One of my favorite facts for introducing people to "everything you think you know about the Middle Ages is a lie" is that at one point in medieval Wales, a woman could divorce her husband for having bad breath
This tells us a couple of important things:
1. Divorce existed
2. Women could initiate it
3. Bad breath wasn't just accepted as a fact of filthy medieval life
@alpine_thistle Along the same lines of vikings all looking and behaving like barbarians with horns. Love that one. It turns out there is evidence that many of the Norse were actually kind of vain about their appearance.
@alpine_thistle any recommended resources on further reading? Very interested in disproving the broad myth of the middle ages.
@schrodingers_cat
+1 🙏
(Since I guess "Horrible Histories" is not correct) @alpine_thistle
@blueplanetslittlehelper @schrodingers_cat there was one that just came out that I'm excited to read, it's called "The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe."
There's also a short, entertaining docuseries that I always recommend to people who want to start learning more: Terry Jones' Medieval Lives (it's on youtube)
@alpine_thistle
The name alone shows that our opinion needs to be re-evaluated. Thanks 🙏 @schrodingers_cat
@alpine_thistle @blueplanetslittlehelper @schrodingers_cat The Bright Ages is a wonderful book. I loved it and learned so much, I'm going to read it again soon because I know I've missed stuff. Kicks the myth of the dark ages into the history bin where it belongs (along with most history crap that the Victoria's said)
@alpine_thistle hey Amanda, I would love a source, do you have it?
@sigaard I learned about it from a docuseries called Terry Jones' Medieval Lives
@alpine_thistle this is absolutely fantastic!