How would a disabled person earn their living in a medieval-type town?acfблeе
We are in a far future. Humanity has widely abandoned technology, and effectively reached medieval level (so things need not be true to an actual medieval setting).
We are in a larger town. In that town lives a man who served in the military and lost an arm. Since he was given a dishonourable discharge, he won't get any veteran payment, so he needs to earn his living.
What realistic options does he have in that setting to earn his living?
Ideally it should be something where he doesn't need more than casual contact with other people, because he is very introverted.
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15$\\begingroup$ Without knowing anything at all about the society in question how could one possibly answer the question? You explicitly say that in your question the world "medieval" does not mean medieval. So, what does it mean? (Please note that the phrases "dishonorable discharge" and "veteran payment" do not have any meaning at all in an actual medieval setting. In an actual medieval setting a former soldier, who is now no longer a soldier because of invalidity, who was foolish enough not to accumulate wealth, and who does not have relatives, has only one source of income: begging in the streets.) $\\endgroup$ – AlexP yesterday
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2$\\begingroup$ He can spin thread with one arm, using drop spinning. But mostly he'll probably have to rely on charity. I hope your world has a strong church, for his sake. $\\endgroup$ – Ryan_L yesterday
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3$\\begingroup$ The economic base determines the social superstructure. In other words, it is not possible to have a world with a medieval technological base and with modern laws, customs, expectations, etc. You need to explain how that world with a medieval technological base functions. Hint: in a first order approximation, everybody was dirt poor. Even those people who thought they were rich in their world were actually dirt poor from our perspective. There was no light at night, there was no medicine to speak of, the judicial system was barely noticeable, there was very little money in circulation. $\\endgroup$ – AlexP 23 hours ago
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1$\\begingroup$ @dhinson919: Of course, of course. But then we fall back to the common cliché of "western European medieval but not really". It would be so much more interesting for the querent to think about how their post-telematic world functions... There is no reason to believe that it would have to be a poor copy of the old medieval world; the conditions which gave rise to the western European medieval world were unique, and they most certainly won't happen again. Consider how different were the Byzantine, Arab, Persian, Indian, Chinese or Japanese medieval worlds. $\\endgroup$ – AlexP 23 hours ago
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1$\\begingroup$ Unless he finds work in a position where he can apply his knowledge (e.g a tactician for a Lord), he'll die. Not much else to do in medieval times. No matter the year you set your medieval time... $\\endgroup$ – dot_Sp0T 23 hours ago
4 Answers
There is a book that is commonly referenced for medieval life questions called Life in a Medieval Village by Frances and Joseph Gies. If you're interested in realism you should be able to draw a lot of inspiration from it.
The book focuses on a English village called Elton around the 13th century. Among the manorial court records there are references to at least the following occupations:
"Miller, Smith, Shoemaker, Carter, Carpenter, Chapelyn, Comber, Cooper, Dyer, Webster (weaver), Chapman (merchant), Shepherd, Tanner, Walker, Woolmonger, Baxter (baker), Tailor, Painter, Freeman [freelance labor], Hayward, and Beadle."
Your character could be successful with a number of these but in particular I believe the last one, Beadle. That's not the beadle related to church functions but rather they were essentially the keepers and guards of the seed stock for a manor. They also served as deputies to the manor reeves (which serves as the root for the word sheriff -- shire-reeve). So the job was part law enforcement and part administration and hard labor is not necessarily required. That's not unlike the kind of occupation that modern-day handicapped veterans are particularly suited for.
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$\\begingroup$ Thank you, also for the book suggestion. I'm not sure if a beadle-like function serves my story, but it is at least an interesting option to consider. Anyway, I'll probably know more after I've read the book. $\\endgroup$ – celtschk 22 hours ago
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$\\begingroup$ I would think someone with a dishonorable discharge would have a hard time being hired to any official post. at least so long as the DD came from the military protecting the current town. Of course, given medieval tech levels he could simply move a short distance and lie about that that and it would be unlikely to be uncovered (unless the military were to brand the discharge into the offender's body). $\\endgroup$ – SoronelHaetir 44 mins ago
He could do many jobs but with military training and very scarce contact with people, he could be a trapper, hunting small game for furs and meat.
He would find good places to place traps (which he could do with one arm, feet and teeth, as lassos used for rabbits don't require a lot of strength) and he could use dogs, ferrets or similar animals to help him in the chase or inside the burrows.
He would only need to sell the meat from time to time (not very often if he smoked and/or salted it himself) and the furs every couple of months or so. And during closed season he could live in the outskirts, taking care of the woods (organized woods are Ancient inventions), preventing fires and even exploring in search of sources of water or minerals.
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1$\\begingroup$ Interesting idea. I was imagining him to live in the town, but actually making him live near the town and only coming in for the market is not that bad an idea (he certainly would more easily avoid people there). And experiences from that sort of job might later come handy when he will have to hide from the religious institutions. Definitely a possibility to consider. $\\endgroup$ – celtschk yesterday
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2$\\begingroup$ @celtschk With medieval farming technology, each citizen needs 1.5 acres (0.6 ha) of arable land to live, 2.5 acres (1 ha) if we count for a varied diet, barren lands, fields for cattle, forests to get wood and roads. So a lot of people in a medieval city actually live near it, providing it with food. Your character won't be strange by living in the outskirts. $\\endgroup$ – Carlos Martin 23 hours ago
Anything he wants
I worked with a hardware store manager who had one arm. He could lift anything. Move anything. Manipulate any tool. He wasn't held back at all.
Missing one arm is incredibly inconvenient. Certainly a disability. It means things are more difficult. But it wouldn't stop anybody from doing almost anything. (I'm actually having trouble thinking of any job that absolutely requires two arms....)
One leg, on the other hand...
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$\\begingroup$ +1. While I don't have a quote handy, I recall Roald Dahl writing that his one-handed father could do anything alone except tie a knot $\\endgroup$ – sq33G 6 hours ago
If you look at historical stories of miracles, those often have good portrayals of the disabled. Religion is wrote about in detail, and disabled people are normally not written about but when some miraculous healing is given that is an excuse to write of them.
For example, the miracles of St. Bertin tell of a man who was not able to see outside well enough to do manual labour but could see close up quite well, and so did embroidery and weaving with the women all day. Your hero could do some activity like that, or writing if they have some skill with words.
Many of the disabled relied on family. There are many stories of mothers dressing their adult sons and families taking their disabled children to shrines. If he has family there they may support him.
Likewise, there are tales of disabled beggers dragging themselves to shrines on crutches. Being a beggar is likewise a possible career choice.
Gleaning was commonly picked as a career of choice for the disabled, picking up the leftovers from fields. It is not especially physically demanding, and often the children, elderly and disabled did it.
