No fanfare, no trumpets–this is just one grad student’s crank page. But why?
A prof of mine once explained the media to me like this: Every day, you read the newspaper to get a better understanding of a wide variety of topics. And yet, whenever you come across a story on a topic that you actually know something about, you’re often appalled at just how wrong they’ve managed to get things. Since you still have to get your news from somewhere, you pretend to yourself that the papers only get things wrong in your discipline.
My discipline happens to be Medieval Studies. When I tell people this, they usually say something like, “Oh, you must really love Medieval Times/the Renaissance Festival/SCA.” For the record, I don’t. I study the Middle Ages because I think Chaucer is funny and middle English is interesting. I have no desire to put on fake chain mail or eat with my hands.
So, if you’re looking for someone who’s going to tell you how much nicer it was back in the day, I’m not your man. Go read someone else’s blog. I like modern medicine, social mobility, and video games far too much to ever want to live in the Middle Ages. However, if you get a kick out of reading the pedantic ramblings of a would-be medieval scholar, then welcome to Got Medieval. For as long as I stay interested in it, this blog will exist to chronicle and correct misunderstandings about the Middle Ages that pop up in the popular media. Hopefully it’ll be slightly entertaining, too.