Medieval Historian Reacts To Manor Lords 

Thanks for letting me be here. It's fun to bring both areas of my life together sometimes!

Please have this guy back for the KCD2 release!

Screw adventuring. In Manor Lords we learn farm maxxing. 🗿

GameSpot forgot to mention he's also the 26th Steward of Gondor, Son of Ecthelion, and Lord of the White City. Odd dining habits, but we all have our flaws.

It's an honor to see a historical Knight be brought to the modern world to give reviews about the medieval game Manor Lords.

This game was inspired by late 14th century Franconia, which is a region in southern Germany, and many historians and historical researchers are responsible for the current artstyle of the game, such as Jakob Münsberg, who is an expert in this region and he often posts his researches and sketches in his Twitter account and also helped in the making of the Artbook DLC, so if you want to know more about the architecture which this game tries to depict, then those are good options. Many historians who are experts in the region in which the game is inspired, such as Geschichtsfenster (has a RU-vid channel and is one of the participating historical experts), explain that in the 14th century, in this region, rural houses had actually three compartments and it remained the most common type of traditional village house until the 20th century (like the bohemian houses depicted in KCD), and the houses depicted are NOT too big. However, some houses were quite small or, more correctly, had lower ceilings but why did that happened? For at least two reasons: first, to retain heat, since smaller rooms with lower ceilings and small windows are cosier and also easier to heat; secondly (and most importantly), peasant houses were usually not planned and then built by architects or expert craftsmen like in towns and cities, so what happened is that some houses were smaller than they should be because of lack of planning, which resulted in some unsatisfactory results and imperfections. Besides, in some peasant houses and even townhouses the living room was the only room heated (not with a fireplace but with the kitchen oven, which was in the adjacent kitchen but the oven was attached to the wall that divided both rooms and had a hopening which allowed tha living room to be heated), this was generally the only room which was smaller with walls made of wooden planks for insulation and lower ceilings (while the rest of the house had whitewashed wattle and daub walls). Nonetheless, planed or not planed, most rural houses had many things in common like whitewashed wattle and daub walls, timber framing (skeleton of the house), small unglazed windows, externally attached-lap-jointed-braces (core visual element) and a three compartment division. Historian also explain that, as the medieval period progresses, there were more peasant houses with roofs made of wooden shingles or even clay tiles, just like town houses, also due to the fact clay was and still is abundant in this region, so it was mined extensively and, therefore, it was quite cheap. Many villages and towns at this time and in this region had at least one church, even if it was wooden (it was never a hut), and many of these churches were either Romanesque, Gothic or a combination of both (it could be a church built in the Romanesque style but some parts of which were built or altered later in the Gothic style). There were also hamlets or small villages who didn't have any churches nor chapels, but they could have had small wayside stone shrines, which were usually placed on the side of the main roads (they served as a reminder that God is everywhere and he is watching you, so you wouldn't feel isolated or alone wherever you were: they would be built in the absence of a religious building or placed on the side of roads that connected villages/towns or in trade routes). We all know the Middle Ages is a period of about 1000 years, but we are talking about the second half of the 14th century, not the 10th century, these are remotely different times. I also know that this historian is english and he is probably an expert of medieval history of Great Britain, but I still think he should not generalise so much and make oversimplified comments such as stating that peasants lived in huts throughout Europe. In the 14th century, most peasants lived in houses, not huts, including in England. The only people who lived in huts at this point in time were charcoal burners, some hunters, foragers, herbalists and construction workers (masons, carpenters and other craftsmen who worked in construction sites built temporary huts or even tents and small encampments). If he explicitly mentioned that it was common for peasants to live in huts in the Early Middle Ages, then it would be more correct, but there are also evidences of houses from this period in other regions, such as viking houses from the 8th and 9th centuries. Rural, secular and religious architecure changed throughout centuries and varied across regions. Nowadays, you can clearly distinguish a rural czech house from a rural french house, and even inside France there are differences between houses from Alsace and Aquitaine, and the same is applied to the Middle Ages. Also, in the Early Middle Ages rural buildings were usually more primitive than their successors centuries later, so claiming that peasants in the Middle Ages lived in huts is imprecise and innaccurate, not to mention the regional variations. If you found all this information interesting then you'll find more on these links down below: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SshCvLZKGa0.html twitter.com/JakobMunsberg twitter.com/ClippyMagic geschichtsfenster.de www.youtube.com/@Geschichtsfenster ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m6qVKwP5-wg.html freilandmuseum.de/entdecken/neuigkeiten-und-blogs?tx_news_pi1%5BoverwriteDemand%5D%5Bcategories%5D=89&cHash=bb2a6ce4ee11c7aba6cbb816f0e7de52

