Jul 8, 2017 06:40 AM
http://io9.gizmodo.com/10-worst-misconce...1686799982
EXCERPT: Some tropes are so ingrained in Medieval-inspired fantasy stories that it's tempting to think that they represent real aspects of Medieval life. But often these stories are just reinforcing myths and misconceptions about life in the Middle Ages. One thing that it's important to remember when talking about the Medieval period is that it spans a long time — from the 5th century CE to the 15th century CE — and involves a great number of European countries. You'll notice that a great deal of the debunkery here involves 14th century England, thanks to works like The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer and the works of Joseph Gies and Frances Gies (although another source, Misconceptions About the Middle Ages, covers a bit more ground). But the point here is that the Middle Ages were, in fact, far richer than the Medieval-like settings of many swords and sorcery stories would lead you to believe.
Do fantasy novels need to be historically accurate? Certainly not. Part of the fun of worldbuilding is inventing new ideas, or combining elements of different cultures and time periods, and even integrating historical myths and misconceptions. But If you read a lot of books or watch a lot of movies with pseudo-Medieval settings, you may come away with a mistaken impression that you know what life in the Middle Ages was like. Plus, real history offers new ideas that you might want to incorporate into your own stories in the future. And this is not to say that all Medieval-esque settings slip into these myths; only that many, many do. This post was inspired by this fascinating thread on reddit's r/AskHistorians, which we highlighted a while back. Here are the misconceptions, with debunkery below...
MORE: http://io9.gizmodo.com/10-worst-misconce...1686799982
EXCERPT: Some tropes are so ingrained in Medieval-inspired fantasy stories that it's tempting to think that they represent real aspects of Medieval life. But often these stories are just reinforcing myths and misconceptions about life in the Middle Ages. One thing that it's important to remember when talking about the Medieval period is that it spans a long time — from the 5th century CE to the 15th century CE — and involves a great number of European countries. You'll notice that a great deal of the debunkery here involves 14th century England, thanks to works like The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer and the works of Joseph Gies and Frances Gies (although another source, Misconceptions About the Middle Ages, covers a bit more ground). But the point here is that the Middle Ages were, in fact, far richer than the Medieval-like settings of many swords and sorcery stories would lead you to believe.
Do fantasy novels need to be historically accurate? Certainly not. Part of the fun of worldbuilding is inventing new ideas, or combining elements of different cultures and time periods, and even integrating historical myths and misconceptions. But If you read a lot of books or watch a lot of movies with pseudo-Medieval settings, you may come away with a mistaken impression that you know what life in the Middle Ages was like. Plus, real history offers new ideas that you might want to incorporate into your own stories in the future. And this is not to say that all Medieval-esque settings slip into these myths; only that many, many do. This post was inspired by this fascinating thread on reddit's r/AskHistorians, which we highlighted a while back. Here are the misconceptions, with debunkery below...
MORE: http://io9.gizmodo.com/10-worst-misconce...1686799982