What happens when you visit a medieval inn? 

Imagine walking down a country road and seeing a man dressed as a medieval traveler galloping on a white horse whilst speaking to a mobile phone on a selfie stick, and then the drugs kick in.

"Hobbits? Four hobbits! What business brings you to Bree?" "We wish to stay at the inn. Our business is our own."

Your health recovers fully if you stay at an inn

17:58 One thing to keep in mind is that inns were only used by people who had to pay for hospitality. Upper class people travelling, like a high priestess or nobleman (who also - in both cases - would travel with *huge* retinues), would instead seek hospitality from peers, often arranged a day in advance (by runners carrying messages), or several days or even weeks in advance. Or there’d be long-standing friendships, meaning that a Brandybuck can always stop over at a Took’s home and the other way around.

I can tell you, after travelling all day either on foot or by horse on a chilly day, just being out of the wind is a blessed thing. Add a fire and a pallet? I'll take that!

That scene with Aragorn in the inn, smoking his pipe while looking wicked still makes me grin. ☺️

Dude you are single handedly why my players are consistently astounded by how immersive my Dungeons and Dragons campaigns are. I swear I get dozens of ideas from every video you make! I love whenever you quip about how medieval fantasy worlds may be alike or differ from how everything worked historically. I've tried to send a few friends your channels way too. Keep up the amazing work!

As a fantasy writer I love channels like this because they provide a lot of insight into how to add flavor to your world building and this one is one of my absolute favorites. Thanks for all the great content.

I just re-read the Bree part of LOTR and it's remarkable how consistent it is to this. I guess Tolkien knew what he was about.

In Don Quixote, Cervantes gives some vivid (almost contemporary) descriptions of activities in late-mediaeval inns.

Thank you so much for those videos! I just love those insights into the daily business of medieval times

If I'm riding a dragon, I'm not paying a penny. In fact, I'm sleeping wherever I bloody well please!

You should definitely do something with Max Miller from Tasting History ! He made a video about medieval taverns and what you ate there just a few days ago ! With his humor and knowledge and yours, with his cooking and your costumes, I'm pretty sure it would be amazing !

Watching this historic take on inns I was getting distracted for a hot second and when I once again could pay full attention, he suddenly talked about Hippogryphs eating horses. I love it.

Enjoyed a horse riding trail a few years ago in northern Spain during which we stayed at a different inn every night. One night was spent in a crusader’s Manor House - simply beautiful & oozed aged. No traffic, almost no people, it truly felt like I was a medieval traveller.

I have an ongoing story i tell my children every night as they drift off to sleep. The main characters frequent inns as part of their journey. Thanks for covering this as it helps me flesh out the atmosphere of the inns.

I seriously enjoyed listening to a gentleman standing next to a tree. No flashy stuff just someone actually teaching something. This was refreshing. Gonna subscribe and also watch the older videos. 😊

Love the Aragorn reference.

You're a great storyteller, Jason. 👍 Your video topic goes perfectly with this week's Tasting history with Max Miller video.

In my hometown of Bolton there is the Ye Olde Man and Scythe the inn was first mentioned as early as 1251. During the English Civil War the Masaccre of Bolton occured after 2 unsuccessful royalist atta cks. A third that took place during a rain storm and at night was finally successful and took the town and then occured a m assacre of up to 1,600 people. After the war The Earl Of Derby who took part in the action, was executed in the town, he spent his last night in Ye Olde Man and Scythe. They have a chair that he reportedly sat on the night before, the chair was then broken by accident by the band The Who. Of course there are ghost stories of the Earl as well. Interestingly the executioners skull is for some reason now on display in a different pub on the outskirts of town called The Pack Horse Pub that was also founded in Medieval times. An old tale goes that the reason the home man cider at Ye Olde Man and Scythe tastes the way it does is because rats swim in it. Also there is another old pub next door called The Swan Hotel which still has the courtyard and doorway for horses and carts.

I almost spit out my drink when he suddenly said "piss," after using such proper terms up until then 😂. Keep up the good work Jason, this is what the History channel SHOULD have been.

Inns were also a great place to hear about all the arrow-and-knee related news of the day.

