Wait, stop! 
Now I am not sure (and too lazy to check back) what century the game is again, exactly. But most likely before 14th century, so: Potatoes and tomatoes were brought in to Europe not before the 16th century! So some of the plants are so common to us that we might think âoh they must have been there foreverâ but in fact they were brought in just a few centuries ago and the medieval people didnât even know them yet!
Tomatoes: definitely not before 1530 (probably around 1540 via Italy to Northern Europe)
Potatoes: As a food, âdiscoveredâ in the 18th century, introduced in Prussia by Frederick the Great as folk and troops food.
Most grains (varieties of grasses) were known, especially the millet as a widespread staple food. Emmer, spelled, oats, rye, and especially barley (for beer! ) Were cultivated for several thousand years.
Corn, however, came only in 1520 through Spain to Europe (origin South America)
Peppers as a vegetable plant / pot plant is likely to have only gained in importance in 1540, as a spice negotiated Portuguese and Venetians already before 1500 so. Just as corn was peppers, known as âCapsicumâ 1515 in Spain
grown on a large scale.
Tomaten : definitiv nicht vor 1530 (vermutlich um 1540 ĂŒber Italien nach Nordeuropa)
Kartoffeln : Als Nahrungsmittel erst im 18. Jh. âentdecktâ, in PreuĂen durch Friedrich den GroĂen als Volks- und Truppennahrungsmittel eingefĂŒhrt.
Die meisten Getreidesorten (ZĂŒchtungen aus SĂŒĂgrĂ€sern) waren bekannt, vor allem die Rispenhirse als weit verbreitetes Grundnahrungsmittel. Emmer, Dinkel, Hafer, Roggen und vor allem Gerste (fĂŒr Bier !!! ) wurden seit mehreren tausend Jahren angebaut.
Mais hingegen gelangte erst um 1520 ĂŒber Spanien nach Europa (Ursprung SĂŒdamerika)
Paprika als GemĂŒsepflanze/Topfpflanze dĂŒrfte erst um 1540 an Bedeutung gewonnen haben, als GewĂŒrz handelten Portugiesen und Venezianer bereits vor 1500 damit. Ebenso wie Mais wurde Paprika, bekannt als âSpanischer Pfefferâ, um 1515 in Spanien in gröĂerem Stil angebaut.
What should also be considered, the game moves in around 1400, so about 50 years after the great plague, and in a climate rather cool spell of bad weather. There were crop failures and the greatly reduced population could certainly not all cultivated in the 12th to 14th century farming areas. Large areas lay fallow and overgrown, villages had been completely abandoned. With a little imagination you can imagine this scenario well, the prevalent fear of a new plague and strangers that these âbrought aboutâ âŠ
Was auch bedacht werden sollte, das Spiel bewegt sich in der Zeit um 1400, also etwa 50 Jahre nach der groĂen Pest und in einer klimatisch eher kĂŒhlen Schlechtwetterperiode. Es gab Missernten und die stark reduzierte Bevölkerung konnte sicher nicht mehr alle im 12. bis 14. Jahrhundert kultivierten FlĂ€chen bewirtschaften. GroĂe FlĂ€chen lagen brach und verwilderten, Dörfer waren komplett aufgegeben worden. Mit etwas Phantasie kann man sich dieses Szenario gut vorstellen, auch die herrschende Angst vor einer neuen Pest und Fremden, die diese âĂŒberbrachtenââŠ
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thats better than my loacl supermarlet today
Hi Tomtom,
I like your idea very much, having abadoned villages and a athmosphere of fear. Everything your said is right, but as a nasty guy I have two little points: 
Climate: Around 1400 the weather was comperatively warm, not cold. Not as warm as 100-200 years back, but the so called âlittle iceageâ was only in its very early days.
Please have a look at this: climatic change incl. medieval times
Crop failure: It is one of the very common prejudices against the middle ages, that people were all poor and hungry. I now, that you didnât mean that, but someone could misunderstand that. Surely there were local crop failures and the danger of having not enough to eat in the winter for poor people. But catastrophical famines were rare in that time period. The last big famines in Middle Europe were 1315-17 as far as i know.
There might be local differences, of course.
