The seemingly curious question posed in this article—did people in the Middle Ages run?—might naturally arise when one attempts to identify evidence of running in medieval sources or in the scholarship devoted to the subject. Aside from the well-documented punishment imposed on adulterous couples in certain towns of southern France, where offenders were forced to run naked through the streets amid public jeering, running as a physical activity has attracted little sustained attention from historians. This neglect is striking, given the many contexts in which such a question might reasonably be asked.
The present inquiry originated in the reading of an excerpt from the Vita of Saint Yriex (Aredius), a Limousin saint who died around 591. While the modern name of his birthplace, Saint-Yriex-la-Perche, evokes an association with athletic competition—particularly jumping—it is in fact another form of physical exertion that appears in one of the two vitae dedicated to him. According to this Carolingian hagiographical account, a man named Baudenus, returning from Autun, was seized by a fit of madness after attempting to steal a flask of holy oil used by Aredius. In order to rid himself of the evil spirit that possessed him, he was required to travel to the tomb of Saint Martial in Limoges.
During his frantic flight, Baudenus is said to have covered nearly twelve Roman miles in a single hour, an achievement attributed by the author to his deranged state, yet one matched by the saint’s guardians, who ultimately succeeded in catching him. The text recounts:
This same Baudenus, troubled by an evil spirit and no longer master of his senses, lengthened his stride before all present and attempted to flee. In the space of one hour, he ran swiftly on foot almost twelve miles; his body exhausted and half-dead, he collapsed to the ground. Having been overtaken by the guardians, he was then brought back to the house.
Relief at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris – photo by Thesupermat / Wikimedia Commons
Such precise references to athletic performance are rare in medieval sources. If one accepts the Roman mile as approximately 1,482 metres, then twelve miles correspond to 17.78 kilometres, and eleven miles (since Baudenus “almost” reached the twelfth) to around 14.8 kilometres. This would make the feat remarkable by any standard.
The principal difficulty lies in determining the length of the “hour” in question. In the Middle Ages, an hour was defined as one-twelfth of daylight, and thus varied seasonally: approximately 43 minutes at the winter solstice, 1 hour 20 minutes at the summer solstice, and roughly 1 hour at the equinoxes. If one adopts the equinoctial hour as an average value, Baudenus’ speed would fall between 14.8 km/h and 17.8 km/h—equivalent to highly competitive modern running times. A winter hour would yield implausibly high speeds exceeding those of contemporary elite long-distance runners, whereas a summer hour produces more modest figures comparable to those of a well-trained amateur runner.
Nearly nine centuries later, in 1457, a letter of remission granted by King Charles VII raises similar questions. Its beneficiary, Nicolle Janson, a young Scotsman in royal service in Guyenne at the end of the Hundred Years’ War, recounts how he and three mounted companions were pursued by a group of Gascons following a dispute. Although the Scots were on horseback, they were eventually exhausted and forced into close combat.
The absence of any indication that the Gascons were mounted invites speculation. How could experienced cavalrymen fail to outpace what appear to have been lightly equipped pursuers? Even allowing for terrain familiarity or the use of shortcuts, such a pursuit challenges conventional assumptions and evokes endurance-based hunting techniques.
A Fragmentary Historiography
A 16th-century Italian drawing of Soldiers Running – The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The historiography of running in medieval societies offers little to clarify such cases. Historians of the body and sport have generally maintained that athletic practices declined after antiquity and only re-emerged in the nineteenth century with the rise of modern sport in Britain.
Running does not appear to have been organised as a competitive discipline comparable to ancient Greek contests.
This absence is unsurprising. Unlike aristocratic pursuits such as hunting or tournaments, which generated detailed treatises, no comparable literature exists for an everyday activity such as running. Historians must therefore rely on scattered references across chronicles, literary texts, legal records, and hagiographies. The ambiguity of terminology further complicates matters, as the verb currere may refer to running, attacking, spreading rumours, or mobilising for battle.
