Discover the surprising reality of royal daily life, from medieval kings who slept sitting up with servants in their bedrooms to the structured schedules and rituals that defined life on the throne across history.

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From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco

Lena: Hey there, history enthusiasts! I was thinking about this the other day—we always see kings in movies living these glamorous lives, but what was daily life actually like for medieval royalty? Were they really living the dream?
Miles: You know, that's such a fascinating question because the reality was so different from what Hollywood shows us. For instance, did you know that medieval kings rarely had any privacy? According to Christine de Pizan's account of King Charles V of France, even the king's bedroom would have servants sleeping on pallets right there in the same room!
Lena: Wait, seriously? Even when they were... you know... with the queen?
Miles: Exactly! Privacy was basically non-existent. Even royal couples had to get creative with those bed curtains! And speaking of beds, some were intentionally short because people would sleep sitting up—lying down flat was considered the position of the dead.
Lena: That's wild! I always imagined kings just lounging around eating turkey legs all day, but it sounds like their lives were actually pretty structured.
Miles: Right, and their days followed surprisingly rigid schedules. Charles V would rise between six and seven, attend mass, handle petitions from commoners, meet with his council, and then finally eat around ten in the morning. Let's explore what a typical day in the life of a medieval king actually looked like...