Interesting What-If = Time travel to 1500
Alexey Tereshchenko
Freelance Translator (2000–present)Updated 4y
You are dropped penniless into a village in the middle of England in the
year 1500. You maintain all your current knowledge. How would you make
your way to the top?
Middle of England, huh?
So I get into a village located in the vicinity of Fenny Dreyton, Leicestershire, not far from the field of Bosworth, fifteen years after
the fateful battle. It is Anno Domini 1500.
When I come to my senses, I understand how badly screwed I am. I am
afraid it would take me some time (unless I am forewarned) that I am in
England and that the year is 1500. The language spoken around would not
make any sense to me (unless I have User-9721060672905094809 as an
interpreter or Oscar Tay as a mentor) and it would take several weeks if
not months before I’d finally be able to understand it and to express my
own thoughts in it.
Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire,
already existed in 1500.
My big problem is that I don’t know anything useful. I have no idea of medicine or mechanics, I am not accustomed to work with my hands, I
won’t make a good fighter, my Latin is also rudimentary and of all ecclesiastical Latin, I know only Pater Noster. I am not even sure that
I would recognise a comestible plant. And before I master the local
language, I am even unable to be a storyteller. It makes the beginnings
of my life in old England extremely hazardous.
However, I believe I would survive. I can stay quite a long time without
food (finally there would be a good use for my body fat) so this is not
a problem for me. My exotic appearance might serve me: for this era, I
would be exceptionally tall and exceptionally fat, royally so if I can
use this adjective. Besides, I can sing fairly well and I know great
many songs. I believe I could earn a piece of bread with singing,
perhaps even with a bit of cheese on it.
When I start communicating with people, I need a legend. This is the
hardest. If I appear near the coast, I can always pretend to be a victim
of pirates that took me from somewhere very far. But what to do in the
middle of England? I guess I’ll have to play the old soap opera trick
with amnesia - they hit me really hard on my head, I don’t remember
anything till I am here in your strange country. Actually, the question supposes something like this so I won’t be lying too much. Only I would
not tell I am from the future. Better to pretend to be… say, Ethiopian.
Like this, I am Christian but in my own way and my language is a weird
one. No idea if people will believe me. It is the weakest link of my
plan so far.
Finally, I would need to get to the King. By this time, hopefully, I
survived, I can communicate, and, therefore, I am not just singer but storyteller as well, I know where am I and when am I (thank God, English already use the AD era in 1500). I fancy that the King himself might
take interest in me. I know that the King is Henry VII, I know that he
is going to stay alive until 1509, I know that he looks for all possible
ways to get money. I have a good money-making proposition.
At this point, it would be important for me to understand how to mete
out the information. I should probably start with some things that can
be confirmed, in order to establish trust. For instance, I can predict
the next moves of the French and the Spaniards in Italy.
The fact is, I know a lot of things that can be useful for His Majesty.
I can draw a map of the newly discovered American continent and I know
where its most valuable assets such as silver, redwood or beavers are. I
can suggest the King to hire young Portuguese guy of the name of Fernão
de Magalhães and to entrust him with sailing along the coast of South
America (and even tell him where he would find his Magellan Strait).
And, by the way, I know how to fight scurvy - a knowledge that would
greatly advance any navy. But there is something more immediate.
I would try to convince the King to equip two or three merchant ships
and load them with metalware, weapons, silver coins, textiles, clothes,
wine and spirits. These ships should start their trip in the second half
of May and follow the Norwegian coast, finally passing the Nordkap and
arriving into the White Sea, near the mouth of Severnaya Dvina. In real history, Chancellor did it in 1553, establishing a direct trading link
with Russia and securing enormous benefits for England and its
merchants. Let us try to do it half a century earlier.
Actually, this route was known to Russians but to no one else. Grigory
Istoma, Russian ambassador to Denmark, used it in 1496, just several
years ago. If a colleague of Istoma can be found in Europe, he should be contacted immediately. If not, let our merchant fleet try to find the
route. We could entrust it to John Cabot, could we?
Russia has lots to offer King Henry VII. Wax, honey, lard, leather,
flax, and, of course, furs - all these strategic assets can be bought at
an extremely cheap price. A ship sent to Russia made 100% profits. Why
not try to do it now?
If I manage to convince the King to follow my advice, I guess I am at
the top.
This was my 800th answer. No more answers in at least next two weeks.
