What life in medieval Europe was really like
Did people bathe? Did everyone believe the Earth was flat? What you think you know about the “Dark Ages” is probably wrong.
A time of innovation, philosophy, and legendary works of art: the realities of the medieval period (500 to 1500 C.E.) in Europe may surprise you.
Many know the years before the Renaissance and Enlightenment that followed as Europe’s “Dark Ages,” a time of backward, slovenly, and brutal people who were technologically primitive and hopelessly superstitious.
But it turns out the Dark Ages was anything but. Here are four myths about the medieval world it’s time we moved past.
Sure, it would take until the 19th century for the germ theory of disease to overtake the concept of humors and “miasmas” that could damage human health. But the common image of medieval people as slovenly, unwashed, and lacking hygiene is false.
In fact, both indoor
