Medieval Iron Production in Holland Thijs van de Manakker - smelting ore 

How the hell were people able to figure this stuff out. Like who thought to dig in the ground, find some rocks, make a oven, put the rocks in there, get a chunk of metal, bang on it and reheat it a hundred times until it could then be reheated again and formed into some useful object. Humans are so incredibly smart. This is just awesome.

seriously, I don't care what medium, era, age, who or what it is. There's just something magical about craftsmen deep into their work that draws you in to keep watching.

It's like the crew went back in time with invisible suits and equipment to record this

These are largely lost skills in modern times. Beyond the dedicated few who have re-learned how to do these things, it is wonderful that you have documented these heritage crafts in a video record. Well done and thank you for posting this.

I like how genuine this is . most other videos i've seen look like re-enactments

Thank you for making an English version.

I think this is one of the most beautiful videos on RU-vid. It kept me interested for the whole time and I loved the music and how the only commentary was about very important parts (like taking out the slug). Also, I really wanted to see a video with very basic way of making Iron and the medieval theme added much to the video. Thanks!

What an absolutely beautiful video. Thank you all so much for your passion for age old crafts and trade skills and taking the time to share this wonderful knowledge with us.

Excellent production! This Documentary is better than ones put out on BBC, Discovery Channel and History Channel, BIG THUMBS UP you got yourself a subscriber!

What a lovely video. I used to live in Geleen, Holland back in 1971. Beautiful country.

Really informative! All that energy that is required to just get 1 kg of iron out of the ore is impressive!

Much enjoyed! Thank you for the English version!

this video is great, compared to the old ones they have online, you can see how much they improved on their working techniques over the years. really nice.

Awesome documentary, great job and thanks for sharing it!

Amazing! Ty for filming this and sharing

Outstanding ! I would love to see more videos like this one. Thank you

Excellent video! Very informative and very well produced!

Awesome research, and absolutely brilliant reenactment, of this proces.

This is one of the most fascinating and well made documentaries I have ever seen . Congratulations and many thanks for your contribution .

That is a time and place that I would love to live in. Awesome video clip.

For some reason I found this incredibly relaxing.

Thank you very much for doing in English as well. This is a wonderful documentary. :)

best blacksmithing videos ever on youtube what a beautiful life

This is still one of the most interesting videos ever made .

Hammering so close to the bloom is what cracked it....and around 19:00, a little stight of hand goes on, the bloom becomes a slice of 5mm mild steel.

Geweldig Jan, 100k !! Thank U for doing a great job!

Prachtige video! Bedankt voor het plaatsen.

Great video! Thanks for showing!

Very nice reenactment. Shows how much knowledge and effort goes into simple things.

Great. Well produced video. Very informative.

This was a great video, very informative and wonderful to watch! Thanks!

I love historical documentaries in which there is reinactment. Thanks so much for a great upload. I have subscribed to your channel to see more. God bless you with a great year ahead.

Awesome to see how these people worked and lived!

German: Sehr schön, eine tolle Doku die die Abläufe kurz und bündig zeigt! TOP *****

Thank you for sharing this. Amazing.

very interesting and well done. I loved the cadence you set and how you focused sufficiently to really explain what was happening. thank you!

Very nicely done. I feel as though this was filmed in the middle ages, it all seemed so accurately produced. Truelly enjoyed watching such high quality work. I learner a lot.

I felt Like I was there. Some very skilled people in this video. I loved how few words were needed to get the message across.

What a great effort. Well worth the time.

Moving and thought-provoking at the same instant. Thank you for a glimpse of what may well have been man's earlier tentative steps toward machinery. Mike

Lovely production - thanks

i love this film! what a great piece of work and culture. thank you

these dudes have been at it together for ages nice

Thank you, that was very interesting and relaxing to watch. 👍🏻

Absolutely fascinating!

Thank you for the great and informative video!

Your guild rules ;) I love the care that was put on authentic. Good job

I had to come back for another look . Excellent job well done and may all of you be blessed in the coming New Year . - Lefty Cat ... New Mexico USA .

Love this vid! thanks, i always wondered how they did that back in medieval times.

