The "Dark Ages" weren't as gloomy as we once believed. Recent research has shown that this period, roughly from the 5th to the 15th century, was full of progress and innovation. People made advances in agriculture, technology, and education, with universities like Oxford and Cambridge being founded. Art and culture flourished too, with beautiful manuscripts and architecture from this era still admired today. So, while the name "Dark Ages" makes it sound like a time of complete chaos and stagnation, it was actually a period of significant growth and development. #brightside
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FunTranscript
00:00So many people think the medieval era was considered to be a dark and irrational time
00:07with primitive people who had no idea about technologies and were hopelessly superstitious.
00:14What a myth!
00:17Historians across the world have spent years and years trying to prove people were different
00:21then.
00:22This false story spread probably because some people complained about the quality of literature
00:27from that time and claimed they couldn't find the historical sources they needed.
00:37In reality, the middle ages was anything but dark.
00:40It was a pretty cool time of philosophy, innovation and works of art that became legendary.
00:46That's when eyeglasses came into the game.
00:49It was a time of progress with inventions such as movable type, heavy plows and mechanical
00:55timekeeping.
00:57These three things later set the base for the industrial revolution and the age of enlightenment.
01:03It was a great time for artists too.
01:06Guilds helped them rise from humble backgrounds.
01:09They could master different forms of art such as tapestry, illuminated manuscripts and sculptures.
01:15They kinda set the stage for the renaissance.
01:18And things weren't just happening in Europe.
01:20China worked on navigation and perfected the compass, African kingdoms engaged in complex
01:26trade and civilizations thrived across the Americas.
01:33All people from the middle ages believed the earth was flat.
01:37Nope!
01:38Literally all medieval scholars thought our planet was a sphere.
01:42Well it's just that they believed it was perfectly round.
01:45Well now, we know it's slightly elliptical.
01:49One scholar even managed to figure out the radius of our planet using mathematics.
01:54And he was off only by 19 miles!
01:58In the 19th century, everyone spread the word about how those who lived in medieval times
02:04thought our planet was a flat board because it seemed like a good example of how backwards
02:09they were.
02:11Many blame a very popular American writer from that time, Washington Irving.
02:15He wrote a book that was read like a biography of Christopher Columbus, even though it was
02:20mostly fiction.
02:22And one of those made-up sections even mentioned so-called experts who claimed the earth was
02:27flat.
02:33Medieval people did not really live past 30 years old.
02:36That's not completely false, it's just that most people interpret it the wrong way.
02:42This doesn't mean someone was considered old or had one foot in the grave after they
02:46turned 30.
02:48If a person from those times managed to reach adulthood, they often lived to be 60 or 70
02:53years old.
02:54No one thought they were old until they turned at least 50.
02:58It's just that life expectancy rates were way lower back then because people had fewer
03:02chances to survive in the earliest years of their lives.
03:06There were lots of diseases they couldn't cure like we can these days.
03:12People from the Dark Ages were filthy most of the time.
03:15So not true!
03:17Sure they didn't really understand that germs caused diseases like people from the
03:2019th century did.
03:22But the common story that they didn't wash themselves and were constantly dirty doesn't
03:27hold water.
03:28In reality, they enjoyed taking baths both outdoors and indoors.
03:33They made and used soap at home, but also loved to visit bath houses.
03:43Toothbrushes existed only in medieval China.
03:46But people in Europe kept their teeth clean with a cloth.
03:50They would occasionally use natural remedies so their breath was fresh and their teeth
03:55remained white.
03:57Back then, people even had hand-washing rituals before meals, especially those who were rich.
04:03It's not that peasants didn't wash their hands, but those from aristocratic circles used lavish
04:08lavatories and minstrels would sing them a song while they were washing their hands.
04:13If those rich fellas were dining with the king, they would wait for him to wash his
04:17hands before sitting down.
04:19That's how they would show him he was powerful and important.
04:23Many historians think such traditions started to fade around the 16th century when people
04:27began using forks instead of their cleaned fingers.
04:34This takes us to the next one.
04:37Medieval people didn't use cutlery.
04:39That's another myth.
04:41They did eat some things using their fingers, but not everything.
04:45Spoons and knives were pretty common, and the invention of the fork goes all the way
04:49back to the 4th century in the Byzantine Empire.
04:53In the 11th century, forks were a common thing in Italy.
04:56Plus, other European countries started adding them as part of their tableware as well.
05:03People didn't travel back in the Middle Ages.
05:06Nope, not really.
05:07It's not like they were born, grew up, and passed away without ever leaving one place.
05:12Of course, they didn't have the same ways to travel like we have today.
05:16But there are still plenty of records that show that many people traveled around.
05:21They would even move to other places across their country.
05:25Humans are curious to get to know the world around them no matter what time they lived
05:29in.
05:30Peasants across Europe would visit monasteries and churches, or would go on pilgrimages.
05:36Whether those were in their country or overseas.
05:43Medieval knights were very slow because of their heavy armor.
05:46Now that's a misconception!
05:49Mark Twain had a fun book called A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
05:55His main character lives in the 19th century, but after a fight, he loses consciousness
06:00and wakes up in medieval England at the time of King Arthur.
06:05This book also became the source of many misconceptions people in the US had about
06:10medieval times.
06:12Twain described how this guy was running in circles around a knight who had trouble even
06:17moving under his heavy armor.
06:20This idea is funny, but it's not actually true.
06:24Knights wouldn't have been able to go into battles or do much of anything if their armor
06:28had really been such a burden, turning them into turtles.
06:33High-quality plate armor from those times weighed up to 60 pounds max.
06:38It was distributed well across the body of a man who had been preparing for the battlefield
06:42for almost his whole life.
06:44So a knight in his armor could climb, run, and perform the rest of the athletic activities
06:50with only a couple of restrictions.
06:56And no, witch trials were not that common in medieval times.
07:00They did occur to some extent, but most of these stories are exaggerated.
07:05Up to the 14th century, the world didn't know or think too much about the idea of witchcraft
07:10and witches.
07:12But as the Middle Ages were coming to an end, some started having ideas that certain people
07:17were working with demons and dark magic.
07:21There are official records of witch trials and even certain books that talked about the
07:25dangers of them.
07:27This craze about witchcraft was something that mostly happened between the 16th and
07:3218th centuries in North American and European societies.
07:36That was the time when tens of thousands of people were accused of being witches and faced
07:41the worst destiny for that.
07:44Fear of that remains even today, but there are more chances for people to face their
07:48end after being accused of witchcraft now in the 21st century than in the whole Middle
07:53Ages.
07:57Many believed doctors had worn strange outfits back in the Middle Ages.
08:02You've probably seen the Halloween costume called the Medieval Plague Doctor.
08:07It's a pretty weird and even a bit scary leather outfit with a mask that has a big beak.
08:12The descriptions mostly explain how doctors would wear this as a protection back in the
08:17mid-14th century when the Black Death struck Europe.
08:21It's just that no one wore it in medieval times, though!
08:25This outfit wasn't drawn or mentioned until the 17th century.
08:29Some doctors in France and Italy might have used it for a while, but after everyone started
08:34mocking them, they probably just gave up.
08:38That's it for today!
08:40So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your
08:44friends!
08:45Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!