Love you, my fellow Quorans. Just wait for me here 😄
EDIT: Pacome Cardon made me remember that I have one more talent that
can be appreciated back in 1500: I can calculate fairly well.
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38 comments from
Emery Larick
and more
Emery Larick
· Jan 17
“No idea if people will believe me”.
George Psalmanazar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Psalmanazar
Bob Jolley
· Jan 16
Before much of this cool stuff happens, you’ll probably be burned as a
witch.
Peter Gardner
· Jan 17
That didn’t happen for another century or two, and even then, it was
pretty rare. In medieval Europe (and 1500 was still medieval in England)
you would tend to get in way more trouble for accusing someone of
witchcraft than an accused witch would — belief that witchcraft was real
and effective was seen as heresy.
Mike Grossberg
· Jan 21
Not in England. Witchcraft, in England, was seen more as treason than
heresy, and was, therefore, a CIVIL crime. The punishment was hanging.
The only civil crime which carried the penalty of burning was when a
woman poisoned her husband.
Steve Wheeler
· Jan 19
You miss the point. While burning witches is in the future it's only
because that was the excuse. He'd be burnt cos he was weired. No other
excuses needed.
Peter Gardner
· Jan 19
Perhaps to the disappointment of the especially bloodthirsty, lynch mobs
were fairly rare in Medieval England; it was a lot less work to simply
kick a transient weirdo out of town, and very few, if any, negative consequences for you did. If you killed someone, even a vagrant no one
liked, there would be uncomfortable questions from the sheriff.
Brian Everingham
· Jan 30
Maybe, maybe not. I'm kinda counting on me introducing them to cups of
tea and biscuits and scones to win them over as well, after I invent
them of course, which might take a little time, but if I can keep them
occupied for long enough by teaching them the dance routine to The Birdy
Song, I reckon I stand a fair chance.
Definitely not the NSA
· Jan 21
I can brew beer, distill booze and grow weed. I’ll make myself useful to
the locals.
Stephen Everett
· Jan 23
Great. I’m an epidemiologist. I’ll be burned as a witch.
So, not too different from being dropped into modern day Oklahoma.
Nathan Barton
· Jan 21
If we ignore the fact we may well die from the first cold we get then..
1. Find a nice village and church to get my foundations and critically
learn the language. In theory I might be able to quickly understand some
kind of legible writing among the more noble and church types, the poor
can’t write mostly.
2. Although I’ve no real practical skills I’d need to help out,
critically though I probably have knowledge of what is edible and can
maybe try sell some food or improve a method of doing some kind of
business. Basically be the consultant to the local Lord.
3. In the long run I need to get to a port and like the OP, get missions
to the new world and back funded. Then I get rich.
My knowledge of strategy from the likes of the Nepoleonic Wars or
material use/ways of doings things should allow me to get towards the industrial revolution assuming the local Lord funds me.
If sufficiently powerful to be in the circle of the King by 1509 then
I’m golden. Henry 8th was a selfish maverick so with my knowledge of
future events I can have the British Empire conquer the world in its
entirety. Not much France, Spain or Portugal can do if we have a few
million more soldiers 20 years later from the Americas and Australia to
conquer the Spanish and French.
Daniel Zwickel Ben Avram
· Jan 22
I can play the violin and know hundreds of tunes (as a professional
musician for 35 years), and could peck out stuff on the harpsichord.
Thus, some entertainment value. However, with my paucity of historical knowledge, I’d be s**t out of luck in that department. And, Alexey, you
are far cleverer than I, to boot. For one thing, I’d hope for this to
occur to me as a young man. I’m 75 now, not that healthy, and physically somewhat incapable as far as labor goes. I would depend on the kindness
of strangers, to a large extent. I think I’d have fun discussing
theology, though, so long as I kept from mortally offending the
powers-that-be. Excellent answer, Mr T. I’d hope for you as a companion.
Kevin May
· Jan 19
The flaw in the plan is, if you change history you would never be born,
so you couldn’t go back in time to change history. So then you would be
born to go back and change history. Never mind.
Allison Dang
· Jan 17
Seems like predictions, knowing what others don’t, being able to draw
maps of places you’ve never been, etc. as you describe, would get you condemned as a witch
David Paul Evans
· Jan 17
Nowhere near as much of a thing as you’d think, not in England. They
went a bit witchfindery a century later, but even then it wasn’t that
big a deal (Scotland on the other hand was a bit of a hotbed of witch
hunting) especially if you were a man.
