The Top 4 Medieval Myths Dispelled
The medieval era is full of myths, but some of the greatest myths are the ones we believe about the middle ages. There are so many ideas we have about the middle ages that are simply not true, yet for one reason or another, they have persisted into our times today.
To me, it always seemed such a shame to label our medieval ancestors as unintelligent, dirty people that were burning every witch they came across. So to bring some light to the past, here are just a few medieval myths that are completely untrue.
Myth #1 Medieval people were dirty
One common myth is that all medieval people were extremely unclean or dirty. Many people say this is how the plague began; due to poor hygiene and no modern understanding of germs. However, the past has more nuance than that.
The middle ages spans from the end of the Roman civilisation in the 5th-century and stops around the beginning of the Renaissance in the 15th-century, so when you’re talking about hygiene, it really depends on which century you’re talking about.
In the early medieval era, around the 10th-century — 13th-century, people were quite fanatical about their cleanliness. The writings of St. Caesarius in the 6th-century for example say that nuns and monks were expected to bathe regularly for general hygiene. No-one likes to be dirty, and so it’s only natural that our medieval ancestors also placed cleanliness high on the priority list.
Public baths had been commonplace in the Roman Empire but hadn't been used for hundreds of years since. In medieval Rome and Greece, people would bathe in public baths and take long saunas, sprinkling themselves with rose water afterward.
Of course, some places in Europe like Estonia had been using outdoor saunas for thousands of years to stay clean. In the early middle ages in Estonia, villagers had saunas built onto their houses or on their property and would use them regularly. In Estonia, whipping yourself with birch twigs to stimulate circulation was common and done as a ritual for good health.
Public baths also made a comeback in Western Europe. All around the continent including in Hungary, public bathing was commonplace and carried on continuously from the Roman era. In fact, there’s evidence that they followed in the Roman tradition of being places to gossip, play cards, and even explore sexual experiences.
One reason why public bathing and saunas were so normal was because of the Crusades. Due to the Crusades of the 10th-century, returning soldiers and officials brought with them the concept of Turkish spas and baths from the holy land. This brought a new tradition of using rose-water and scented oils into the bathing experience all the way from Britain to Poland. Soap was even invented in the East and brought over to the West! The hot air and water from these baths helped kill germs, stimulate blood flow for a healthy immune system, and encouraged a more egalitarian view on hygiene. However later in the medieval period, the Pope banned public bathing for being too lewd.
We have this view of medieval people being filthy and not bathing during the black death. In fact, the ban on public bathing, new theories about diseases called miasma, and booming populations helped create an environment for the plague to thrive.
With the ban on public bathing, people began to adapt. People started changing their linen underclothes more regularly as a way to soak up sweat and other bodily fluids. Medieval clothing was a useful way to keep clean for people of all classes. It meant less washing of heavy overclothes and was more practical for daily life.
Even during the plague years in the late middle ages, medieval people did still have a concept of hygiene. It was common during this time to wipe yourself down with a damp rag. Witchhazel was often used to cleanse the skin, which also killed germs.
So, were medieval people unbelievably dirty and disgusting all the time? In reality, no. It’s also important to note that the plague didn’t occur because everyone in Western Europe was so filthy. There are many reasons for the plague including trade, overpopulation in Europe and the climate.
Myth #2 Medieval People Thought The World Was Flat
Another misconception people have about the middle ages is that everyone believed the world was flat. This myth has created a view of medieval people as uneducated and blinded by the church, although it’s not actually true.
This is a myth that began to be circulated around the 19th-century. In 1828 Washington Irving wrote a novel called A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. Although it was never meant to be taken as non-fiction, by many it was and it carried along with it a dangerous myth. Irving stated that Columbus believed the world was flat, claiming it to be an old “medieval” belief. His “heretic bravery” of going against this old medieval belief instilled by the church made Columbus look like a hero by comparison. It became the new norm to think people of the middle ages believed the world to be flat and now, so do we today.
