MEDIEVAL MISCONCEPTIONS: torches and candles 

Glass, even the kind available in the Middle Ages, was EXPENSIVE and SCARCE. More often than not, lanterns would have panels of flattened and scraped- thin HORN instead. Also, although not as frequently, thin panels of mica would be used. As well, sheets of rawhide, which also was used to cover windows

*From what Movies show me. Torches are able to light ANYTHING on fire, everything is covered in gasoline, and torches never go out.*

"Torches last 10-30 minutes, not hours." Nonsense. Indiana Jones could open a temple sealed for hundreds of years and the torches were still going.

Teacher: we're going to be learning about medieval battles! Me: History is so boring. Shad: We're going to be learning about really old candles. Me: Fascinating.

Minecraft: Imma just make a tiny torch, that can last till the end of time

*Oh! Look at these conveniently lit dungeon* that is supposed to be lifeless and abandoned _I wonder who lit it up_

And this is why we only use bio-luminescent mushrooms, or in some cases cyrstals, for generic dungeon lighting.

Torches don't hold a candle compared to lanterns.

"What nerd wants to watch a 16 minute video on torches?" -Me 15 minutes ago

Leatherworker: I made some armor from this leather, and put studs on it! Shad: >:O Leatherworker: It's called a brigandine. The studs are rivets that hold the metal plates together. Shad: :D

This is also where the phrase, "burning the candle at both ends," came from to refer to staying up late. The cord of the rush light could technically be lit on both ends to cast more light. Good for if you were up late working on something. (scribes, craftsman with a deadline, so on)

Torches normally go out before the linen burns. This is a provable fact. What generally happens is the oil will burn, leaving the linen in near perfect condition; slightly charcoaled. Ready for redip and soak.

5:50 : "You can get fat very easily." Can't fault Shad for his factual accuracy.

According to the game Neverwinter Nights, torches automatically light up when you hold them, go out when you put them in your backpack, and last forever.

Shad: Torches don't last forever Skyrim Adventurer: Finds a lit torch inside a wooden chest at the bottom of a lake

Those staff torches really brings the role of "Torch Bearer" to be a way heftier job.

The misconception of some medieval king sitting in a room lit by torches, eating a turkey leg, while the peasants farm potatoes is so widespread that our ideas of what it was like back then is closer to fantasy than reality.

Fun fact: I did in fact get a kidney stone from drinking to many energy drinks and getting them removed was the most uncomfortable experience of my life. So kids, stay in school and drink plenty of water.

Wait, so you're telling me that torches were used mainly like flashlights. . . or in British English . . .a torch

Shad: Points out torches in background of painting lengthened to extend burn time Me: Fails to notice the people trying to kill each other in the foreground

"Our hero enters the ancient tomb. Torches in sconces burn on all the walls. The hero says, "No one has set foot in this place for a millennia."" Suspension of disbelief BLOWN.

Torches are best when used in conjunction with pitchforks.

The hero of Dragon's Dogma actually uses a lantern instead of a torch. I'm mentioning it, because Shad once praised the game for doing medieval fantasy mostly right. The lanterns are just another example, that they did their research.

I've never even heard of a rushlight before today. Crazy Reminds me of how much I don't actually know about the world, thousands of documentaries aside. heh. Thanks man.

I stayed in a middle ages/renaissance (I dont remember the exact years it was built) country manor. It was renovated to be a vacation home. Every now and then there were little notches in the wall. It took us a movement to realize that's where they put the candles. A few of the light switches were placed inside those notches, which I thought was pretty clever.

“You can get fat very easily” -Shad, 2019

Thanks for shedding some light on this topic! Nobody can hold a candle to you, when it comes to Medieval issues!

3:40 Interesting side note: People in medieval times and later had a quite different sleep cycle. They were up in the middle of the night for maybe up to an hour to tend to the fire and to eat. So the "8h sleep cylce" is something from essentially the last two century, to fit into work cycles and factory shifts.

Shad, I would like to make you a chair. I'm a carpenter from New York 🇺🇸 and can make you a beautiful medievall style chair as a gift and I would be honored if you would use it in your videos.

