Who were Old in the Middle Ages

Bibliographic Data

ID12208574
AuthorsShulamith Shahar (Tel Aviv University, corresponding author)
Year1993
Volume6
Issue3
Pages313-341
Publication date1993-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial History of Medicine (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0951-631X • E-ISSN: 1477-4666
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/shm/6.3.313
PMID11639284
OpenAlexW2158026275
LanguageEN
Citations received9

Contrary to the accepted view that people in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were considered old from their forties, in fact they were classified as old between the ages of 60 and 70. In schemes for the division of the life-course into stages old-age begins over a wide range of ages. In some of these schemes it begins indeed, at 40; but in others its onset is at 35, 45, 50, 60, or 72. Several medieval scholars and artists declared at the age of 40 that they were already old; claims are made by such persons even in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Yet the same medieval writers in writings written for other purposes, and in other moods would not always present themselves as old though they were older than 40. In all the legislative texts which granted age-linked exemptions from military service, trial by battle, service on the town watches, and various other public duties such as payment of taxes or obligatory work, these were granted to those of 60 or 70 years of age. In various other texts as well, 60 and not 40 is the indicator of old age. Yet this cultural attitude had only limited impact on social reality. In the absence of retirement pensions, what mattered in most people's lives was their functional capacity, rather than strict chronological age

Ancient history · Art history · Battle · Economics · Economy · Middle age · Middle Ages · Military service · Political science · Service (business · Sociology · The Renaissance · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Psychology · Classics · History · Law