Interviewing Jason for this was pribably the best choice for this kind of a video. He's in such a unique position to be able to comment on historical accuracy while also being a game studio ceo (and not something like an activision or EA studio, a guy that avtually knows video game development) to be able to comment on acvuracy while allotting necessary give and take for developing a game such as the cart turning

For those interested in the location/architectural style: it is 14th century Franconian, which is a cultural/dialect (early 10th century creation of the Duchy of Franconia) area in southwest Germany (modern day northern half of Bavaria, north-east corner of Baden-Württemberg and south Thuringia). The historical advice team suggested it due to the quite decent number of sources available e.g. the Museum villages Bad Windsheim and Hohenlohe. Details where you can see this are e.g. the churches (lvl. 2) tower being above the altar, the half-hipped roofs and generally the clothing

Big fan of Jason and I'm also LOVING Manor Lords so far! What a time to be a medieval-loving gamer!

Thanks again to Jason for joining us on this episode! Remember to visit his channel for more deep dives into medieval life and history! ru-vid.com And feel free to critique the aesthetics of my town in the comments 😅

I'm subbed to this guy and had no idea he was the CEO of Rebellion. That's crazy.

This man is one of my favorite youtubers. Nicest, smartest man that looks like a apple carving villain in a children’s movie.

"Well done the team that did it." I agree, good job Greg.

Thank you Jason Kingsley historian host of modern history TV and CEO of the video game studio rebellion for the insight into manor lords!

11:10 I love the fact that the hunter drew back to his ear, rather than the corner of his mouth, like a modern archer would. It's attention to little details that make a game like this.

Watching to se what Jason may have missed. Newer information indicates that as the medieval period progressed even many peasant houses started to have the three typical sections: Front/Solar, Hall, and Service sections. The service section could be a kitchen, but likely a byre/barn for some of the animals (back third of the house) with a loft above the front & service sections that could be chambers or storage as needed whereas the hall section would typically be open to the rafters and the building deliberately two stories with openings above the door for added light. Older or poorer peasant housing would be more shack or shop like, with open rafters as without chimneys the smoke would gather up there, drive away the vermin, and act as a smoky larder. That was one of the main reasons for me to reply was the lack of chimneys in the older and poorer peasant huts, and thus potentially a roof opening(s) bringing in light but releasing the smoke

Regarding the houses... they are based on actual village houses etc. in southern germany. They are accurate for village houses and such for the timeframe and location the game is based on.

as a medieval peasant, i thank you for giving us representation.

Could we possibly get an uncut version of this talk? I've heard that there was quite a bit more and I would love to hear all of it. In any case, thank you so much for setting this up, it's really fun!

He should do Kingdom Come:Deliverance as well.

Insightful as ever. I love having 24/7 access to knowledge.

10/10, the dude is passionate about Medieval history and you can tell. great video

Yay, three-field system FTW!:D And an allusion to the Morgan's Bible's illustrations (people's attire while working in the field), great stuff:) Great to see Jason here- honestly, I'd love to see more "medievalist reacts" to either historically-located or just fantasy games, but from more of the everyday life perspective! Arms and armour are awesome, and that's what gets the crowds attention, but the everyday life often gets overlooked. I know it's a really niche subject, but there's hope:)

I'd love to see as full of all the commentary with Jason about the discussion of Manor Lords. His insights are wonderful and he is a charming fella, and very experienced about all of this is right up my alley.

Just a tidbit, but the occasional mutation in Oak trees can produce relatively nice tasting acorns, unfortunately this is complex and fairly random mutation not easily bred into the next generation of oak trees (which is why the Oak was never properly domesticated)

Hunting was more common than you said. Dad was working on excavations in Olomouc, czech republic. They discovered old well, which was used as dump. There were skeletons of many forest animals, supposedly there was a tanner or butcher living there. The sheer quantity suggested that the meat was available for common folk. Just because noble owns the game, does not mean he does not send his people to hunt for him.

Always a pleasure to listen to Jason talking about medieval history! Modern History TV is a fantastic RU-vid channel!

