The Middle Ages: A Millennium of People

In 476 AD, the Western Roman Empire collapsed, and barbarian kings established their own kingdoms on the ruins. A thousand years later, in 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman cannons, marking the end of the Middle Ages. During this millennium—farmers, tenants, artisans, merchants, wanderers, and beggars comprising over 90% of the population—struggled for survival amidst plague, war, famine, faith, and the lash of lords.

You will play the role of an ordinary person, experiencing the turmoil of the 5th century, the Islamic conquests of the 7th century, the Viking raids of the 9th century, the Crusades of the 11th century, the Mongol cavalry of the 13th century, and finally the Black Death and the Hundred Years' War of the 14th century—you will live through whichever era you are born into.

• 🌾 Living off the land—spring planting, summer weeding, autumn harvest, winter storage; missing a single planting could mean starvation for the entire year.

• ⛪ The Church is everywhere—baptism, marriage, last rites, festivals, tithes, trials; souls and livelihoods are in its hands.

• ⚔️ War and plunder are commonplace—lordly conscription, Viking longships, Magyar cavalry, Mongol cavalry, mercenary gangs; no one can escape its influence.

• 🦠 Plague, famine, and animal plague—the Plague of Justinian, the Black Death, the Great Famine; the annihilation of an entire village overnight is not a legend.

• 🏘️ From village to town, from guild to marketplace—you might spend your life confined to a county, or travel with caravans, crusaders, or pilgrims to Jerusalem.

• 👨‍👩‍👧 Marriage, inheritance, debt, lawsuits—the Lord's court, canon law, guild regulations—determine your and your family's fate.

• ⏱️ Time passes in years, even decades—you won't live past thirty or forty, and the wheels of time won't stop for anyone.

Survive—raise your children, survive famine, hold onto your small plot of land. Rise—with good luck and skill, you might rise from serf to freeman, from apprentice to guild master, or even join the ranks of minor nobles. Death—die from plague, war, hunger, cold, hanging, or simply because of a bad harvest.