Lifespans of Age of Discovery (Methodology, given on Quora)

Q

How was life during the Age of Discovery?
https://www.quora.com/How-was-life-during-the-Age-of-Discovery/answer/Hans-Georg-Lundahl-1

Answer requested by

Dylan Pancracio

Hans-Georg Lundahl

none/ apprx Masters Latin & Greek, Lund University

Answered 3h ago

First we check when that was ...

The Age of Discovery, or the Age of Exploration (approximately from the beginning of the 15th century until the middle of the 17th century),

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Discovery

1400 - 1650.

EDIT : I seem to have mistaken “how” for “how long” … so following answer is about lifespans. Well, that is one aspect of how life was then. (End of edit.)

Next we check life spans from these times.

Start with births of 1400:

January 13 – Infante John of Portugal, the Constable (d. 1442)
May 19 – John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton, English baron (d. 1462)
July 26 – Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Worcester, English noble (d. 1439)
December 25 – John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1487)
date unknown:
James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley (d. 1459)
Luca della Robbia, Florentine sculptor (d. 1482)
Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine (d. 1453).
Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, English politician (d. 1460)
Owen Tudor, Welsh courtier (d. 1461)
Rogier van der Weyden, Dutch painter (or 1399) / (1399 or 1400 – 18 June 1464)
Hans Multscher, German painter and sculptor (d. 1467)

I have omitted one who lived past 70 years, since her death year is unknown. For Rogier, I had to go to the article to find out the death year.

1401

March 27 – Albert III, Duke of Bavaria-Munich (d. 1460)
May 10 – Thomas Tuddenham, Landowner (d. 1462)
July 23 – Francesco I Sforza, Italian condottiero (d. 1466)[3]
September 14 – Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon, Queen consort of Aragon and Naples (d. 1458)
October 27 – Catherine of Valois, queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422 (d. 1437)[4]
October 28 – Thomas St Clere, English landowner (d. 1435)
November 26 – Henry Beaufort, 2nd Earl of Somerset (d. 1418)
December 21 – Tommaso Masaccio, Italian painter (d. 1428)
date unknown
Charles I, Duke of Bourbon (d. 1456)
Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut (d. 1436)

I have omitted one non-European, as Japanese Emperors are hardly what you want to know about.

1402 etc ... you take as many years as possible. The more, the better.

Then you line up the ages in order:

17 28 34 36 36 39 42 53 56 57 59 59 60 61 61 62 64/65 65 67 82 87

One lifespan has two values, so this gives two lines (always bother only about highest and lowest, and with several having more than one value, bother about a line with highest only and one with lowest only).

17 28 34 36 36 39 42 53 56 57 59 59 60 61 61 62 64 65 67 82 87
17 28 34 36 36 39 42 53 56 57 59 59 60 61 61 62 65 65 67 82 87

And add place values:

17 28 34 36 36 39 42 53 56 57 59 59 60 61 61 62 64 65 67 82 87
17 28 34 36 36 39 42 53 56 57 59 59 60 61 61 62 65 65 67 82 87
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Minimum 17, maximum 87.
Median 59
Lower quartile 39, higher quartile 62.

So, mostly about 39 to 62, centering around 59. The one lifespan with two values is between HQ and Maximum, so doesn't affect the result.

You can of course take a medium instead. Add 17+28+ ... + 87 and then divide the sum by 21.

Now, some more : the material is nearly uniformly people who did not die in childhood, so the answer is only valid if you add the proviso excluding the infant and juvenile mortality, and the material is mostly men, so women are not so represented.

The latter can be remedied by making separate calculations for men and women.

This is the method, I have done some work on my part according to it, now you do your work.