I’m mostly blown away by the fact that the Modern History guy is a video game producer. 🤯

I couldn’t ask for a better interview for this game than him. He knows his medieval stuff. So glad he agreed to do this. ❤❤

I always love when Jason is on the channel! I told myself I was going to wait for Manor Lords to get out of early access before diving in, but this video might make me break that promise. 😂👀

Jason is such an excellent communicator and all around great creator, I would really like to see more videos with him sharing his knowledge!

This was wonderfully entertaining and brought a deeper depth to my gameplay. Thank you @modernknight

I've recently been getting recommendations for Jason's channel and I've watched a few medieval peasant videos and only just learning he's the CEO of Rebellion came as a massive shock.

The way modern foresters estimate the deer population is by fencing in a very small area of the forest and let the saplings / plants there grow. Deer normally eat saplings which prevents trees from developing. Then you can compare the new tree growth outside and inside the fence.

I think some of these criticisms do stem from Kindsley mainly being knowledgable on medieval England while the game is set in 14th century Franonia, Germany. For instance on taverns. Not sure on England but in 14th century Germany taverns and hostels were absolutely a thing (again) even in some villages. Taverns could even be found in smaller villages on occasion but nowhere near as commonly as depicted in fantasy yes. So it's not really "fantasy" to be able to build one and not out of place in a sizeable 14th century franconian village.

Wow! This is the cross over that I never expected and am so happy that it happened! Thank you, Jason!

I love this man, he's awesome.

The guest is so knowledgeable & well-spoken, love how enthusiastic he is about everything too. One of the better guests I've seen on here!

Loving this! Great video and thanks to the historian 💪🏼

Great to see ya here, thoroughly enjoy your channel

This was great, bring Jason back for more of these!

oh hes great. Been watching him for years now AND hes published some historical fiction books or his friends have? and they are kinda good no lie

Jason is awesome! Love seeing collabs like this.

Great looking game and this video taught me a lot about medieval life. Jason is a great educator. Good to see him involved here. Didn't realise he was a developer himself.

I feel like this kind of collaboration has great potential for classrooms. Getting a genuinely qualified historian...especially one who does living history work like Jason.. to comment on games (all periods) could really bring the subject to life and pull kids in.

I remember a Duchy I built for an AD&D campaign, the cavalier subclass of fighter *had* to be a noble, and I wrote out how their house handled things like equipping their army. The Duke had a 'castle forge' that trained and apprenticed blacksmiths, usually selecting from orphaned youths. Do X years dishing out helms and shield bosses, making spearheads, etc. Those would be sold on "credit" to the soldiers, paid for out of reduced take of post-battle spoils. Example: if a green recruits 'share' of loot amounted to ten silver, they'd get a few silver pieces in pocket and the rest taken off the debt. There was usually a decent amount of loot because when the Duke's men weren't going out on a punitive operation, or supporting anti-piracy efforts, they were often 'rented out' to neighbors to support their own campaigns. Was so bummed the computer I had all that on went kaput. It had trade and tax policies, the structure of the baronies under the Duke, etc.

Sir Jason's channel is awesome. Well worth a look. Been a fan for years.

I could listen to Jason Kingsley talk medieval history all day.

So interesting, when you realize that this is essentially "school lesson" in which you are not bored, but quite opposite you feel passion about topic (while it is different to compare attention and priorities of 30+yo and kids... still i think this video may greatly interest&educate any schoolkid now). Well done sir, awesome video :)

Sir Jason Kingsley is an absolute pleasure to watch

Jason is amazing. Met him once at Rebellion. Good bloke.

Love watching my favorite youtuber talk about my favorite game!! He should collab with Slavic and share ideas to make the medieval experience much more authentic!

Man I love this. The guy is an expert at Medieval stuff AND also understands that sometimes game devs will simplify something otherwise it would take days to get something totally accurate. The hand cart for example.

I love Jason Kingsley's Modern History TV channel. I was looking to hearing what he has to say about Manor Lords. I would love to know what his take on KCD2 will be when it comes out later in the year.

Some awesome insights, thanks for sharing!

Acorn was eaten in medieval spain and mediterranean countries. When the wheat spoiled because of drought and cheap way to make bread were acorns.

I don't normally watch this channel but I saw the modern cavalier himself and had to give this a watch.

I highly respect you, however, you talking about Britain. This is Central Europe, where settling new areas did occur, primarily towards the east or in Sudetenland, among other regions. Such events were quite common in this period and geographic area.

The team behind Manor Lords is one guy. Rebellion Developments has 600 employees. Makes you apreciate just what a sterling job Manor Lords sole Dev has done.