As Australia was settled by the British, inns were established under the title public houses. As you leave Sydney and head west you can still see these pubs approximately every 5 miles.

My mom had the chance to volunteer at pension (an inn) on Camino de Santiago. Her days were very similar to keepers in the medieval period. Washing linens, tracking inventory of supplies, managing the books, feeding pilgrims, taking care of issues. Very labour intensive during those few months.

A handsome man in a corner smokes his pipe with his hood on, and you wonder if someday he'll be a king...

Big fan of the fact that you are considerate of us Dungeon/Game Masters trying to figure things out because school history lessons never consider that you may need to become a late medieval eatery owner or fish monger for twenty minutes, or slip into the role of an expert fletcher for... longer than you had planned that evening

“Good evening, little masters! What can I do for you? If you’re looking for accommodations, we’ve got some nice cozy hobbit sized rooms available, always proud to cater to the little folk…”

Dear Jason Kingsley, you really take us back in time with each chapter of your educational saga and we are so used to seeing you dressed in medieval clothes, that we can no longer imagine you in 21st century clothes.... ;) I congratulate you for what you do, your videos are very good and I think it is time for them to be recognized worldwide... ;)

Fantastic video! I can't get enough of hearing insights and descriptions about how normal life was in medieval times. It fascinates me to no end.

Hey @ModernKnight, so the reason that Inns had fixed prices was because of information networking. It was extremely lengthy an ordeal to make sure that markets had up-to-date information concerning prices of goods and services. The guilds back then were a method of standardization so that you could "plan your trip" in a sense, much like we do with travel agencies today. This allowed someone to bring the necessary money/bartering goods for their trip and then afterwards have enough to return home. Merchants/Farmers often staying with inns that they were providers for; like our modern restaurant business models today. It was a big deal when these prices were changed, as the whole economy relied on understanding that fixed price oftentimes, and why it was an awful upset to have bandits stealing from merchants' carts and their coinage.

Your point about fantasy mounts being catered to is very inspiring for character creation. It would make a lot of sense for a skilled beastmaster to have worked in such a place to build experience with a wide variety of creatures.

Your content is SO good. I came to / found your channel as a GM to learn more about the fantasy analog to the medieval structure. Stayed for the actual real medieval history. Scratches two itches ! Cheers mate 🍻

The beginnings of the American revolution started in a tavern

I think one aspect of life in the past that I find really fascinating is how everything had many uses. I know they used urine in affixing dyes I to cloth too. In modern homes we just think of our bodily wastes as something gross to get rid of and never think of again, but our urine and feces went on to do more after they passed from us. We take so much for granted on how easy it is to do things with modern chemicals, that we’ve lost sight of how ingenious our ancestors were. Fascinating video! I really appreciated the deep dive into inns during the medieval period. Do you have any data on how often women stayed at inns during this time? I know they went on pilgrimages, but how common was it for women to travel far enough distances to require an inn? Thanks for all your hard work in putting together such awesome content!

Always interesting, educational and entertaining, Sir Jason. Love the channel, love the videos . . . love the horses. 😄

Thanks Jason, I store up all this info for my dioramas, I need to take a look at your tack again because its about time I did some medieval saddlery (barding) I have a collection of model horses and donkeys in the scale I'm working in, everything from heavier draught types to horses like your own. (I havent found a mule yet, seems theyre as rare as real ones in the UK.) Now being a "horse person" too, I had already made a run in shelter (roof and 3 sides with hitching rail and mangers) to accomodate inn customers pack animals, ponies, donkeys etc. I have a few loose boxes too and, I appreciate the tip off about the central square because thats what it was coming together like anyway. If I ever get done with the Medieval Famtasy Inn, I will leave a link to my FB page. I already imagined it had a gate for nights and I've already done pictorial signs for the Inn as folk didn't read much.

I can see where a prosperous inn located on a well-travelled road would be a news center. Travelers arriving daily from all parts of England would be updating information learned the previous night or the night before. So, the inn keeper would be the most informed person in the area.

