How long would you have lived in the Middle Ages? Our expert has some bad news for you

An average life expectancy of around 30 conceals enormous differences in medieval lifespans.

30岁左右的平均预期寿命掩盖了中世纪寿命的巨大差异。

Some people reached their eighties and beyond – but surviving long enough to grow old depended heavily on childhood, circumstances and wealth

有些人已经八十多岁了，但能否活到老年在很大程度上取决于童年、环境和财富

In 1386, an elderly Devon landowner had a compelling reason for being excused a journey to give evidence in court.

1386 年，一位年长的德文郡地主有令人信服的理由获准前往法庭作证。

He was Sir John Sully, and according to the account highlighted by historian Dr Ian Mortimer, he was 105 years old.

他就是约翰·苏利爵士，根据历史学家伊恩·莫蒂默博士的记述，他已经 105 岁了。

“He's probably the most remarkable old age person you would come across in the 14th century,” says Mortimer, speaking on his HistoryExtra Academy series.

“他可能是 14 世纪你见过的最杰出的老人，”莫蒂默在他的 HistoryExtra Academy 系列节目中说道。

Even allowing for uncertainty over his reported age, Sully presents a striking rebuke to a familiar picture of medieval life.

即使考虑到他所报道的年龄的不确定性，苏利也对中世纪生活的熟悉景象提出了惊人的谴责。

If people in the Middle Ages could expect to live only about 30 years, how could anyone have survived for more than a century?

如果中世纪的人只能活30岁左右，那么怎么可能有人能活过一个多世纪呢？

The answer lies partly in what life expectancy actually measures.

答案部分取决于预期寿命的实际衡量标准。

An average of 30 never meant that everyone approached their fourth decade with death imminent.

平均30岁并不意味着每个人都已步入四十岁，死亡即将来临。

But correcting that misconception offers only limited reassurance.

但纠正这种误解只能提供有限的保证。

The truth is, “very few people grow old in the Middle Ages,” Mortimer explains.

事实是，“中世纪很少有人变老，”莫蒂默解释道。

For someone born in medieval England, the greatest obstacle might be surviving long enough to become an adult.

对于出生在中世纪英格兰的人来说，最大的障碍可能是活到成年。

Life expectancy at birth describes the average length of life implied by a population’s mortality pattern.

出生时预期寿命描述了人口死亡率模式所暗示的平均寿命长度。

It includes the people who die in infancy alongside those who survive into middle age or beyond.

它包括在婴儿期死亡的人以及存活到中年或更久的人。

Imagine two people born in the same village.

想象一下两个人出生在同一个村庄。

One dies aged one; the other reaches 59.

一个人一岁就死了；另一个达到59。

Their average lifespan is 30 years, although neither dies anywhere near that age.

他们的平均寿命为 30 岁，但他们的死亡年龄都在接近这个年龄的范围内。

When large numbers of children die, their short lives pull the average sharply down.

当大量儿童死亡时，他们的短暂寿命会导致平均水平急剧下降。

Life expectancy is therefore neither a maximum lifespan nor necessarily the most common age at death.

因此，预期寿命既不是最长寿命，也不一定是最常见的死亡年龄。

Someone who had already reached 30 had survived dangers included in the calculation for a newborn.

已经年满30岁的人，已经度过了新生儿计算中的危险。

Their prospects had to be assessed from that point onwards.

从那时起就必须评估他们的前景。

That’s one misconception that Mortimer says we need to avoid.

莫蒂默表示，这是我们需要避免的一种误解。

Another is that making it through childhood effectively guaranteed a long life.

另一个是，度过童年有效地保证了长寿。

“Chances are you will die as a child in medieval England,” Mortimer says.

“你很可能会在中世纪的英格兰小时候死去，”莫蒂默说。

“That's the bad news.

“这是坏消息。

I'm sorry about that.”

对此我感到很抱歉。”

His estimate is that around half the population would fail to reach 21.

他估计大约一半的人口将活不到 21 岁。

That threshold includes adolescence as well as childhood, but it conveys the scale of early mortality.

该阈值包括青春期和儿童期，但它传达了早期死亡率的规模。

Archaeological research supports Mortimer’s point.

考古研究支持莫蒂默的观点。

Cambridge University’s After the Plague project estimates that around half the ordinary townspeople represented in its study would not have survived childhood, particularly because of infectious diseases.

剑桥大学的“瘟疫之后”项目估计，其研究中大约一半的普通城镇居民将无法度过童年，特别是因为传染病。

The researchers describe crowded accommodation, contaminated water and exposure to parasites as threats to life.

研究人员将拥挤的住宿、受污染的水和接触寄生虫描述为对生命的威胁。

Rich and poor shared many of these hazards, while effective treatment was extremely limited.

富人和穷人都面临许多这些危险，而有效的治疗方法却极其有限。

Reaching adulthood improved your position, but substantial dangers remained.

成年后你的地位有所提高，但仍然存在巨大的危险。

“If you do get to 20, then you have roughly a 50 per cent chance of living to 40,” Mortimer explains.

“如果你真的活到 20 岁，那么你大约有 50% 的机会活到 40 岁，”莫蒂默解释道。

“If you do live to 40, if you're one of the lucky quarter, then you have about a 20 per cent chance of living to 60.”

“如果你能活到 40 岁，如果你是幸运儿之一，那么你有大约 20% 的机会活到 60 岁。”

“In other words, only about 5 per cent of the entire population lives to 60 or further.”

