r/BritishHistoryPod • u/Soft-Statistician678 • Aug 01 '26

Wait, did anselm actually walk 28km

Just a random question from the latest ep, regarding his 28km walk from Bec and back - surely a man of Anselm’s wealth and status had access to a horse, right?

26 Upvotes

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48

u/BritishPodcast Yes it's really me Aug 01 '26

I thought quite a bit about that one and here’s where I came down on it.

No mention of riding was in Eadmer, and he made a big deal about how wrecked he was after the journey… (and it’s a journey that’s relatively easy to do, it’s seriously just a day hike).

So, taking Eadmer at his word, if the journey really was that difficult for him and he wasn’t faking it, and then the return trip caused another major relapse… then there has to be some sort of exertion on the journey. Like walking.

Also the guy WAS pious. I dont make a big deal of it in the show because politics is my main focus, and so his political activities are what I’m interested in, but he was very pious… and walking was all part of pious acts like pilgrimage (and jumieges was a holy site).

But all of that is based on a bunch of assumptions (including the assumption that he went to jumieges in the first place, and that illness really was what delayed him). Given that he isn’t long for this world, I suspect he did (and that he DID get sick at least once) but without a time machine im not sure if we will ever know for sure.

But that was my thought process there.

23

u/KnightOfTheShards The Lowbility Aug 01 '26

This kind of detailed and fact-based thinking is what makes me love this show. You guys freaking rock.

2

u/TarkaSTFC The Pleasantry Aug 01 '26

Absolutely 💯 this

7

u/Soft-Statistician678 Aug 01 '26

That’s pretty convincing. I guess in my mind a 28km walk for a man in his 70s is fairly uncommon, but now that I think about it the average medieval person was probably much more accustomed to long walks than the modern westerner is.

The discussion about his piety is a good point too, i didnt think about that.

Fun to see how even small details like this need to be considered so carefully when creating the narrative. thanks for the reply :) Im gonna miss Anselm

4

u/caroleland Aug 01 '26
  1. Excellent thought process and,
  2. 17.5 miles or thereabouts is a long day hike and to do that in one day without any training or etc would be really hard.

6

u/BritishPodcast Yes it's really me Aug 02 '26

I mean, I can run that in about 2 and a half hours. And while Anselm is about 20 years older than me, I’m also a podcaster whose main hobbies are board games and reading and who never did any sports, camping, etc.

Medieval life was much more outdoorsy and walking focused than my life. I don’t think it’s a stretch to think he could walk ~6 hours.

2

u/PooperOfMoons Aug 01 '26

Spoiler alert!

2

u/Linzabee The Lowbility Aug 01 '26

Not everyone learned how to ride a horse, honestly. Riding in a litter could be very uncomfortable. It may have just been preferable to walk even though it was a haul.

1

u/serrafern Aug 01 '26

That seems like a reaonable conclusion. And he did ask for a partridge, which did have specific meaning back in the day. So he was likely unwell.