Gambling In Medieval Times
- Gambling In Medieval Times Crossword Puzzle
- Gambling In Medieval Times Middle Ages
- Gambling In Medieval Times Timeline
People in the middle ages had it rough, the early medieval period from 5th to 10th century was so messed up that people came up with the term 'Dark Ages' but, that did not stop them from enjoying the fun part of life. Strangely enough, card games and chess actually date back to medieval times as does gambling with dice, though they actually used animal knuckle bones shaped into dice-like cubes rather than dice as we know them. The longevity of these forms of entertainment and recreation is testimony to a strength of appeal that we have long forgotten. Gambling was known to the ancient world. Games of chance were an appreciated pastime, often turning into addiction, among the Greeks – Herodotus relates that the Lydians supposedly invented some games (History 1:94); among the Romans, who are known to have bet heavily on chariot races; and among the Teutons, of whose gambling habits Tacitus states that in their less sober moments they even. However, despite the prohibition of gambling, it kept thriving all through medieval times. Unlike inns, taverns were primarily drinking houses, seeking to cater for the more prosperous levels of society. Still, they too encouraged gambling, together with other similarly enticing activities. Medieval Times’ noble guests feast on garlic bread, tomato bisque soup, roasted chicken, sweet buttered corn, herb-basted potatoes, the dessert of the Castle, coffee and two rounds of select beverages. Libations & Spirits. Ah, the ambrosia of the gods! With your meal, you will have a choice of the non-alcoholic beverages of the castle.
Here's the thing: medieval punishments may seem completely bonkers, but when you catch sight of the laws they were trying to punish, they make a certain sense. The medieval European world of crime and punishment was radically different to ours — for one, there were no policemen, so if you wanted somebody caught you had to raise the 'hue and cry' and hope everybody dropped their stuff and ran after them — and laws controlled everything from moral behavior to clothing and death. But even in that environment, some crazy medieval laws stand out for their sheer ridiculousness. You could be arrested for stealing a whale? What?!
Medieval Europe is hardly alone in the strange-laws department. And many of the laws make sense, once you put them into context and realize what lay behind them — a fear of heathens and their pagan mince pies, for example, or wanting to avoid your house being burned down by a football-playing mob. Just because they seem to be coherent, though, doesn't mean they're any less funny.
Most of these are, thankfully, no longer in existence, and won't apply in a court of law. May you wear sables tipped with gold and play tennis indoors all year round in peace.
1. Playing Soccer
OK, this one's fair enough — soccer wasn't exactly what we'd call a 'civilized' game back then. Forget David Beckham delicately kicking a ball: this was essentially war, and when it was played in populated areas it caused complete havoc, a lot of property destruction, and even deaths. It was completely outlawed in England in 1314.
2. Dying In The Houses Of Parliament
How on earth this one, which is actually still a law in the United Kingdom, has ever been enforced remains unclear. (A poll in 2007 rated it one of the silliest laws in history.) Technically, it's more about decorum than disturbing the peace with a sudden flop during a speech, though. People who die in the Houses of Parliament are technically entitled to a state funeral, so the law's in place to stop people bringing in dying relatives to get them televised funeral rights.
3. Eating Mince Pies On Christmas Day
This wasn't strictly medieval; it was brought in by Thomas Cromwell as part of a series of laws about destroying 'pagan' customs in England. It was booted out by Charles II, thank goodness, so British people can still go around eating strange little pies wearing Santa hats all they like.
4. Getting Married Without Your Master's Permission
A terrible law that indicates just how miserable it was to be on the lower end of the social ladder, you could get into severe trouble if you were a peasant working for a landowner, and got married without asking him first. It gets worse: if you were a woman and your husband died, your landowner-in-charge could force you to choose another husband (and pick one for you) within a small amount of time. No cooperation? Punishment.
5. Stealing A Dead Whale
This one makes a bit more sense when you realize that the medieval palate included basically everything, from porpoise to beaver. And whale, apparently, was on the menu — but only for the king and queen. Whales are 'royal fish,' and when they wash up they automatically become the property of the royals in charge — though the head is the king's and the tail is the queen's.
6. Not Washing Your Sheep
In a case in the 1200s recorded by Nathan Belofsky in The Book Of Strange And Curious Legal Oddities, an entire village, serfs and otherwise, was punished for 'failing to wash the lord's sheep'. Presumably there was a story behind that, but nobody left any details. Poor sheep.
7. Not Turning Up To Court If You Found A Dead Body
This dates back to 1241, but probably held true a lot earlier. If you found a dead body you were classified as the 'first finder' — and, in those days without police officers or people to gather evidence, you were expected to turn up to court to tell people about it. If you didn't, you didn't just get in trouble — so did the entire village where the body was found.
