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What were some common fallacies about the Middle Ages?
What errors were made in the Middle Ages?
Do people have wrong ideas about the Middle Ages?
Why do people think the Middle Ages were the Dark Ages?
Why was the Middle Ages a dangerous era?
How did people understand geography in the Middle Ages?
One of the most common errors surrounding the Middle Ages the period had people or the uneducated ones at the very least believed that the Earth was flat and that the belief was eventually reversed with the voyages of Christopher Columbus, which disproved common opinion on the sphericity of the Earth.
- That medieval people thought the Earth was flat. Virtually every medieval scholar believed the world was round. In fact, they assumed that the Earth was perfectly round (in reality it is slightly elliptical), and one scholar named Abu Rayhan Biruni (973–1048) was able to figure out the radius of the Earth using mathematics – his estimate of it being 6,339 kilometres was only off by 31 kilometres.
- That Primae Noctis actually happened. In 19th century France, it became a popular belief that lords had several long-standing ‘rights’ over their peasants, including the right to have sex with any bride the ‘first night’ after her wedding.
- That Vikings wore horned helmets. Vikings and other medieval warriors never wore horned helmets. It would have been a very dumb idea for a Viking to use something like that in battle, as such a helmet could easily be knocked off.
- That there were elaborate torture devices in the Middle Ages. There are many different gruesome torture devices, including the Iron Maiden, the Pear of Anguish, and the Breast Ripper.
- Misconception: People in The Middle Ages Believed The Earth Was Flat.
- Misconception: The Middle Ages Was All Feasting and Jousting.
- Misconception: People Never Left Their hometowns.
- Misconception: People Were Filthy.
It turns out that plenty of people in the Middle Ages knew Earth was a sphere, thanks in large part to the Greek philosopher Pythagoras and the Roman astronomer Ptolemy. By around 600 BCE, Pythagoras had supposedly commented about Earth being round, and his work was echoed by Aristotle and Euclid. Ptolemy, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, in the 2nd...
Europeans might have jousted and feasted—some of them, at least—but those weren’t the only things going on in the world between the 5th and 15th centuries. Across the globe, civilizations expanded. Different religions drove new concepts in science, art, and philosophy. Trade networks birthed a global economy and accelerated the worldwide exchange o...
So we’ve discovered that people in the Middle Ages understood geography and made some great art. The misconception that Europeans knew very littleabout the world beyond their own villages can be similarly refuted. Many Europeans in the Middle Ages traveled widely—they made religious pilgrimages to important shrines and churches, and they traveled t...
So folks in the Middle Ages were definitely not stupid, but … did they smell? Contrary to popular belief, people took baths. And while they may not have been scrubbed to 21st-century standards, personal hygiene was important. Most people knew to wash their hands and faces regularly. Hygiene manuals, like the 14th-century Regimen sanitatis,told read...
Oct 9, 2024 · Many assume this time lacked innovation, but The University of California, Riverside’s research highlights how the Middle Ages were a period of notable progress, particularly in agriculture and architecture. Here are 15 common myths about this fascinating period that will challenge your preconceptions.
Jul 4, 2024 · Here are 15 common fallacies about the Middle Ages. The Myth of Universal Ignorance and Backwardness. Wikipedia. Many believe that the Middle Ages were a period of universal ignorance and backwardness, often called the “Dark Ages.” The reality is almost the opposite.
This week, Danièle asked her listeners which myths about the Middle Ages really drive them crazy. From the Flat Earth to daily hygiene, here is our attempt to shed light on some of the most common (but wrong!) ideas we have about the Middle Ages.
A common stereotype about the Middle Ages revolves around the assumption that it was an era of widespread superstition, in which church authorities burned witches left, right, and center. While it is true that people in the middle ages were quite superstitious, especially when compared to the modern era, their superstitions were not expressed ...