Robert Hynes
· Jan 21
I would say you can read and write pretty well in the Latin alphabet.
Once you learn the language, you might find work as a scribe.
Hadyn Barson
· Jan 22
I live in a small village in North Warwickshire, 3miles from Meriden
(the centre of England). 1500?…not sure I'd notice a difference (except
for Land Rovers). I'd still be a lowly peasant.
Thomas Koehler
· Jan 24
I am thinking that an exceptional person becomes a target. Feared by
some, revered by others, and oddly suspicious and to be watched closely.
Your language and the local language will be mostly mutually
understandable, with some effort…but you are seen as particularly odd,
and therefore suspect. Best to pretend to be simple-minded, until you
can get your bearings and find who your safe people are. Odds bodkins
and God’s wounds!
Joel Cairo
· Jan 25
Easy. I would head into town, obviously dressed weirdly, attract the
attention of the townsfolk, pull out my phone and go straight to a Tik
Tok page of someone dressed up as and pretending to be God. I would show
this to the people whilst speaking to the phone/God, and tell them that
if they don’t immediately revere me as an emissary of God, they will
burn in hellfire for all eternity !!!, and then pull up a Youtube video
of simulated hell to show them. Now peasants, I want a house to live in,
all the food I can eat, and bring me booze and wenches. Ok, forget the
wenches, I’m 73, just bring the booze, and the towns apothecary, start working on pile cream. Simples 😄
Larry Siegel
· Jan 29
Just fewer wenches. One or two will come in handy.
Very clever answer, although you’ve assumed that your phone will work; I
hope you have a lot of stuff stored on it because that will be all
you’ll ever get. And I hope you brought spare batteries.
Brian Everingham
· Jan 30
Well as long as my phone works just long enough to shock the bejebus out
of the gathered villagers, I think I'll be ok. I'm an Aussie who was
born in and grew up in a small country town in the bush, and who has
lived in the UK for the last 46 years, so I understand the small country town/village mindset. Also, once I show them how to make the perfect cup
of tea, and invent biscuits (and scones) to go with it, how can they not
revere me. As for the wenches, nah, lifes going to be tough enough as it
is, so why complicate matters.
Damian Evans
· Jan 19
Hang on a second. The first attested early modern English is from the
15th century, IIRC found somewhere in Norfolk. If you head east you may
find the spoken language might be understandable, but if not, the
written language almost certainly would be.
Alex Busek
· Jan 21
but if not, the written language almost certainly would be<< Good
luck with that! I have trouble deciphering the letters of my own great-grandfather! The handwriting back in the 1500s would be
INDECIPHERABLE for us moderns (unless you have a M.A. in “Antiquities”).
Larry Siegel
· Jan 29
Good point. I can’t read Shakespeare’s handwriting, although when typed
I understand almost every word. It looks like a cross between Thai and
Elvish. And the pronunciation of English in 1500 was different enough to
be extremely daunting, although not as difficult as the handwriting. -------------photo of a Shakespere manuscript------------
Alex Busek
· Jan 21
I should probably start with some things that can be confirmed, in
order to establish trust. For instance, I can predict the next moves of
the French and the Spaniards in Italy.<< I doubt that you could report
on future moves (between 1500 and 1509) of the French and Spaniards in
Italy in sufficient DETAIL and ACCURACY to impress anyone! If, e.g., you predicted that a minor skirmish near Rome on May 9, 1501 would result in
the deaths of 17 armed men (because that’s what the history books you
learnt claim), you might be surprised to discover that, at the time, it
was believed that only NINE men died. Or that between five and 50 died
(reports would vary). And it wasn’t like that skirmish would be reported
on the Internet - it might take literally YEARS until the relevant info
reached Henry VIII’s court. And most of Henry’s courtiers would be like, “Sure! ANYONE could have predicted that!”
Erik Thomas
· Jan 21
First, study some Chaucer and other Middle English, and practice not
only the vocabulary but, especially, the pronunciation. Get all of your vaccinations up to date before you leave. Then insist on boiling all of
your water after you arrive there. Make sure that people with influence
know you can read, write, and do arithmetic…although they’ll think your handwriting looks bizarre.
Ian Briant
· Jan 25
Unfortunately you are likely to die from the rampant diseases of the
time without any medical facilities to fight them off before you can do
any of this.