Wow, this was beautiful. I can appreciate it very much as a blacksmith :)

Prachtig werk Thijs. Je hebt ooit de borst van mijn lieve moeder Lucia gemaakt. Het prijkt nu op het Viking-schild van de partner van mijn zus en wordt nog altijd met zoveel liefde en eer gedragen. DANK !

Heel mooi gemaakt! Chapeau!

This was fantastic...thank you.

Beautiful beautiful beautiful

When you see the work that went into making this iron, you can understand how a simple knife for even an axe would be some of the most valuable things you would have, not to mention the cost of s single sword, wow! Really amazing doc, yes there is a bit too much jump cutting for my liking, but I still enjoyed this video.

Wow... i enjoyed watching this a lot.

Mooi gedaan :D. Heel fijn om te zien!

That was great! Excellent way to show how important iron was. When I heard the wolves, it made me realize that iron made the fighting a better chance.

Best video ever. Pitty they dont show it in classrooms. Its one of the biggest milestones in human history and a great deal of physics and chemistry involved in the process. It could explain so many thing with just a small video or yearly presantation demonstration

Ojala pudiera yo vivir como vosotros... Felicidades por el video, y por la buena vida que llevais. Saludos desde España

Thank you very illustrative.

Great research video. I had no idea clay ovens were used for forging iron.

Mooie en educatieve video. klasse!

Awesome detailed work, It seems to be the guy time traveled back to medieval age with an HD camera and captured it..

it was amazing that I found this since I decided to start black smith studies / I also saw African smelting made in 2011 on the same night

Great work, well done

Very good. Thoroughly enjoyed it. :)

Great video . . . Thank you

nice bloom..and great video.

Très, très intéressant. Mes félicitations.....

really good video I loved the bloom it was awesome

Thank you - I enjoyed that.

I respect how nonchalant the narrator is.

Cool way of fitting the blade on the plough. Shrinking in on with cold water.

Wow so much work for a little tiny piece of Steel incredible worth Epic great people seems like a place I would want to be to learn that kind of stuff the cooking looks good too

those medievals where so nice to each other... fantastic video

this little village looks like heaven to me :)

Great video! Thanks a bunch for sharing.

Very very good job. I like. Good luck.

Really really really wonderful video!!!!!!

Very satisfying thank you.

Wow Just wow this video is amazing

I'm a man who struggles to get out of his house to go buy some food and still this documentary made me want to go back in time and live this way lol

beautiful

The people of the Middle Ages were every bit as intelligent as people of today, perhaps even more so.

Thank-you! Dank u vell!

Really good vid. Thanks!

Please do not loose this beautiful culture.

And there it is. A most educational video.

very inspire thx for sharing.

In The Netherlands they stil wear these cloths. We are so behind the technical thing the wold haves lol ;) Dutch: Zo gaaf om die tijd te beleven. Alles zo puur en respect te hebben voor de natuur. Hopelijk dit jaar weer te mogen beleven

Thankyou for such a Brilliant Piece of work on showing Living history, People don't realise just what is involved ion Living off he land at grassroots level, Just the amount of Industry involved it making iron , is amazing, When you break it down to what is involved it that one industry , from Having shelter to live in, Clothes, Food, Tools, Knowledge of soil types, Charcoal production, Finding Clay, Leather for the bellows, Making Axes to fell the trees, Finding Flint to make a fire, Weaving, Spinning, Holding and collecting water and on and on the list goes , We we should be Learning more about our old skills before they are forgotten for ever Are we any betting living now or back then ? at least back then you honestly Earnt your obesity!

Very admirable, I love this way of living and I hope one day I too can live this way. I love the simplicity and oneness with nature

Great video...Thanks.

Production was so different those days. People could provide for themselves and others, and lived off their own labor. I believe we can always take wisdom from the past, even if it is this distant. Even in the times when mankind had to battle the ferocity and unrelenting power of nature, people were able to forge their own lives. I hope that spirit is not lost to the ages.

Nice video... Thanks from Dubai...

After seeing how much work went into making a plow share, can you imagine how much work it took to make the anvil ?

I'm jealous of those ppl. So nice village.

Cool Video !

Wow so awesome that is cool