Medieval Peasants Didn't Die at 25—Here's the Math

One of the most persistent myths about medieval life is that people were ancient at 30 and dead by 35. The "fact" that peasants lived an average of 25 years gets repeated constantly—but it's based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how life expectancy statistics work.

The Infant Mortality Trap

Here's the reality: roughly half of all people born in medieval times died before age two. When you're calculating an average lifespan and half your sample dies as infants, the math gets brutal. If one person dies at 1 year old and another at 70, the "average" is 35.5 years—but that doesn't mean anyone actually died at 35.

In late medieval England, infant mortality was around 30-34% in the first year alone. Only about 69% of newborns made it to their 15th birthday. These staggering early deaths dragged the average down to that infamous 25-35 year range.

If You Survived Childhood, You Were Probably Fine

The data tells a different story for those who made it past the danger zone. Historical records from medieval England show that landowners who reached age 25 could expect to live another 25.7 years—to about 50.7 on average. And that's still an average, meaning plenty lived well into their 60s, 70s, and beyond.

Skeletal evidence confirms this. Archaeological digs consistently find medieval remains of people who lived to old age—gray hair, arthritis, worn teeth, the whole package. Medieval literature is full of references to elderly people, and retirement ages for certain professions were set in the 60s and 70s.

The Real Danger Zones

Medieval life had three major mortality spikes:

• Birth to age 2: Disease, malnutrition, and lack of medical care
• Childbirth years: Women faced serious risks during pregnancy and delivery
• Young adulthood: Workplace accidents, wars, and inexperienced risk-taking

Clear those hurdles? Your chances of seeing grandchildren were actually pretty decent. You weren't considered "old" at 30—you were in your prime. Medieval society had concepts of childhood, adulthood, middle age, and old age that roughly mirror our own, just compressed slightly.

Why the Myth Persists

The confusion comes from mixing up "life expectancy at birth" (a statistical average heavily skewed by infant deaths) with "how long adults actually lived." Modern life expectancy is high partly because we've conquered infant mortality, not because 70-year-olds are a new invention.

So no, medieval peasants weren't doddering elders at 30. They were working, having families, and—if they were lucky—annoying their great-grandchildren well into their 70s. The math just makes their lives look shorter than they were.