The Gruelling Work of A Medieval Chainmail Armor Maker | Worst Jobs In History | Timeline
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 เม.ย. 2018
- This week plucky Tony Robinson continues his look at The Worst Jobs in History with a rundown on the worst royal jobs. As Tony takes on the work traditionally done at court we learn of the miserable lot of food tasters, whipping boys, falconers, and laundry women who beat Elizabethan laundry with paddles similar to cricket bats.
Tony has a go at knitting chain mail; marvelling at the intricacies and tedium of fashioning one link, let alone a suit which used 200,000. Then there was the lance-makers' task of carving hundreds of lances for jousting tournaments or the shining of shoes for Edwardian hunting parties. Armourers, fire-workers, grooms of the chamber, hall boys and royal messengers all had their moments of misery.
But the most unpleasant job of all fell to the unfortunate lackeys who were responsible for the rich purple dye for the monarch's coronation robes. The purple maker created the royal colour by stomping up and down on rotting shellfish which had been soaking in human urine.
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Don’t you just love it when someone edits someone talking over someone else talking at the same level and they’re both saying something important
That sounds like a bad thing why would you love that?
@@rbbl_ sarcasm lol..
I know. I was so unimpressed. Rude to the guest interviewee
Okay I thought my phone was just being stupid
oh and saying that youre bored of the thing they’re doing in front of them i love that
The person responsible for sacking the sound engineer has been sacked.
Monty python reference I love it
haha I couldn't agree more.... what on earth were they thinking?! Loads of these Tony Robinson ones are the same!! D:
I had a moose once.
Yes. Please give that Llama crew a ring . . .
E
You know you've watched too many history documentaries when you start recognising guests on the show from other documentaries.
Great to see Ruth again! :)
Or when you catch yourself thinking about guests on other ones that would fit or contradicted some little thing about the one one you just watched....
Tobias Capwell and Ruth!
I wanna see the guy who says things were or are “absolutely lethal “.
No such thing as too many historical documentaries.
"On my back, keeping the entire industrial revolution moving."
Next week on Worst Jobs, Tony gives Victorian prostitution a go.
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 Interesting😉.
Hahaha! Good one!
🤣🤣
Oh dear.
Lmfao 😆
In medieval times a person's primary concerns were for food and shelter. An apprentice got both and also received an education that entitled them to journey and eventually set up their own shop as a master. A master had a business to run, apprentices to teach, craftsmen to supervise, and work to finish.
I've made several mail shirts, and it's only boring if you find yourself bored when left alone with your own thoughts.
Have you made several chain shirts, or handmade the rings needed for several chain shirts and put them together?
Because that's a big difference.
I have apprenticed under a master and spent years hand making rings and weaving strips.
Sure, it got tedious but seeing the finished products was well worth it.
@Rabbi Ezra Schekelstein you've just got to get so good at it you can do it without paying attention, easy enough
That's the great thing about what I do, I'm an armorer at a museum and I talk to visitors while making period examples of maille and plate armor to be used by myself and colleagues
I’ve just started making chainmail as a hobby, and somehow it’s the funnest I’ve had in a quite a while. Maybe because between that and sleeping I’m studying but regardless it’s something I wouldn’t mind doing for months on end.
I never get tired of hearing Tony Robinson's voice, or watching the documentaries he is involved in. Always fascinating material.
Same here, without this fab guy I'd be lost in the world of history lol
I have a cunning plan
Absolute same.
He is a good presenter but not for this show. He is such a pathetic specimen on a man it pains me when he fails the most menial tasks that require strength or toughness.
How could you hear him over the terribly mixed music?
As for the whipping boy, it wasn't all bad. Because they wanted the prince to feel bad for the boy, they grew up together and became good friends. The whipping boy got the same training and education along side the prince. When the prince became King, the whipping boy was usually given a title and land.
Theodore Cossitt
That’s interesting. :)
Compared to a farmer, a miner or a fisherman, I believe that a chain mail maker who works indoors, warm and generally sitting, was truly privileged in those times.
