Born ThenLife in the 11th century
Be born somewhere between 1000 and 1099, weighted by real births, and live five lives from that year on.
The numbers
The world had about 336 million people around the middle of the 11th century. Life expectancy at birth was near 26 years, mostly because so many children died; people who reached adulthood often lived into their fifties or sixties. About 4% could read and 8% lived in towns. Most births happened in South China (15%), North India (15%), North China (10%), South India and Sri Lanka (8%), West Africa (4%).
All numbers before 1800 are modelled from long-run population and life-expectancy estimates by region. How it works
What happened
- Indian Ocean slave trade 700–1799
- Abbasid prosperity (Islamic Golden Age) 786–1000
- Viking raids 793–1066
- Song dynasty commercial revolution 960–1270
- Chola expansion 985–1070
- Polynesian settlement of Hawaii 1000–1200
- The Crusades 1096–1291