Why are we so fascinated by the Middle Ages?

Question

What is it about the Middle Ages that makes them so appealing to us?

Answer 1

I think it's largely due to the fact that so many people then were illiterate that we don't really have an accurate picture of what life was really like.

No running water, so that means no sewers, so every city probably smelled like the inside of a septic tank, people bathed annually, so that means that they smelled worse than their cows, which at least got rained on occassionally, there was no refrigeration, so all the beer was warm, and the life expectancy was about 35 years.

Who could think that was great?

Answer 2

The expression "Middle Ages" has been employed by Western civilization to define the 1000 years that span European history from roughly 500 to 1500 AD. The beginning of the Middle Ages is marked by the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the generally accepted end of classical ancient history. The end of the Middle Ages is noted by the beginning of the Renaissance (the "rebirth" of Europe). Events marking the end of the period include the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the first use of the printing press in 1456, the European discovery of the Americas in 1492, the Protestant Reformation, triggered by Martin Luther in 1517, and the flowering of the arts in Italy. The Middle Ages thus fall in the middle between ancient and modern history.

Historic periods in Asia and the Middle East do not fit easily into the concept of a European Middle Age. China evolved gradually from prehistoric times up to the advent of Western modern history without the great disruptions that befell Europe. China passed under the control of several dynasties and suffered from invasion, but the basic culture progressed steadily. Japan progressed steadily, as well, and was left largely alone. The history of the Middle East fits together more closely with the European Middle Ages because these two regions were adjacent and shared many interactions.

Answer 3

If you actually lived in the Middle Ages, you would hate it. Life was hard and there were constant wars. Only the court lived well.

Around the year 1200 things started to change (perhaps due to the influence of the Crusades and the riches and learning of the Near East) and the courts of Europe especially those in France, where trends in art and literature that still remain popular today, were invented.

Heroic stories like The Song of Roland were written. Romantic stories go back to Eleanor of Aquitaine and the troubadours (around 1140). The lais of Marie de France are like fairy tales. Le Roman de la Rose (around 1230) was influential on English as well as European literature. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_de_la_Rose)
And of course, Cretien de Troyes began to write tales of Arthur and his noble knights.

However it was in the 19th century that the modern fascination with the middle ages began -- that's when the middle ages were re-discovered. There was a Gothic Revival: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Gothic). Ever since then we have been fascinated by the Middle Ages.

The ideas of Chivalry, honor and romance were held up as the epitome of behavior. Romantic tales of Arthur and his noble knights proved irresistible. See the influence on the British artist Edward Burne-Jones (1833-98) for example.

As we look for the roots of our modern culture, we find that the Middle Ages is a good starting place since not only the types of art, architecture (like gothic cathedrals) and stories they told are still with us, but because the ideals written about depict a "golden age", an age of faith, an ideal world, which people long for, where morality, heroism and nobility still exist.

Answer 4

Good question. Maybe because all the bed-time stories we heard when we were a kid. The good always win and the evil was defeated. Also it was the era of adventures. Knights went to far away places and brought back stories too strange for the people of those times. Some of them never even left their villages and as they listened to the adventures of others, their span their own versions and the stories grew bigger and bigger. At the end the brave knights were fighting fire breathing dragons and rescuing fair maidens. Who wouldn't be fascinated by stories like these?
But this is my own speculation.

Answer 5

Pagentry and costumes.
Jousting and knights.
Wonderful stories which romaticize the era.
Big stone castles are cool!
Just a generally fascinating era: Guilds, exciting battles, stories of dragons and magic, conquest

Answer 6

It seems a time of chivalry and romance, people like that idea, and the idea of princesses that needed rescuing, ect. I personally love the seige engines of the time. The idea of huge catapaults and trebuchets demolishing whole castles. I'm glad I didn't live back then, but our romantized versian of history is inviting.

Answer 7

because they were simpler times, and because of all the unknowns it seemed like magic was possible. But i think that that is just a romanticized concept. most people worked their hands to the bone, never got to hook up with a crush or marry who they wanted and died young from horrible illnesses like the black plague wihch penicillin can easily cure.

Answer 8

Part of the fascination lies with the adventure, all the imaginary sorrounding knights, kings and swordfighting. However, when I think about the Middle Ages I also think about its obscure side: the prevailing ignorance that sent millions into harsh inquisitorial torture; the awful sanitary conditions in cities everywhere, and the pests. With all that torture and intolerance, I think the Middle Ages where the closest to hell. On the other side, a lot of fine music and painting also flourished during this epoch.

Answer 9

Its the birthplace of almost all of our culture, the foundations of our literature, our civic mores - moral values structure of our cities and civilized life, art, and sciences, the beginnings of abundant detailed written history, and for some who research it, its the furthest point to which we can trace our ancestors, its the beginning time of specialized trades and careers we are still familiar with (and still have) and beginning of our economic structure and beginnings of understanding or striving to understand or study our economies and world around us, the time of birth of universities, and the gestation place of nation states and beginnings of all we value now; In summary the heart and soul of our current civilization, its our current civilization's 'home' we were brought up in, its a warm, magical, special "place" in time we feel sentimental about.

Answer 10

Like any age, it is the way it is romanticized. The American West, Pirates, Gangsters during Prohibition.