If Boredom and Tedium was your Problem at the time than yes you are Privileged.
Yes, inside vs the outside work.❤
they didn't show it in the video i don't think, but the chainmail has to have wire made before you make the rings. Making that wire was back breaking work of pulling steel through progressively smaller holes until you had a wire. Still, compared to other jobs, I'd have to agree. It's at least a more fulfilling craft than lance making
He said royal jobs.
"Put it in the bucking basket."
"Excuse me?"
"The Bucking basket. BUCKING. It's called a Bucking Basket."
"Oh. My apologies, I thought you had cursed at me."
"Well, we're on camera, right? I have to watch my bucking mouth."
If you listen closely, you can hear Tony talking.
Lol
@@lapointdaniel LOL x 100!!
Very interesting but so damn annoying with the music covering the speakers's voice and when no music, it was the Narrator speaking over himself and the guest...come on.
It's not the Narrator fault... Worst Sounding in Documentary I Ever Heard...
Ikr
An armorer specializing in chainmail was on the crew of the Lord of the Rings movies and he had to spend an arduous eternity making shirts for EVERYBODY in those movies and, if you've seen the extended editions, you'd know that those were some *LOOOOOONG* movies with *LOOOOOADS* of characters and extras.
There's some amount of irony in having royalty wearing clothing dyed from entrails/bowels.
I love Ruth Goodman. Her humor is amazing as is the way she delivers information in an interesting way
I totally liked her in the BBC documentaries about farms in different eras.
32:30
awh the horse goes over to him like "you ok there mate?"
@Necramonium That's so the hair on the top half keeps it warm in the cold weather, but the short hair on the underside, where it sweats the most, dries quickly without chilling the horse too much.
VERY well-trained horse to not run off after losing its rider.
Can you imagine the poor hapless knight who almost accidentally killed Henry VIII? Here's hoping the king had a good sense of humor.
70 years old and doing this? You are godlike, Sir Tony Robinson!
I love the way the horse stops when the rider "Tony" falls off and is actually concerned. You've got to love animals, they fake nothing.
Why did you put the man's name in quotes?
@@cleverusername9369 yeah wait lmao
Tony Robinson, you are the greatest documentary presenter in this world, you are so knowledgeable and kind!
Tony and Ruth together is so nice.
Tony's not just an excellent showman, he knows how to roll with the punches. tough dude and glad you were not hurt badly
oh my god, Tony's wholesome little chuckle/excited wiggle right around 14:34 while he's watching the hawks fly around pretty much cured my depression just now🥲 seeing how genuinely overjoyed he is to just be out there in the world, getting to experience these things while discussing what he loves, that's half the reason I watch these videos!! what an amazing human being, we don't deserve him😭💖
I just started full-on laughing at the host like 10 times through the episode. Mostly at his hat flying off on the horse. He is great.
I know this is a 3 year old comment, but his name is Tony Robinson. He was in Blackadder, a staple of British TV.
@@Aledharris Hey, better late than never! Appreciate the info, bud!
Making chain mail is relaxing. It's something I learned to do that helped to really develop a sense of patience.
Looks like it would be a good meditation. I wittle lures and am attracted to mindful tasks like that. Although I have never worked with metal, it seems much more arduous like the guest said. Maybe ill see if my Dad wants to make some armor together lol
That horse was unbelievably patient!
I love that when Tony fell off the horse immediately did its best to avoid stepping on him, stopped, and checked on him
That warning about "don't look down the mortar" is a safety rule even today for fireworks, usually store-bought ones, but professional ones too. Never look down the mortar of a firework, because there's always a chance there's an unexploded firework in there that can then go off.
And thats why i always ask my blind friend to double check fireworks that didnt go off
Is this same true for military mortars. ?
@@tymanung6382 yes, the same goes for guns
I see Baldrick has made quite some progress from his Blackadder days.
That was his cunning plan!..;-)
Yes, that's Sir Tony Robinson - he was knighted!
"You made...Baldrick a Lord?" Nice irony.
