Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / TheMiddleAges

Go To

1[[quoteright:293:[[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/This_Is_The_Fourteenth_Century.JPG]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:293:''This'' is the Fourteenth Century?]]
3
4-> ''The Middle Ages designates the time span roughly from the collapse of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance and Reformation. The adjective "medieval," coined from Latin medium (middle) and aevum (age), refers to whatever was made, written, or thought during the Middle Ages...Medieval authors, of course, did not think of themselves as living in the "middle"; they sometimes expressed the idea that the world was growing old and that theirs was a declining age, close to the end of time.''
5-->-- '''The Norton Anthology of English Literature''', Vol. 1, "Introduction: The Middle Ages"
6
7Era of the crusades, Myth/RobinHood, and fat, wine-loving, and lecherous (but good-hearted) friars. Also home to [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]], [[SquishyWizard wizards]], [[KnightInShiningArmor knights in shining armour]], CourtlyLove, [[PrincessClassic beautiful princesses]] with big headdresses, and tall, spirally gothic architecture. Expect to see a {{Corrupt Church}}man or two wandering the landscape [[BurnTheWitch burning witches]], heretics, and pretty much ''anyone'' who doesn't agree with [[KnightTemplar them]]. Also expect to see people comically dropping left and right from [[ThePlague the Black Death]]. ''("Bring out your deeeeaaaaa----" *Fall* *Splut!*''). Hear the OminousLatinChanting of [[MediaNotes/MedievalMusic monks singing Mass]].
8
9If the story does not take place in some unspecified kingdom, the setting is likely to be a [[ArtisticLicenseHistory mythologized]] UsefulNotes/{{Britain}} or UsefulNotes/{{France}}, though [[UsefulNotes/{{Israel}} Jerusalem]], which had pretty much been ignored since BibleTimes will now also be used as the stage for all sorts of flashy battles involving cutlass-wielding [[ArabianNightsDays Turks]] and ruggedly handsome [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar Knights Templar]].
10
11The Middle Ages lasted for about a thousand years, and fell into five periods: the ugly Sub-Roman period (the fall of [[AncientRome Rome]], the barbarian invasions, the rise of Islam, and so on), the pleasant Carolingian Renaissance, the ugly Viking/Hungarian invasions, the pleasant High Middle Ages, and the ugly period of the Black Death and its aftermath. The classic medieval tropes above are exclusively drawn from the High Middle Ages: the period which stretches, approximately, from 1066 to 1348.
12
13The TropeCodifier for the High Middle Ages was the 19th century, when the Middle Ages were celebrated as the embodiment of {{Romanticism}} in the RomanticismVersusEnlightenment debate. UsefulNotes/AncientGreece, meanwhile, had been cast as the embodiment of [[UsefulNotes/TheEnlightenment Enlightenment]] in the 18th century. In reality, Ancient Greece and the High Middle Ages were very similar societies: both valued philosophy, science, and engineering, but feared and used magic and loved to fight. Both also had slaves, and a de facto caste system; both had a mix of slave/serf and free farmers as the basis of society. The Greeks valued city living more, though, and were a mix of petty kingdoms, democracies ("democracy" meant "mob rule" for a very long time thanks to their example), and lawless autocracies; but Persia was feudal (and most of medieval material culture -- knights, castles, tunics, pointy shoes, roses, rhyming poetry, princesses in towers wearing conical hats with veils, wizards with robes covered in holy symbols -- is originally Persian). It's fair to say that the High Middle Ages and classical Greece would've understood each other well, if they'd interacted -- while contemporary Romantics and Enlightenment-ists would both have reasons to dislike both societies.
14
15For a version of medieval tropes that casts a wider and more accurate net, check out the constituent periods:
16* DarkAgeEurope
17* TheLowMiddleAges
18* TheHighMiddleAges
19* TheLateMiddleAges
20
21(Although even here, the three initial periods of the Middle Ages are sort of a blur.)
22
23See also YeGoodeOldeDays for the excessively positive version and TheDungAges for the excessively negative. When history has been abandoned altogether, you have probably made the epic voyage to TheTimeOfMyths.
24
25It became a CyclicNationalFascination during the Romanticism, when people grew disillusioned with technological advances and yearned for "simpler" times.
