Medieval Superstitions

The medieval people believed many superstitions. Some had to do with sailing, evil, and others with midwifery. Superstitions were popular and a lot of people believed in them.

Emperor Otto IV thought that the sea was higher than land and was in air. He thought this because of the first book of Genesis says, "waters above the firmament." A story in which convinced people to believe this is, "For proof, Gervase offers an episode that took place in an English village. One overcast Sunday, as the villagers were leaving church, they noticed an anchor hooked to one of the tombstones. It was attached to a rope that was stretched taut upwards to the cloudy skies. To their astonishment, the rope began to move as if someone was attempting to pry the anchor away from the tombstone. The anchor would not budge, and presently, noises like sailors shouting were heard above, and a man began to descend down the rope. The villagers took hold of him, at which point he died, “suffocated by the humidity of our dense air as if he were drowning at sea.” (Listverse.com) After an hour, the rope was cut from above, and the other sailors sailed away." Another story explains how a sailor dropped his knife at sea. A few days later, his knife fell into his window and onto the table.

Many people climbed hills and cliffs to hunt birds there, but never came back. Their ropes always seemed to be cut or broken. One day a priest came to perform an exorcism and remove the evil from the island. When the priest started climbing cliffs, his ropes didn't break. He was holding a bible, so the evil couldn't kill him. The evil spoke and said, "Stop your blessing, bishop Gvendur, even the evil needs a place to live.” (Listverse.com). Upon that request, the priest sectioned off a place for the evil to live and no one was allowed to hunt