8/11/2019 7 Cool Facts About the Middle Ages

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7 Cool Facts About The Middle Ages

While much of The Middle Ageswould be foreign to us if we traveled back in time, there are some innovative ideasthat started then that we continue to use today.

1. Urban culture formedThe word urban is a modern catchhrase. !t can be negative or ositive, but it is certainly associated with moderncities and times. !n reality, cities have been the center of urban life for centuries. The beginning of urban living aswe think of it are in the Middle Ages. While there were city centers before that, they were mostly based onfortification, seats of ower, and kinshi. "ue to the traveling done during the eriod, cities began to take on otherattributes. #amely, they began to focus on being socially comle$ societies with an economic basis. They alsocovered a larger area, since they didn%t necessarily have to be within fortified walls. Cities became known foranonymity, oortunity, and invention, which they are still associated with today.

2. Universities were foundedWhile schools of higher learning have been around since anti&uity, the modern idea of the 'niversity was firstestablished in the Middle Ages. The 'niversity of (ologna and The 'niversity of )aris were both started in the **th

century. They were formed not +ust with the idea of educating, but of also fostering an environment that facilitatedresearch and debate. There were classes about secular sub+ects, in addition to religious ones.

3. The basis for our modern political thought was createdModern olitics is certainly varied and highly comle$, and most of it was develoed much later that the Middle

Ages. owever, two ideas at the root of Western liberal democracy were first ut in a legal document early in thethirteenth century. The Magna Carta was created by -nglish noble sub+ects in order to limit the control of the king.!t contained a few revolutionary rinciles. First, the king can only govern with consent. econd, the king must

govern within the law. /ur olitics could not have rogressed into what they are today without those two ideas.

4. Eye wear was inventedWhile some ancients recogni0ed that utting a glass full of water over a document heled you see small writing, itwasn%t until the Middle Agesthat lenses were crafted to wear on the face to hel with farsightedness. /nce theidea caught on, numerous guilds formed around -uroe to rotect the secrets of how to form the glass lenses.

5. omantic love was first practicedWhile the beginning of the Middle Ages are known for their violence, as time assed, courtly ideas of love andchivalry began to take hold. (y the end, there were great dislays of courtly love, with an emhasis onrelationshis that weren%t only hysical, but also had a root in devotion and comanionshi. 1ove as an e$clusiveand uni&ue relationshi was born in the ractices of courtly love.

!. "oo#s were first illustratedA few ictures e$isted in ancient te$ts, but books with illustrations as a standard ractice was started and erfectedin the era. Monks that took ainstaking amounts of time to hand write long books took the e$tra ste of makinghighly detailed illustrations to decorate them. Throughout the Middle Ages, books were rimarily made for religiousinstitutions or for wealthy atrons. The ictures made them even more valuable and attractive and illustrated ideas,eole, and things being e$lained in the te$t.

$. %hivalry was establishedAlong with courtly and romantic love, chivalry changed the way that men were valued. (efore chivalry wasromoted, the ideal man was brutish and a warrior. (attlefields were brutal laces, where victory was aramountand often gross atrocities were committed. The focus was to remove everything from the oonent, at all costs.

While victory and skill were still imortant in war, that view evolved into also having valor. !n civilian and military life,they laced imortance on values such as honor, manners, comassion, sohistication, and courteousness. Thatis a ma+or dearture from the former values, and they are in line with those we hold imortant today.

!f you would like to learn more about the Middle Ages in the 1yndhurst area, visit Medieval Times.

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