Football - 14th-century style
As
football fever sweeps the country and injury worries plague the national
team, archaeologists at York Archaeological Trust wonder whether they
have found a medieval footballing monk. Studies carried out for York Archaeological
Trust's new report on "Medieval Finds from York" unfolded the
story, which started when excavations by York Archaeological Trust before
redevelopment on a medieval Gilbertine monastery site in York uncovered
the monk's graveyard. One of the older monks had obviously suffered from
a particularly severe injury to his right knee. A pair of perforated copper
alloy discs, one above and one below this knee may have supported the
limb, and perhaps helped to disinfect the knee. He would have had a noticeable
limp and a chronic knee infection; today, this type of injury is typically
caused by traffic accidents or by falls in the playing of sport, particularly
football.
Far
fetched though it may seem we know that some Gilbertine monks did play
football - in 1321, Pope John XXII granted a dispensation to William de
Spalding, a Gilbertine monk in Norfolk - for accidentally killing a friend
while playing football. Apparently "During a game at ball, as he
kicked the ball, a friend of his, also called William, ran against him,
and wounded himself so severely on a sheathed knife carried by the monk
that he died within six days". Clearly, football was a dangerous
game in the 14th century and led to a variety of injuries, some fatal!
In our case, injury would have kept the poor monk permanently out of any team selection, but fortunately England's current injury problems seem less disastrous.
For further details contact Dr R.A. Hall, 01904 663005 or Nicky Rogers
01904 663033.