4 Stupid Stories About the Middle Ages Everyone Tells
Medieval myths dispelled
The Middle Ages, or Medieval Times, in Europe was from 500 AD to 1500 AD. That’s 1000 years! It spans from the decline of the Roman Empire to the ascent of the Ottoman Empire.
This era demonstrates castles and peasants, guilds and monasteries, cathedrals and crusades. Great leaders such as Joan of Arc and Charlemagne were part of the Middle Ages and noteworthy events such as the Black Plague and the rise of Islam.
When people use the terms Medieval Times, Middle Ages, and Dark Ages, they refer to the same period. The Dark Ages usually refers to the first half of the Middle Ages from 500 to 1000 AD.
The fall of the Roman Empire led to the extinction of Roman culture and lots of knowledge about art, technology, engineering, and history. Historians know a lot about Europe during the Roman Empire because the Romans kept excellent records of events. However, the time after the Romans was “dark” to historians because there was no central government recording events. This is why historians call this time the Dark Ages.
History of middle ages has ever been fascinating to me. I have read mind blowing stories of knights in literature and captivating beauty and grandeur of castles. The era also holds plagues and epic battles. Besides, I’ve also come across numerous misconceptions about this time period. Today, I want to dispel some of these myths by sharing four of the most stupid stories about the Middle Ages that everyone seems to believe.
1.Let’s talk about the belief that people in the Middle Ages thought the Earth was flat. This is probably one of the most pervasive myths out there. The truth is, educated people in the Middle Ages knew that the Earth was round. The ancient Greeks, particularly philosophers like Pythagoras, Aristotle, and Ptolemy, developed their theory of a spherical Earth based on careful observations, mathematical calculations, and logical reasoning.
This knowledge wasn’t lost after the fall of Rome.
In fact, the ancient Greeks had already established this centuries before. Figures like St. Bede in the 8th century and Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century clearly wrote about a spherical Earth.
Even the infamous Columbus story gets twisted. His challenge wasn’t about proving the Earth was round; it was about the size of the Earth and the distance to Asia.
This flat Earth myth seems to persist partly because it fits a convenient narrative of the “Dark Ages” as a period of ignorance, but the reality is far more nuanced and sophisticated.
2.The misconception that medieval people had no hygiene and never bathed. It’s easy to imagine filthy peasants covered in grime, but this image doesn’t hold up under scrutiny.
Medieval texts and archaeological evidence show that people did care about cleanliness. Public bathhouses were common in medieval cities, and personal hygiene practices, such as washing hands and face daily, were encouraged.
Monastic rules often included bathing, though with some restrictions to prevent excess. Also, medieval manuscripts describe the use of soap and herbs for cleaning. While their standards might not match modern expectations, they were far from the smelly savages often portrayed in pop culture.
3.The story that grinds my gears is the idea that the medieval period was devoid of scientific and technological progress. Contrary to popular belief, the Middle Ages were a time of significant innovation.
The invention of the mechanical clock, improvements in agricultural techniques like the three-field system, and advancements in architecture, such as the development of the Gothic style, are just a few examples.
Scholars in the Islamic world, as well as in Europe, made great strides in medicine, astronomy, and mathematics.
The universities that began to appear in the 12th century laid the groundwork for the Renaissance. It’s unfair and inaccurate to view this era as stagnant when it was, in fact, a period of considerable intellectual activity.
4.There’s the romantic but misleading notion of chivalry and courtly love as a pervasive and actual lifestyle among knights and nobles. While chivalry was a real code of conduct with roots in Christian and martial ideals, its practice was often more about appearances than reality.
The concept of courtly love, popularized by troubadours and poets, painted an idealized picture of noble knights performing grand gestures for unattainable ladies. However, this ideal didn’t reflect the gritty and pragmatic nature of medieval life.
Knights were as likely to be engaged in brutal warfare and political maneuvering as they were to be serenading fair maidens.
The literature of the time, full of tales of courtly love and chivalric deeds, often served more as aspirational propaganda than as documentation of everyday life.
These four stories — flat Earth beliefs, nonexistent hygiene, a lack of progress, and the chivalric ideal — are more than just inaccuracies. They contribute to a skewed understanding of the Middle Ages, one that underestimates the complexity and achievements of this era.
By debunking these myths, we can appreciate the Middle Ages not as a period of darkness and ignorance, but as a dynamic time with its own rich tapestry of culture, science, and human endeavor.
The next time someone repeats one of these myths, you’ll be ready to set the record straight. The Middle Ages were far from perfect, but they were also far from the caricature of backwardness often portrayed in popular culture.
By shedding light on these misconceptions, we can foster a more accurate and respectful understanding of our past.
After all, history deserves to be remembered as it was, not as we mistakenly believe it to be.
