From Cheery Camelot to the Dark Ages: Why We Can't Make Up Our Minds about Medieval History

The Cheeky Scholar

Unlock the mysteries of the Middle Ages with us as we welcome Paul B. Sturtevant, a distinguished public medievalist, to challenge prevailing myths and unveil the vibrant truths of this era. Often misrepresented in pop culture as a fairy-tale epoch or a dark, brutal time, we explore how these stereotypes emerged over time and why they persist.
Travel back to childhood inspirations, where David Macaulay’s works sparked a fascination with medieval architecture and life, and trace the evolution of medieval portrayals in Hollywood. From the adventurous charm of "Camelot" to the gritty realism of post-1970s cinema, we examine how these depictions reflect contemporary societal issues. The influence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s medievalist background on modern fantasy literature becomes clear, and Paul reveals how binary images of the Middle Ages might reflect more about our modern predicaments than they do about medieval history.
Some questions we tackle together include: Were the Middle Ages truly "Dark"? Are today's visions of medieval chivalry and masculinity accurate? And how have some modern extremist groups in Europe and the U.S. characterized race in the Middle Ages?
Finally, Paul shares about his role as Chief of Experiences at Stories Abroad Tours in Europe. Together with his wife and business partner, Arielle Gingold, he crafts narratives that challenge simplistic historical interpretations, offering a richer, more nuanced understanding of the past. Join us for an episode that promises to reshape your understanding of the Middle Ages in profound ways.
Show Notes
Medieval Marginalia examples – knights fighting snails, nun harvesting penises from tree, cat licking its butt
https://www.thegreatcat.org/the-history-of-the-cat-in-the-middle-ages-part-5/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marginalia
https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2013/09/knight-v-snail.html
Part One of Pearl – a late 14th century Middle English poem written by a father who lost his young daughter. This version has been adapted to Modern English by an Anonymous author:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50055/pearl-section-i-modern-version
Full version of Pearl with an alternate modern translation, pages 1-27, here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/undergraduate/modules/dreaminginthemiddleages/pearl_ms_prose_translation.pdf
Paul’s books
The Middle Ages in Popular Imagination: Memory, Film and Medievalism
The Devil’s Historians: How Modern Extremists Abuse the Medieval Past, co-written with Amy Kaufman
https://paulsturtevant.com/books/
The Public Medievalist
https://publicmedievalist.com
Stories Abroad Tours
https://storiesabroadtours.com
Paul Sturtevant on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/medievalistabouttown/

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Kapitler

1. From Cheery Camelot to the Dark Ages: Why We Can't Make Up Our Minds about Medieval History (00:00:00)

2. What is a Public Medievalist? And Are All Medievalists Weird? (00:03:30)

3. The Middle Ages in Hollywood: From Cheery Camelot to the Gritty Dark Ages (00:18:35)

4. Medieval Influences in Modern Fantasy (00:25:00)

5. Were the Middle Ages Truly "Dark"? (00:29:00)

6. The Middle Ages in Popular Imagination (00:41:00)

7. Race and How Modern Extremists Abuse the Medieval Past (00:50:45)

8. Exploring Medieval Masculinity and Chivalry (01:09:17)

9. Revolutionizing Historical Tours With Stories Abroad (01:17:36)