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

Jun 2024 01

Explore the 6 most common misconceptions about the Middle Ages, and find out what living in medieval times was actually like.

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Medieval Europe. Where unbathed, sword-wielding knights ate rotten meat, thought the Earth was flat, defended chastity-belt wearing maidens, and tortured their foes with grisly gadgets. Except… this is more fiction than fact. So, where do all the myths about the Middle Ages come from? And what were they actually like? Stephanie Honchell Smith debunks common misconceptions about the time period.

Lesson by Stephanie Honchell Smith, directed by Avi Ofer.

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@JeremyBaconThe1st

6 months ago -@

It's not byzantine, it's roman

@simplestickland3367

Me looking at my D&D campaign.

"I CAN MILK YOU."

@Martipee

The 'fall' of Constantinople in 1453AD was a major influence towards the Renaissance and Reformation, and possibly why European society advanced quickly from 1500AD onwards.

@mehmetsimsek4794

Still we should know the difference between common folks and elites. They were not the same. Especially superstitions were very common among country people. They were not exactly educated and compared to today people who can read and write were very low. Some myths were not myth.

@beefjerkythesecond

AD not CE for a start!!

@dannywhite132

Its the equivalent of someone finding an apple vision pro and concluding it was used to torture people by shining bright light in their eyes and playing loud noises in their ears

@Vmac1394

The Iron Maiden is particularly funny, just imagine an actual medieval blacksmith making one of those, it would take the years to make huge singular pieces like that all out of steel, which is ALWAYS how they're depicted. Medieval metal workings like armor were always many small pieces worked together. It wasn't possible to turn iron into a liquid for easy casting until the 19th century, which is probably why that is when all these hoaxes started appearing.

@DangDatsCrazy

This video is mostly biased the other way around

@patriotlightning7791

The people of the past has extreme innate wisdom and love and knew the effects of sins, today it's the opposite. They used to love "higher frequency things" like classical music, they had graceful gait, high moral values and commendable characteristics.

#10

@alm2187

When we get into stuff like salt for curing meats, is it often known how such methods were discovered and popularized? Someone in unconnected environs happens to spot a beneficial effect (i.e. whatever salt does to preserve meat) and passes it on? Is it then more likely to take root as a standard practice in a matter of weeks or a matter of decades?

#11

@witar.

That is not very historical.

#12

@Leif-yv5ql

You lost me with "that everyone believes". I hate horses__t headlines that insult the reader. Next time, try "6 Myths about the Middle Ages". Not going to watch your video.

#13

@katherineknapp4370

Good to know.

#14

@RedRocket4000

Modern lies it was better than it was vs past lies that it was worse than it was. This Ted talk used pick on a few errors or exaggerations and infer they true across the board when they were not. We have tons of records of the horrible tortures they did do with the tools they actually used. They did lay out the torture instruments to get various people to recant.

We actually have records of the Pope closing the bath houses of Rome under a decree that if fallowed closed them everywhere finding exceptions does not void the actual records like of the English Court for a large period which did not take baths. But they were sort of clean boiling white undergarments that they changed everyday. The anti bath opinions. of the times were recorded. The fact that very heavy perfume was used to cover oder was recorded.

The fact that the educated which was a tiny part of the population knew the world was round does not change the fact the commons thought it was flat.
Literacy went from almost extremely low to quite low in example given here. There were no public or private schooling available for the vast majority 75 percent that farmed and fished so there was little way for them to be educated except if they joined the clergy or rose in ranks on a deap draft sailing vessel. We know most were illiterate especially before the Protestant Reformation with one goal being all men should be able to read the bible of course with no Printing Press yet writing materials and written things had to be copied by hand making them very expensive. 1500's after Middle Ages then basically for any chance of common folk literacy there no books to see no paper affordable for most. And the Catholic church not wanting people to be able to read a bible if they could find one.

#15

@Anonomius0

I once read the book that depicted the transition of the roman period to what we would think of as the middle ages by the venerable bede, and the most shocking thing is that it didn't display the break in history that we would associate with the period. rather, it just seemed like history continued, even with the dating marked by the reign of the emperors, it's just that the later roman emperors we would now recognise as byzantine.

#16

It's kinda ironic that one of the things associated with the 'superstitious dark ages' i.e. the witch hunts didn't come undaway until the supposed rebirth of civilization.

