History Main / MedievalMorons

** And then there are the members of the aristocracy like [[MagnificentBastard Littlefinger]] or [[TooCleverByHalf Tyrion]] who could possibly be smarter than anyone ever. Littlefinger may count as even more of an aversion; he is aristocratic only by title, his upbringing having been not much different than most peasants, and he is apparently mostly self-educated beyond a basic level (which would have been provided when he was fostered at Riverrun), but he's [[{{Chessmaster}} one of the smartest cookies in the series.]] Varys' background is even poorer and he's at least as smart.

** Monasteries carefully preserved and duplicated by hand the precious writings saved from the fall of the Rome, with monks often devoting their lives to study and practice of philosophy, engineering and physics, or medicine.
** The ByzantineEmpire, which preserved and expanded the Musaeum of Alexandria[[note]]The library of Alexandria and several related universities and institutions[[/note]], advanced science and engineering to surprising levels.[[note]]Their military, for instance, deployed advanced weaponry like flamethrowers and ship-mounted ballistae. Constantinople had public sanitation and proper sewer and water systems. The Hagia Sophia was the largest freestanding domed structure on Earth until the construction of the ''astrodome in the modern era''.[[/note]]
** Even among the average peasant, intelligence and ingenuity were valued- riddle contests were staples of the medieval fair, and windmills and waterwheels powered complex proto-factories for milling flour, forging metal, and processing timber.

* Discussed at one point in Literature/{{Safehold}}, when Merlin quotes [[ClarkesThirdLaw Arthur C. Clarke]] for Cayleb and tells him not to feel like an ignorant savage because within the framework they have, the people of Safehold are every bit as clever and creative as the people of the high-tech society Merlin came from.

* It's also been shown that the average intelligence level is rising, so a few hundred years back the average intelligence level was lower, though perhaps not to the extent seen in fiction. Also, this wasn't a blanket increase; it seems to be [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect#The_rise_in_IQ concentrated]] in those with the lowest [=IQs=], "and negligible in the top half." There seems to be no effect on those with very high [=IQs=]. And this is not an increase across the board with the tests: it is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect#The_Flynn_effect_and_intelligence_models limited to certain subtests]]. In fact, the average scores in some subtests have decreased slightly (though overshadowed by large increases in the scores of other subtests).

This trope was popularized by the Enlightenment due to the "MedievalStasis" trope, their perception on [[DarkAgeEurope the world after Rome as]] [[AfterTheEnd a post-apocalyptic, war-ridden, anti-intellectual dystopia]], and how they saw themselves as paragons of progress recovering the glory of the classical world. [[Analysis/MedievalMorons Of course, reality is more complex than that.]] Nog only did Enlightenment thinkers harbor their own misconceptins and prejudices, but medieval people were just as intelligent on average as any other representative person living in any other period of history; they simply did not have the accumulated experience and knowledge that people take for granted when their world includes things like universal education and literacy, plus extensive trade and travel infrastructure connecting them to most other parts of the known world. Basically, unless you were very special or belonged to an organisation with some of these features, you had to spend most of your time surviving in a way that didn't require these things.

This trope was popularized by the Enlightenment due to the "MedievalStasis" trope, their perception on [[DarkAgeEurope the world after Rome as]] [[AfterTheEnd a post-apocalyptic, war-ridden, anti-intellectual dystopia]], and how they saw themselves as paragons of progress recovering the glory of the classical world. [[Analysis/MedievalMorons Of course, reality is more complex than that.]] Medieval people were just as intelligent on average as any other representative person living in any other period of history, but they simply did not have the accumulated experience and knowledge that people take for granted when their world includes things like universal education and literacy, plus extensive trade and travel infrastructure connecting them to most other parts of the known world. Basically, unless you were very special or belonged to an organisation with some of these features, you had to spend most of your time surviving in a way that didn't require these things.

* Averted in George Martin's ''ASongOfIceAndFire''. We don't see that many peasants, but those we do are just people. Some are smart, some are stupid, most are fairly level-headed. In ''The Sworn Sword'', Dunk even tells Egg (who is royalty) to be respectful to them. They might not be able to read or argue about the politics of the realm, but they know when to plant their crops and how to deliver a calf.