“换句话说，只有大约 5% 的人口能活到 60 岁或更久。”

Expressed as an illustrative group of 100 births, his rounded estimates suggest about 50 survivors entering adulthood, 25 reaching 40 and five reaching 60.

以 100 名新生儿为例，他的四舍五入估计表明，大约有 50 名幸存者进入成年期，其中 25 人已年满 40 岁，5 人已年满 60 岁。

This describes survival through a lifetime, rather than the proportion of elderly people you would necessarily encounter in a village on a particular day.

这描述的是一生的生存情况，而不是某一天你在村庄里必然遇到的老年人的比例。

The distinction also explains why removing childhood deaths from the calculation does not remove the hardship of medieval life.

这种区别还解释了为什么从计算中剔除儿童死亡并不能消除中世纪生活的艰辛。

Adults still faced disease, injury and shortages all the same.

成年人仍然面临着疾病、伤害和短缺。

Against this background, Sully’s reported longevity is extremely notable – and suspicious.

在此背景下，据报道，苏利的长寿非常引人注目，但也很可疑。

“There's a man called Sir John Sully, who is a minor lord in Devon, who in 1386 is forgiven for not turning up in court to give evidence because he was then 105 years of age,” Mortimer explains.

“有一位名叫约翰·苏利爵士 (Sir John Sully) 的人，是德文郡的一位小领主，1386 年他因没有出庭作证而获得宽恕，因为他当时已经 105 岁了，”莫蒂默解释道。

The legal proceedings concerned a dispute between Sir Richard Scrope and Sir Robert Grosvenor over the right to bear the same coat of arms.

法律诉讼涉及理查德·斯克罗普爵士和罗伯特·格罗夫纳爵士之间关于拥有同一徽章的权利的纠纷。

Sully’s recollections of earlier military campaigns made him a useful witness.

苏利对早期军事行动的回忆使他成为有用的证人。

His evidence was taken at home because he could not travel.

由于他无法旅行，他的证据是在家里取得的。

His age was a self-reported one, rather than a verifiable record.

他的年龄是自我报告的年龄，而不是可验证的记录。

Nevertheless, even if he was younger than 105, the account suggests he was at least exceptionally elderly within the practical business of medieval society.

然而，即使他还不到 105 岁，该记载也表明他在中世纪社会的实际事务中至少是异常高龄的。

Reflecting on the likelihood of Sully’s claim, Mortimer notes “there are some who get into their 80s and sometimes 90s.

莫蒂默在思考萨利声称的可能性时指出，“有些人已经 80 多岁，有时甚至是 90 多岁。

So old age, advanced old age, is possible.

所以老年，高龄，是可能的。

Some people do get there, but very, very few.”

有些人确实到达了那里，但非常非常少。”

“Having said all that, of course, it does depend on how wealthy you are,” Mortimer explains.

“话虽如此，当然，这确实取决于你有多富有，”莫蒂默解释道。

Sully belonged to a privileged minority.

苏利属于享有特权的少数群体。

He was a landowner, and status could influence the conditions in which a person lived.

他是地主，地位可以影响一个人的生活条件。

“So if you are going through life as a member of the gentry, the knightly class, then you would probably have a life expectancy at birth of five to six years more than your peasant vassals working on the manor.”

“因此，如果你作为士绅、骑士阶层的一员度过一生，那么你出生时的预期寿命可能会比在庄园工作的农民封臣多五到六年。”

The gentry were landowning families below the great nobility.

士绅是大贵族以下的地主家庭。

A manor was an estate whose tenants might owe rent, labour or other obligations to its lord.

庄园是一种庄园，其租户可能欠其领主租金、劳动力或其他义务。

Peasant households varied in prosperity, but the poorest had fewer resources to carry them through illness or a failed harvest.

农户的富裕程度各不相同，但最贫困的农户拥有较少的资源来支撑他们度过疾病或歉收。

Clearly, wealth could improve security without making its owner invulnerable.

显然，财富可以提高安全性，但不会使其所有者无懈可击。

So how long might you have lived?

那么你还能活多久？

The answer depends on where your story begins.

答案取决于你的故事从哪里开始。

As a newborn, you faced the heavy toll of childhood mortality.

作为一个新生儿，您面临着童年死亡率的沉重打击。

As an adult, you had already survived that danger, although reaching 60 remained far from assured in Mortimer’s account.

作为一个成年人，你已经从危险中幸存下来，尽管在莫蒂默的叙述中，你还远未确定能活到 60 岁。

You might have reached your seventies or eighties.

您可能已经七十岁或八十岁了。

With extraordinary fortune, you might have become another Sully.

如果你拥有非凡的财富，你可能会成为另一个苏利。

But a medieval life expectancy of around 30 chiefly records how many lives ended prematurely – and how uncertain the opportunity to grow old really was.

但中世纪 30 岁左右的预期寿命主要记录了有多少生命过早结束——以及真正变老的机会有多么不确定。

“Life is tough.

“生活很艰难。

There is no doubt about it,” he says.

毫无疑问，”他说。

Dr Ian Mortimer was speaking on his HistoryExtra academy series, A-Z of Medieval Life .

伊恩·莫蒂默博士在他的 HistoryExtra 学院系列《中世纪生活的 A-Z》中发表讲话。

Watch the full episode .

观看完整剧集。

James Osborne is a senior content producer at HistoryExtra

James Osborne 是 HistoryExtra 的高级内容制作人

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