6 myths about the Middle Ages that everyone believes - Stephanie Honchell Smith

As someone who grew up in the middle ages, I find this video highly accurate and liberating.

The animator deserves a raise. If history lessons were shown like this, I would probably get much better marks.

I love this Ted Ed animation. It’s like the Red Bull Gives you Wings commercial 😂

Only thing that is missing is that the original origine of the title 'Dark Age' referred primarily to its lack of direct written sources. It was a dark age just because it was hard to figure out what actually happened in it, in particular when compared to the ruins of the classical era that exist even to this day.

Imagine if our modern records get lost and future historians rescue some fragments to understand our era. Imagine those fragments random posts in social media and satire pages.

As a historian there‘s a simple fact I always refer to when talking about any time in history: people were the same as we are today. Their world and thinking may have been completely different but they certainly wanted to eat good food, be clean and smell good, make a living without too much effort and simply have a nice time. Teenagers probably snuck away an met in secret just as they do today, grown ups cared for their loved ones, had worries and were annoyed about their coworkers/neighbors, etc. while old people were just as wise an stubborn as they are today. I simply don‘t get why people always think that their medieval ancestors were some kind of savages. They survived in a time with many wars, no modern medicine or mechanical help. Honestly, people today are in no way better or smarter, maybe even less capable than the people in the middle ages. Can you make a fire with a flintstone or grow your own food? Glad I found this great video :)

Most important to remember: This covers an over 1000 year period. Think about how our world changed over the last 50 years. Things like gruesome torture, bad hygiene or superstition might have existed at certain places at certain times in the Middle Ages but it wasn't always the norm.

Wait, Dark Souls isn't true?

THANK YOU! Many channels have tried to explain the misconceptions, but this may be the largest I have seen, with the ability to teach this to a wide audience. Medieval people knew the Earth was round, we knew even in the Antiquity, this knowledge wasn't lost, just some believers had the wrong idea. Medieval people loved to bathe, it was a cherished and enjoyable event, this was common for both rich and poor (although fancier in the former). Medieval people were just as smart as we are now, they just knew less .

I read the book City of Lights. It was the chronicles of a Jewish merchant from Italy headed to China in the 1200's. He carefully details sophisticated accounting and business practices, along with the goods and city policies of each stop he made. When he described the city of lights in China he may as well have been describing New York City. It showed very rich cultures both in Europe and abroad.

I really love how Ted-Ed uses Animation. I love it.

Overall, solid. the one thing i take issue with here is the "knights played minimal roles in medieval warfare". They were a numerical minority compared to other types of soldiers yes, but they were the military commanders, the most professional experienced and well equipped soldiers, often impacted battles during key decisive moments with heavy cavalry charges, often provided the logistics, were sometimes the Reason for a war(feuds, rebellions, needed money, etc) and depending on the era/setting could make up larger or smaller percentages of the present military forces. Also the knightly charge was something that Most medieval armies struggled against. If you didnt have disciplined pikemen who could hold their ground, or well trained archers/crossbowmen, (or something like Hussite war wagons) then your only real hope was to throw your own knights at them and hope for the best

Part of the issue with the "Middle Ages" is that it assumes that Rome "fell"; in reality, the Roman Empire in the east remained strong and held on for about another thousand years, while the western empire frayed and deteriorated over a long period into a patchwork of Germanic kingdoms that, in theory, owed fealty to the Roman Empire, but were autonomous in practice. Then too, Europeans imagined the Holy Roman Emperors to be the successors of Augustus rather than a distinct set of rulers, despite the cultural, political, and geographic differences between the Classical empire and the medieval confederation.

Can't imagine how people would think of how society is like now by those who live in the distant future. Generational divide is always causing myths of how the previous generation is better than the new one.

The late Terry Jones of Monty Python made several interesting documentaries on this period. I always remember the point he made that if they were so backwards, how did they build such marvellous cathedrals?

Also so many depictions without colour, as if they had no access to dyes or paint. Medieval Europeans also enjoyed colour, of course they tried to include flourishes, accents, and flowers in their lives.

I have never in my life heard it said that medieval folks habitually ate rotten meat. Which stands to reason, given that rotten meat makes people sick and they would've instantly learned not to eat it.

While there is a lot of truth here, one should be careful not to overcorrect for past misconceptions. For example, the statement at 3:57 that "knights played minimal roles in medieval warfare." Heavy cavalry in the Early and High Middle Ages ruled the battlefield, but they lost importance in the Late Middle Ages.

whoever they got to animate that cloak of invisibility absolutly nailed it

I disagree with your assertion that knights played no part in Medieval warfare. Romanticized in later years for sure, but heavy cavalry charges were quite important in battles.