Interpreting Performance
The story of Baudenus cannot be reduced to a single interpretation. Even if one adopts the lowest estimate of his speed, it is clear that for a Carolingian hagiographer from the Limousin, the expression cucurrit pedibus velociter carried real meaning. Whether the episode actually occurred or was invented, as is often the case in such sources, is of secondary importance. What matters is that the performance was perceived as extraordinary. Such awareness presupposes either practical experience or a cultural framework in which physical performance could be recognised and evaluated.
Running Without Dishonour
Image of a chasqui in the First New Chronicle and Good Government by Guamán Poma de Ayala
In reality, opportunities to run in medieval societies were far from rare. As in any pre-industrial society where the use of horses was not universal, running could be a practical necessity. Certain social roles even made it unavoidable.
Although the decline of ancient games and the condemnation of athletic contests by the Church Fathers are well known, they did not entirely prevent the reappearance of similar practices. In Ireland, for example, games were held at Tailtiu until 1168, including hurling and horse racing. In London, William FitzStephen’s late twelfth-century description mentions seasonal games for young people involving throwing contests, wrestling, and ball games. Yet, notably, running is not explicitly mentioned in these contexts.
The same silence applies to esbattements, local competitions often organised under seigneurial or urban authority. These included activities such as ball games, wrestling, and, above all, archery and crossbow shooting, encouraged for their military utility, as evidenced by a 1369 ordinance of Charles V.
More compelling evidence comes from social functions that required rapid movement. Among these, the role of the messenger is particularly significant. Biblical models—such as Ahimaaz running to bring news to King David—provided a familiar cultural reference. In the medieval West, the circulation of information relied on both informal and official channels, including heralds, criers, and messengers travelling on foot or horseback.
In Provence, for instance, networks of sergeant-messengers criss-crossed the region, while in cities such as Toulouse, the cost of messengers formed a substantial portion of municipal expenditure. Although many travelled on horseback, it is clear that some operated on foot, even if it is difficult to determine whether they walked or ran.
Comparable systems elsewhere underscore the potential for remarkable human endurance. Accounts by travellers such as Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo describe highly organised networks of foot messengers capable of rivaling mounted couriers. Similarly, the chasquis of the Inca Empire demonstrated extraordinary stamina in relay systems across vast distances.
Running Soldiers and Human Endurance
Another category likely to engage in running is that of infantry soldiers. Medieval armies frequently relied on foot soldiers recruited from rural and urban populations. Evidence from fourteenth-century England indicates that archers could be required to cover distances of several hundred kilometres within a week, implying sustained rapid movement, whether by fast walking or intermittent running.
Anthropological comparisons lend plausibility to such feats. Studies of non-industrial societies, such as the San of the Kalahari or the Tarahumara of northern Mexico, demonstrate the human capacity for long-distance endurance running. While bioarchaeology has yet to identify clear skeletal markers of habitual running in medieval populations, these examples suggest that such abilities were well within human limits.
A Discredited Yet Persistent Practice
Running nonetheless appears to have occupied an ambiguous cultural position. It could be associated with shame, as in punitive or festive contexts involving marginalised groups. At the same time, it retained positive connotations through biblical metaphors and occasional literary praise of exceptional speed.
Ultimately, the answer to the initial question is unsurprising: medieval people did indeed run, and not only under humiliating conditions. While certain contexts preserved negative associations, others reveal a more neutral or even positive perception of running.
Even if written culture privileged aristocratic activities such as hunting and tournaments, and even if organised athletic competitions had largely declined, running remained a practical and widely practised activity. The necessity of moving on foot, combined with roles such as messenger or infantryman, provided ample opportunity to develop endurance and speed.
Thus, despite the disappearance of ancient-style games and the appropriation of the athletic ideal by saints and the nobility, there remained sufficient occasions for ordinary people to run pedibus velociter—and, at times, to do so in pursuit of genuine physical performance. In the construction of honour and capability among non-elite individuals, this dimension should not be underestimated.
Dr Lorris Chevalier, who has a Ph.D. in medieval literature, is a historical advisor for movies, including The Last Duel and Napoleon. Click here to view his website.
