Medieval keep fit
Keep fit was a surprisingly big deal in the Middle Ages. Professor Carole Rawcliffe explains who was exercising, and why

You might think that people in the Middle Ages did not exercise for fun. But that's not so, according to Professor Carole Rawcliffe of the University of East Anglia. She has studied medieval fitness guides and concluded that lots of people, certainly in religious institutions and the higher echelons of society, were in fact very interested in exercising. Carole explains why to David Musgrove.
Authors

David Musgrove is content director of the HistoryExtra.com website and podcast, plus its sister print magazines BBC History Magazine and BBC History Revealed. He has a PhD in medieval landscape archaeology and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.