I've heard that he was made a lord, like in the third season of Black Adder. For real this time.
That is a lot higher honor than being knighted.
No one in the series could have been more sarcastic than Blackadder!
Oh man, I always wanted to see Tony Robinson and Ruth Goodman in the same show and now I can die happy. Both have incredible pluck and aren't afraid at all to get dirty in the name of history or science.
Kiss me
To those complaining about the audio, I'm right there with you. It is absolutely the TH-cam version since they had to cut it up and re-edit it. The original version is fine and devoid of this problem.
And to those of you telling them to shut up, no one asked for your input either.
Isaac Schmitt
Well put.
I once had to clean the floor of a massive party venue the day after an all you can eat seafood festival. Fish, shellfish, and shellfish bits smashed into the floor and trod all over. Absolutely rank. My heart goes out to those poor purple makers.
That's great, "Don't look down the mortar, because one day there's going to be a shell in there".
Daw the hawks are so cute when they walk
Weeble wobble
I'm not sure Henry 8 "wasn't even hurt". From what I learned from all the documentaries I watch is that he was unconscious for a long time and showed a permanent change in his personality that indicates traumatic injury to the frontal lobe.
I suppose they specifically meant he wasn't maimed?
Even now some people don't believe it's bad to have brain trauma repetitively. Wouldn't be that weird for people to not account or look out for that before
@@crazydragy4233 tell that to the nfl veterans
Last king to joust. I wonder if a head injury induced psychopathic traits, and partly why he was ready to execute his wives.
@@goawayihavecommentstomake1488 according to different writings of the period, after that injury, he had a massive personality change. From a fit, caring, strong, and loving monarch, to what he is infamous for, obese, angry, bloodthirsty, and covetous.
200 years from now people will think our everyday living to be monotonous. For example the lance makers turned these out year round and knew every single trick-all passed on to their apprentices. It was all by word of mouth and hands on practical experience-nothing written down and it's amazing this knowledge was lost. Imagine all the hands on knowledge we've lost in the last 50 years with automation. People in the future will probably think our trip to the grocery store to be sheer drudgery as a drone delivers everything to their front door. I'm willing to bet clothing will be self-mending, self-adjusting and self-cleaning in the future and they'll look at our washing machines puzzled at how they worked.
Strong backbones was the backbone of chores throughout history.... thanx Ruth Goodman .
Enjoyed watching...thanx4sharing
Seriously. Fire your sound mixer. The music is too much and I barely hear tony
Umm... I'm pretty sure the channel is not the originator of this content. It is taken from a TV series...
"Welcome to Timeline - the home of world history. Every week we'll be bringing you one-off documentaries and series from the world's top broadcasters, including the BBC, Channel 4, Discovery and PBS. "
"Content on our channel is licensed from:
Digital Rights Group
ITV Global Studios
All3Media International
TVF International
Java Films
Off The Fence"
the content is so great and the host is lovely to watch but the audio literally ruins the whole show
Kevin Booth yes, however I'm certain the audio mix wasn't this terrible on television. This is something I would expect from a high school film class project
How old are you? I ask because it seems you lack breadth of reference.
It was not long ago that audio like this happened all the time... Not even joking.
Kevin Booth whether or not audio was this bad a few years ago is irrelevant. There are multiple videos on this channel with Tony as the narrator that have much better sound mixing. That's all I'm comparing it to
Credit to Tony but also shout out to the various experts featured! All very charismatic, interesting, fun people. All of Tony's documentaries are always a delight, as entertaining as he is, he finds the best people to consult with for these programs. Love from USA.
Bet the hawk guy is popular at parties
love the way he compliments the falcons every time they manage to catch the lure
At 65 years old, falconry was always a dream of mine.Just the basic permit was thousands of dollars, and then the difficulty of obtaining the bird of prey was cost prohibitive.I worked with a wildlife rehabilitator,an American Indian and had the privilege of saving everything from amphibians to turtles, squirrels to the biggest birds of prey. Best time of my life
I love how dramatic tony Robinson is! 😅
Thank you so much for making these interesting videos and letting us watch them for free. That is incredibly generous of you. What a creative presentation you give.
