Current Events > Any medieval history enthusiasts here?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Or just people who happen to know it particularly well, enthused or not.

I want to learn more about the gritty details about that period in history but I don't know what documentaries/books to check out first. Halp.
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I have a book literally called "daily life in medieval times"

Fun stuff. But it's very women/family oriented.
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Could be good to check out, I imagine a lot of books would focus more on greater societal things. Just found a youtube channel called Timeline that has over 30 docs on the middle ages, dunno if it's reputable or not but I might try that.

Kind of a silly reason for wanting to learn more about this but, as someone who's working on a fantasy fiction series, I realized my knowledge of the time period fantasy tends to be rooted in is woefully incomplete. I know how fantasy works - I should know the underlying inspiration more.
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I'm interested in Late Antiquity and the the transition from the decline of Rome to the Early Middle Ages, I'd recommend The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000 by Chris Wickham.

A funny thing to think about is that the Catholic church is the only entity that still exists from the Roman Empire.
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Look for books by Francis Gies.
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Read up heavily on Westphalia.
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frozenshock posted...

A funny thing to think about is that the Catholic church is the only entity that still exists from the Roman Empire.

yea it's pretty interesting. the altar used in catholic churches is literally the same as pagan altars from prechristian rome. and the robes the priests wear are what pagan roman priests wore.

frozenshock posted...

A funny thing to think about is that the Catholic church is the only entity that still exists from the Roman Empire.

Maybe in terms of contiunously functioning institutions, but the civil law stills exists too.

i'm more into antiquity. Cyrus the Great, Alexander, Hannibal and Scipio, Caesar, etc.

LinksLiege posted...

I want to learn more about the gritty details about that period in history but I don't know what documentaries/books to check out first. Halp.

personally, my go-to format is podcasts.
much more interesting and enjoyable than books
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Does game of thrones count?
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ROBANN_88 posted...

personally, my go-to format is podcasts.
much more interesting and enjoyable than books

dan carlins hardcore history
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Zikten posted...

frozenshock posted...

A funny thing to think about is that the Catholic church is the only entity that still exists from the Roman Empire.

yea it's pretty interesting. the altar used in catholic churches is literally the same as pagan altars from prechristian rome. and the robes the priests wear are what pagan roman priests wore.

Neither of those assertions appear to be accurate.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_ecclesiastical_vestments?wprov=sfla1

https://www.britannica.com/topic/altar

SSJCAT posted...

ROBANN_88 posted...

personally, my go-to format is podcasts.
much more interesting and enjoyable than books

dan carlins hardcore history

right now i got: Dan Carlin,
History of Byzantium (Finished History of Rome years ago)
Revolutions
Stuff you missed in History class
and Our Fake History (that one deals with historical myths and legends)
Podcast History of our World was good too, but i think the guy stopped doing it
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My frame of reference for that time period came from getting really high and playing through the first Assassin's Creed.

I recently took a "History if Biology" college course after that, which gave a good understanding of scientific advancements leading up to the Middle Ages and the reasons for their millennium-long stall. Predictably, Christianity had a lot to do with all of the problems.

For example, the only people in general throughout Europe who were allowed to learn how to read were monks, so it wasn't easy for the common person to come across diverse ideas and information. The church also made it illegal to perform autopsies on humans, so doctors had to rely on inaccurate diagrams of human anatomy from ~150 AD (Galen) that were based on animals.

In contrast, the people of the Middle East, being less restricted by religious restraints during that time, managed to preserve and spread writings that were lost in the sacking of the Great Library of Alexandria and were able to make more advancements in medicine and math.

Skallagrim's channel is up your alley. Try his vids on weapons out as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KKY9mt0gcs" data-time="
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Podcasts are fun from a 30,000 foot view, but they can only be taken at their word so far.

I myself am nothing more than a casual enthusiast for these topics, and I've heard inaccuracies repeated as fact on History of Byzantium and History of Rome that I've seen directly contradicted in scholarly literature.

Both essentially give you the pop history narrative you get from primary sources, and don't deal as much with other sources of history, for obvious reasons as neither are historians. I think Duncan is probably worse im that regard.

Vicious_Dios posted...

Skallagrim's channel is up your alley. Try his vids on weapons out as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KKY9mt0gcs" data-time="

Lindybeige is good shit too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTd_0FRAwOQ" data-time="
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KhanJohnny posted...

and I've heard inaccuracies repeated as fact on History of Byzantium and History of Rome that I've seen directly contradicted in scholarly literature.

any examples?
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Vertania posted...

For example, the only people in general throughout Europe who were allowed to learn how to read were monks

"were allowed" or "could afford"?
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ROBANN_88 posted...

KhanJohnny posted...

and I've heard inaccuracies repeated as fact on History of Byzantium and History of Rome that I've seen directly contradicted in scholarly literature.

any examples?

Off the top of my head, I believe that Duncan repeats the story of the bishop Ambrose standing up to the Emperor Theodosius and forcing him to repent for a massacre he had ordered.

