There have been a lot of rotten jobs throughout the history of Britain, especially in the 10 centuries before 1066. When the Romans invade in AD 43, they bring with them a civilised way of life, but they also create some truly terrible job vacancies that just have to be filled. Some 400 years later, when the Romans are becoming a distant memory, Anglo-Saxon England is able to offer a whole new range of miserable ways to make a living. Not a people to be outdone in the misery stakes, the Vikings, too, are no strangers to uncomfortable, dangerous and all-round grim working conditions. This is an era with an abundance of contenders for the title of the worst job in history.