26----
27!!Popular tropes associated with this time period are:
28* AristocratsAreEvil
29* BlackKnight
30* ChristianityIsCatholic: Though it would eventually be throughout most of Central and Western Europe, in Eastern Europe and the Near East, Orthodoxy was more prevalent; yet is much less common in fictional works. (And officially, the final split came in 1054, and reunification was seen as a viable possibility until 1204.)
31* CourtlyLove
32* TheDungAges
33* ErmineCapeEffect
34* FeudalOverlord
35* GratuitousPrincess: There weren't ''really'' many more then than now. Except a lot of small kingdoms have been eaten up since then and a number of states have changed from kingdoms to republics, so there were a lot more reigning princesses. There may be girls today who, if you assumed the continuance of feudal law, would in fact qualify as princesses, but who work as waitresses and don't know they are titular princesses. (To be pedantic, many of the smaller states (especially the ones in the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire) were neither kingdoms nor principalities, so their "princesses" would technically have been "duchesses," "palatine countesses", "electresses" and possibly "marchionesses." Still, [[{{Pun}} it's close enough for government work.]])
36* GorgeousPeriodDress: Except for (ugh!) [[MedievalMorons Ye Peasants]] and one or two of the more self-denying Churchmen. Look for puffy, slashed sleeves and trunk-hose among the men, though these were really [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance Renaissance]] fashions.
37* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Even when they happen to be [[WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973 talking lions]].
38* HornyVikings
39* KnightInShiningArmor
40* MedievalBallads
41* MedievalMorons
42* NoWomansLand: When the setting is TheDungAges.
43* PimpedOutDress: Lots of [[PrettyInMink fur]], silk, and velvet for the nobility (though the last was not actually invented until very late in the period).
44* ThePlague
45* RenaissanceFair: The ThemeParkVersion of the Middle Ages in modern times
46* StockMedievalMeal
47* {{Swashbuckler}}: One of the two classic periods for the setting.
48* VestigialEmpire: UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire was still around, based in Constantinople. In fact, historians often define the Middle Ages as the period from the fall of the Roman Empire in the west (476) to the fall of the Roman Empire in the east (1453). Restoring TheEmpire is a popular scenario, especially in [[StrategyGame Strategy Games]].
49** It also should be noted that it took several centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire for the general population to accept that the Empire was really gone. This applies to both the eastern and western empires.
50* TheWildHunt: Deriving from legends of this period.
51* YeGoodeOldeDays
52* YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe: Though actually rarer than one might expect in most serious modern works, 'tis more common in older ones. ([[Literature/{{Ivanhoe}} "'˜By the light of Heaven!' said Prince John to Hubert, 'an thou suffer that runagate knave to overcome thee, thou art worthy of the gallows!'"]])
53----
54!!Works set in this time period include:
55
56[[AC:Arts]]
57* ''Art/DanteAndVirgilInHell'', by Renaissance painter Creator/WilliamAdolpheBouguereau
58
59[[AC:Comic Books]]
60* ''ComicBook/DemonKnights''
61* ''ComicBook/JohanAndPeewit'', as well as its MorePopularSpinoff ''Franchise/TheSmurfs''
62* ''ComicStrip/PrinceValiant''
63* ''ComicBook/VikingPrince''
64
65[[AC:Films -- Animation]]
66* Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon:
67** ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'': "After all, this ''is'' the fourteenth century."
68** ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone''
69** ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}''
70* ''WesternAnimation/Beowulf2007''
71* Creator/DreamWorksAnimation:
72** The ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' films, though they give an AnachronismStew compared to the others
73** The ''Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon'' movie series.
74* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfKells''
75* ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}''
76* ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot''
77* ''WesternAnimation/KingDick''
78
79[[AC:Films -- Live-Action]]
80* Any Film about UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc
81* All permutations of the Myth/ArthurianLegend.
82* All permutations of the Myth/RobinHood mythos.
83* ''Film/AlexanderNevsky''
84* ''Film/ArmyOfDarkness''
85* ''Film/{{Becket}}''
86* ''Film/{{Braveheart}}''
87* ''Film/TheCourtJester'' (Stated to be in the reign of [[ArtisticLicenseHistory King Roderick I.]] of England.)
88* ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}''
89* ''Film/{{Jabberwocky}}''
90* ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven''
91* ''Knights of the Cross'' based on the novel of the same name.
