Medieval myths invented in the 19th century

People in the 19th century were obsessed with making things up about medieval Europe. Here are my top 3 myths they invented: 1. The Flat Earth Myth Europeans had known that the earth was spherical since at least ancient Greece, and medieval Europeans were no exception. We have plenty of manuscripts depicting round earths, and

Christmas traditions in medieval England

In medieval England, Christmas lasted for the famous twelve days. During this period there were many fun festivities taking place… Mumming Throughout the Christmas period, people would dress up in masks and perform funny plays, mock sword fights, and dances. They were supposed to be funny, a bit like a pantomime – the pantomime horse

Medieval myth busting: time off work

Did you know that medieval peasants in western Europe may have had more time off work than we do now? According to Juliet Schor, leisure time in medieval England took up about one-third of the year. In France in the later Middle Ages it was even more, and in Spain it was reported that workers

Medieval myth busting: life expectancy

Did medieval people all die at 35? No, and this is a huge misconception! Life expectancy is an average – if you have two people, one dies at birth and one dies at 70, the average age that they live is 35. Neither of them actually died at 35. Similarly, people in medieval western Europe

Medieval nuns and female orgasms

Who do you think was the first woman to write a description of the female orgasm? A literary figure like Virginia Woolf? A medical practitioner like Elizabeth Blackwell? In the western canon at least, the earliest surviving description is actually by a medieval nun called Hildegard of Bingen. Alongside her theology, music, and morality play,

Medieval myth busting: torture

Was medieval western Europe full of sadistic torture? Well, no… and mainly because most of the things we think were medieval torture devices actually weren’t! @medievallauren Was medieval Europe full of sadistic torture? #historiansoftiktok #medievalmyths #learnontiktok #historymemes #medievalmemes #fyp #medieval ♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod This false image is mythologised in our culture

Medieval myth busting: Travel

Over on Tiktok, I somehow made a popular (can I say viral?!) video busting some medieval myths. The great thing about this is seeing how many people want to learn more about the Middle Ages – one of the most falsely maligned periods of history. So, this month I’m going to run a joint series