12. The Untrue Narrative That People in the Middle Ages Did Not Drink Water
One of the more widespread – but untrue – narratives about the Middle Ages has it that people back then only drank beer and wine instead of water. Supposedly, that was because water in those days was too dangerous to drink safely, as it was often contaminated with deadly pathogens. That is false. In the medieval era, for example, water was the most popular drink – as it was throughout all of humanity’s existence, for that matter – for the simple reason that it was free.
It is true that medieval people did not have the kinds of water purification treatments that the water coming out of our faucets nowadays usually goes through. Contamination was a concern, to be sure. However, medieval people – like all humans since our species first walked upright – knew enough to spot and avoid obviously contaminated water. In short, people in the past had enough common sense and common knowledge to know that swampy, muddy, and cloudy water was not good for drinking.