{"id":2515,"date":"2025-07-31T18:24:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T16:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nederlandsetempeliers.nl\/drinking-like-a-knight-templar\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T13:49:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:49:33","slug":"drinking-like-a-knight-templar","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nederlandsetempeliers.nl\/en\/traces-of-the-past\/drinking-like-a-knight-templar\/","title":{"rendered":"Drinking like a Knight Templar"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Drinking like a Knight Templar<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Those who are soldiers of the temple are of God<\/b>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Drinking like a Knight Templar<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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What did people drink in the Middle Ages? The answer to that is BEER. That beer is far from today’s beer. There was hardly any alcohol in it and tasted very sour. <\/p>

Don’t put a glass of water in front of a medieval man. That was an outright insult. Water was inferior, that was for the animals! <\/p>

The rich man preferred to drink wine. That gave status. But everyone was drinking beer every day. DAILY. Lemonade, fresh did not exist then. <\/p>

It is said that they drank beer because the water was so polluted and led to diseases. And during the process of making beer (and wine), the bacteria were killed. But that was not the case, so not the reason why they drank beer. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The water in the Middle Ages was not at all as polluted as it is assumed. There were indeed rules and laws regarding hygiene. Pooping and urinating on the street was forbidden by law. Just like throwing rubbish on the street and in the water was a no-go. In the 15thcentury (<\/sup> = 1401 \u2013 1500) there was already a regular municipal collection service. Manure was not allowed to remain on the street for too long. Also carcasses floating in the water: that was noted and removed by the municipality. <\/p>

Plus at the time, there were not so densely populated areas. Cities were not nearly as massive as they are today. For example: the city of Breda had only 500 inhabitants in 1410. (now 188,500) Before that time, that was: big Business. The polluters, such as tanneries and (textile) laundries, were located downstream outside the city. And was so little that the water had already purified itself at the next “city”. There were municipalities that had systems of dams and sluices to drain the polluted water properly. <\/p>

Actually, the real pollution only started with the advent of the industrial revolution, after 1855.<\/p>

In other words: people drank beer. Even the prisoners were served bread and beer. If you had seriously made a mess: you were put on bread and water. Purely to insult and punish you. But you also got beer in hospitals, the military. Even the children just drank it. (note: in France this is also very normal with wine) And the stronger the beer: the more prestige you had. The more the beer was diluted with water, yes that was for the souls, the poor. With wine you were the best, then you were at the top, then you could show how rich you were. <\/p>

And what about milk? Milk was for babies, the sick and the elderly. Milk couldn’t be kept for long either. You had to drink that immediately. Then butter and cheese were made from it. <\/p>

So there was nothing wrong with water from the river and streams, people just drank from it. But I say, “do you know what fish do in water…..?”<\/p>

And the expression then drink like a Templar…..yup, we did. Hell yes. But because of the lack of alcohol in the beer: it hardly got you drunk.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Drink like a Templar What did people drink in the Middle Ages? The answer to that is BEER.<\/em><\/p>

That beer is far from resembling today’s beer. There was hardly any alcohol in it and tasted very sour. <\/em><\/p>

Do not put a glass of water in front of a medieval person. That was a real insult. Water was inferior, that was for the animals! <\/em><\/p>

The rich man preferred to drink wine. That gave status. But everyone drank beer every day. DAILY. Lemonade, soda didn’t exist back then. It is said that they drank beer because the water was so polluted at the time and thus led to diseases. And during the process of making beer (and wine), the bacteria were killed. But that wasn’t the case, so not the reason why they drank beer. <\/em><\/p>

The water in the Middle Ages was not as polluted as is assumed. There were indeed rules and laws regarding hygiene. Pooping and urinating on the street was prohibited by law. Just like throwing rubbish on the street and in the water was a no-no. In the 15th century (= 1401 – 1500) there was already a regular municipal collection service. Manure was not allowed to remain on the street for too long. Also carcasses floating in the water: this was noted and removed by the municipality. <\/em><\/p>

Plus back then there weren’t as densely populated areas. Cities were not nearly as massive as they are today. For example: the city of Breda had only 500 inhabitants in 1410.Before that time it was: big business.<\/em><\/p>

The polluters, such as tanneries and (textile) laundries, were located downstream outside the city. And it was so little that the water had already purified itself at the next “town”. There were municipalities that had systems of dams and locks to properly drain the polluted water. <\/em><\/p>

In fact, real pollution only started with the arrival of the industrial revolution, after 1855.<\/em><\/p>

In other words: people drank beer. Even the prisoners were served bread and beer. If you had really messed up, you were put on bread and water. Purely to insult and punish you. But also in hospitals, patients drunk beer. The soldiers drunk beer. Even the kids just drank it. (note: in France this is even now very normal with wine) And the stronger the beer: the more prestige you had. The more the beer was diluted with water, yes that was for the poor. With wine you were all the rage, then you were at the top, then you could show how rich you were. <\/em><\/p>

And what about milk? Milk was for babies, the sick and the elderly. Milk couldn’t keep for long either. You had to drink that immediately. Then it was made into butter and cheese. <\/em><\/p>

So there was nothing wrong with water from the river and streams, people simply drank from it.<\/em><\/p>

And the expression drinking like a Templar… yup, we did !<\/em><\/p>

But due to the lack of alcohol in the beer, it hardly made you drunk.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drinking like a Knight Templar Those who are soldiers of the temple are of God. Drinking like a Knight Templar What did people drink in the Middle Ages? 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