However, medieval maps of the world survive today and scholars can prove that the people of the middle ages thought the world was a sphere. The Mappa Mundi or maps of the world show a picture of the globe -- the world depicted as a sphere. The same is true for a map drawn by the renowned nun Hildegard von Bingen.
“The roundness of the Earth, for not without reason is it called ‘the orb of the world’ on the pages of Holy Scripture and of ordinary literature. It is, in fact, set like a sphere in the middle of the whole universe.”
Even one of the primary sources for early medieval Britain, Bede, writes that the earth was indeed a sphere.
This tells us that medieval people knew the world to be round and never thought it was flat. Another popular medieval figure, Thomas Aquinas from the 11th-century, preached that the world was spherical, which puts to bed any belief that the church conspired to have people believe the world was flat.
Myth #3 Witches Were Burnt At The Stake
Witchcraft in itself is a very misunderstood topic in history and the punishments differed from country to country and depending on the century.
In the early medieval period, women were never convicted of witchcraft. Witchcraft from the 10th — 12th-centuries was always believed to have been done by men. The main reason being that men could read, and therefore could study and read spellbooks. Women were thought too uneducated to be able to cast spells or commune with darker powers.
During the Inquisition in the 12th-century, the first burning of heretics was ordered by the Pope against the Cathars. The main purpose of the burning was to rid France of their special knowledge as it was seen as a threat to the papacy. Other than this event, witchhunts were not actually common in the early middles ages. There is no evidence that there were any witch trials in western Europe before the 15th-century. Of course, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake, but this was more a traitor’s death rather than a witchhunt.
The majority of witchhunts including the Spanish Inquisition took place between 1560 - 1630, which is well out of the time frame of the medieval period.
In reality, the women in medieval villages with herbal knowledge were actually valued members of society. They could provide affordable medicine to everyone in the village for free or with barter. Even regular villagers often had their own herbal medicinal garden.
We even have evidence of monastery medicinal gardens that were used to help those in the monastery and those working on the land. Medieval monks often used spells, charms, and talismans for cures, which didn’t raise eyebrows until the late middle ages.
Myth #4 Women had no rights
People these days think that back in the days of the knights templar and chivalry, women had no rights. There is this view that medieval women were seen as dainty flowers, too vulnerable and repressed to be able to do anything for themselves. In reality, this isn’t true at all and actually based on a Victorian romanticizing of the past.
In medieval times, there are records that state women could own property regardless of marriage. In France between 1150 and 1350, unmarried women were able to seal their own names on property documents, thereby making the property owned exclusively by them. Similarly in France in the 6th and 7th centuries, women could inherit property from their families. In medieval Britain, Anglo Saxons allowed their daughters to inherit land and property in their wills as well.
Arranged marriages are another right that we often think of in medieval times however, arranged marriages were not common for regular people. Only in aristocratic circles were women and men forced into arranged marriages for the sake of power.
For the average woman, she could marry who she chose. According to early medieval law, two consensual people of the same class could marry whomever they wished. There was high importance placed on the women’s consent of the marriage too. If a woman refused to marry a man, then the ceremony could not go ahead. The laws on marriage weren't changed until the late middle ages.
One myth is that women were illiterate in the middle ages, but women were more educated than we think. Anywhere between 1% and 50% of women could read and write in medieval Europe, accounting for famous medieval writers like Marie de France. Women that were nuns were more likely to be literate since literacy was encouraged in a convent, like Hildegard von Bingen.
In terms of holding power, women in the middle ages could hold power depending on their social standing. Lower class women could be admitted into the committees of local towns to decide on how their village was run.
Warrior women like Æthelflæd ruled large swathes of territory and rode into battle against their opponents. In early medieval France, Nicola de la Haie fought off an invading army until an ally could arrive to save the castle from siege.
The medieval world is incredibly complex and not as simplistic as we used to believe! More and more evidence is coming out every day that medieval people had the same hopes and dreams as us. We have to get rid of the notion that the past was a dark place to be and start to see our ancestors as human like us.
