Misconceptions

Hollywood and the simplification of history studies in the lower grades have left most people with misconceptions about what the Middle Ages was like. Readers of this blog know better, of course, but let's summarize some of the medieval misconceptions.

How about the Church controlling everything and no one being allowed to think for themselves? The number of different religious movements—not all of them declared heresies—shows that there were different interpretations of his divinity "worked." There was no universal view, for instance, on abortion, nor on how the Jews should be treated. They were protected in some places, persecuted in others, and even given an opportunity to be housed and clothed on the king's budget.

Armored knights have conjured images of men who could barely move, and who were helpless if they fell. Texts of the time, however, tell us that a knight was trained to move and fight in armor and should be able to mount his horse without assistance, in some cases leaping onto it.

Table manners is a hot topic. Hollywood loves raucous scenes of meals where bones are thrown on floors, people are guzzling beer and spilling their drink, etc. The 15th century illustration above is called "The Temperate and the Intemperate." It shows two different sets of table manners: formal and informal. Some were neat, others not. Also, note the dog in the lower-right corner, watching; he would be acting differently if there were scarps making their way to the floor.

Peasant huts were filthy is another misconception. No one wants to live in squalor, and everyone knew that rubbish attracted vermin. Archaeological digs at sites of abandoned medieval villages show the dirt floors of peasant huts were like a shallow bowl. The logical conclusion is that they were swept so frequently and carefully to remove trash that the dirt floors were made concave.

Peasants had no money, only barter. It turns out that peasants in England could earn money by selling goods, beer, food. As I pointed out long ago here, unfree peasants could earn enough to buy their freedom and leave their lord's demesne and set up shop elsewhere. They often did not, however, choosing to use their funds to rent more land to farm to make more money.

Part of the reason I started this blog was to provide, each day, a small piece of forgotten history to ad another facet to the jewel that is our knowledge of the Middle Ages. Tomorrow, I'd like to expand on the link above about the king "taking care of" the Jews in London.