We casually toss around the word ‘medieval’ to indicate a primitive form of abuse or torture in our culture. It has some humor value as well to help soften the blow of perceived torture devices we imagine were constantly used during the ‘dark ages.’ And, as we live in such an *cough* enlightened era today, we tend to think of human abuse relegated to people who lived before us, mostly ignorant, unsophisticated, uneducated, and are now dead.
And as a special nod to our own ignorance in this age we have a flat earth society, with a webpage! According to historian Jeffrey Burton Russell, “With extraordinary few exceptions no educated person in the history of Western Civilization from the third century B.C. onward believed that the Earth was flat.”
One of my favorite ways we’ve perpetuated the myth in modern culture was in 1994’s Pulp Fiction, where the character Marsellus Wallace swears revenge on an attacker: “I ain't through with you by a damn sight. I’m gonna git medieval on your ass.”
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries. This period is often thought of as a time when people ran rampant, no scientific accomplishments were made, no great art was produced, and it was nothing but torture, torture, torture.
Owwww, mo-f**ker!
In contrast, according to a history.com article published in 2016, “In the years following 476 A.D., various Germanic peoples conquered the former Roman Empire in the West (including Europe and North Africa), shoving aside ancient Roman traditions in favor of their own. The negative view of the so-called ‘Dark Ages’ became popular largely because most of the written records of the time (including St. Jerome and St. Patrick in the fifth century, Gregory of Tours in the sixth and Bede in the eighth) had a strong Rome-centric bias.”
Seb Falk, author of The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science, says “so often mocking medieval science is a way of excusing our own self-satisfaction. If they were ignorant and we are smart, we can continue to complacently believe that scientific progress is steady and inevitable. But a true picture of the Middle Ages shows us that highly intelligent people can believe the wrong things for the right reasons; that science and superstition can be intertwined; that progress can stop and even go into reverse.”
Also, the medieval Christian Church demanded that every student should study math and science in the new universities, the Church being the main conduit of literacy and culture. During the eleventh century Christian scholars, influenced by the translation of the ancient Greek logic, science, and mathematics, expounded upon these disciplines to eventually gave birth to modern science.
Interesting stuff to ponder but despite these disputes I may still want to git medieval on your ass once in a while. But mostly toward Republicans.
Other articles to check out in your spare time:
biologos.org/articles/rediscovering-the-science-of-the-middle-ages/
historyhit.com/why-were-the-early-middle-ages-called-the-dark-ages/
And now, this is needed…