I live in Skopje Macedonia that was a big commercial hub in the Ottoman era. There is an old oriental part of the city where the shops and the markets were located. Even today you can see the big robust stone or brick buildings of the inns, or as they called them AN. They all have the structure of a Roman villa with kitchen, rooms for the employees and place for the animals on the ground floor, and rooms for the travelers in the upper floor. All of them have a big courtyard with a fountain in the centre, and nearby are the warehouses, and baths . Today they are used as galleries restaurants but they are not used as inns.

Food, drink, and a bed which may or may not have critters in it - what's not to love? Well, provided there was a bed available and you didn't have to bunk down on the floor. Frankly, the stables could often be more hospitable and any of my horses a lot better companions as they don't snore... mostly. A good inn would be a welcome sight, especially when the weather or time of year wasn't dry or warm. Here in the US, there were inns and way stations that became infamous as they were involved in robbing and killing those unfortunate enough to stop at them. I'm sure there were such places in medieval times as well.

I'm amazed how well the description of inns from Wheel of Time matches with the historical thing. Robert Jordan did his homework!

I really needed to see one of these outstanding vids today. They really help me out when things get me down.

Fabulous Jason and team! Thank you, I learned so much. My big surprise was 'standings' and the behaviour of horses, ponies, mules and donkeys to doze on the hoof. I'd always imagined them in stables. We learnt a similar trick in the Army, but for different reasons...the Sgt Major. 😂 Now I'm wondering about the dragons 🤔

Always lovely to see another MHTV video. Just talking, speculating around medieval inns with a bit and bob of fantasy. No armor or weapons needed and still enjoyed every moment of the video. Great job as always!

I know Inns figure a lot into fantasy novels, but I wonder if anybody has written an ongoing series where the Inn is the central feature of the stories - just a lot of disparate characters who come and go, floating in and out of the story, who all meet at one specific location, the crossroads and the Inn, and bringing their adventure with them.

I remember a show, I think it was Time Team, where they said that the wealthy in rural areas would maintain separate accommodations for travelers; since travelling was much more difficult.

It was whilst looking up the internet recently for info on mules , that I came across this channel. It is a tribute to the this channel that somebody like me with zero interest in medieval times , now, really wants to know what knights got up to, how to pay your bills with a stick, the best place to put youre lance when riding. I just love this channel. Apart from all the knowledge (imagine all the research) , it is atmospheric, it has humour, then theres the beauty of the horses, Warlord particularly elegant. The quirky interest of Mule with no name. Thanks Jason for such a marvelous channel.

Love how he made a side note of having to consider how fantasy creatures will have to be looked after. Man knows his audience.

Your channel is absolutely brilliant. Better than anything on TV - love it!

The fellowship of the ring, chapter 9 "At the sign of the prancing pony" has a good description of an inn.

The more I watch this channel the more amazed I am at your level of expertise and knowledge. Thoroughly enjoyable!

Still the best Medieval history channel on YT. I could watch your videos for hours- best binge watching EVER!!!

I really love how your description is rather timeless and international. Last year i stayed at a rural hotel in China that had gone for a traditional aesthetic. It was based around a courtyard, on the right side was its small restaurant, the centre buildings where the actual hotel rooms were and the left was a fence were you could walk on from its small parking area. Obviously had plenty of modern anachronisms but it certainly wouldn't be hard to imagine a medieval inn lates out the same way

Thank you for the video. Always a joy to have you speak with us about Inns and hotels and wot not. Peaceful Skies.

I loved your comments on the potential problems stabling animals in a fantasy setting! Reminded me of the sort of thing Terry Pratchett would write.

I would love to see a video where he shows scenes of inns in movies and TV and discusses how accurate they are. The iconic Prancing Pony and Barlamin Butternur come to mind first but also the small ones in Game of Thrones. The one where Catlin seizes Tyrion comes to mind. Or the inn where The Hound and Arya eat chicken and the place where the kid makes the wolf shaped bread. Then there's the inns in games like Diablo and Skyrim. I have always wondered if those are exaggerated or if that's how it really was.

I’ve spent a lot of time at The George Inn in Norton St Phillip, and this has answered a lot of questions I’ve had about the place, that I haven’t been able to pin down, beyond the Pitchfork Rebellion! Thank you for today’s daily Learning Gang. (Learning gang is just me learning something at least once every day).

