The medieval era, also known as “the dark times,” was full of love, fairy tales, royalties and romance. Although what isn’t shown was the sickness, violence and hygiene.
The medieval era is overly romanticized for what it truly was.
While there was definitely romance and fairytales, there was a lot of crime that wasn’t necessarily viewed as crime. A lot of things were overlooked, including murder and other inappropriate behaviors. “How Bloody Was Medieval Life?” states, “Others have pointed to the prevalence of alcohol, and the fact that many people were wandering around armed with daggers and other knives on a daily basis. There were no permanent police forces, as there are now, and in many cases the capture of a perpetrator depended on the co-operation of the community. Moreover, in an era of rudimentary medical care, many died from wounds that might today be successfully treated. There are more complex explanations too. These were cultures in which honour was paramount and violence was recognised as a means of communicating certain messages. If you hacked off a woman’s nose, for example, most people would recognise this as a signifier of adultery.” This explains that a lot of these crimes were almost ignored, the royals didn’t recognize the severity of the things being done to their people. Royals were more focused on maintaining power and authority, their reputation and controlling land and territory.
Some people have an image of medieval times in their head, pictures of huge gardens and handsome knights. While part of this was true, there was much more that went into it. There were plagues, some killing entire kingdoms. There were wars and invasions without a permanent military to stop it. There was violent and harsh punishments, especially poverty.
The reality of medieval time periods needs to be displayed more often. It’s far more interesting than how the movies portray it. Learning about how these so often glorified people survived day-to-day is completely different from the media.
In sum, medieval times were insanely dangerous and unsafe compared to how glamourize it is in movies and TV.