Exactly! I don't mind the advertisements at all, because it's the only way I'm able to support these productions currently. Some people seem upset by them, but if it gives the channel needed revenue, then I'm happy to let the ads play out. I can just water some plants if it's a very long ad, anyways haha
It's wonderful to have access to things like this so easily, now. Knowledge is everywhere! 'v'
You know that shellfish fermented stew must reek, Tony never exaggerates how bad stuff is in this show, I don't think I ever saw him react to a stench like that.
I made my first Mail-shirt in the mid 80's, took me month of trial and error before it was finished. Never again.
first and last?
We have a guy selling mail trinkets at our local SF convention. He cheats. His are not riveted.
@@vilstef6988 Butting your rings for chainmaille is not "cheating" it's how most maille is produced. Riveted maille is for clothing.
Mid 1280s?
I'm wondering if the boot boy would have a system to help him remember which boots went to each room?
Fear of the cane from the King/Queen's Steward no doubt :P
He might drop a chip of wood with a symbol in it in the boots and take it out when they were delivered.
Whipping boy:
Even Masochists had a place in society.
It didn't always involve masochism, as e.g. Fredrick the Great's childhood whipping boy got executed.
The whipping boy was raised as the prince’s friend, though, so that he would feel guilty at his friend taking a beating for him, and strive not to be naughty, so spare his friend the pain.
It seems really unfair that a monarch faced so many potentially fatal things like leading men into battle, catching the pox from a mistress, jousting, or catching smallpox, plague or sweating sickness, only to die of poisoning from something other than bad food.
Your pole lathe is missing a flywheel. Its not always added in these kinds of lathes for stuff like making bowls because they have enough circumference in themselves to not need one, but when making poles (essentially a thin stick) you need to add one because a pole does not have enough momentum to easily work it, you need it for consistent lathing.
The falconer reminds me of the red head guy on A Knights Tale.
I heard Ruth before I saw her lol. I sat up and said “Ruth? Is that Ruth?” And then I saw her I was so happy as I really enjoy Ruth and her skills (that she can actually do lol).
those hawks were gorgeous
im glad to see them isnt galopping but rather trotting and walking as that allows you to travel further with the horse :D
Henry was hurt and suffered lasting damage from that jousting match, he suffered headaches for the rest of his life and his temperament changed.
scarletfluerr
I believe that’s where his never ending open sore on his leg also came from.
And he became obese
And that's why you gotta protect your brain kiddos!
When it was discovered that from the black sludge of coal tar, all the colours of the rainbow could be isolated, but most easily the red to yellow range of colours, it made the clothing colourful for the first time. Any random nobody could afford clothing purple, green, red or yellow.
You forgot the groom of the stool
Most nimble fing old man iv ever seen, straight threw himself off a full-size horse. Much respect
Ruth Goodman, historian, looks lovely in pink. I remember that she made herself a white-and-dark-pink dress in “Victorian Farm.”
The second you see Tony Robinson you know this docu is gonna LIT!
I've always suspected that the jousting poles were "gimmicked" to shatter on impact like pro wrestlers "gimmick" up a item to smash to pieces over the opponent.
didn't he say it was so royals wouldnt get hurt
Well I imagine they'd want them to break somewhat easy. You dont wanna get run through with a solid piece of wood.
Apparently they weren't always like that but that killed too many knights and they were needed for more important stuff.
@@crazydragy4233 Yeah, jousting in the High Medieval age was a lot rougher than jousting in the Late medieval age. There wasn't all that "chivalry" thinking and it was generally less regulated. It wasn't about chivalry and honor in the High Medieval time, it was a game where knights participated to take the stuff (arms, horses ect. ) of their opponents or to outright just capture them so they could demand ransom. And most of the fun was not just the jousting, the main thing was a big fight where they fought in groups against each other and jousting was just what the knights with horses did to get their opponents to the ground.
