A recent archaeological find has upended traditional views of medieval warfare (and medieval culture, too). Discovery of a mass grave in Towton, England, that dates from the Wars of the Roses has allowed scholars to learn a great deal about warfare and even living conditions. Contemporary accounts estimate 28,000 men were killed in the battle that occurred in December 1460 and a modern scholar estimates that as many as 75,000 men fought that day, 10% of the country’s fighting-age population.

Among the discoveries: the first use of lead shot in England, and perhaps a fragment of the first handgun. More interestingly was the extent of injuries to the dead. In addition to evidence of wounds from earlier battles, many of those killed were struck multiple times.

Most interesting to me was this:

Yet as a group the Towton men are a reminder that images of the medieval male as a homunculus with rotten teeth are well wide of the mark. The average medieval man stood 1.71 metres tall—just four centimetres shorter than a modern Englishman. “It is only in the Victorian era that people started to get very stunted,” says Mr Knüsel. Their health was generally good. Dietary isotopes from their knee-bones show that they ate pretty healthily. Sugar was not widely available at that time, so their teeth were strong, too.

That leads to a reassessment of the late-medieval standard of living, at least in England. BTW, 1.71 m is roughly 5’7″. And the savagery puts paid to the notion of gallantry and chivalry in medieval warfare.

The full story is here.