00:00Modern lighting is quite convenient.
00:03It's so cheap and plentiful that it's very easy to take it for granted.
00:07But for the vast majority of history, lighting was a much more complex affair, and in fact
00:13a very expensive one.
00:15You see, prior to electricity, light sources were much fewer in number and availability.
00:21You had the sun, which was free for everyone, mostly, and then you had your trusty hearth
00:28at home, which would be kept at least partially lit at all times.
00:32Neither of these light sources was particularly useful for reading at night, however, assuming
00:37you could read in the first place.
00:40But, let's say you could, which would make you either a noble or a clergyman.
00:45In that case, you'd be getting most of your artificial light from candles.
00:50These candles would be made of wax, beeswax to be precise, which obviously came from bees,
00:58as well.
00:59Interestingly enough, beekeeping wasn't really a thing in early medieval Europe, at least
01:04not in the sense we understand it today.
01:06Most people didn't keep bees at home, but rather hunted for wild bee nests in nearby forests.
01:14Aspiring bee masters would try to domesticate these wild bees by carving suitable trees into
01:19perfect nesting places, and tending to the colony if it decided to move in.
01:24I would like a jacuzzi over there, and a helipad over there, and an espresso thing over there.
01:32Now, this practice wasn't particularly efficient, but it didn't need to be, because initially,
01:37demand for beeswax wasn't all that high.
01:40But then, Christianity came along and created a ton of new demand.
01:45The vast sanctuaries of churches and cathedrals required an unprecedented amount of candles to
01:52be properly lit.
01:53Bees were the perfect solution to this Christian problem.
01:56So, European beekeeping traditions really kicked off with the church and its monasteries.
02:02The clergy took special care of the bees in its domain, and created dedicated bee forests
02:08whose sole purpose was to nurture new colonies.
02:12Christianity even enshrined the status of bees in its doctrines, with numerous saints
02:18and popes exalting their chastity and diligence.
02:22That takes the sting out of things.
02:24Arguably, the spread of Christianity was the best thing to ever happen to bees, at least
02:29population-wise.
02:31However, as Europe's own population grew, the ever-increasing demand for food resulted in forests
02:38being cleared away to make room for farmland.
02:41In fact, the Middle Ages saw one of the greatest waves of deforestation in history.
02:47So, while the church did an excellent job of supporting the bees on its own territory,
02:52secular deforestation destroyed bee populations pretty much everywhere else.
02:57Ironically, the areas with the highest demand for beeswax became those least capable of producing it.
03:04In medieval England, for example, beeswax became eight times more expensive than honey,
03:10and a single wax candle could cost more than a day's wage.
03:14So, from where did Europe get its beeswax?
03:18Well, from the few places with any remaining forests.
03:22Scandinavia and Russia.
03:25Indeed, beeswax became one of the most valuable goods in the Baltic sea trade.
03:30The famous Hanseatic League, a confederation of German merchants and guilds,
03:36monopolized this trade route and earned great profits in the process.
03:40Of course, these profits came at the expense of consumers.
03:44Well, we certainly don't hear of that happening anymore.
03:47So, by the 12th century, pretty much only the nobility and the clergy could afford wax candles.
03:54The fact that they used copious amounts of them didn't help.
03:58Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome had 1,300 candles burning at all times in the shape of a cross,
04:06while the funeral of Edward I saw a total of 850 pounds of wax being burnt.
04:13The situation in England, specifically, got even worse when Henry VIII decided to cut ties with the Pope.
04:21In addition to getting as many divorces as he wanted, he also closed all the monasteries,
04:26destroying a large chunk of England's beeswax production.
04:30Now, the European commoner did have one alternative.
04:34Rather than making candles out of beeswax, he could use tallow instead.
04:41Tallow is made of animal fat, and while its candles are dimmer, smokier and generally quite smelly,
04:47they're still better than nothing.
04:49Candles remained an expensive commodity well into the 19th century,
04:53when German chemists discovered how to turn petroleum into paraffin wax,
04:59which is what we use in our candles to this day.
05:02So, there you have it. The humble candle was quite the luxury not too long ago.
05:08Anyway, my friends, I hope you enjoyed our brief dive into the heart of medieval beeswax economics.
05:16I'm sure this story will make for interesting dinner table conversations,
05:20so do let me know if you managed to impress someone with your esoteric knowledge,
05:25and perhaps even consider supporting me on Patreon.
05:28That would be greatly appreciated.
05:31In any case, you shall hear from me again in two weeks
05:34for another bright, scented and smokeless episode of SideQuest.
05:42Oh, I think there's a bee in here.
05:45Oh dear.
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