Are Medieval Tents Good for Adventuring? | A Hard Truth

when you picture a fantasy Adventurer you probably Envision a group of intrepid Heroes traveling all over the countryside making a quiet camp together at the end of the day and then setting off the next morning for another day of trekking that's what I picture too but there's a slight problem which is that travel in the medieval period didn't actually work like that in fact their mindset about travel in the medieval period is very different from what our mindset is today so to figure out what life would have been like for an actual fantasy Adventurer we're going to have to pull from outside the medieval period so join me as we unravel the history of a world that never existed to answer the question do medieval tents actually work for a fantasy Adventurer and if not what would they have used when you think of camping in tents in the modern day you're probably picturing a small lightweight backpacking tent something that can fit in a pack and be ready to go fit maybe one to two people or a slightly larger tent meant for a family going on vacation trying to get away from modernity and spend a little bit more time in nature but there are other types of tents something like Pavilion meant for a large group of people at a wedding or renaissance fair or perhaps you've even seen a yurt which a lot of people use as airbnbs or sometimes full-time dwellings these larger semi-permanent or sometimes even permanent structures are more what we should be envisioning when we think of a medieval tent because the idea of a smaller tent is partly only possible because of the change in modern materials a small canvas tent would take up significantly more space and way more than a nylon camping tent of identical size because a tent in the medieval period very much like other parts of the world both before and after is a way of constructing a building quickly where you didn't have one before and you might not want one later they have comparatively low material costs and are much quicker to set up than say a structure made out of Timber or stone some common uses for tents in the medieval period include well if you were setting up a market stall but very commonly at a joust where a knight is going to need a space to take respit in between bouts that is near to the fairground or if you're on military campaign let's take a closer look an Army on campaign traveling or setting up for a Siege takes an incredible amount of resources and Manpower and to fuel all of the men and women it takes to run an army camp take infrastructure carts and wagons to bring the equipment horses to draw the carts and wagons food weapons armor Craftsmen for repairs and of course some place for all of them to live and [Music] sleep [Music] a large tent like this one is commonly depicted in medieval iconography with another very common depiction being the circular Pavilion style of tent these large tents could be the size of a small room and some of them were even bigger and a well-to-do man at Arms or a knight or certainly a noble would have a tent just like this one all to himself with all of the Furnishings he would expect to find if he were comfortable back at home and so you would make camp but not quite the style of camp we're thinking of for a Backpacker or an adventurer where you quickly set it up you quickly take it down and then you're on your way the next morning this is a base camp a semi-permanent structure meant to be your house while you are away your home away from home think of it if you were away on campaign for several months or even a couple years trekking and fighting and then trekking again wouldn't you want to be as comfortable as possible in your rest days I know I would take as much luxury as I could possibly fit so soldiers of the time period would have had chests filled with their belongings tables Furniture Cutlery ston wear glasswar sometimes even games for more information on what might be found inside a campaign tent watch this video by the history Squad a tent like this would have been made out of cotton canvas sometimes wool or maybe even leather in fact some of the earliest styles of tent were in fact made of leather rather than a woven fabric just cuz it was easier but a tent like this would have one large pole going up the center with lots of spokes coming out at the top in order to help give the tent structure against the elements there are other types of frames as well such as the A- frame found in the osberg ship from the Viking period these were also lined with cotton or wool to make the walls of the tent but they were still meant to set up base camp on Shore not to travel around with on foot because ships are just the carts of the sea tents like this are a very common in reenactment communities today large enough to have a comfortable setup inside with a large awning acting to increase the livable footprint on the outside so far we have seen some fantastic tent designs beautiful comfortable and functional but not necessarily the best if you're looking to hike around the countryside in search of dragon treasure Because unless the group of adventurers or the solo Adventurer has access to a cart and is traveling in a Terrain where a cart can actually go carrying around this amount of material is absolutely out of the question there are examples of smaller A-frame tents such as these in the 18th century tents like this were used for the Infantry again on [Music] campaign and you could expect to share a small tent like this one with up to two other