10 Worst Misconceptions About Medieval Life You'd Get From Fantasy Books — io9.com

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. Top image from the Dragonlance series, which I love, but is steeped in pseudo-Medievalism. 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.

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