Staircase Trouble

When riding a lift (elevator) or an escalator, many of you must have wondered: "how was this done in the olden days?". Let us examine how our technologically challenged ancestors solved the problems of vertical travel.

The answer is, they did not, or only did so partially. In order to move to a higher floor of a building, most people were forced to use stairs, also known as steps, a crude construction resembling a non-moving escalator. Most historians agree, that both upward and downward movement had to be accomplished by using muscle power. Records and archaeological research indicate that primitive lifts were also used, however those also had to be powered by actual physical activity. Needless to say they were extremely uncommon.

This technological and logistical nightmare often led to awkward situations. Depicted here, three Aragonese knights trying to descent a tower in Adrianopole in 1305, having collided with Byzantine infantrymen trying to go up, proceed to kill an extraordinary number of soldiers. It took a special decree of the city's ruler, prince Michael, to stop the killing. Sadly, the incident did not provoke any changes to the status quo.

Painted for Desperta Ferro Magazine