* The Orc and Human builder units in ''{{Warcraft}} III'' are a shining example of this trope, if the lines they speak when clicked are any indication. The humans have a Cockney accent and occasionally quote the ''Monty Python'' peasants, while the orcs have a YouNoTakeCandle speech pattern. Given the cultures involved both believe heavily in advancement by merit (and face serious manpower shortages), it's possible that the only people who get jobs as laborers are the ones too incompetent to do anything else.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. The episode "Selfless" shows how Anya, once a peasant girl in 800's Sweden, became a vengeance demon after she turned her unfaithful husband Olaf into a troll, who is immediately attacked by the fearful villagers.

* Discussed at one point in Literature/{{Safehold}}, when Merlin quotes [[ClarkesThirdLaw Arthur C. Clarke]] for Cayleb and tells him not to feel like an ignorant savage because within the framework they have, the people of Safehold are every bit as clever and creative as the people the high-tech society Merlin came from.

* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad''. In one particular episode, they manage to quickly convince Copernicus to stop being a farmer and write about how the Earth moves around the sun, he promptly agrees and goes to research under the basis that "That sounds important!" only to be seen in the end of the episode running back to where the Squad had just gone, screaming, "Wait! I forgot to ask! WHAT IS THIS 'SUN'?!"

* Parodied in ''{{Futurama}}''. characters from TheFuture commonly refer to the 20th century as "The Stupid Ages."

** in the original, the temporally shifted heroes utterly destroy a van, thinking it to be a devil-powered cart driven by a Saracen.

* Subverted in ''The Navigator''. While the time-displaced villagers are understandably disoriented and frightened by much of what they encounter -- and when it's a construction site full of mechanical earthmovers, who could blame them? -- they make quite a few reasonable deductions and plans, within the limits of their knowledge and faith.
* Played straight ''[[Film/TheNameOfTheRose In The Name Of The Rose]]'', the film version. Everyone but [[TheWatson the narrator]] and the hero [[DetectiveStory William of Baskerville]] is a moron or a fanatic or both.

* Averted in MichaelCrichton's ''Literature/{{Timeline}}''. In this book, the time travelers are often outwitted and outmatched by the natives. A consistent theme is that while the time travelers possess modern knowledge, they do not have the skills to survive in the more primitive environment.

Thus, {{time travel}}ers are advised to avoid TheMiddleAges at all costs lest they be [[BurnTheWitch burned as witches]]. Or as we call it, TheDungAges.

* Subverted in the book ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo'', in which the doctor of a time-displaced modern American town has to consult with his "downtime" counterpart. It becomes clear that the "local" doctor not only ''doesn't'' use leeches and ground bat's wing, but has a medical library in nearly a dozen languages (English being one of them) ([[{{Omniglot}} all of which he speaks fluently]], against the US doctor's... just English). The high school history teacher who is also present breaks down laughing and says "[[YouSuck you didn't actually think]] you were ''smarter'' than him, did you?"

*** Of course not. It is transdimensional {{Eldritch Abomination}}s toying with spacetime for their inscrutable amusement. You didn't [[ArbitrarySkepticism actually believe in witches]] did you?
*** Truthfully, the leads in the story (even by Eric Flint's "Middle man" policy) are simply incredibly smart/intuitive, even by modern standards to the point it can come quite [[SubvertedTrope unbelievable]] and tend to adapt with incredible speed to change. This can be {{Justified|Trope}} that they had come from living in a [[WarIsHell literal Hell]] and explained by Gretchen Richter as "There are ''worse'' things than going insane."

** According to the AluminumChristmasTrees article, anarcho-syndicalist communes [[TruthInTelevision did actually exist]].
*** But they were usually religious in nature and tended to get conquered, with the exception of a couple in Italy which developed into Republican city-states.

