Why The Middle Ages Matter with Ian Mortimer

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2021

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Medieval periods' impact on the world and how we see it today is often overlooked. From culture, society, and technology, the horizons of England are ever-changing, but how did the medieval period contribute to these advancements? In this episode, Matt is joined by one of the most prolific voices in Medieval history, Ian Mortimer. From the element of speed, war, and even self-reflection. Ian takes us through the extraordinary shift of horizons.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you ever wondered why one of Ruan Cathedral's towers is called the Tower of Butter, or what
0:06.2	animals have faced trials in courts for, or even how the black country got its name?
0:12.4	Well, you can find the answers to questions like these and hundreds more in our new book,
0:18.4	The History Hit Misscellanie. It's the perfect present for any history fan.
0:23.3	It's available to buy now from your favourite bookshop or by visiting historyhit.com forward slash
0:29.9	book. Welcome to this episode of Gone Medieval from History Hit, I'm Matt Lewis.
0:38.9	Ian Mortimer is one of medieval history's favourite voices from biographies of Edward III,
0:44.8	Henry IV, and accounts of Henry V's asian court, to his wonderful A Time Traveler's Guide series.
0:51.0	Ian writes with insight and clarity that never disappoints. He's also ventured recently into the
0:56.5	realms of historical fiction with the outcasts of time, which you can catch up with.
1:01.3	Ian joins us today to talk about his most recent project, though, which he's entitled Medieval
1:05.8	Horizons, and it considers the medieval shifts in culture and society that have long been overlooked.
1:12.0	Thank you very much for joining us, Ian. Thank you very much, Matt. So if we dive in, first of all,
1:16.4	can you tell us what you mean by medieval horizons and why you're using this as a way to approach
1:23.2	history and discuss the past? Yeah, good question. The whole idea really comes from
1:29.2	realising the extent to which people do not understand the changes of the Middle Ages.
1:35.0	It became apparent to me when I was writing a book called Sentries of Change, which asked the question
1:39.0	which centuries saw the most change of the last ten. And in writing that book, I realised that
1:44.8	people just assumed nothing really happened over the course of the Middle Ages, and in researching
1:51.2	other big sort of landmark books that dealt with historical change. I realised that this actually
1:56.6	applies to historians too. For example, Yuvalna Harari and his Sapiens has a beginning to his
2:02.8	chapter 19 where he says that if somebody was a peasant, who fell asleep in the year 1,000
	...

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