92* ''Film/AKnightsTale''
93* ''Film/TheKnightBeforeChristmas'' (the parts set in 1334)
94* ''Film/{{Ladyhawke}}''
95* ''Film/TheLastDuel''
96* ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''
97* ''Film/{{The Name of the Rose}}''
98* ''Film/{{The Northman}}''
99* ''Film/{{The Seventh Seal}}''
100* ''Film/TheVirginSpring''
101* ''Film/LesVisiteurs'' (the parts set in 1123)
102
103[[AC:Literature]]
104* ''Literature/DoomsdayBook''
105* Michel Pagel ''Le roi d'août'' (''The King of August''), a novelized version of the life of Philip II Augustus with fantastical elements (dryads especially). Quite historically accurate (except for the obvious Fantasy).
106* ''Literature/{{Wolfbreed}}'' takes place during this time period and deals with UsefulNotes/TheTeutonicKnights' conquest of Prussia...[[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent and werewolves.]]
107* ''Literature/CatherineCalledBirdy'' and ''The Midwife's Apprentice'', both by Karen Cushman.
108* ''Literature/TheKnightsOfTheCross'' by Henryk Sienkiewicz.
109* '' Literature/CantarDelMioCid''
110* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour''
111
112[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
113* The first ''Series/BlackAdder'' series.
114* ''[[Series/CovingtonCross Beverly Hills 902 A.D.]]''
115* Most TV and movie adaptations of Myth/ArthurianLegend, despite the "correct" setting being immediately post-Roman Britain. This is because the earliest written versions of the legend were written in the Middle Ages and given a [[AnachronismStew "contemporary" makeover]].
116* The opening of the ''Series/GhostsUK'' episode “About Last Night” takes place during the outbreak of TheBlackDeath
117* ''Series/TheMysticKnightsOfTirNaNog''
118* Most TV and movie incarnations of ''Myth/RobinHood''.
119* ''Series/ThePillarsOfTheEarth'' MiniSeries adaptation.
120* ''Literature/WorldWithoutEnd'' MiniSeries adaptation.
121
122[[AC:Tabletop Games]]
123* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' in most of its incarnations.
124* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' is set in a particularly grim version that's rather disparate:
125** Bretonnia is the shining example of TheDungAges, with peasants crushed under a bewildering variety of taxes while their overlords are Arthurian knights bravely fighting against horrible monsters (and are deliberately kept in MedievalStasis by the wood elves hiding on their land who form Bretonnia's religion).
126** The Empire is the most advanced human civilization with a Renaissance-ish level of technology and even early Industrial Revolution in places, though progress is limited to cities, the countryside is mostly forest and farmland filled with illiterate, superstitious peasants.
127** Viking raids by Norscans are a constant menace to coastal settlements (and inland as well), and are able to continue even in the age of gunpowder thanks to being empowered by evil gods.
128** Hobgoblins, Ogres and certain human tribes fill the role of HordesFromTheEast.
129
130[[AC:Theatre]]
131* ''Theatre/TheLionInWinter''
132* ''Theatre/{{Spamalot}}''
133
134[[AC:Video Games]]
135* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI''
136* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBloodlines''
137* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' (since the game takes place in TheLateMiddleAges Italy, it overlaps with UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance)
138* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla''
139* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLordsOfShadow''
140* ''VideoGame/ChivalryMedievalWarfare''
141* ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings''
142** ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsII''
143** ''VideoGame/CrusaderKingsIII''
144* ''VideoGame/DantesInferno''
145* ''The First Templar''
146* ''[[VideoGame/MedievalTotalWar Medieval: Total War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar Medieval II : Total War]]''.
147* ''VideoGame/KingdomComeDeliverance''
148* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfHonor''
149* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheRound''
150* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheTempleInfernalCrusade''
151* ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}''
152* ''VideoGame/APlagueTaleInnocence''
153* ''VideoGame/{{Rune}}''
154* ''VideoGame/{{Stronghold}}''
155
156[[AC:Web Comics]]
157* ''Webcomic/GetMedieval''
158
159[[AC:Western Animation]]
160* ''Creator/{{Disney}}'s WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears''
161* ''{{WesternAnimation/Castlevania}}''
162* ''WesternAnimation/MrBenn'' would travel to this particular era at least thrice, as a knight, wizard and cook in one story each.
163
164[[AC:Real Life]]
165* [[UsefulNotes/SocietyForCreativeAnachronism The Society for Creative Anachronism]] is a non-profit organization dedicated to recreating the skills and knowledge of pre-17th century Europe.

Top