I live in a medieval house, a grade 2 listed wealden hall. Listing states late medieval. The very notion of someone using an open flame in a house like mine, entirely build of wood is frankly scary.

Trust big Papa Shad to shed some light on a topic.

Oil lamps is an ancient invention and were also common in medieval period. In my country, Finland, local novelties were oil lamps made from hollowed out turnips. Even more common lighting source were thin wood shingles made from pine.

Fun Fact: Torches in Skyrim only last 4 minutes of real time when held in-hand. Thing is the game is a technical dumpster fire, so when you put the torch away the timer resets.

Welcome to "Medieval Interior Decorating" with Shad. Today he'll talk about interior lighting and how to get that perfect castle ambience for your D&D or LARP party.

You finally asked the *burning* question. This was really interesting well done as always.

Bronze, sometimes, and more common, brushed Iron "light plates" were sometimes placed behind candles/indoor open oil lanterns, placed near walls, to add more light. Clever.

"...Like in video games, torches seems just last forever." Not in Darkest Dungeon...

At first I was going to crack a joke; "Stay tuned for Shads medieval interior design, how to decorate your medieval home like a pro". And then it hit me that it would acctually be an interesting topic for a video. How did you decorate your medieval home? Did only nobles do it or could you see the humble peasent decorate his hovel somehow?

Real subtle there, Shad Fine, I'll check out the book...

Reed or Rush candles were widely made and used by lower classes, along with tallow candles. The more expensive beeswax candles were popular with churches and those of means.

3:43 Shout out to Shad's editor. as a fellow editor, I completely understand and respect that. the number of time I've been up editing at 4 in the morning (with an 8:30 am class that very morning somedays), are more then I can count. people think I'm weird when it's 1 am and I say that the night is still young. I love to edit, and I have a very high respect for editors as well. as great as Shad is, you make Shadiversity happen. you control what over 750 thousand poles get to enjoy. without you, we would never get this amazing content. you do a great job, and I wanted to let you know that I appreciate you as one of those unsung "heroes" of digital media. your art is fantastic. thank you for sharing it with us :)

Gigantic open flame + wooden building + tapestries. I see no problem here.

One aspect about this is that they actually had two sleeps. They'd sleep at night wake up in the middle of the night stay up for a bit and then go back to sleep.

"You can get fat very easily...." 5:48 So sad and true....

I’m pretty sure they made medieval iPhones out of copper ore and chunks of silicon and used the flashlight button. Much better than the ancient Egyptian flip phones that had no flashlight at all.

Shad, keep this editor. He's got a sense of humor.

I have yet to encounter the elusive torch lighting Draugr in Skyrim who apparently travels Skyrim lighting torches in random dungeons and ruins and caves.

"You can unpause the video now" lmbo, wouldn't have to if you didn't make the text Blink by so fast 😂😂😂

Shad are you secretly holding your editor as a prisoner and feeding him only red bulls. 3:42

Please make more videos like this. I like swords and battles and stuff but I'm also super interested in the menial day to day stuff of the medieval person.

The rushlight part was so intriguing! It made me realize I’ve heard that term in literature for ages but had never actually seen one or realized they were something different. That’s so cool! (Really makes me want to try making one 😂)

Now I'm gonna get pissed everytime I see a torch in a medieval show

*Especially in video games where torches seem to last forever* Unlike flashlights which run out of batteries in like 2 seconds. XD

In the event of an apocalypse or some catastrophic event, I want this man on my team

This guy can literally talk candles, and still keep me interested

When I was younger and we were piss-poor, we used a piece of a rope socked in oil in a tin can to light our place up. It was very economic and lasted for a very long time.

I am slightly disappointed that you didn't finish the video with "I hope you found this enLIGHTening"

Shad alternating between different intros: *PARKOUR!*

As always - thanks, Shad, for shadding some light on the matter. As I'm trying to depict Viking age in my fantasy as accurately as possible (across early medieval Europe too), I often find myself stuck between what's convenient and inaccurate and what's realistic. Even if I know better, some bad habits still linger and it is your YT channel I go to to dispel them. I actually designed a whole kingdom to be more generic fantasy-like so I can shove all those misconceptions there in form of a subtle satire. Although the general thought of this novel is to depict norse mentality in the ages past, it is my hope that having a realistic setting on one side and a bullshit one on the other will force people to think and question their knowledge.

