scrape away the earth. But if it is getting very solid, we have this spike, this pick on the other end, so we can break up that ground. Well, one of the things I'm thinking is that in terms of labor outside in the winter, this is going to be something that really gets your temperature up. You know, it's not so bad to leave the hearth if what you're going to be doing is swinging a hoe and digging huge ditches through frozen earth, right?

It would certainly be warming work. I mean, I'm not too keen on the people who might actually have to go into the riverbed and clean out the reeds. That probably would start getting a little bit too cool, but we know that some of the workers as well will work at quite a pace. You'd be expected to clear quite a distance each day.

The lime white vest of winter clings fair as a gray stolled hermit's robe. It wraps this dark and dreary globe. Another essential task for surviving medieval winter was collecting wood. In the Middle Ages, wood was a vital material. It's used in construction, furniture, cooking, tools. It's also crucial to keep the home warm. Gathering, chopping, and splitting wood was incredibly important. Not getting enough for the winter could be deadly. In the 14th century, legal access to wood was heavily restricted. The designation of land as forest arrived after the Norman conquest and grew rapidly. It didn't just mean wooded areas. The Norman kings carved out vast swaves of land as hunting parks for the elite. Those areas were governed by strict laws that prevented wood gathering and poaching by the lower classes.

Fortunately for us, there's plenty of wood available right by the village, well away from the lord's forest. So all that wood is perfect for us to keep the house warm. At the center of any medieval home is the hearth. Most buildings were poorly insulated and very chilly, but it's quite nice in here. All thanks to Caroline. All right, so Caroline, here we are. It's the middle of winter. How do we keep warm?

For keeping warm, fires, fires, fires, fires. You need to manage your fire and your firewood. So there's a different kind of fire if you want to cook, if you want some more light, if you want to keep warm and without too many flames. Man, there's great depictions in manuscripts and book of hours usually with a you probably know this one, the lady showing bits.

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And just lifting her skirt up because the the the warmth is there. We've got this sorted, you know, it's perfectly warm by the hearth and that's brilliant. But like what happens when it's time to go to sleep? Like are we sleeping next to the hearth?

I wish. I really wish. Well, in this house in particularly, the the bed is completely on the other side of it.

You can have a sort of brazers or braz things like that. But I'm going to heat up stones. It could be bricks, but frankly, stones are all around. Really?

True. So, I'm going to warm up a stone wrapping up in cloth, put it in my bed, like a hot water bottle, and just warm that really as toasty as I can inside it. We have a poster bed. It's not a, you know, crazy fancy one, but the idea is if you have some warmth of yourself plus stones like that inside the bed within blankets and things like that. You want curtains all around to keep that warmth in that tiny mini enclosed space. So instead of warming your entire house throughout the night, you warm your bed space. Another way to keep the heat in was to block the windows with fabric or wood.

Glass was available, but it was really expensive. So, most people covered their windows with whatever they had. We have all these ways to keep warm during winter. But what are we going to do about lighting? It's pretty dark in here. I've got several options apart from the light that comes from the fire. And it depends on how much money you have and want to spend.

Okay. So, for example, I have the usual beeswax candles. So, the other option I would have more than wax candle for myself here are tallow candles.

They are dipped in exactly the same way, but they're made out of animal fats. They do feel a little bit uh oilier. It's kind of slick, I want to say.

Yeah, it's a bit sticky. All right. Well, let's get these suckers on the go. So, this is the beeswax candle. So, okay. Um, who's going to be using these? Like, what kind of socioeconomic status are we looking at?

The church. The church is all about beeswax candles because it has to smell nice in churches.

And anybody of a higher social status, so not me would be the answer. So you're more of a tallow candle kind of girl. Look, and I'm not casting aspersions. I'm just saying. Let's see how the light goes. I will say I'm very excited to get this into a holder though because it is really kind of melting in my hand a little bit.

Yeah, that smells better. M that also is consumed much more quickly. Yeah. Like look at that. There's been not very much movement at all on the beeswax one, but this one is going down really really quickly.