This entire video was wonderful. I'm gonna follow this man's channel and play his videos as I upgrade my burgage plots haha. Extremely knowledgeable and entertaining.

Great stuff! Learning and games, not just in learning-based games. Love it!

So cool to see Jason singing praises for another game so candidly as what could be considered as a 'competitor' as a CEO of another game dev company What a wonderful guy

Modern History feels good to watch in just the way that watching a bunch of PBS specials as a kid felt good. It feels like an honest to goodness show. Inspired choice getting him to talk about this game.

Really appreciate Jason's attitude

Oh, a good point about the smell. If that mechanic was to be implemented, it should probably come with the static wind direction. I don't know if it's a good idea from gameplay perspective, but absolutely fantastic in terms of immersion.

One tactic for battle I've found useful once you get enough men is two units of spearmen and two units of small arms men. Set the spearmen to defensive mode and let them take the brunt of the enemy charge, with the retinue and the axemen in the rear. Then circle them around behind the enemy and sandwich them.

Thank you for talking about the scale of battles. This is something the game was bashed about because most people dont realize that this is the actual scape of battles in that period. Only a king could a afford an army of few thousand , small lord-> a couple hundred will be a luxury.

actually phenomenal video

I absolutely love Kingsley's channel ModernKnight ! That being said, if I'm not mistaken, he is not a historian in an academical sense (although I believe he studied zoology which also super cool). That doesn't invalidate his opinions in the slightest, but since it is mentionned in the title, intro and description, I felt it was worth pointing out for rigor's sake

Very informative and useful. My vocabulary has increased playing this game: burgage, morgan , gambison to mention a few.

I love Jason Kingsley medieval food videos

Would be really cool to see Jasons reaction to KCD2 trailer, amazing video btw!

Jason is honestly the perfect guest for this type of series. He somehow has extensive expertise both with game design and medieval life. You could not get a better guest for this.

17:30 positively delighted by the art work!! Looks much like or could even be actual medieval depictions…!

The banners and their usefulness was sort of a thing even as late as in WW2, even if they weren't actual banners anymore but similar kind of symbol markings in the vehicles. Especially that thing about coordination was very apparent in the (western) allied bombing champaings, where they painted the leading plane of each wing in bright colours, so the others knew whom to follow without resorting to radio signals (which would've revealed the incoming attack to the enemy).

Jason Kingsley is excellent, really passionate about medieval historical knowledge. He is a great resource and a national treasure to the United Kingdom and also the video game industry.

Best collab in years !!

I love this guy's RU-vid channel 😭

There is a yt’er One Proud Bavarian, who made an amazing manor lords series. He is also a historian who put historical realism into the game, I recommend checking him out if you enjoy medieval history

I had no idea he was the CEO of Rebellion. GIBE ME MOAR AVP!

Great! Thanks for this. Modern Knight has a great channel and is very informative. LindyBeige when?

Fascinating point of view on what looks like a fun game

Genuinely fascinating.

"Shoveling s#!t gets you fit".

Wooohooo Jason!!!!!!!!!!!!! Modern History TV is one of the best channels on youtube.

This guy is so cool and down to earth.

Jason Kingsley talking about this game is heaven.

My 2 worlds collide! Thank you Jason!

Amazing content!

this guys great, i hope he does some stuff for KCD2

The other thing is the game requires you to produce everything in your town, whereas complex things (or arguably, most things) like armor would have been produced from afar in cities by guilds. There was a lot of trade in middle ages.

1:00 "... this period of medieval history, there weren't that many areas of wilderness and such" - fun fact, here on the mainland there were some places that were savaged to such a degree by invaders, that sometimes settlers from other places came over, and it was a bit like settling the Wild West! Especially Eastern Europe experienced that with the Mongols. Hmm, maybe not so "fun" fact.

Never played this but this is amazingly informative

This guys channel is awesome

The game had tons of historical advisors, they got the houses down to the wooden nails, same for the clothing. If you speak German i highly recommend the video series from Geschichtsfenster

Seeing Sir Jason doing that is especially interesting after seeing streams with the historical advisors. (In German, and the looks are based on Franconia in Southeast Germany, 14th century. IIRC even of real houses... presumably fro ma village, but that got never mentioned.)

You do have people brewing the ale in their houses in Manor Lords, but they sell the ale to the tavern or you can trade it to other places.

Oxe is still a word we use in germany, We just write it a little different: Ochse. But it means just the same as the english word.

This guy has just helped me to finesse Manor Lords

That's a great collaboration