I’m willing to bet it was this article, which is good, though slightly misleading, as it doesn’t adequately address day shifts and labor demands.
That’s what people will complain about as being misleading when you present it to them. After all, during summer, workers did 16 hour shifts.
Comparing a us worker who works 5 days a week and gets 5 weeks of vacation (the sort of middle class experience we all dream of), there are about 130 “days off” for them.
Assuming a more typical lower class work schedule, with two part time jobs that over lap such that you only have one day a week off, that would be about 52 days off (already less than half, ouch).
For a “medieval” work day, the duration would vary based on sunrise and sunset times, changing annually from 16 hours to 6 and back to 16 each summer.
However, these shifts were broken into regular, long breaks, considered critical for the health and ability of the workers. Generally, there were three meals, two snacks, and a long afternoon nap every work day. Work itself happened for 2-3 hours before the next break. This is a condition that I guarantee you everyone who has ever worked a 12-and-12 wishes were the case today. Or even a 9-5.
Of the calendar year, there were 180 or more holidays scattered, with the largest being the 12 days of Christmas, and whatever that week before Easter is called. There were multiple holidays a month, and every Sunday was always a rest day, no matter what.
In addition, the highly seasonal nature of European living meant you had a lot of down time for long, long periods in winter, even if you kept livestock.
Additionally, the European style of farming, which required fallow fields every few years, created a cultural sense that long rest periods are necessary for the growth of the farmers just as much as for the growth of the farm.
So, basically, although life was worse in almost every way, especially medically and socially, in terms of labor the middle ages have us beat pretty soundly. Even the longest shifts were split into sets of 2-3 hours each, with long breaks between. Half-ish of the year was spent doing no work at all.
You couldn’t pay me enough to go live in that time period, but there are definitely some labor practices we need to bring back into vogue.