In Late Medieval times the whole jousting thing became more of an own discipline and it wasn't longer just about taking their stuff or winning and more about honor and all those ideas. Knights actually tried to avoid more advantageous situations for them, the more balanced or even "against the odds" it was for them the better.
We had a crew of young men who knit their chain mail from aluminum rings. Very pretty! It was like watching a knitting-bee, except there were fishing tackle boxes, wire, pliers and wire winders.
It's so nice to be able to find stuff like this easily on the web. It's entertaining and while not highly informative a good start for grasping some realities of the past and looking into culture long dead.
This is what everyone thought the internet would be...
Tony, I am surprised you are still alive after doing all of these DANGEROUS things. I am also impressed at your ability to survive all this.
32:32 that was a breakfall, a sneaky one with all the absorbing parts nicely made subtle, methinks a stunt double! As a skateboarder, I'm really quite in awe.
Loved, loved, loved seeing, hearing Tony preparing, tasting, smelling during the purple die preparation! Too funny, and such a good sport!
Oops ... dye ...
The irony of the actor who played Baldrick judging the worst jobs in history....
Who else could do that, obviously.
Lots of personal experience from playing Baldrick! It was interesting in the Victorian program when he did rat catching, having also done it as Baldrick.
He’s known the boredom polishing turnips.
The real irony is that he was actually knighted, unlike any of the rest of the Blackadder cast. This at least makes the third season quote 'you made Baldric a lord?!' almost a perfect foreshadowing.
I ADORE this series AND Tony! Bravo! Thank you!🤗💞🎄
32:35 I just love how the horse seems concerned
When tony got whipped on that 1st strike as funny as it is i flenched.
It wasn't that the skill was underrated, it is that jousting took place at a time when most tradesmen were illiterate. you learned to make these things from someone who already knew how.
At that time if you were of the class who could read, you didn't need skills used in the trades. For that reason, no one wrote down how to do it. If you wanted to learn, it's unlikely you could read, and it would be even more unlikely that your teacher could write.
If the last person with the skill dies without passing that knowledge on, the skill will be forgotten, because no one alive would have that skill.
The rules of Tournament were so well known it was something everyone knew. It would be like writing down detailed instructions on how to use a traffic light. Anyone who would need such instructions should not even be driving.
Err, we do write down detailed instructions on using traffic lights, and make people study it before letting them drive. Other than the analogy, I have to agree. Artisan and guild style education was very different in a pre-literate society.
we do write down instructions on how to use traffic lights. omg that's what driving license manuals are for.
I r3ad recently a rocket design from the Apollo era was being looked over and it was designed with pen and paper no computer.
They managed to track down one guy still alive who coukd say he worked on the rubber components. Nothing else.
We don't knkw what the material of this rocket was. Only that it was supposed to be an efficient design that wanted to use future technology to further develop it.
However. Since little about it was written down outside the note books of those involved, we have essentially lost that applied knowledge.
So it's not just because of lack of writing. It's also because of lack of for thought.
Also.
Hi Eric!
We meet again!
The are actually books about it, usually a monks illustrating and writing down mecanisms they used and how they used it. I do agree the common folks couldn't read it though and not all jobs were written down as well. They were aslo tapestry illutrating a lot of jobs, not in details but reporting what kind of jobs there was at the time.
Frankly, I'm quite surprised that Timeline used a hire-worker from the middle ages to do the sound mixing!
Oh man I’m a huge bird lover (i have 4 lovely babies myself) & the whole falconry segment was wonderful, what sweet little darlings
Ruth Goodman's appearance on here was a nice surprise. Always happy to see her.
Didn't expect to see someone I know in this documentary. Well done, Jeff!
aww falcons are like flying cats 15:00
A friend of mine was a butcher and he gave me one of his chain mail arm and hand gloves. Very intricate and cool
I've taken classes in Falconry, it's not easy but rewarding when working with those awesome birds.
It's RUTH from the "Farm" series 28:44!