In the Oposite, food was relatively cheap and the nutrion of the people was comperatively good. For instance: Around 1400 they eat procentual more meat than now and nearly 10 times more than in the 19th cent.! (Hans JĂŒrgen Teuteberg, GĂŒnter Wiegelmann, Nahrungsgewohnheiten in der Industrialisierung des 19. Jahrhunderts, LIT Verlag MĂŒnster, 1995, ISBN 3825822737)
The abadoned villages were presumerably caused (in the majority) by the âSpĂ€tmittelalterliche Agrarkriseâ (late medieval agrarian crisis). Short summary: The prices for food were so low and the wages/income so high, that many many farmers were ruined.
The plague: We have to check if the plague ever reached the area where the game is settled. Most people died in the south-west of Europe. But a athmosphere of fear was likely there and a good cause for xenophobia.
Please have a look at this: SpÀtmittelalterliche Agrarkrise
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The plague got to Denmark⊠so I would be very surprised if it didnât get to this areaâŠ
But the plague helped raise the living standard for the peasants. Less peasants = higher wages (better conditions)
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You are right,
but please have a look at this:
or this:
or this:
I have painfully learned not to take anything I beleve to know for granted. I have to reemphasize, that I have no deeper insights of the local occurrences in Bohemia! That might be a job for a local historian.
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Hi Loksley,
thanks for the interesting infoâs, I always like to learn to do so. Sooo exactly I had not concerned myself with the subject of nutrition, especially since the late Middle Ages me personally less interested. There are just too many different views about all sorts of areas at this time. With my contribution, I rather wanted to give a hint to a (possible) landscaping.
I am always impressed with what high-caliber specialists cavort in this forum. Lots of fun to be part of this select group. Thank you and all the others!
Hi Loksley,
danke fĂŒr die interessanten InfoÂŽs, ich lerne immer gern dazu. Sooo genau hatte ich mich mit dem Thema ErnĂ€hrung nicht befasst, zumal SpĂ€tmittelalter mich persönlich weniger interessiert. Es existieren einfach zu viele verschiedene Ansichten ĂŒber alle möglichen Bereiche in dieser Zeit. Mit meinem Beitrag wollte ich eher einen Hinweis zu einer (möglichen) Landschaftsgestaltung geben.
Ich bin immer wieder beeindruckt, was fĂŒr hochkarĂ€tige Spezialisten sich in diesem Forum tummeln. Macht viel SpaĂ, in diesem erlesenen Kreis mitwirken zu dĂŒrfen. Danke Dir und allen anderen!
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There is a wikipage summing up the epidemics in the Czech lands: http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/MorovĂ©_epidemie_v_ÄeskĂœch_zemĂch#14._stolet.C3.AD
You can use google translate, but let me do some translating for you as regards the era relevant for the game:
-
1349, 1350 - first in South Moravia, later also Bohemia affected to a small degree by the Black Death. Europewide loss of life 1/3-1/2 of population.
-
1357-1363 - The second wave of epidemics had more significant impact on the Czech Lands. Some of the regions were affected repeatedly. For example, in Kladsko region (part of the Czech Lands until the inbred Habsburg occupants lost it in 1742), at least 17 out of 39 caretakers of parishes died.
-
1369-1371 smaller epidemics
-
1380-1382 one of the largest epidemics, tens of thousands died
-
1390 smaller epidemics
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1403-1406 smaller epidemics (this seems to be intertwined with the civil war and influx of foreign soldiers)
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Hi all, this is my first post here.
Been following this for a while and I love the concept.
I have some suggestions regarding Vegetation.
Some plants that are native and common in the KCD area that also have some practical uses that would be nice to see ingame:
Common plants for oxide (rust) prevention:
Rumex acetosa/obtusifolius/crispus, an easilly recognizable family of plants that was used to prevent oxidation on iron and steel objects because of itâs high acidity, in dutch one of itâs variations is called âknights acidâ for that reason.
These plants grow along roads, on fields and along flowing waters.
Oxalis acetosella, also an acidic plant, usable for oxide prevention and a good refreshment for on the road when used sparingly because of itâs oxalic acid content.
This plant grows in forests between boulders and everywhere where there is lots of moss.