Gambling In Medieval Times Crossword Puzzle
8. Being An Innocent Dude At A Riot
Rioting just sort of happened in medieval Europe. It was only when things got sticky and somebody was killed, according to Belofsky, that the law got involved. If a murderer got away in a rioting crowd, the authorities were perfectly entitled to pick seven men from the surrounding area and put them through a variety of 'tests' to determine their guilt. Said tests, in case you were wondering, didn't have anything to do with what you could testify you'd actually been doing at the time.
9. Playing Tennis (If You Were Poor)
It was legally forbidden, by a law of 1495, for young men who weren't nobles — working boys like apprentices and servants — to play tennis. It was thought to be distracting and to encourage gambling. The laws applied year-round, except at Christmas, and even then, they could only play it indoors, at their master's house.
10. Wearing Sables With Heads Made Out Of Jewels
This was part of the sumptuary laws of Italy in the 1500s, which were designed to reduce conspicuous consumption by restricting who could wear what, by class and income. If you were incredibly rich you could wear whatever you damn well liked, but if you weren't, lord help you if they caught you wearing a zibellino, a dead sable with its heads and feet covered in jewels. Apparently, this disgusting thing was enough of a trend to merit its own law.
Images: Wikimedia Commons
Medieval gambling is a subject well worth delving into. It tells us about human nature not only in medieval Europe but it encourages us to look back long before that and, of course, to the gambling games that have evolved since.
At a medieval banquet part of the entertainment would be the opportunity for guests to take part in a game of chance with rewards when they won against the odds or simply beat the other player(s). But what type of gambling would you have seen at a medieval banquet? Before answering this question, let’s take a look at the origins of gambling itself. This will allow us to understand how medieval gambling evolved and its origins.
Precedents Of Medieval Gambling
Gambling was nothing new to the people of medieval Europe; gambling as a human activity dates back to the Paleolithic period – before written history over 3 million years ago!
The game of dice is believed to be the first known gambling game enjoyed by humans. In Egypt, as far back as 3,000 BC people enjoyed playing the dice game called ‘senet’ and the oldest dice ever found actually date to around 2800–2500 BC. They were discovered in an archeological dig in south-eastern Iran.
In China, there were gambling houses (the equivalent of today’s casinos in terms of the role they played in people’s lives) as far back as 1,000 BC. Card games were played in China in the 9th century and dominoes and lotto games followed in the 10th century.
By the time we get to 13th century Europe, gambling had become an accepted form of entertainment at a medieval banquet. Guests including medieval knights would mainly enjoy playing dice games but in the late medieval period (mid 15th century) they also enjoyed card games which were introduced to Europe by travellers who brought them back from Asia and Arabian countries. France, Italy and Spain feature in contemporary writings about medieval card tricks going back as far as 1408. The history of card tricks is a fascinating subject in its own right.
Medieval Dice Games
Hazard is a dice game that dates back to the 13th century and was very popular in medieval Europe, especially medieval England. It was especially popular with the rich as it was often played for high stakes. According to historians, there are claims of some people enduring huge losses – and not just money. Sometimes in the case of medieval knights they lost their horses, their armour and swords, even whole estates!
Gambling In Medieval Times Middle Ages
Chuck-a-luck was another popular, medieval dice game (played with three dice).
Image left: An early 16th century calendar featuring a dice game called ‘raffle’. Illustration by French artist Jean de Mauléon (circa 1524). More on this at the Walters Art Museum website here
Gambling Houses & Casinos
There were no casinos in medieval Europe. The first gambling house to be referred to as a casino was in post-medieval Europe, built in 1638 in Venice, Italy. It was called the Ridotto.
The playing of card games soon led to rise of the cardsharp where skillful players would hide cards and by means of distraction, often with an accomplice at or near the table, they would replace less worthy cards and cheat their way to winning the game. Caravaggio’s magnificent painting ‘The Cardsharps’ (featured right) depicts such a scene and the looks on the faces of the three characters tell you exactly who are the cardsharps and who is the naive victim of their scam.
With regard to popular, modern-day casino games like roulette and Black Jack, there is no evidence of these being played in medieval Europe. It is believed they were 18th-19th century developments.
There is a wealth of information on medieval gambling for anyone who is interested to learn more. Here are some of the websites that I found offered good information:
The 13th century “Book of Games” written by Alfonso X of Castile (1283)
Gambling In Medieval Times Timeline
North Cadbury Court
Such is the love of the idea of medieval gambling there there is even a Grade I Listed building in England with a 13th century, medieval hall (built by the de Moels) which has been converted into a country house with a modern casino in its basement! This might be one of the smallest casinos in the world with space for just 30 gamblers who can choose to play at a blackjack table, roulette wheel and or even in a dedicated poker room.