Medieval Information

Having enough food, specially during siege, was a major concern in the Dark Ages. Castles relied heavily on food brought from outside activities (such as farming, fishing and hunting). During a siege, the invaders would cut off all the castle's supplies they could including the common practice of poisoning rivers which was very deadly.

In the Medieval Times, there wasn't much knowledge regarding ways of preserving food. Salt was the most common preservative used since it could easily make meat and fish last much longer. Other techniques, such as curing meat, were employed as well. Nevertheless, having too much food could mean spoilage; not having enough, meant almost invariantly, death,

Even though larger castles counted with a well and farming land in the inside, the smaller ones were much more affected by a siege; when the defenders drank all their water, they would often drink each other's urine. When their urine was over and the situation was very bad, they would drink their horse's blood; lasting a few more days.

When the food supplies were scarce, daily rations were severely decreased consisting of bread and water. Hunting mice and birds was a common practice during a siege since they were numerous and an ideal way to supplement their shortage in food.

Even though salt was very effective for meat, vegetables and fruits would spoil very fast. Many castles considered this and planted hundreds of trees inside their very own walls.

The attackers frequently sent a spy towards the inner castle, giving him a very strong venom to poison the food; if successful, the battle would come to an abrupt end.