Life in the Middle Ages wasn’t just about plagues and hard labor. People partied hard because they had to. Fun was a necessity, not a luxury.
For the average peasant, Sunday was a holy day, which meant no work. After church, it was game time. They played a brutal, no-rules version of soccer called “mob football.” It was an entire village versus the next village, with a pig’s bladder as a ball. There were no field boundaries; the “goal” might be the church door two miles away. It was chaotic, violent, and the one time a serf could legally kick his lord.
They also played games we still recognize. Backgammon, chess, and dice were huge. Taverns were packed with people gambling on dice rolls. If you were outside, you’d play “skittles,” which is just bowling. And for the upper class, there were tournaments. These weren’t the romantic jousts we see in movies. They were massive, dangerous brawls on horseback called melees. It was like full-contact rugby on horses, where the “prize” was the loser’s horse and armor.
Festivals were the biggest events of the year. Christmas wasn’t just one day; it was 12 days of feasting. May Day involved everyone going into the woods to collect flowers and—historically—doing things that would make a priest blush. And then there were feast days for saints. These were basically public holidays. The whole village would gather, roast an ox, drink ale, and watch traveling performers. It was their version of a blockbuster movie opening weekend.