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<blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 9439824" data-attributes="member: 7026594">The idea that women in a medieval society could be &quot;full grown&quot; at 13 was a common pop history misconception based on the fact that nobles, especially royalty, would sometimes be married that young for political reasons.&nbsp; And in warm climates like the Middle East, especially for wealthy people who had plenty of food all year round, kids could physically mature relatively young.But for poorer people, and in colder climates like Northern Europe, kids would mature more slowly. Because for half the year your body's caloric supply was mostly used just keeping your core body temperature up, not leaving much left over for growth and maturation.&nbsp; After the advent of central heating kids starting maturing physically much faster, for the same reason we grow flowers in hothouses.During the American Colonial period, for example, the English were a bit scandalized that men in the colonies were sometimes marrying girls as young as sixteen, because of a shortage of women.&nbsp; Whereas in that period it was reasonably common for kids not to hit puberty until 16-17.Of course it's a fantasy world, and I don't know whether Weis and Hickman ever described the climate in a lot of detail, but my general recollection, refreshed by a quick look at a map of Ansalon, is that the climate is supposed to be relatively similar to the midwest US.&nbsp; We can of course dismiss any concerns about the early maturation of the characters with it being a fantasy world, and/or by assuming it's actually a warm climate, but contextually I'd guess that Weis fell into the bad history trap.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mannahnin, post: 9439824, member: 7026594"] The idea that women in a medieval society could be "full grown" at 13 was a common pop history misconception based on the fact that nobles, especially royalty, would sometimes be married that young for political reasons. And in warm climates like the Middle East, especially for wealthy people who had plenty of food all year round, kids [I]could[/I] physically mature relatively young. But for poorer people, and in colder climates like Northern Europe, kids would mature more slowly. Because for half the year your body's caloric supply was mostly used just keeping your core body temperature up, not leaving much left over for growth and maturation. After the advent of central heating kids starting maturing physically much faster, for the same reason we grow flowers in hothouses. During the American Colonial period, for example, the English were a bit scandalized that men in the colonies were sometimes marrying girls as young as sixteen, because of a shortage of women. Whereas in that period it was reasonably common for kids not to hit puberty until 16-17. Of course it's a fantasy world, and I don't know whether Weis and Hickman ever described the climate in a lot of detail, but my general recollection, refreshed by a quick look at a map of Ansalon, is that the climate is supposed to be relatively similar to the midwest US. We can of course dismiss any concerns about the early maturation of the characters with it being a fantasy world, and/or by assuming it's actually a warm climate, but contextually I'd guess that Weis fell into the bad history trap. [/QUOTE]

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