The Middle Ages spanned the period from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century through the Renaissance Period, which began around the 15th century. Although popular culture focuses on a few specific aspects of this era—such as the society of high lords and ladies and the supposed valor of their knights—the realities were quite different for the humble peasants and “villeins”—feudal tenants—who were beholden to the lords and obligated to pay them in exchange for the privilege of farming the land. Because Schlitz took issue with the inaccuracies in mainstream society’s portrayal of the Middle Ages, she penned Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! in an attempt to introduce students to the many intricate social realities of this era. 

The text is therefore rife with details and references that are designed to realign young readers’ expectations of what is “normal” during this era. For example, when Taggot is contemplating the possibility of seeing Hugo again, she notes, “It seems a long life— / I may live fifty years, and not see him again” (9). While the overt focus of the verses remains on Taggot’s romantic thoughts, the finer details are designed to emphasize the fact that a person’s life expectancy was much shorter in the medieval period, and Schlitz’s characters then proceed to provide an extensive list of reasons as to why this might have been. 

As the text indicates, a life of 50 years was considered a “long life,” and in fact, for most boys born to land-owning families in medieval England, the average life expectancy was just over 30 years. However, that average is skewed by extremely high infant mortality rates, as Nelly, Taggot, and Barbary’s narratives suggest. For those who were fortunate enough to survive past childhood, life expectancy in the fifties was more common (DeWitte, Sharon. “Old Age Isn’t a Modern Phenomenon—Many People Lived Long Enough to Grow Old in the Olden Days, Too.” University of South Carolina, 2022). It is important to note that maternal mortality rates were also much higher, and people’s innate fear of the risks involved is vividly expressed when Barbary finds an inward sense of kinship with Isobel, reflecting that the two women will suffer equally in childbirth despite their differing social stations. Other main sources of danger and illness included malnutrition, accidents, war, tuberculosis, and widespread plagues such as the infamous epidemic of “Black Death” (bubonic plague) that occurred in the 14th century.

Even professions that purported to extend life often inflicted great harm, for the understanding of medicine in the Middle Ages was largely based on ideas set forth by ancient Greek and Roman figures such as Hippocrates and Galen, both of whom espoused the bodily system of the four humors. This theory held that the body consists of four elements—blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm—and that these elements must remain in balance, as any imbalance will result in sickness. The Catholic Church was powerful in Europe during the medieval period and widely espoused Galen’s teachings, and as a result, dubious practices such as bloodletting remained popular. These realities are reflected in the cynical narrative of Thomas, the doctor’s son, who expresses a fair amount of skepticism at the efficacy of his father’s medicinal remedies.