* The Orc and Human builder units in ''{{Warcraft}} III'' are a shining example of this trope, if the lines they speak when clicked are any indication (the humans have a Cockney accent while the orcs have a YouNoTakeCandle speech pattern). They even have the Human Peasants occasionally using the ''Monty Python'' quote above...
** Given the cultures involved both believe heavily in advancement by merit (and face serious manpower shortages), it's possible that the only people who get jobs as laborers are the ones too incompetent to do anything else.

* Subverted in the PoulAnderson novel ''TheHighCrusade''. [[ScaryDogmaticAliens A high tech alien empire]] is brought to its knees [[RockBeatsLaser by a 14th century English army]]. The Medieval characters naturally view things through a Medieval lens (the aliens are initially mistaken for demons), but are very capable and clever. In fact [[spoiler: not only do the Crusaders end up conquering the aliens, they convert them to both feudalism and Christianity]] by the end. Unfortunately, the movie played this trope nearly completely straight.
** Poul Anderson further subverted this trope in his short story "The Man Who Came Early", in which the titular man TrappedInThePast fails to impress medieval Icelanders. They aren't even particularly fazed by his handgun.

** And then there are the members of the aristocracy like [[MagnificentBastard Littlefinger]] or [[TooCleverByHalf Tyrion]] who could possibly be smarter than anyone ever.

No, really. Whenever you see medieval people in fiction, particularly peasants, they will always be depicted as stupid, small-minded, xenophobic, savage but cowardly, superstitious, gullible, and primitive - the Old World equivalent of stereotypical American rednecks. And of course, all men treat all women [[NoWomansLand like crap all the time]].

* Subverted in ''TheNavigator''. While the time-displaced villagers are understandably disoriented and frightened by much of what they encounter -- and when it's a construction site full of mechanical earthmovers, who could blame them? -- they make quite a few reasonable deductions and plans, within the limits of their knowledge and faith.

* Leadership and occupation in medieval societies were much more dependent on random factors, like what family they were born into. In today's industrialized countries, people are generally are able to seek qualifications and apply for jobs they are talented in and that follow their interests. Therefore, in the everyday working world, the people you run in skilled positions are more likely to be competent and skilled.

* ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt'' is a major offender. Of course, [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny it was new]] when MarkTwain did it (making this OlderThanRadio), and he was trying to portray the [[AristocratsAreEvil evils of aristocracy]]. Still, it's exaggerated and unhistorical, with most of the characters just generally acting TooDumbToLive. He was also satirizing the excessively poetic and romantic portrayals of Arthurian legend that were popular at the time--by pointing out that, had Arthur and his knights actually behaved as they were typically portrayed, they would have had to have been absolutely childlike morons.

This trope was popularized by the Enlightenment due to the "MedievalStasis" trope, their perception on [[DarkAgeEurope the world after Rome as]] [[AfterTheEnd a post-apocalyptic, war-ridden, anti-intellectual dystopia]], and how they saw themselves as paragons of progress recovering the glory of the classical world. [[Analysis/MedievalMorons Of course, reality is more complex than that.]] Medieval people were just as intelligent as any other person in any moment of history, but they simply did not have the accumulated knowledge that people from later periods could more easily gain, and they had to spend most of their time surviving, as such they were only capable of applying their intellect to the things they knew, which actually resulted in some clever uses of rather primitive technology.

* Averted in MichaelCrichton's ''{{Timeline}}''. In this book, the time travelers are often outwitted and outmatched by the natives. A consistent theme is that while the time travelers possess modern knowledge, they do not have the skills to survive in the more primitive environment.

* Averted in MichaelCrichton's ''Timeline''. In this book, the time travelers are often outwitted and outmatched by the natives. A consistent theme is that while the time travelers possess modern knowledge, they do not have the skills to survive in the more primitive environment.

* Played straight and subverted in the original ''Time Traders'' series. [[TheMentor One male]] lead tells the other that the 'primitives' they meet with in pre-history may be able to deduce scientific or mechanical principles from a rifle or other item, and therefore ''everything'' the Time Traders take with them to the past must fit the era, even to the point of disguising antibiotics in the form of local medicines. But most of the past folk we actually see do not come across as very intelligent, even the two characters, one a priestess and the other a chief's wife, who are interested in learning about the world beyond their doorstep.