Really quickly. And if you want a little bit of a worse solution, which is my favorite personally because it's very little money, you get another candle holder that's a bit different, something that looks like a pair of snips basically. And you get rush lights. And rush light are the plant rush. So it grows in damp places. You peel it and inside every single one of the leaves are a very mushy kind of gangster.

Okay? So it will absorb all the animal fat that you can throw at it. It lights pretty well. It creates the same kind of flame, but it's going to run out really quickly, but it's kind of free.

Once it's lit, you can put it in. Whoop! Not breaking it. I always break it on. And you leave it to burn as long as you want.

I mean, it's pretty bright, though. So, for an economical solution, you're getting a lot of light.

So, we know how to keep warm and keep our home lit. But with the shutters closed and fires burning, how did they keep the villagers community spirit through the dark months? We're traveling to Devon to Grae Cider Farm to take part in a fine medieval winter tradition. It's called the Wasamail.

Was sailing is an ancient tradition that involves singing, dancing, and drinking. Finally, it dates back until at least the 8th century and has its roots in early medieval English culture. The words vase come from the early medieval English, which means good health. To get to the core of the medieval history behind this great communal event, we're meeting folk singinger Jim Cley.

Jim, I guess with sailing, it's all about timing with anything else. So, I guess the first question is when does one was sail?

Well, it always happens in January and roughly around 17th of January. That's kind of like the pretty much the agreed across the board best date for was sailing. A lot of people do it like the nearest Friday or Saturday because that's obviously more sociable. But the hardcore traditionists love the 17th of January because that's old 12y night. So what would have been 12th night before the calendar changed by 11 days. So they stick to that.

Sticking to medieval timings. We love it. Absolutely perfect. And I guess if that's when the next question would be why was sale?

Excellent question. And we're not entirely sure, but it's kind of agreed that people did was sailing, particularly orchard visiting was sailing, which I'm involved in, as a means of ensuring a good crop of cider apples for the next year's harvest and maybe scaring away any wicked spirits that might hamper the harvest and kind of just reminding the tree what it's got to do for the following year.

Okay, so there's all different times that it can happen. Maybe you're doing it on the 6th, maybe you're doing it on the 17th. Does the actual practice vary as well?

Not hugely. No, actually they seem to be quite similar around, you know, from Cornwall to Devon, Somerset and uh into the border counties with Wales as well where it also takes place. Usually it involves the orchard ones going into the orchards, singing to the trees, making a noise with pots and pans and guns as well if you've got guns to scare away any evil spirits. and also saying some ritualistic words to the tree, a little rhyme.

Here's to thee, old apple tree that blooms well and bears well. And then the most important bit is drinking of some cider. The tree gets cider, too. She'll get some around the roots to again remind it what it made last year.

It sounds like a great experience and a community event and something you we might think of it being something quite mindful to do these days. you're getting with your local community, being in the moment with nature.

After all that singing, we need to get cooking for our upcoming village feast. A big part of winter, just like today, was eating and making merry. It was one of the few times of the year that the poorest of society might get to enjoy some lavish celebratory food, thanks often to the seasonal charity of the richer members of the community. Caroline has been busy prepping and she's letting me help out. Caroline, a lot of the time when I look at medieval recipes, they don't have a whole lot in common with things that I would expect to see on a modern table, but do we have kind of holdovers or things that we would find familiar in terms of what we think of as a winter treat, especially for the winter and in the more festive tradition? Um, gingerbread really. And it's it's a weird thing because we 21st century people have a lot of gingerbread, these little um men and characters and things like that. When we do medieval

gingerbread, it really is ginger and bread. So, all right. Like, talk me through that. What does that mean?

So, basically, you you kind of save your money. You save your leftover food, especially the bread. So, gingerbread starts with actual bread. So, you turn it into breadcrumbs. Well, would you like to give me a hand to make some? Obviously, I would.

