Yes. In Europe, people in the late Middle Ages and early modern period were on average shorter than people today. Skeletal data indicate adult male height in northern Europe was roughly 170 to 173 centimeters (about 5 ft 7 in) in the early Middle Ages, fell to around 165 to 168 centimeters (about 5 ft 5 to 5 ft 6 in) by the 17th century, then began to rise again from the 18th century onward as nutrition and health improved. Modern European men average about 175 to 180 centimeters (5 ft 9 in to 5 ft 11 in), depending on the country.
What does the evidence show about medieval height?
Historians and bioarchaeologists estimate stature by measuring long bones from skeletons and applying validated formulas. Analyses of thousands of remains from northern Europe suggest a high early-medieval baseline, a decline through the late medieval and 17th century, and a rebound starting in the 18th century.
Richard Steckel’s synthesis of remains dated from the 9th to 19th centuries found early medieval men were nearly as tall as modern men, with stature falling by several centimeters before the Industrial Revolution, then rising again with better living conditions (ScienceDaily summary of OSU work).
Independent statistical reconstructions based on large skeletal datasets point to a similar pattern: heights dipped in the late medieval and 17th century and recovered in the 18th and 19th centuries as food supplies stabilized and disease burdens dropped (Koepke & Baten 2005).
Adult height is a sensitive biological indicator of net nutrition and disease burden in childhood, so population-level changes in stature track living conditions over time (NBER: Steckel 2008).
What caused medieval height to fall and then rise?
The trend is largely environmental rather than genetic. Genes change slowly; rapid shifts over centuries reflect conditions during growth from infancy through adolescence.
- Nutrition and food security: Crop failures and reliance on cereals reduced calories and protein quality for many peasants. Periodic famines and poorer diets in late medieval and 17th century Europe limited growth.
- Disease load and urbanization: High exposure to infectious disease in dense towns and unsanitary conditions diverted energy from growth. Repeated childhood infections stunt height even with adequate calories.
- Climate shocks: Cooler, more variable weather during the Little Ice Age harmed harvests and increased subsistence stress in parts of Europe.
- Work intensity and inequality: Heavy child labor, seasonal energy deficits, and unequal access to animal products reduced growth potential in lower-status groups.
From the 18th century onward, agricultural improvements, better trade and transport, public health advances, and higher real wages gradually improved child nutrition and reduced disease, allowing average stature to rebound.
How do medieval heights compare to modern averages?
Today’s averages vary by country, but European men commonly measure 175 to 180 cm. For reference, the NCD Risk Factor Collaboration estimates 20th century gains of several centimeters across Europe, with the tallest populations now near or above 180 cm (NCD-RisC, eLife 2016).
That means early medieval northern Europeans were within a few centimeters of the lower end of present-day averages, late medieval and 17th century Europeans were several centimeters shorter than today, and heights rose again in the 18th and 19th centuries toward modern levels.
Did all regions and groups follow the same pattern?
No. Stature varied by region, social status, and time period.
- Regional differences: Northern and northwestern Europeans often appear taller in skeletal and later military records than some southern or eastern regions, but local ecology and economy mattered as much as latitude.
- Social gradients: Elites with better diets and lower disease exposure tended to be taller than commoners. Urban poor were often shorter than rural populations in the same period.
- Timing: Some areas saw height declines earlier or later, and the rebound in the 18th–19th centuries was not simultaneous across Europe.
How reliable are height estimates from skeletons?
Bioarchaeological methods for estimating stature from long bones are well established, but there are caveats.
- Sample bias: Who gets buried and preserved can skew results. Some cemeteries overrepresent certain social groups or age profiles.
- Survivorship and health selection: Skeletal samples may reflect people who died younger or sicker than average, which complicates inference about the whole population. These issues are discussed in reviews of the “osteological paradox” (DeWitte & Stojanowski 2015).
- Method differences: Conversion formulas and measurement protocols vary by study and population.
Even with these limitations, broad patterns are consistent across multiple sites and are supported by independent data such as later conscript and prison records. The convergence of evidence supports a real late-medieval and 17th century dip in average stature and a long-run rise thereafter.