#17

@do0myk

aha no we taught wypipo how to bath and spice dey food cuh

#18

@zachpaterson2585

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of chastity belts being a common thing in the medieval ages before…

#19

@tibaubau7423

literally nobody believes those myths

#20

@parmesanzero7678

“Everyone”

TEDEd, be better. Maybe then I’ll come find you again. Until then, goodbye for my feed.

#21

@PavlosPapageorgiou

2:40 What??

#22

@lloyd4451

This is the longest Red Bull ad ever

#23

@larrywiniarski1746

This isn't exactly true. There was a definite drop in technology and trade after the roman empire. It can even be seen by archaeologists. I met some in Britain and they described how tools which were quite sophisticated and largely iron and steel, became quite primitive after the romans left and took a long time to bring back.

#24

@davec8473

But I've seen these things in reputable museums why would they lieee D:

#25

@RoyBattyLives

Also the majority of people didn’t have access to baths and herbs

#26

Sorry ,but the Spanish Inquisition occurred in the 15th century. The torture devices used were cleverly designed for the most profound horror. Ah the church, what wonderful history, yuk.

#27

@GuardianMehmed

kingdom.come delivarance is like a simulation of medieval times

#28

@DuzceliCK

Sounds more like trying to whitewash the middleages

#29

@CzolgoszWorkinMan

i like how one of these is literally just debunking a robin hood men in tights gag

#30

@Kytetiger

authors from the 16th to the 20th belittled/underestimate the people of the Middle Ages in order to put themselves on a pedestal?! 🤔 shame of them

#31

@borjadetorres7747

The word “middle ages” is a derogatory term made by the renaissance.

#32

@chrisoneill3999

The notion that Christopher Columbus believed the Earth was flat comes from Washington Irving's 'History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus'. This was not a 'popular biography' it was a work of comic satirical fiction (all Washington Irving's books are pure fantasy: Sleepy Hollow and Rip Wan Winkle were also never intended to be taken seriously).
Did people in the Dark Ages believe the Earth was flat? Lots did, most didn't; just like today.

#33

@ewok40k

As a historian, I would posit there was a world of difference between original dark age immediately following fall of Rome, Carolingian era, early feudalism era, and finally high medievity. And there were differences depending on the country involved…

#34

@annatar7844

too bright, can't watch

#35

@siregirl9599

Hand it over, that thing, your dark soul.

#36

@pyark

As a history geek I must say that torture was indeed prevalent and gruesome in the middle ages. But mostly used in warfare for intelligence gathering and to punish especially horrendous crimes. You know, like what the CIA and other unchecked military intelligence organizations still do today.

#37

@geschichteistcool7182

Although the video is great deconstructing some myths about the middle ages, some things still were wrong.
1. Imprisonment wasn't such a thing in the MA. Institutions like prisons only exist in a few places and evolved after the period we call the middle ages. The main form of captivity was house arrest of nobles for ransom. But those were not held in dard dungeons, most of the time they lived with the hostage takers family and it's often mentioned that they even went to fiests or hunting with them, were treated good. They were still nobles and you didn't want to treat them bad.
2. Knights didn't have a small impact on medieval warfare. In some times of the middle ages they alone were warfare. Footsoldiers etc. evolved during the middle ages, but for most of the time medieval army's relied on knights. This started to change in the late middle ages, but saying "they're role in warfare was minimum" isn't true. They were important.

#38

@kirkgoshert7876

the only people that believed those myths are the type of dolts that watch TED-Ed talks

#39

@rphb5870

What many don't know about the middle ages was the massive infiltration of gigantic snails. Luckly they had many brave nights to fight them

#40

@user-ly3wi2my5x

So what does this mean for the renaissance and its significance?

#41

@hairyviking9248

The fall of the western roman empire. The eastern stuck around for almost all of the middle ages.

#42

@MarcusZepeda

Thank you for this video. I hate when people make up myths or misconceptions about different eras. But I hope you do one about the Victorian era!

#43

@ambroiseperret6460

THANK YOU !

#44

@user-wm6vd7sf9x

Also on the note that the 1 000 year period cannot be summarised into one coherent era that remained the same but rather changed over the hundred years, the same goes for all the different countries. There was not one coherent medieval country, but still Spain has their own history, completely different from German history during those times and saying they were all same medieval nations is like saying all of north america is the same.

#45

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