Torches in Skyrim are definitely useful when one of the starting spells lets you hold fire in your hand and only costs MP when you shoot it at something.

Shad would be the best DM I really like these videos on easily glossed over details about historical life. If I ever write a fantasy novel, I'm gonna have to thank Shad for all the knowledge

Ah, the magic torches that need no fuel and are ever lit. Bless those alchemists!

I seem to remember Rambo actually doing a solid job of showing the usability of a torch, noting that he specifically would cut strips of cloth and have to keep re-wrapping the torch to keep it lit.

Thinking about avatar the last airbender, “we have six torches, so they should burn for six hours” *LIGHTS ALL OF THEM AT ONCE*

"that's not a torch." *Holds up giant torch* "Now that's a torch."

This community needs more love for Shad's editor: thank you for the hard work, mate!

It's vids like this that make me realize I have a lot to re-edit in my own novel to avoid looking like a fool! x'D

One show where they took the length of torch burn time into consideration was Avatar The Last Airbender in Season 2, The Cave of the Lovers. There they have some sort of discussion on how long the torches the hippies have with them will be working, which is why they are stressed out when the group is split up, since they don't have a lot of them. Smart move, Avatar.

Shad's comment section is the most wholesome place online. Looking forward to The Chronicles of Everfall.

Wait. You mean they didn’t use Dragons to light their homes?

This is the first of your videos I’ve watched. Thought I was a rare breed that loved to learn about the little nuances of living in older times. You’ve got yourself a new sub and keep up the good work!

It's 3 in the morning...damn! medieval man would be up in about an hour when I'll be going to sleep....I blame the electric bulb for this!!! :p

I love your videos, Shad, I love how you do a great job of humanizing people from the past. Your line "people from the middle ages weren't stupid", that was gold. I think one of the biggest thing a historian should be doing is reminding the people who access his works how these were humans, doing human things, only in a very different setting from the one we have today. Overall, a very interesting, very well-done video, Shad, once again!

Ah, light and darkness. Thanks for another good video. I'm glad you point out that candles were both expensive and very inexpensive, depended on materials. A lantern has two advantages- portability and protection.

I just cast a continual light spell in the corner of the ceiling...

In my wilderness survival training, I learned a great method of lighting, which is a basic oil lamp... like REALLY basic. You render animal fats or even plants into oil via the boiling method you mentioned, strain it through a cotton shirt or handkerchief (removes gristle and other debris), then pour it into a shallow bowl, be it wood, metal, gourd, or even stone. Now, process some cordage out of local plants. If you don't know how to make natural cordage, definitely look up how to do it, as you can make surgical thread to mooring ropes using the common twisting and staggered splicing method. Once you have some cordage (thickness will determine base level of brightness and fuel consumption, thicker being brighter, but using more fuel), about 1/8" to 1/4" in diameter, coil it in the bowl and fill with the oil, leaving about half an inch or so poking over the edge of the bowl. Light the end using a flame on a stick lit by your camp fire (never light the lamp directly via camp fire for obvious reasons). You now have one of the oldest known lamp designs, dating back thousands upon thousands of years, possibly even used pre-history. In modern times, you can take a soup can, punch holes in it for ventilation, and use the bottom section of it as the oil reservoir. Punch a hole in the lid (separated from can) for the wick to be pulled through, bend at least 3 pieces of metal inwards from the side of the can about 1/4 the way up from bottom as a shelf for the lid. Now, use some bailing wire to create a bail attached to two opposing holes in the can. You now have effectively made a "hobo lantern" you can hang. If you found this interesting, definitely look into learning bushcraft skills, as they will give you a lot of insight as to how man once lived, and if - God forbid - society ever collapses and you are without power, you now know at least one way of creating relatively safe and effective lighting. Bushcraft is pretty awesome, as you can learn all sorts of useful skills from trapping to food preservation to long term shelter building and even to learning how to treat a sucking chest wound caused by a branch impaling your ribs and lung - just with some duct tape and a plastic sandwich bag (not a permanent fix, but it'll keep alive you or whomever the injured party may be until professional medical help arrives). Pretty cool stuff. That bag and duct tape thing, btw; cut or tear the plastic into a square patch large enough to cover the wound. Place over wound, and duct tape 3 sides to skin. You've now created a one-way valve that will allow air to escape the wound, but not be sucked into the wound. That little info could save your life. You're welcome! Learn bushcraft; it's not just for prepper weirdos, I promise!