By Lorris Chevalier
The seemingly curious question posed in this article—did people in the Middle Ages run?—might naturally arise when one attempts to identify evidence of running in medieval sources or in the scholarship devoted to the subject. Aside from the well-documented punishment imposed on adulterous couples in certain towns of southern France, where offenders were forced to run naked through the streets amid public jeering, running as a physical activity has attracted little sustained attention from historians. This neglect is striking, given the many contexts in which such a question might reasonably be asked.
The present inquiry originated in the reading of an excerpt from the Vita of Saint Yriex (Aredius), a Limousin saint who died around 591. While the modern name of his birthplace, Saint-Yriex-la-Perche, evokes an association with athletic competition—particularly jumping—it is in fact another form of physical exertion that appears in one of the two vitae dedicated to him. According to this Carolingian hagiographical account, a man named Baudenus, returning from Autun, was seized by a fit of madness after attempting to steal a flask of holy oil used by Aredius. In order to rid himself of the evil spirit that possessed him, he was required to travel to the tomb of Saint Martial in Limoges.
During his frantic flight, Baudenus is said to have covered nearly twelve Roman miles in a single hour, an achievement attributed by the author to his deranged state, yet one matched by the saint’s guardians, who ultimately succeeded in catching him. The text recounts:
This same Baudenus, troubled by an evil spirit and no longer master of his senses, lengthened his stride before all present and attempted to flee. In the space of one hour, he ran swiftly on foot almost twelve miles; his body exhausted and half-dead, he collapsed to the ground. Having been overtaken by the guardians, he was then brought back to the house.
Such precise references to athletic performance are rare in medieval sources. If one accepts the Roman mile as approximately 1,482 metres, then twelve miles correspond to 17.78 kilometres, and eleven miles (since Baudenus “almost” reached the twelfth) to around 14.8 kilometres. This would make the feat remarkable by any standard.
The principal difficulty lies in determining the length of the “hour” in question. In the Middle Ages, an hour was defined as one-twelfth of daylight, and thus varied seasonally: approximately 43 minutes at the winter solstice, 1 hour 20 minutes at the summer solstice, and roughly 1 hour at the equinoxes. If one adopts the equinoctial hour as an average value, Baudenus’ speed would fall between 14.8 km/h and 17.8 km/h—equivalent to highly competitive modern running times. A winter hour would yield implausibly high speeds exceeding those of contemporary elite long-distance runners, whereas a summer hour produces more modest figures comparable to those of a well-trained amateur runner.
Nearly nine centuries later, in 1457, a letter of remission granted by King Charles VII raises similar questions. Its beneficiary, Nicolle Janson, a young Scotsman in royal service in Guyenne at the end of the Hundred Years’ War, recounts how he and three mounted companions were pursued by a group of Gascons following a dispute. Although the Scots were on horseback, they were eventually exhausted and forced into close combat.
The absence of any indication that the Gascons were mounted invites speculation. How could experienced cavalrymen fail to outpace what appear to have been lightly equipped pursuers? Even allowing for terrain familiarity or the use of shortcuts, such a pursuit challenges conventional assumptions and evokes endurance-based hunting techniques.
A Fragmentary Historiography
The historiography of running in medieval societies offers little to clarify such cases. Historians of the body and sport have generally maintained that athletic practices declined after antiquity and only re-emerged in the nineteenth century with the rise of modern sport in Britain.
Running does not appear to have been organised as a competitive discipline comparable to ancient Greek contests.
This absence is unsurprising. Unlike aristocratic pursuits such as hunting or tournaments, which generated detailed treatises, no comparable literature exists for an everyday activity such as running. Historians must therefore rely on scattered references across chronicles, literary texts, legal records, and hagiographies. The ambiguity of terminology further complicates matters, as the verb currere may refer to running, attacking, spreading rumours, or mobilising for battle.
Interpreting Performance
The story of Baudenus cannot be reduced to a single interpretation. Even if one adopts the lowest estimate of his speed, it is clear that for a Carolingian hagiographer from the Limousin, the expression cucurrit pedibus velociter carried real meaning. Whether the episode actually occurred or was invented, as is often the case in such sources, is of secondary importance. What matters is that the performance was perceived as extraordinary. Such awareness presupposes either practical experience or a cultural framework in which physical performance could be recognised and evaluated.