Royals: pfft shellfish weren't sacrificed in vain... it was *FOR* vanity
Cthulu: my alarm clock just went off
My great-granddad had a dozen servants, my grandad had 6, my dad 3, and I have none, except a few hours a week.
My dad had two dish washers. Now he only has one. But my sister and I grew up so he had to invest in one.
Nice to see Baldrick expanding to other terrible jobs
"Plucky" is an apt word, indeed, for our Tony! This was fascinating - my first exposure to the redoubtable Mister Robinson; best of British luck to you, old boy!
11:50 Falcons worth today based on the value of coins would be about half a million dollars each.
But that amount of gold traded per falcon would be worth about $2.5 million each.
can you explain that? thanks
@@1seansouth gold is worth significantly more now so the Weight of 20000 Ducats is worth more as gold than the birds would cost
I am an American that loves British documentary films. I especially love films that show old English and French (European) buildings and landscapes, furniture, machinery, etc. I must have been English or French (or European) in a past life, or maybe it's just that U.S. architecture is so boring and plain, made solely for function, nothing decorative or pleasing to the eye. Streets are cluttered with signs, it's so refreshing to see old English or French buildings and architecture.
Yes *sigh* It's all mini-malls and McDonald's and parking lots and freeway onramps.
Not that there ain't a certain beauty to it. I lived overseas in central America as a teenager for about a year, and when I came back the shock was amazing. The well-ordered lawns and sidewalks and the huge cars.
But there's definitely a GLUT of cookie-cutter monotony here in America.
You guys should visit, you'd be very welcome I'm sure. Don't think there aren't some architectural monstrosities here though. During the 60s, grey concrete proliferated almost every major town and city, removing much of the old buildings, or replacing ones destroyed in WWII. There are still some unbelievably beautiful parts though both in the UK and in France, mainly in the countryside, like a trip back in time.
Most soothing voice in documentaries. I love watching Tony.
Series has a lot of potential, and is still very interesting, but as so many people have said, the sound mixer needs to be fired. Ever try to listen to two people talking to you at once? That's what this feels like at times.
48:36 wow look at that gorgeous peacock in the background! What stunningly long feathers, eh? Just beautiful! What. Handsome lil feller.
Oh goodness, I’m so glad I found this! Years ago I saw his episode working as a fishwife but could not remember what the show was called. Happy to see this!
Full marks to Sir Tony for making these documentories. Talk about throwing himself into it and doing the most horrible tasks in order to show us what it was like at one time.
Today I learned there's such a thing as ancient dye researchers... When it comes to specialty historians, I wonder how they pay their bills. Am guessing they must teach. I can't think of such specialty jobs being called on very often for its expertise and therefore getting them pay.
Huh. That could be. Thanks.
I think you're right he probably does teach and this speciality is His side line, as it were. Although sometimes people who research old industries and crafts are much sought after, even those who are very specialised experts, are sometimes approached by modern industries wanting to utilise old knowledge. There's a very broad branch of archaeology that endeavours to discover lost tech.
Modern dyes sometimes come with a heavy environmental price or economic price tag.
I don't think purple making by this method is free from an environmental impact but it's likely other dye processes of the past might be.
I love these documentaries.
More programming by Tony please
He looks dashing with those haqks all around him.Aww.🥰
Thank you Baldrick, very insightful
I'm really loving this series but the sound is a significant issue.
Do we really need a commercial every two damn minutes?
Ever heard of TH-cam Premium?
Or adblock.
Tony deserves far more money than he has.
we are in the year 2019, there has been sofwares availables for free to get rid of adds for years now. It's time to live with...your time :)
Sorry @@Greenjohnablewhy should we have to pay to be bugged by ads?
Chain mail, unbelievable amount of work & artistry.
OMG it's Baldrick ! "M'Lord, I got a cunning plan". Love him !
This channel is gold
This guy is great . I've watched all his doccos he should do more his the 2nd best as David Attenborough
Tony Robinson and Mary Beard really need to do a collaborative piece.
Tony Robinson is Great to watch and learn also with this guy you can have a good laugh whilst learning.