So.... WHAT ABOUT THE DRAGONS???!!!! They can light torches too, in fact they are the best torches you'll ever see!

Thank you Shad me and the boys will be using this for the Darkest Dungeon. That cheap grounds keeper sure fleeced us

I'm surprised this video never mentioned anything about fireplaces. That would seem like the most obvious and best source of light for a house.

I like when you start running put of breath before finishing a sentence, but you feel that you have to finish your point before taking another breath.

i found this video to be.. illuminating!

Shads: "Small Torches do not last long." Me: "cool just gonna bring *64* of them, to the cave!"

Thank heaven for someone to put the record right. Just fed up with 'historical' dramas that either have buildings internally lit with hugely dangerous (and dirty) torches, or alternatively with enough beeswax candles to bankrupt the average monarch at the time.

I grew up in a rural part of the the US in the 30s and 40s, where we used lanterns at night , I'm glad you made the point that you do not hold a light source in front of your face , I've been watching peoeple blind themselves with lanterns in movies and On the idiot box for years .

Great video Shad as always. A little side note if I may about the flint&steel. I've heard from a doctor at my old University who is an expert in Roman and Byzantine times, that people sometimes just wouldn't let the fire die. I mean they would keep one source of fire warm, like a fireplace or stove, and extract embers in the morning. If this was not possible they would just go to their neighbor and borrow a "light".

8:18 "chandelier" is a french word, derived from "chandelle", which means rush-light. So a chandelier is originally a rush-light holder. French for candle is "bougie".

Wax candles (e.g., beeswax) were relatively expensive, but tallow candles were much cheaper. Tallow candles, though, smoked more, dripped more, smelled more when burning, and would melt away in summer heat. Rush lights were even cheaper, but smokier and left more ash, and wouldn’t stay burning as long. Oil lamps were also common, but, of course, one needed oil (from animal, vegetable, or mineral sources) to burn in the lamps (see the parable of The Wise Virgins and the Foolish Virgins for a discussion of this problem).

Am I the only one who hears the opening "Shadiversity" and is instantly reminded of the "Rise from your grave!" line from Altered Beast? Anybody else?

"You can unpause the video now"... wow. How did he know.

I love seeing these videos on the more mundane aspects of medieval life outside of war and combat. Keep up the good work Shad!

Thank you, Shad! That was very *illuminating!*

I've had my suspicions for a long time that they didn't use torches indoors (or at least not for long) -- I knew oil lamps and candles were practical for indoors - and torches for outdoors -- BUT I never paid that close attention to long torches in artworks until now. Thank you for clarifying all this!! :)

Oil lamps need more loving. Everyone forgets what the classic genie LAMPS are actually for.

Thumbnail: "This dungeon is much higher level. Come back once youre ready" * Shad jumps out from the dark wielding a torch, insta-killing you *

"You can get fat very easily" can. con. firm. So much for Shad's editor, that one must have slipped through between redbulls XD

As usual, another very enlightning video from Shad, really brightened my day.

Thank you for the enlightenment Lord Shad

This is why I watch Shad. I never even thought about how torches are portrayed before this, just like I never even thought about many obvious fantasy inaccuracies before joining this community.

Thank you for sharing the light on this topic. It was very illuminating and really lit up the issue. It set my interest on fire and I am looking forward to keep up with this burning matter.

As I remember in Skyrim torches last forever, even in the deepest most ancient dungeon, and underwater inside a chest