In the Tudor Monastic Farm series, historian Ruth Goodman describes and demonstrates how most folks in the medieval period kept clean, which was first to simply scrub their skin twice a day, morning and evening, with a linen cloth, which they then laundered, and then (if they could afford it) to swap out the clothes closest to their bodies, often a shift, chemise, undershirt, undergown, or the like. By washing their clothes and their scrubbing cloths, they could actually stay fairly clean and mildly scented without needing frequent (submersion) baths. Hair would be untangled by one's fingers, then by widely spaced teeth on a comb, and then finely spaced teeth would be used to strode dirt and dust out of the hair, and to redistribute natural scalp oils. Ruth said she did it that way for months while working on set, cleaning herself according to the historical records for such things...and she said it was surprisingly effectve as a self-cleaning regimen. However, in an article she wrote about the experience, she did state that someone else didn't bother to change their inner garments, and eventually just...reeked...despite bathing every single day in a modern shower. (No names were ever named.) So her recommendation was to scrub one's skin and frequently change underlinens.

Hi Jason, hello everyone! I’m back - as is my custom, I made Lent from RU-vid 😊 Not everyone can be a knight, in a medieval reenactment there is also a place for a pious middle-aged lady. But to the point. Thanks, Jason, for a great video. I imagine it could be very useful especially for gamers - half of the adventures in RPG’s begin in the inn. I especially liked the theme of a fantastic stable for unusual mounts. After all, a wizard traveling on a dragon or a witch on a goat also has to stop somewhere for the night.

I absolutely love this channel, Jason is a passionate and well-read storyteller, always fun and somehow, extremely relaxing at the same time :) Now i wonder, why Rebellion does not make any historical medieval games?

Always in fine clothing lately :) Nice. Its the better mode of presentation imo. Evoking a "period feel" i mean. Very nice vid. These kinds of super-down-to-earth everyday history topics rock the most. Like your food miniseries.

Just saw this come up, and I had to see… for those wanting an element of realism in their RPGs, or any other type of creative endeavor related to this kind of thing, THIS is the place to be! I love your garb, too! Wouldn’t mind a breakdown of the style elements… although I’m sure you’ve covered that before and I just need to look. 😂 Thanks for the video and all the information you’ve given us!

Sir Kingsley: "...You're at the end of a long journey, there's an inn ahead..." Sir Kingsley's horse: "Okay, but there better be a stable, too, or you're walking the next stretch, bub."

This is a great channel, i love medieval English history.

Pilgrims of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela still get to experience a similar thing. The accomodations vary widely: from large Church Alburgues with a dining hall, dormitories, and showers to small privately owned bunk houses that may or may not have a kitchen for you to cook in or even a tiny tienda shop. Some cater to bicyclist travelers and have a little locking barn for your bike.

Thank you so much Sir for this much awaited video. I just love your channel and the way you deliver the contents, learning about medieval life is so enjoyable with you. I’d love to visit a real medieval inn 😃

I love playing block building games. When I'm creating my settlements, they always end up looking like massive medieval inns. Buildings made of connected rooms, stacked higldy pigldy, with tall encircling walls and strong gates! I would love to learn more about medieval bathhouses. I don't think I've ever noticed mention of them in history shows and books I've consumed.

I honestly love the lowkey way you talk in these videos. Taking the time to go over small and big questions, the little details, without jumpcutting to the most salacious tidbits. It's such a nice way to get this information. ^_^ I also like the naming schemes of vids like this. Asking a simple question or just stating the topic. I dont feel like im getting clickbaited. ❤

Your videos are always wonderful and make me so excited to learn more! 😁Thank you for creating such lovely videos and giving us vivid glimpses of the past.

Thank you! Super interesting video, which answered questions that I had... and some I didn't even think of! 😊

lovely video, thank you Jason and the rest of the team!

Another great video. I got a chuckle out of the hippogriff bit. I can imagine an adventurer with an exotic mount like that creating quite a stir if they showed up randomly at a small inn that wasn't used to that sort of thing.

Thank you Mr Kingsley to acknowledge people who are into medieval fantasy and myth, and role playing games, like to listen to real history too. That there is room for both. I know sometimes we may feel history buffs or ventures shun us. Like there is a kind of snobbery.