Yes. It's my job to make the breadcrumbs, but there are a couple more special ingredients we need to make gingerbread. One of them is honey. And where would we be getting the honey from? Are we keeping our own bees or is this something that we are going to be buying at market?

Kind of a bit of both. Um, I might have one or two beehives. We definitely have them. That is no questions about the medieval ages. And you have to think also about the monasteries that are still in need of a lot of beeswax. So you get you get a fair bit of honey. But I I don't mean that it's cheap either. Okay. So what spices are we using for this? So usually in terms of the 14th century we have a lot of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper, pepper, long pepper, grains of paradise.

Where's it coming from in reality? There's the sea road. So we we usually go to Italy. There's merchants coming from the knees, etc. The majority of the spices come from the Indian and Asian coasts. And the cloves. The cloves are really, that's my favorite. I really like it because technically they only grow on one tiny mini island in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago, but we find clothes in Turkey burned down in a very very early um well early settlement that has been found in archaeology. So you're talking like before the Iron Age.

So no matter what, people are like, I've got to get a hold of cloves. I don't care how far away they are, I got to have them. Okay, look. We've got all of our spices. We've got our sugar. We've got our honey warming up. What is next?

You will have to grind the spices. Ah, see, I know how to do this because I still have and use a mortar and pestle.

Brilliant. Oh, I love that. I like that smell. Okay. All right. It's coming out.

Well, I'm going to stir the honey in the meantime. Whilst Caroline checks the honey, I'm getting all my spices ground down. When the honey is hot, we add the ground spices and breadcrumbs.

Oh, yeah. That's perfect. Very good. Oh, the honey is absorbed now. So, we get a dish and and that should be it.

Brill. All right, let's do it. Come on, gingerbread. Don't fail me now. Oh gosh. You know, it's actually really pretty as well. It's almost kind of in this like jeweled looking, isn't it? Okay. And then I'm assuming I kind of just pat it down so it's a consistent thickness. And if you're very good Caroline, you can lick that one. So we can put a clean cloth over that. Leave it in a warm place. So not too far from the fire, say on the bench, on the table at the back. And that's it.

Brilliant. Okay. And then we come back the next morning and it should all have set and be ready.

Okay. So, I have made some in advance. Oh, you're an angel. You're a star. Fantastic.

Exciting. So, that's exactly what you've made, but it has had two days to really set. So, it's a bit sturdier.

All right, let's try. Okay. Crunchy. It's like baklava. It's about the same kind of crunch that I would expect from a nut, but it's more gingery.

It's really good. I think I'm actually going to make this now. It's actually kind of incredible. Whilst Caroline finishes cooking, I'm putting up some festive greenery. Although Christmas trees didn't make it to England until the Victorian period, bringing the outside in has been an active part of historical winter and Christmas for centuries. But another tradition has been around for even longer. Storytelling. To discover more, I'm meeting historian Laura Ash. I feel like the best thing to do when we're warming up around a fire in the winter, though, is to tell some stories. and you are the best person to ask about every medievalist's very favorite winter story, Siruane and the Green Knight. Can we get a very, very short plot synopsis? So, I don't really want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, but the way the bone begins is astonishingly atmospheric. We have it's Christmas, it's King Arthur's

court, and feasting and dancing and laughter, and King Arthur himself wants an adventure and at that point rides into the hall on a huge horse. He's tall. He's broad shouldered. He's a fine figure of man. And he's green. He's green all over. So Arthur stands up. He's like, "What do you want?" And the green knight says, "Well, I have a challenge for you. Is anyone up to my challenge?" Um, and the challenge turns out to be this game he offers is that someone should strike him a blow and then in a year's time he will strike a blow back. and he's holding an immense battle axe. And Gowane stands up and says, "My lord, I crave. I beg this quest should be mine." And so cutting it a little short, the green knight says to him, "Absolutely. Here we go." Stands there and waits and going cuts his head off and his head falls to the floor. The body, however, does not fall. He takes one step forward, picks up his

