I'm currently working on a novel series and have been hitting a few roadblocks in my writing process. I wanted to know if anyone versed in the subject of medieval history would be able to answer this question for me (or at least point me in the right direction for places to look / sources) :
I have a main character (Female, 22) who lives in a small village and is friends with one of the guardsmen. I was wondering what this relationship would be like. It is nothing romantic - simply a question of: How would they talk to one another? Seeing as how gender roles are significantly different then than they are now, I wasn't all too sure of the limitations the two would have.
The time period that I am working with is late medieval (1470's).
If anyone has any information that might be able to help me come to a conclusion on this it would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Hey there!
You might want to resubmit this thread with your question directly in the title--"How would a young woman and man in a late medieval village (1470s) have talked to each other casually?" Since this is a forum specifically for historical questions, being clear in the title can help people a lot.
Also, can you explain what you mean by guardsman? That's not really I term I see a lot when reading about medieval villages.
Hi there - we're happy to approve your question related to your novel, and we are happy for people to answer. However, we should warn you that many flairs have become reluctant to answer questions for aspiring novelists, based on past experience: some aspiring novelists have a tendency to try to pump historians for trivia while ignoring the bigger points they were making, while others have a tendency to argue with historians when the historical reality does not line up with what's needed for a particular scene or characterization. Please respect the answers of people who have generously given you their time, even if it's not always what you want to hear.
Additionally, as amazing as our flair panel is, we should also point out that /r/AskHistorians is not a professional historical consultation service. If you're asking a question here because you need vital research for a future commercial product such as a historical novel, you may be better off engaging a historical consultant at a fair hourly rate to answer these questions for you. We don't know what the going rate for consultancy work would be in your locality, but it may be worth looking into that if you have in-depth or highly plot-reliant questions for this project. Some /r/AskHistorians flairs could be receptive to working as a consultant in this way. However, if you wish for a flair here to do this work for you, you will need to organize this with them yourselves.