I had recently read a book, I believe it was The Last Pagans of Rome by Alan Cameron, that argued that this story as commonly understood was apocryphal.

My favorite part of going to community college was all the humanities prerequisites I had to take. Took like 4 classes on western history.
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ROBANN_88 posted...

"were allowed" or "could afford"?

Probably both. Common people had to worry more about surviving than learning, due to the abysmal medical standards and the constant warfare. But I'm also almost certain I remember reading that the church restricted reading to monks and nobles.

Vertania posted...

But I'm also almost certain I remember reading that the church restricted reading to monks and nobles.

maybe, but i'm gonna put a mental "Citation needed" sign here.
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Surprised this topic is this active. I'm taking note of what I see here, appreciate all the recs.

DuranOfForcena posted...

i could give you more recs on like general writing advice channels and stuff too if you want, let me know.

I'd consider looking at them. I probably should learn a bit more about the craft of writing, considering I have no real training beyond writing/lit classes in school.
I still do some things to expand the, uh - the scope of my literary knowledge, for lack of a better way to phrase that. For example - my avid reading isn't simply for the joy of it, it's also to see what other authors do to deliver their ideas, what does and doesn't work in my opinion. Tolkien will often put worldbuilding before pacing. Neil Gaiman writes in a very informal style, which feels less like a book and more like someone sitting down and talking to you at times. Sherman Alexie slides between concrete reality and fantastical imagery without hesitation. Garth Nix made no effort to study or understand suicidal ideation before using it as a plot point. Stuff like that.
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just watch game of thrones
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I've already read the books. Not gonna bother with the show.
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That series sounds intriguing, history presented as a story.

I'm on the fence about self-publishing. I like the idea of not being tied down in that way, but it must be incredibly limiting at the same time.

The reading-and-observing process definitely has helped me identify problems in my first draft of my first story. To put it lightly, it's fucking dreadful. But it was also my first attempt at writing a long-form story (the thing is like 500 pages long) and also the first time in a long time that I sat down to do creative writing. And the origins of the story are a bit weird too. It was just a mess.
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I have a DVD set called Simon Schamas History of Britain and it covers a lot of medieval history from the English (he focuses on England) perspective. Obviously a ton of important English history happened during that time and he goes pretty in depth with how life wouldve been like at the time.

Not sure how easy itd be to get your hands on that.
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DuranOfForcena posted...

yeah, personally i feel like it definitely has some pros and cons, but i'm almost sure i'd want to go the traditional publishing route if my project ever gets to that point. i'm probably shooting for the stars here lol, but for me it's about how virtually impossible it is to become a big name, a household name, a point of cultural note, by self-publishing. it almost never happens. almost every author who has experienced that kind of success has done it through the traditional publishing route.

Problem is - and I'm not implying I think this will happen, just acknowledging the possibility - I hate the idea of being famous. My fantastical idea is that people would know my work and the pen name attached to it, but they wouldn't know who I am. If I could pull that off while sticking with a legit publisher, I'd do it. I could still interact with fans, just not with my real identity being revealed.
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Honestly hadn't thought about it that way, that actually makes a publisher more appealing sounding.

I just want to write stories. The world I've created has so much potential for long novels as well as shorter pieces. Don't care about movie or TV adaptations or anything like that.
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Well, along those lines - one of the reasons the first draft was a disaster is it was originally the plot to an RPG game I wanted to make. The story avoided most game tropes - no magical macguffins, etc. Then eventually I realized I don't care about the game side of things, and I dropped it and turned the story into...well, a story.

If anything I'm kind of averse to the idea of having my works adapted to tv/film. 1:1 conversions don't work well, and I don't like the idea of it being manipulated to fit.
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You could make an MMO that sucks the soul out of your series like others have done. :O

Ironically the world I'm building is better suited for a game adaptation that my first story was, but I still don't want that shit happening. I like the ASoIaF series but I don't like how Martin has turned it into such a product. It's just...bleh.
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Yeah, I've heard the show is good but eh. It's apparently tanked in quality so, no loss there - I loved the books to death.
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Tag
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LinksLiege posted...

Or just people who happen to know it particularly well, enthused or not.

I want to learn more about the gritty details about that period in history but I don't know what documentaries/books to check out first. Halp.

I'm taking a class on the Middle Ages now. We're using these books.

https://www.amazon.com/Inheritance-Rome-Illuminating-400-1000-Penguin/dp/0143117424#reader_0143117424

https://www.amazon.com/Europe-High-Middle-Penguin-History/dp/0140166645#reader_0140166645
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So many books now.

The choices are nigh-endless.
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Yeah, I'm a huge fan of the period, and I've got a BA in history. There are a ton of books. the 'A Brief History Of" series has a lot of books covering various different facets of the Middle Ages. The authors vary so, of course, the quality varies as well, but they are generally a good jumping off point.