Thanks Jason enjoyed this one. Fantastic as always keep them coming

horses do like snoozing on their two feet (c) 😂😂😂ps love this channel videos

I am so glad that you mentioned the various fantasy settings from books, movies and games. I myself play D&D, and I also agree, after your awesome explanation of medieval inns, that it is the reason why so many adventures start there. 😁

I don't know why, but I find this stuff fascinating. Whenever I get the idea about how it would be interesting to live during that time period, I can watch a video like this and say "Yeahhhh, no thanks". In fantasy books, everybody gets their own room at an inn. I don't know why they don't make things more realistic.

Similar to trekking villages in the Himalayas today. You can get a pallet and a hot meal of some kind, often in a rustic stone building, but everything is carried in and it’s often simple fare.

Another great video! Super informative and always entertaining! I would love to go to/throw an event that has a tavern/inn scene. Such a great vibe. At least in my fantasies, lol.

Iant it great to have channels such as this. A pleasant escape from the nasty matrix we endure daily. Thank you for your few minutes of escapism good Sir. 😊

That is an *excellent* point about guilds and their role in setting the accepted standards for transactions. Would you be interested in making a video about guilds more generally? That seems to be a wonderful subject for delving into the lives of more ordinary working folk. Thank you for creating such wonderful videos for us to enjoy!

I've been reading Marion Turner's biography of Chaucer, _Chaucer: A European Life_. Chaucer had several friends who were innkeepers and early copies of some of his poems are associated with inns, other drinking establishments, and brothels. Of course, the Canterbury Tales had the Tabard Inn which was owned at the time by the Abbot of Hyde as a setting. She thinks it likely that patrons were entertained by readings and discussions of books

Really interesting and informative video, medieval inn's where a hotbed of activities, absolutely brilliant.

Love this! I always enjoy your videos on these "mundane" topics, but this in particular is great fun AND of great use for me as I gear up to try and run a new tabletop campaign. It's been six or seven years now since I played and I'm feeling quite rusty, but this has given me more energy! Thank you!!

@12:55 My mom grew up on a rural farm in Hungary in the 60s that had been in the family for some generations. It didn't have modern amenities. I asked her how they stored food with no fridge, and she said that their cellar had a sand pit where they would store root vegetables like potatoes, onions, garlic over the winter. I haven't come across references to this "sand pit" besides what my mom told me, so I was wondering if you ever heard about it.

As a D&D player, I love your occasional reference to fantasy.

I love the LOTR reference Jason 😊 keep up good work!

Very important question- Does a centaur have to stay in the stable, or do they get a bed indoors?

We need a new game that captures this kind of atmosphere. The last I played was Kingdom Come Deliverance (2018).

Great stuff. I love your channel.

Just discovered this channel, courtesy of this video. And what a brilliant video. Wonderfully detailed info & a very simple, natural, relaxing presentation style. Love it! After playing Kingdom Come Deliverance, I thought that was the closest I'd get to feeling close to & learning about the Medieval era. Thank you so much & already looking forward to seeing more vids!

That bit of fantasy with the dragons/unicorns/hippogriffs was something i dont rewlly think youve spoken of at all. Id be interested if you gave us more of these kinds of thoughts because while i do appreciate the historical accuracy,i also appreciate when someone has this kind of thoughts.

Oh, I dunno...dragons usually have some kind of shapeshifting power to pass for human, so I'd think "riding a dragon" could have more than one possible meaning...

This guy is living his best life😊

Thank you for this beautiful tale. And quite accurate, I assume. Have a wonderful week, good sir. ❤

Informative and outstanding, as always. I'm so glad to have found this channel.

Great thumb-stick walking staff :)

I do think inns were the place to hear the latest news/gossip and also start broadcasting it. Reasonably safe place to sleep for the night too..oh to be able to go back in time and sit in a corner at observe in one

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the smoothness of his voice.

I just came across your channel and have found it very interesting and well presented, I love the music you use. I play medieval rpgs but had never realised how fascinating the historical facts are. I'm now binge watching! Thank you.

I wish I could run an inn in Crusader Kings as an unlanded character.