Common things for fire starting:
Fomes fomentarius, called âTinder fungusâ in german, is a common fungus that was used to start fire and to carry fire on longer yourneys, lighting the soft and dry center causes it to smoulder for many hours while the hard and moist outer layers prevent the glow from touching the carrier (or carrying implement like a crude net tied around the fungus so it could be tied to a backpack).
These fungi grow on dead and dying trees, mostly on Fagus and Betula.
Betulaceae, Birch bark is a great fire starter because of itâs high oil content, it will even light under moist circumstances, and was used as paper and for making containers .
Various uses:
Thick patches of fine moss can be squeezed to extract drinking water and can be used as a quick sterile bandage when nothing better is at hand.
Resins from pine and spruce where used for fire starting, when heated to melting point for sealing and disinfecting wounds and for making bark containers etc. waterproof.
About the forests in general Iâd like to say that the areas around villages and fortifications should be largely deforested, then there should be an area of quick growing pine and spruce that is largely cleaned out of fallen branches and trees as these easy pickings would have been gathered up for heating etc., the deeper forests should be mixed and wild with lots of fallen trees and with small clearings full of young growths and bushes.
Iâll post some more suggestions once they come to mind.
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I like this and would like to add two plants more:
Fire starting:
Bulrush (Typhaceae). The seeds are a very good tinder. But: both, bulrush and tinder-fungus must be processed some weeks to make good tinder.
Tinderfungus is by the way haemostatic and good for bleeding wounds.
Various:
Horsetail weed (Equisetum arvense) is good for grinding and polishing metal.
Forest: What you mentioned is very good! And I never thought of the cleanout dead-wood for heating! In most medieval region it was restricted in some ways to fell a tree, and often poor people had to collect their heating-wood.
Just out of personal interest, and after several inconclusive Google searches, can you tell me how it would be applied?
Should the active agent be boiled out and poured over the wound/applied with a soaked bandage or should de fungus be ground down and be apllied as a poultice?
Thanks for taking the time and for the above reaction, I found some interesting facts searching Fomes fomentarius after reading your post.
I know that Ătzi (the neolithical mummy from the Ătztaler Alpen) carried two Birkenporlinge (birch polypores) around. First scientist thought he had it for hallucinogenic effects but they found out that he most likely used it for disinfectional reasons. The fungus is antibacterial. He probably broke some pieces off and boiled them in hot water then took some linen let it soak the water and put in on a wound e,g.
some of the obvious ones as far as herbs go are yarrow, wolfsbane/monkshood, and hemlock, as well as nettles and the aformentioned dock. yarrow and nettles both are good for clotting wounds, and wolfsbane and hemlock are both quite poisonous, sometimes even used for hunting
edit: wolfsbane was sometimes used as an arrow poison
can you imagine how many people killed themselves messing around with this stuff during the middle ages?
Hi, it is mentioned since Hypokrates and also in medieval pharmacy-books.There you can read that you should cut it in stripes, flatten it and then apply it on the wound. They did so till the 19th cent. (it was very much liked by woodcutters for instance). It makes a clean and somewhat haemostatic wound dressing. Try also to search after birch polypore [Piptoporus betulinus]. It was used the same way. The haemostatic and tissue repair effect is not fully explored till now, but it is again in the focus of science for some reasons in the last years.
Thanks, Iâll be sure to cary some flattended strips around next time Iâm out camping.
Not that many Iâd say, knowledge of medicinal herbs was commonplace before the advent of modern medicine, they depended on it as their only source of medicine.
i wonder if warhorse have botanist expert on team as well. also, lol.
Hah, the Witcher interview just reminded me an argument between Dan and our great lead concept guy Stepan over placement of dandelions and itâs combination with other prevalent flowers of Central European summer (and not just summer in general, specific weeks in summer). Yeah, Stepan is very nitpicky about any inaccuracies. From houses, to castles, to roads, to rivers, to vegetation, to clothes, to town administration structure⊠well, just anything. We sometimes make changes for sake of visuals or design but all else is as accurate as we are able to do it.
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I am trying to dig for info right now but could you tell me whatâs your official stance on underwear?
Someone raised some concerns over whether it is period accurate. Another thing is the padded chausses under plate armor which I have never heard of.