Why the Dark Ages Were the Worst Time to be Alive

The Dark Ages were by far the worst time to be alive. Don't believe us? Check out today's epic new video that goes back to the worst period in history when medical science wasn't fully developed, plagues ran rampant, and the average lifespan was 30 years old. Think it would be fun to go back and see what things were like? After today's video, you may rethink that.

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[GlamorousTitanic]

When you realize you’re here simply because your ancestors survived all of this.

[shannonpage]

Life expectancy was only 30 due to the infant mortality rate. If a 30 yr old and an infant dies their collective mortality rate is only 15.

[MrJjones]

I used to be an EMT, I feel like if I was sent back in time I would be a very successful doctor given all of my knowledge even as an EMT, you know, things like germ theory would come in handy.

Either that, or I would be burned at the stake as a witch

[Chuyitohhh]

“The peasants were in the middle of a rich man’s fight” that still applies

[EscargoBay]

The fact that people regularly dueled to the death for honor always seemed hilarious and unbelievable to me. Imagine going through your day knowing there's a real possibility you could die for sneezing in the wrong direction.

[zenbmonk]

Fifty to a hundred years from now, Infographics releases why late 2019 to 2022 was a terrible time period to travel to in certain parts of the world.

[dennisstoddard]

Never expected to watch the whole video, but the story and editing would not let me leave. Now you are one of my prime entertainment. Thank you for your excellent work.

[rhov-anion]

As someone whose focus was medieval European history, I certainly hope no one actually thinks this is 100% accurate. Because it's absolutely NOT. So many myths in here! I kept cringing and wanting to leap into the comments section, until I realized there were SO MANY inaccuracies that I'd be writing a 3-page essay debunking all the misinformation, and no one would ever read it. It'd be only to my own vanity, "Someone on the internet was WRONG but I corrected them, pat on the back to me!" I will just say, the most iconic myth of the middle ages that grates on me is "people didn't live as long." The truth is, if you lived to see your 20th birthday, you could expect to lived to see your 70th birthday. Living into your 80s was not unheard of. Saint Hildegard von Bingen lived to be 81. The "average lifespan was 30 years" myth is based on a misunderstanding of basic statistics.

If you have a population where 100 people are born in a single year, and 50 die before the age of 20 due to childhood illnesses, injuries, brawling, being drafted to fight in a war, or childbirth, then some armchair scholar might say, "Aha, the average age expectancy was 30 years!" Technically right, because so many died before the age of 5 due to common childhood diseases. But then someone creates a video like this and says "People DIED VERY YOUNG in the medieval times, most people died before they were 30." It would be more accurate to say "Most people died before they were 5" but they that confuses everyone. It leads to people believing that medieval peasants must have married at 12 and began to have kids in their teens. Nobles did that to secure bloodlines and treaties, but the average age of marriage for a peasant was in their 20s. After all, you want to make sure your spouse can survive past puberty, and people back then knew that teen pregnancies were dangerous to the mother. Childbirth deaths were high enough WITHOUT starting at an unhealthily early age.

Don't get me started into the myths about a peasant's diet. They ate healthier than you or I do. It could even be argued that their diet was more healthy than that of nobles. "They ate rye bread full of seeds and nuts." Dude, we call that "artisan bread" now and it's $7 a loaf at the bougie grocery store, as opposed to $1 unhealthy processed white bread, the bread of the upper class.

[PaladinThizz]

Most knights were also nobles themselves. Nobles saw the poor as disposable and deplorable who were only good for one thing: making them rich. Not too dissimilar to what they think now tbh

[jasontoddman]

I'd never survive in the Dark Ages simply because I am extremely nearsighted, so without my glasses I'd likely be little more than a beggar no matter where I was.

[williamrasengan]

The dark ages sound like my childhood experiences in Brazil, especially the soccer matches getting out of hand part.

[thedesensitizedsympathizer]

people became violent with sports.

over 800 years later, Nothing's changed.

[fox]

‘Violent xenophobia was the norm back then.” I mean when you’re literally getting invaded, I think it’s justified

[bayareaman]

"Player died running into a dagger"
That's one heck of a lawyer convincing the jury! Well was someone maybe holding that dagger in their hand?

[its_me_v]

I am from a country called Myanmar. I'm glad that your ancestors survived those times of ordeal but we, Myanmar people are currently in the dark age. I wrote comment after seeing an elementary school bombed by a fighter military aircraft today (06/02/2024).
I or my friends may not be able to survive this, but I wish our descendants will lead a prosperous life.

[corymorimacori]

“No matter how struggle and strive, I’ll never get out of this world alive.” Hank Williams Sr

[heeeydevon]

Back in the day when life was literally walking uphill, in the snow, both ways

[Eldor-]

Dark Ages: a time where being hermit/outcast was much safer.

[KilledByThatTrain]

As someone who once read a book about history, I can say with authority that if people in the dark ages had internet (anf funny cat videos), things would not have been so dark

[davidtownsend]

I have 4 degrees all around history. I specialize in 5th to 16th century.and have a focus on contingency and causality.
It's not even halfway and so much I'd wildly wrong.
Nobles did fight. 3 classes. Those who work. Those who fight. Those who pray. Nobles led the armies especially in 14th vent. . They didn't die often and usually got ransomed out. Tho there were exceptions like agincourt.