Gary Stone
· Jan 26
My only knowledge of drinking water is that it comes out of a tap. To
slake my raging thirst my first sip of water from a peasant’s bucket
results in a deadly case of dysentery. Done.
Gordon Robertson
· Jan 28
The word witch and burn him come to mind.
Dan Ryder
· Jan 17
Wasn't John Cabot the guy who was financed by Richard Ameryk to go West
or is that not part of history?
Wilson Muir
· Jan 21
No good suggesting projects as trade routes that require heavy
investment to pay off. 1st you'd have to pull off a couple of magic
tricks --- a steam engine, electricity or something never seen before.
Andy Smith
· Jan 22
You should try and remember everything you ever read about time travel paradoxes, then, just to be safe, find a quiet way to kill yourself with
your body never being found.
However, if you really want to get to the top, you need a way to knock
off the King, not just gain his trust.
Neil Caress
· Jan 25
But if he did time travel surely his presence would already have been
absorbed into history. It would probably indicate that he had almost
zero impact.
Jim Nowacki
· Jan 25
Knowing what I do now, I would head directly to Wiltshire and contact
some of my ancestors. Might be a tough sell, but if I drop enough names
and info about the family, they might help. I haven't seen anything
about them pointing fingers at others regarding witchcraft and they knew
enough to engage in a high demand trade, so I think they were sensible
enough.
OTOH, they may see my knowledge of the future as sketchy, so In would
have to be careful.
Paul Nance
· Jan 25
I would think your biggest problem would be the plague. And other
diseases which you are not accustomed to. Do you have the small pox vaccination? Many today don’t.
MGC
· Thu
And you can also read and write, something that was very rare amongst
common folk in fact the only people who did have a education were
usually royalty. Landlords and priests.
So a person who could read and write was usually one of the MOST
important/best paid people in a town And highly sought after
I should mention I'm also a carpenter, blacksmith pretty good at archery
So I wouldnt have much issue
Ed Christian
· Sun
Fascinating answer. I think of the Mark Twain novel “A Connecticut
Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” where a Yankee mechanical engineer of
the late 19th century who knows a lot about how things work transforms
King Arthur’s society but ends up destroying it. The difficulty about
telling the king about specific things about to happen, such as battles
and how they will turn out, is that if that knowledge changes things,
you would no longer know what is about to happen. A safer tack, if you
know geography pretty well, would be to provide the king with somewhat
accurate maps and where the best harbors are and what the terrain is
like, where the most fertile lands are, where to find various valuable
minerals and plants and animals. Telling the king to support Magellan
would be useful, and showing Magellan specifically where to find his
Strait would be good. There could be many examples.
Another approach, though, might be to find a sharp nobleman or gentleman
who has good connections and become his secret partner and guide,
especially if you know a lot about history. For example, my 12th great-grandfather, Richard Rich, was born in 1496. (I don’t mean choose
him, but an example of what could happen.) he wasn’t rich, but he was
very bright, got a good education, was good at spotting an opportunity,
and was famously unprincipled. After serving Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas
More and Thomas Cromwell during the time of. king Henry VIII, he worked
up to Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations (Dissolution of the
Monasteries) and later Lord Chancellor of England. By the time he died,
he was a baron and perhaps the wealthiest man in England. That’s the
sort of man to ally with. His grandson, Robert Rich, 1st Earl of
Warwick, born in 1559, was even wealthier. He was a major investor in exploration, including the Muscovy Company, which traded with Russia,
the Jamestown Company, the Somers Island Company, the Plymouth Company,
the East Indies Company. He owned trading ships, privateers, pirate
ships. If you could find a man like that who was active in 1500, you
could guide him in where to explore, where to place a colony, who to
hire, who would win which battle. Then that man could quietly invest.
For example, if he knew the outcome of various wars or battles, he could
be in a position to provide what was needed. He could know when to make
the king a loan and when not to. He could even quietly advise other moneylenders what loans would not be repaid. He would know the various
scandals of the reign of Henry VIII and know how to profit by them. If
Richard Rich could gain so much wealth and power based on his own
abilities, what might he have done with an advisor like you?
Jean Etienne
· 4h
“My big problem is that I don’t know anything useful.”
With your knowledge of history, you could style yourself as a prophet,
and foretell events which would happen in the near future, as you imply.
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