by Carl Pyrdum
on June 21, 2004
So, what am I actually going to do with this blog? Here are a few topics I hope to rant about soon.
King Arthur, the movie — probably the reason I decided to make this little blog. “For centuries most historians believed that King Arthur was only a legend…”Really? And they’re going to set all these historians straight, are they? Thank goodness for Jerry Bruckheimer.
The Tragedy of Al’Andalus — Why does the mainstream press mostly ignore Osama when he starts talking about the Middle Ages? Between now and July 10th, you can count on scores of hours devoted to Mr. Bruckheimer’s “real” King Arthur on cable. Wouldn’t a few hours discussing the motivations of the crazy guy who’s trying to kill Americans be worth the time?
Medieval, the adjective — We probably have Quentin Tarantino to thank for it, but these days it seems you can’t condemn something without calling it medieval. Take this story on Castro’s mistreatment of librarians. Just what is a “medieval cage”? Does it have extra spikey-bits? Or crosses nailed all over it?
The Renaissance Fair — Just a pet peeve, but why is it called the Renaissance Fair, when it features a lot of jousting and such?
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by Carl Pyrdum
on June 21, 2004
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.
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