For thousands of years, people have placed curses on their enemies and wished them misfortune. Many of these hexes have involved pleas to the forces of the occult with prayers and rituals.

Sometimes it might be an actual object or a place that is cursed, like a tomb. Many Medieval tales involve warnings about destruction and deaths that appear to be linked to curses. Let us travel back in time now to the Middle Ages and hear about some of these mysterious tales of a biological bomb, the downfall of a dynasty, and why a bank in Tokyo opened an account in the name of a samurai warrior who had been dead for 1,000 years.

Menstruation is a milestone in the life of any girl or woman. A biological phenomenon that changes her body and her social standing. But what about women who lived during the Middle Ages? Knowing what we do about Medieval hygiene it’s hard not to feel sympathy for them, without the convenience of modern pads and tampons. Did they understand what was happening to their bodies during their period? What sort of sanitary products and pain relief did they use? Why did the Medievals believe that menstrual blood was poisonous and could trigger some quite shocking magical feats? And why were medieval women wearing pouches filled with the ashes of burnt toads? Welcome to Medieval Madness.

Honestly, Vikings were pretty much the same as any other medieval people – they were farmers and handymen most of the time. Most Vikings lived on a farmstead and they would have had to have been able to grow crops, tend livestock, and create all the tools they’d need to maintain their homes and animals. But that’s not all. Vikings were versatile and able to turn their hands to anything they wanted to.

Things started to change as Viking settlements became larger – if you lived in a small community, it was less likely that you’d be able to find a fun job – you had to be able to do many things from farming to fixing barns to hunting and skinning for furs. As the Viking age progressed and settlements became larger and more urban, it was easier for a people to specialise in certain trades and get known for their work. In this video, we are going to talk about five interesting occupations during the Viking age. Welcome to the Viking Vault.