Programmers would thrive even in the Middle Ages: here's how one could succeed in the 14th century.

Many people, when discussing whether a modern individual could survive in the Middle Ages, make a significant mistake. No one wants to first define the time and place, as "the Middle Ages" could refer to 7th century France or 15th century Japan.

Experts suggest using 14th century England as a starting point, similar to a popular video that went viral on YouTube.

The first major issue is that you do not speak the language of the people around you. For instance, you may know modern English, but 14th century English is entirely different. You may be able to recognize a few words, but conversing will likely be out of reach.

However, you can utilize one of the most crucial skills that will help you survive in the Middle Ages: the ability to write. Find a way to start writing, even if it means using a stick to draw letters in the dirt. It doesn’t matter what you write; the villagers won’t understand modern English anyway. But soon they will recognize you as an educated person, as relatively few can read and write. You will have already established yourself as someone significant.

The Church is Your Ally

Try to do everything possible to communicate — this will be your main task in the coming weeks and months, and seek the assistance of the villagers. They will likely believe you have come from another country and somehow got lost (they might even buy into stranger ideas). You may want to stay in the village for a while if you can count on their mercy. Be helpful to them — there is always work to do in the village, and in the meantime, learn the language as best as you can.

The next step is to find a church, or even better, a monastery, and seek their help as well. Again, demonstrating your writing ability will help show that you could be an important person. Hopefully, you will acquire enough skills to explain who you are and how you ended up in medieval England. But it’s best not to mention time travel.

Instead, you might say that you came from afar, but not too far, perhaps from Finland. You could claim to have arrived on a ship that wrecked, washing you ashore in England.

It is vital for you to establish connections with the local church. Priests and monks will not only help you meet your basic needs but will also enable you to make connections with the wider world. If you want to thrive in your new medieval life, you will need to meet the higher echelons of society. Church officials are your best opportunity to do this.

Useful Skills for Survival in the Middle Ages

Chances are, no one will want to be a peasant in the Middle Ages. To climb higher on the social ladder, you will need to rely on the knowledge you bring with you.

Your profession from the future is unlikely to be of any use in the Middle Ages. As a programmer or pilot, you won’t get far in the 14th century, but your basic skills will be invaluable.

The most critical of these is mathematics — you can perform arithmetic operations and record them. Arabic numerals were still a relatively new system at this time, so knowing them will help you find plenty of work. Governments, businesses, and the church need clerks and accountants.

The ability to read and write means you can become a scribe and at least copy manuscripts. If you can learn medieval English or Latin well enough to write, it will allow you to do much more. If you have skills in drawing or painting, that will be a huge bonus, as illustrated manuscripts will fetch a much higher price.

In reality, there are many ordinary skills that would be in demand in 14th century England, provided you can do them well — cooking or playing musical instruments could yield a good income. More specific skills, such as architecture or playing chess, could turn into a profitable career.

You will want to head to a large city — in England, this means only London, but if you can move further, other European cities like Florence and Venice are much wealthier. It is here that you will find more opportunities and be able to live in greater luxury.

Wars, Plague, and Famine

Survival videos about the Middle Ages discuss dangers that could lead to a swift demise, but there’s no need to worry too much about this. For example, the likelihood of finding yourself caught up in military actions is extremely low unless you actively seek to participate. English kings did indeed engage in wars during the 14th century, typically against France and Scotland, but their armies were made up of individuals who chose to join, either for money or as part of noble service. Moreover, England in the 14th century was remarkably safe — there were a few Scottish raids along the northern border and some French incursions on southern ports, but most of the country was never threatened by invasion.

It is true that there were crop failures in the Middle Ages from time to time, which could lead to disasters like the Great Famine that affected England from 1315 to 1322. Food security was always a concern, but that doesn’t mean everyone was constantly starving. Governments took measures to regulate food supplies and prices, which could alleviate some issues.

Additionally, if you already have a prestigious job from the list above, you will likely have enough money to afford food. Unfortunately, as is the case today, hunger in medieval times hit the very poor the hardest.

And finally, what about the Black Death? It is estimated that it killed a third to half of Europe's population, so this could indeed be a problem. Nevertheless, there are some things you can do to increase your chances of survival. A pandemic of this nature spreads quickly across a region, but it typically lasts no more than a few months. If you know it is approaching, you can do as other medieval people did — flee the city and try to ride out the plague in a more isolated location (the so-called extreme social distancing).

In fact, you will face much more dangerous health issues than the Black Death. Recent studies have shown that simpler diseases, such as tuberculosis, were a bigger problem. Thus, the best advice for time travelers is to eat well and maintain a healthy lifestyle — the same recommendations you would receive today.

Finally, it is wise to avoid medieval doctors, as medicine at that time was in a very poor state. The story of a doctor successfully extracting an arrow that had partially entered a skull undoubtedly speaks to impressive skills.