Running Without Dishonour
In reality, opportunities to run in medieval societies were far from rare. As in any pre-industrial society where the use of horses was not universal, running could be a practical necessity. Certain social roles even made it unavoidable.
Although the decline of ancient games and the condemnation of athletic contests by the Church Fathers are well known, they did not entirely prevent the reappearance of similar practices. In Ireland, for example, games were held at Tailtiu until 1168, including hurling and horse racing. In London, William FitzStephen’s late twelfth-century description mentions seasonal games for young people involving throwing contests, wrestling, and ball games. Yet, notably, running is not explicitly mentioned in these contexts.
The same silence applies to esbattements, local competitions often organised under seigneurial or urban authority. These included activities such as ball games, wrestling, and, above all, archery and crossbow shooting, encouraged for their military utility, as evidenced by a 1369 ordinance of Charles V.
More compelling evidence comes from social functions that required rapid movement. Among these, the role of the messenger is particularly significant. Biblical models—such as Ahimaaz running to bring news to King David—provided a familiar cultural reference. In the medieval West, the circulation of information relied on both informal and official channels, including heralds, criers, and messengers travelling on foot or horseback.
In Provence, for instance, networks of sergeant-messengers criss-crossed the region, while in cities such as Toulouse, the cost of messengers formed a substantial portion of municipal expenditure. Although many travelled on horseback, it is clear that some operated on foot, even if it is difficult to determine whether they walked or ran.
Comparable systems elsewhere underscore the potential for remarkable human endurance. Accounts by travellers such as Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo describe highly organised networks of foot messengers capable of rivaling mounted couriers. Similarly, the chasquis of the Inca Empire demonstrated extraordinary stamina in relay systems across vast distances.
Running Soldiers and Human Endurance
Another category likely to engage in running is that of infantry soldiers. Medieval armies frequently relied on foot soldiers recruited from rural and urban populations. Evidence from fourteenth-century England indicates that archers could be required to cover distances of several hundred kilometres within a week, implying sustained rapid movement, whether by fast walking or intermittent running.
Anthropological comparisons lend plausibility to such feats. Studies of non-industrial societies, such as the San of the Kalahari or the Tarahumara of northern Mexico, demonstrate the human capacity for long-distance endurance running. While bioarchaeology has yet to identify clear skeletal markers of habitual running in medieval populations, these examples suggest that such abilities were well within human limits.
A Discredited Yet Persistent Practice
Running nonetheless appears to have occupied an ambiguous cultural position. It could be associated with shame, as in punitive or festive contexts involving marginalised groups. At the same time, it retained positive connotations through biblical metaphors and occasional literary praise of exceptional speed.
Ultimately, the answer to the initial question is unsurprising: medieval people did indeed run, and not only under humiliating conditions. While certain contexts preserved negative associations, others reveal a more neutral or even positive perception of running.
Even if written culture privileged aristocratic activities such as hunting and tournaments, and even if organised athletic competitions had largely declined, running remained a practical and widely practised activity. The necessity of moving on foot, combined with roles such as messenger or infantryman, provided ample opportunity to develop endurance and speed.
Thus, despite the disappearance of ancient-style games and the appropriation of the athletic ideal by saints and the nobility, there remained sufficient occasions for ordinary people to run pedibus velociter—and, at times, to do so in pursuit of genuine physical performance. In the construction of honour and capability among non-elite individuals, this dimension should not be underestimated.
Dr Lorris Chevalier, who has a Ph.D. in medieval literature, is a historical advisor for movies, including The Last Duel and Napoleon. Click here to view his website.
Click here to read more from Lorris Chevalier
Further Readings:
Boutoulle Frédéric. Les médiévaux couraient-ils (autrement que nus) ? À la recherche des traces de la course à pied dans les sociétés médiévales. In: Annales du Midi : revue archéologique, historique et philologique de la France méridionale, Tome 128, N°295, 2016. pp. 431-442.
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