Ahem, to get back to the point, what is everyone's impression of medieval Europe?

Through the "Grimm's Fairy Tales" and "Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales" that I read when I was a child, as well as the countless Hollywood blockbusters I watched as an adult, modern people should have this romantic association with medieval Europe:

- Magnificent castles, knights in bright armor, fiery noblewomen, elegant and shy princesses, witches in black or purple robes, vampires hiding in cemeteries, werewolves howling in the moonlight...... Huh? Something strange seems to have gotten in?

Well, for the sake of seriousness, before talking about the landscape of medieval Europe, it is better to exclude witches, vampires, werewolves, and other unscientific fantasy products at the first time - God knows if these legends will open a door in the fireplace of the cellar, sprinkle a handful of strange powders on their bodies, and then burrow into the fireplace with their cats' waists, and then run to the Champs-Elysées in Paris in the 21st century to buy new fashion?

As far as the reality is concerned, the main theme of medieval Europe is knights and castles, and the journey through must revolve around these two - the reason why the protagonists work tirelessly to travel through time and space is usually not to suffer and accept the re-education of the poor middle peasants, but to appreciate the medieval customs and make achievements, naturally they will not choose to travel through the streets of serfs, thieves and other street characters (if you want to be Robin Hood), at least you have to mix the title of a noble knight, there are castles, manors, There was armor, and a few young maids to tease and rub oil.

Well, so what's next? Could it be that he lives in a very large and beautiful castle, holding a fragrant princess, going to the knight tournament every year to show off, and occasionally going to the countryside to find a few favorite peasant girls to exercise the first night. Right, change your appetite to fight in the field?

Unfortunately, the dream is very full, the reality is very skinny, and the aristocratic life in the Middle Ages is not as comfortable as you think.

Let's talk about medieval castles first! Essentially, castles were military fortresses to be defended, not sumptuous palaces to be displayed or holiday villas to enjoy the pleasures of life - these fortifications built of rock, surrounded by deep moats, guarded by iron gates and drawbridges, could indeed be intimidating to uninvited guests who peered into the wealth of the aristocracy in medieval Europe, but not necessarily comfortable for their owners.

-- During the special period, all of China's large, medium, and small cities were desperately building fortifications and digging countless air-raid shelters, but after the reform and opening up, it seems that not many people who were greedy for cheap money moved to live in them...... Where in the world will there be a livable military fortress?

The main points of the bad life of a castle in the Middle Ages are as follows:

First of all, in order to facilitate long-term maintenance, most castles were built on steep terrain, such as cliffs, hilltops, and small islands in the middle of the river. But the synonym of the rugged terrain is the lack of transportation. If your castle is located on a rugged hilltop and looks like it looks like it's all over the world, but every trip up the hill can make you choking on the road. If there are not enough wells in the castle, it is also tiring to fetch water and transport food every day.

Of course, these chores were done by servants, and the masters only had to worry about how to make the elaborate and luxurious carriage drive through the winding and narrow mountain roads, up the steep slopes, and into their castles.

Secondly, in order to guard against enemy bows and arrows and stone throwers, there were few window holes in the outer walls of medieval castles, so the interior of the castle was always dark, the sun did not shine, and it was naturally very humid. In addition, the construction level at that time was not up to standard, and there were inevitably some cracks in the walls and roof, so when it rained, it leaked badly, which led to the cleaning of the castle was very problematic. …,

However, medieval Europeans also had a poor sense of hygiene, so those seemingly majestic castles were usually full of dust, cobwebs, bed bugs, fleas, mosquitoes, flies and household garbage, and I am afraid that they were not as clean as the cardboard houses of contemporary Japanese vagabonds.

In addition, large fabrics from medieval Europe, the price is still very expensive. In the poorer places, only the owner of the castle was generally entitled to sleep in a bed, and the rest, even knightly squires, had to sleep on straw piles like cattle, and were bitten by bed bugs with their horses......

Belch? You say that the German castles you see in tourist brochures are gorgeous and comfortable, and they are not as sad as I say?

Oh, you're talking about Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany!

It was the "Royal Theme Park" built by the Grand Duke of Bavaria in the late 19th century, and many of the ornate structures such as spires are made of concrete, you can think of it as a modern Disney park - a real medieval castle is so cute!

In addition, there are some gorgeous castles that are often used as tourist attractions in Europe, in fact, they are also modern aristocrats who like to be stylish, and they were built after the Renaissance or even in the 18th and 19th centuries, or they have been rebuilt on a large scale on the original site of the old castle, and they can basically no longer be regarded as real medieval castles, but can only be said to be "palaces that look like castles", which are almost the same as the castles in Disneyland.

In fact, in modern Germany and Austria, there are many descendants of the dilapidated aristocracy who inherited the ancient castles, and they are afraid of the inheritance of these ancestors, and are willing to transfer them for only 1 euro on the Internet, but there is still no interest - most of the medieval castles are built in barren mountains and mountains with inconvenient transportation and sparse population, not to mention no water or electricity, even if you have to drive a supermarket for dozens of kilometers, no one wants to live except for archaeological experts.

Moreover, not only are these castles subject to a large inheritance tax, but they are also very expensive to maintain - not to mention the size and complexity of the castle, just having the construction team travel all the way to the castle with heavy building materials and related machinery, and also have to bring their own dry food, drinking water and generators...... The labor cost of this attendance is much more expensive than doing decoration in the city.

However, these castles are still historical and cultural heritage, and they are recorded in the government archives, and if future generations let them collapse due to weathering, or indiscriminately converted into warehouses or something, the relevant cultural relics department will still find you to have a lawsuit......

In short, after you inherit the castle, you will need to maintain the castle as it is, whether you move in or not. Any renovation that changes the appearance of the building, even if it is just a wire to install a few air conditioners, must be written a report several months in advance. And all repair materials must also use special brand products from government-designated manufacturers, and the price is definitely expensive. And you have to hire professionals to carry out the construction, and the labor cost is enough to make your heart tremble...... Spending hundreds of thousands of euros a year is normal, and it is usually impossible to afford it if you are not a monopoly.

Similarly, under the backward productivity conditions of the Middle Ages, the maintenance and repair cost of a castle was also unbearable for many people.

Therefore, at the end of the Middle Ages, when wars on the European continent were no longer so frequent, the noble lords who cared about the quality of life moved their belongings to more comfortable country houses or luxurious official residences in bustling cities, and refused to live in this damn broken castle again.

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