That historical fact I found about medieval inns really messed with my fantasy writing

Was researching for a tavern scene in my WIP and found out most medieval inns in 14th century England only had like 3 or 4 beds max, and travelers shared them with strangers. Found that stat in a book called "The Medieval Inn" by John H. Harvey from my local library. So my grand 50-room fantasy tavern is totally unrealistic, lol. Anyone else run into a random fact that made you totally redo a setting?

2 comments

2 Comments

phoenix_campbell881mo ago

Honestly, @matthewh28 you just killed my dream of a fantasy tavern with room service and heated blankets. Now I'm stuck picturing my hero scrounging for a corner of a flea-ridden mattress next to a snoring blacksmith. Guess I'll stick with the 50-room nonsense and pretend my fantasy world just has inns with good credit and an abundance of lumber.

matthewh281mo ago

Ha, yeah, that's the thing about real history. It's always way smaller and grosser than what we imagine. That's the pattern I've noticed everywhere. People think the past was this big, epic, clean thing, but really it was cramped, smelly, and everyone was elbow-to-elbow in the same space. Same with old castles. You see these huge stone walls in a movie and think "wow, spacious." But the actual living quarters inside were tiny with low ceilings and drafty as hell. It's like we romanticize everything from a distance because we don't think about the boring, cramped, everyday reality. Your 50-room fantasy tavern is fine for a fantasy world because nobody actually wants to read about the protagonist sleeping in a shared bed with a sweaty merchant with bad breath. Writers just have to pick which version of "real" works for the story they're telling.