head, holds it up, and then the eyelids open. that detail in the poem and the head says thank you I will see you in a year's time going you have this amazing incident that happens that sets a night on a quest but the difference here that makes it so strange and exciting is that it does seem like Gowen is now going to have to die

we actually are staring down the barrel of the real threat of death and mortality

one aspect of the story that I find incredibly interesting is that you have this peril of course of the Green Knight and also various foes that Gwain is encountering along the way but one of them is actually just the seasons themselves and winter as this bodily threat. I mean there's a real sense always of nature around him of the winter around him and as you say he meets he meets an opponent who he has to fight at every crossroads but where the winter nas um battle didn't trouble him any near so much that winter wasn't worse and then we have the description of the snow on the ground the ice the frost the sle he's got icicles hanging off his helmet he's got cold water running down his back and there's a real juosition of, you know, this grand knight who's wearing this hugely expensive armor. But that's not the point. The point is he's got cold water trickling down his back.

But it isn't just the winter outside that Guang needs to be wary of. He comes across an amazing castle. As he heads in, the warmth and safety aren't all they seem.

This castle looks exquisitely beautiful. It looks almost supernaturally gorgeous. He makes a mistake. He thinks he's inside again. You know, he's got fire again. He's got feasting. He's got a gracious Lord, giftgiving. And so, he relaxes. He thinks, "Okay, this is where I'm safe before I have to go out again." But of course, as we could predict, because we know how stories work, this is where the test is actually going to happen. The Lord says, you know, you must stay here for 3 days and I will go hunting every day. And in in the evening when we feast, I will give you everything I have won in the day and you in return must give me everything you have won.

And of course, a part of this peril is sexy. So the lady of the castle who is exquisitly beautiful and utterly seductive basically says to him, "Here we are in private." And the point is, of course, that in the Arththeran world, anything that happens in private hasn't actually happened. But privacy that's that's a different world. And so he's in a position of real moral danger. She is propositioning him in his bed and telling him no one will ever know. And Gowen also has a shioalic problem because we've been told about the virtues of chivalry which include courtesy and fellowship and loyalty and so on. Um but courtesy is the key. She says to him, "Surely for your courtesy you must accept a kiss."

But at the same time, shiovalic values obviously don't say you're supposed to betray your fellow knight or commit adultery. So he is in a real quandry at that point. And he manages just about, you know, he's holding the blankets up to his chin. And indeed, he passes the test fantastically on the first two days, but the lady insists finally on giving him a kiss. And so when it comes to exchange of winnings, the lord gives him, you know, this vast beast that he's slaughtered in the hunt. And going and he says, "And what do you have for me?" And going comes forward and throws his arms around the lord's neck and kisses him.

And the lord says, "Where did that come from?" And go says, "That wasn't in the deal." And so so done. It's And everyone celebrates. And um and you know, Gain has behaved perfectly. He was given a kiss and he gives it to its rightful owner.

You can imagine people sat around the fire hundreds of years ago listening to that incredible story, awaiting the twists and turns of the tales of the Green Knight. But there are plenty of other ways to entertain the masses in the medieval period by coming together for a big medieval feast with some friends we've met along the way. In the Middle Ages, marking Christmas would begin with fasting through December's Advent period, ending on Christmas morning with a mass. Then the feasting would begin, and we're not going to miss out on that.

I couldn't resist the chance to get dressed up again to show Matt my medieval finery. One of the big differences between a medieval festival and the things that we have now in the 21st century is that incredible feasts like this absolutely happen in the wintertime, but just maybe not at Christmas on Christmas Day. So, you might find feasts like this anytime up until Candaliss, which is actually in February. And it gets really hard to know exactly what was served on a medieval feast table. Lots of recipes don't necessarily survive, but we can expect to see something like pottage.

