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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

"Nasty, Brutish, and Not that Short" Economist.com

If you've ever watched the battle scenes in Braveheart and thought to yourself, "holy shit, how violent must that have been?" you're going to like this article, about a skeleton unearthed from the Battle of Towton, which occurred in England in 1461. The writer (whose name I can't find listed anywhere?) goes in depth about how this man would have lived, and how he might have died. Turns out taking a few shots to the noggin from a broad sword can do some horrific damage.

Really, this is one of my favorite articles I've read in a while. I think about that medieval battle stuff a lot. Like, how was anyone good? Even if you were the nastiest swordsman in all of England, what's to stop someone from chopping out your knees from behind with a battle axe or whatever? How did anyone ever survive? Doesn't make any sense.

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