people a small lean to configuration like this one might have been used to create a shelter in light conditions in a pinch or if resources and funds were tight modern Bush Crafters use configurations like this with a simple tarp all of the time it's convenient and they can be set up in a number of different ways depending on your environment and depending on the situation but there's nothing really to say that people use tarps like this in the medieval period to go camping that being said there's nothing to say that they couldn't have done it if they wanted to in fact the very idea of camping in the woods or by the roadside might well have seemed repulsive and uncivilized to a medieval person even a peasant so what did Medieval Travelers do when they went abroad and the idea of hospitality is also very different today than it was back then it would have been very common to just knock on the door of a complete stranger and expect them to offer you a room in their stable in their Barn maybe even in their house and give you a meal and that's probably how a lot of ins started in the first place if a lot of Travelers are coming through it's just good business in which case it would be polite for you to leave your weapons at the door if you have them or peace tie them which is where you take your sword your knife or your dagger and you tie them into your sheath indicating that you are not intending to or able to use them I think this would be a great way to meet new people and make new friends while you were on your adventure and it might be such that if you travel the same route enough times the people that were helping you along the way letting you stay in their home might start to expect you and wonder where you were if you didn't show up every couple of months for more information on travel and ends in the medieval period watch these videos by modern history TV but the idea of camping of roughing a living out in the wild had perhaps a negative connotation for the Civilized people of the medieval period something reserved for outcasts vagabonds or brigin and I suppose that makes a certain amount of sense because if there were ins conveniently spaced and you could reasonably expect to have a polite host so long as you yourself were also polite then what would force a person to live out in the wild like this even Strider himself was distrusted by the people of Brie because he slept out in the wild for days on on end the idea of adventurers meeting at an inn at the start or end of an adventure is quite a ubiquitous idea even froto Sam Mary and Pippen stay at the prancing pony before setting off for Rivendell and they take luning where and when they can find it with the elf gildor in the forest or with Tom Bombadil and goldberry but often times an adventure can take you to a location that is either unexplored unsettled hostile or abandoned where there are no ins and no friendly hosts so what happens then we know that medieval tents like this weren't really meant for an adventuring context and though Aragorn had a tent he was described as using it outside of the City of Gondor after the battle of pelenor fields where he held his war council and his tent must have been big enough to fit members such as legalis gimle Gandalf Prince ill elidon and elra here Aragorn's tent was a war tent and when he was Strider as a ranger he didn't seem to have a tent at all in fact few if any great adventurers are described as having tents for when it comes to Camping what is the purpose of a tent to protect you from the elements but if adventuring is being done in a climate where the elements are unlikely to pose mortal threat there is little reason to worry about carrying one at all a simple tarp such as this one is able to be set up in many configurations even a cloak can be used as a shelter if need be but if no shelter is required a cloak and an extra blanket by the fire is more than enough I think it is highly likely that an adventurer would seek out comfortable accommodations wherever and whenever he could find them and that a whole industry for creating custom waterproof tarps and covered wagons would be created wherever adventurers could be found in great numbers especially on the edge of a frontier after all Adventures are nasty disturbing uncomfortable things that make you late for dinner and that's why we love them but we love them from the romanticized perspective of a modern people who want to be closer to nature for an adventurer they might find that they are already close enough to Nature on a daily basis as it is thank you very much and rather find themselves longing for the comfort of a soft bed and warm food and only in the most dire of circumstances would they rough it with just a cloak a blanket roll or a humble tarp videos like this are only possible with the support of viewers like you so thank you to all of my members on patreon and if you'd like to help me continue to grow as a Creator then please consider becoming a member with the link in the the description

Channel: Living Anachronism

Views: 157,405

Keywords: medieval, fantasy medieval, fantasy, fantasy adventure, medieval fantasy, lord of the rings, lotr, the witcher, witcher, tolkien, reenactment, fantasy reenactment, larp, how to, medieval life, medieval camping, bushcraft, medieval history, fantasy camping, D&D, DnD, medieval tent, viking tent, fantasy tent, larp camp, larp tent, medieval reenactment, historical reenactment

Id: 3I6zkdfRyzE

Length: 10min 46sec (646 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 25 2024