So, we've got cabbage pottage over there in some broth, a bit of saffron sprinkled on top to make it extra fancy. We've got cheese. I'm always here for cheese at a feast. We've got some chicken in some almond gravy. And you get almonds coming into Europe after the crusades and adding extra flavor to dishes. And then as we get onto the higher tables, and we've got some lovely spinach going on here. But then we've got this fanciest of pies with designs in the crust. See, now I absolutely love big centerpieces like this pie here because one of the big differences again about a modern Christmas table to a medieval one is that obviously you're not going to have something like a big roast turkey. Turkeys don't hit Europe until the 16th century. You're never going to get them in a medieval context.

So instead, you build something wonderful and gorgeous like this pie. The king would usually throw a lavish feast during the festive period demonstrating his wealth and laress. Henry III of England celebrated one Christmas with 30 oxmen, 100 sheep, five boores, nine dozen fowl, lots more food, and then to drink 19 huge barrels of wine. You can imagine the royal hangover lasting several weeks after that. And I guess we need to think about what people are drinking at these kind of feasts as well. And this is another one of those real class elements because fancy people such as ourselves are going to be drinking wine. But down at the lower end of the table, they are probably going to be drinking ale. And I guess it's the difference as well between kind of the small ale, small beer that people would be drinking all day every day that's weaker. It's not fermented as long. But for a moment like this, you might bring

out the fermented stuff, the strong stuff, the decent stuff. Medieval traditions like the appointing of a mischievous lord of mis rule reflected the boisterous mood of winter celebrations. One estate in London added watchmen in case of rioting over the Christmas period and they were paid in food and a gallon of ale per day. Sounds like a recipe for medieval mayhem. And there's also a story that at the lower end of the table, further down the social scale, you might expect a pie that's nowhere near as fancy as this, it might contain the awful of venison or something like that. Awful was called the umbles. So that's your umble pie.

Your humble pie. You're at the bottom of the table. You're the lowest status person here. You are literally eating your humble pie. Frankly, everyone is having a wonderful time at this party. Now, check out these incredible pears that have been poached in red wine and mulberries. They contain a surprising delight.

Interesting. So, I'm cutting this open. Mhm. To reveal. Look at that beautiful white inside. So, you've got this gorgeous contrast of the white with the red.

Incredible. So, Ellen, after everything we've seen, do you think you could survive medieval winter? Mate, I'm not just surviving medieval winter. I am thriving in medieval winter. I got my feast table. I got my wine. I have a chunk of pie the size of my head. As far as I'm concerned, this is as good as it gets. On that note, a slightly cheers.

Cheers. Cheers, everyone. Cheers. We got one more. We got one more. This is the gingerbread that I made yesterday. It's really exciting. It's my own very uh special recipe because I put dreams of paradise in it. Interesting. Looking forward to this. Hi there. I'm Dan Snow and if you love history, you know that History Here is on a mission to bring the past to life. Every week we travel the world to film original and in-depth documentaries. And now, History Hit has launched a YouTube membership to give you access to even more films released weekly. Become a History Hit channel member now to make sure you never miss out on exclusive documentaries on topics like newly discovered shipwrecks and the clash of gladiators. We cover all time periods and all subjects from Pompei to D-Day.

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Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Could You Survive Medieval Winter? With Eleanor Janega"?

Matt Lewis (Host), Eleanor Janega (Guest), Caroline Nicolet (Guest), Tom Timberl (Guest), Jim Cley (Guest), Laura Ash (Guest), Dan Snow (Guest).

What is "Could You Survive Medieval Winter? With Eleanor Janega" about?

The discussion explores how people in the medieval era adapted to the challenges of winter, highlighting both hardships and celebrations during the "Little Ice Age." Key points include insights into daily life, clothing, food, and seasonal traditions, as well as the impact of extreme cold on society, illustrated through historical art depicting the labor of the months.

What is mentioned in this History Hit episode?

18 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Elanor Yanaga, Caroline Nicolet, Tom Timberl, Wasailing, Jim Cley, Laura Ash. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Could You Survive Medieval Winter? With Eleanor Janega"?

The episode runs 44 min; the transcript is about 7,486 words in 118 timestamped sections.

More from History Hit

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.