Medieval Misconceptions: EDUCATION and LITERACY

Were medieval peasants all illiterate and uneducated? Well in this episode of Medieval Misconceptions we take a look at one of the most pervasive ideas about medieval times.
Please check out modern history TV: / @modernknight
Modern History TV on medieval washing hands: • Soap and washing: Did ...
Sources:
Follow up video going through the evidence: • The evidence that medi...
I've looked up so many things over the years that it's impossible to list every source, from documentaries, academic articles, online videos and websites. Here's a great article on the mater: Studying Medieval Urban Literacy, A Provisional State of Affairs: medievalliteracy.wp.hum.uu.nl...
A decent summery article: medievalcolloquium.sewanee.edu...
Awesome shadiversity chainmail T-shirts:
teespring.com/stores/shadiver...
My novel, Shadow of the Conqueror Audio Book affiliate links:
US: www.audible.com/shadbrooks
UK: www.audible.co.uk/shadbrooks
CA: www.audible.ca/shadbrooks
AU: www.audible.com.au/shadbrooks
Ebook, Paperback and Hardcover available from most major book retailers, here are a few of the main ones:
Amazon affiliate link (be sure to navigate to your country's amazon site):
amzn.to/2XErUaR
Barnes and Noble:
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/shad...
Kobo:
www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/shad...
My official website: www.shadmbrooks.com/
Shadiversity on Patreon: / shadiversity

[@shadiversity]

*POINT OF CLARIFICATION* - Follow up video going through the evidence: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXq2fmWlmZh1gJI&t When I said if a person did not read and write Latin they would have been considered illiterate, I was referring to the medieval *academic* standard of literacy, according to the local standard, they would have been considered literate if they could read and write their local dialect. Also the statistics at the end are averages. There were localized pockets of higher and lower literacy varied by region and time. *Original comment* - Hi guys, so this video was recorded before my surgery, of which I'm still recovering from, and would have been out sooner, but I wanted to add in some additional points of clarification and couldn’t do it until I could speak, well speak enough. You might notice my voice is a bit weird in the additional parts as things are still healing. Recovery is going good and I hope you enjoy the video!

[@six2make4]

Hope you get well soon and you come back better than ever, you deserve it!

[@wiegervonstraufenwitz8417]

I hope you get well soon.

[@liamodahl1205]

So glad the recovery's going well! Don't worry about us too much. 😁

[@KamalAdnanTheFirst]

I am just happy to hear that you are healing well.

[@AzizAziz-ro9qt]

hope you get better soon

[@StutleyConstable]

If people back then couldn't read, why would the Sheriff of Nottingham waste his time tacking up all of those Robinhood wanted posters?

[@tree_alone]

hahaha

[@amehak1922]

When you steal from the rich, the government doesn't play around. Who cares about the rabble? :p

[@Chrisfragger1]

@@amehak1922 Stealing is Stealing...

[@Bolpat]

Actually this isn't really an argument, if there was Robin Hood's face in it. Illiterate people can recognize certain words and, even if not, the form of the sheets.

[@amehak1922]

Chrisfragger1 stealing from a some small time craftsman, I doubt the local sheriff would have cared much. Stealing from the local Lord or the king would have been considered on the level of treason.

[@michaelkrull3331]

"You can be literate and still be uneducated..." Have you seen social media lately?

[@ab14967]

A grim reminder of how accurate that statement is.

[@Pedro_Colicigno]

“The ability to speak does not make you intelligent.” I guess it holds true for writing as well

[@Justin-pe9cl]

Too accurate.

[@Resistant396]

The best part of this is that he accidentally said the reverse of what he intended. The character on screen in that moment was illiterate but highly educated.

[@marvalice3455]

Twitter is a boil on our culture.

[@armorfrogentertainment]

"Reading and writing is important." _angry Socrates noises_

[@christiancinnabars1402]

Pop culture: Medieval peasants were all illiterate! Also pop culture: *Throws signs on nearly every building and road in medieval settings*

[@democracyisajewshill3341]

Good point

[@ComradeHellas]

Yeah they were, there is no statistical evidence to prove otherwise, literacy rates in Tudor England were at 5%, a point that people were more economically well-off thanks to the plague and the renaissance. There was a complete lack of public education and the only place you could educate yourself was in a monastery. In England by 1530, there were 900 monasteries with 12.000 monks and nuns, that's 1 monk per . There were also less than 100.000-200.000 books/manuscripts published per century before the invention of the printing press. With the European population being 75 million before the plague, that's 1 book per 375 to 750 people, although the number should be much lower, since we are calculating books produced per century, with the average life expectancy being in the 30s and assuming books wouldn't survive a full century without proper preservation. Finally even if you had access to books and found a monastery to go study, you wouldn't have this ability, since a farm-based economy would require constant work on the fields, away from any urban center.

[@TomorrowWeLive]

@@ComradeHellas someone didn't watch the video. But this is the kind of ignorance I'd expect from commie filth.

[@ComradeHellas]

@@TomorrowWeLive You are using a youtube video as a source who quotes another youtube video as "evidence". I provided statistical proof and made a comprehensive analysis that even a 10 years old can understand. You are ignorant and uneducated, but yet again what can we expect from a fascist bootlicker?

[@ComradeHellas]

@@TomorrowWeLive My sources are: 1)"Literacy" from our world in data, auth: Max Roser and Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, who cites 10 different books on the topic for literacy rates and is used by the University of Oxford. 2)"The Dissolution of the Monasteries" by George W. Bernard on the number of monasteries and monks. 3)"Population in Europe" by Josiah Russell on the population of Europe. 4) “Rise of the West”: Manuscripts and Printed Books in Europe by Eltjo Buringh and Jan Luiten Van Zanden. So if you have any academic source to back up ridiculous claims on high medieval literacy made by youtubers, now it's the time to provide them, or you can continue your ad hominem attacks and prove me that you are an uneducated ignoramus.

[@Quasihamster]

"Don't trust this man's word, sire! He can't even read!" "Pardon me? I've published a manual on how to manufacture a plow out of old carthweels, along with five novels so far!" "Yeah... in French. You see? Completely illiterate."

[@dukeofmania6504]

jose tapia Nationalism wasn’t a concept until the rise of Napoleon. Even the Nation wasn’t a concept. Only thing you were loyal to was your faith and lord, nationality wasn’t a huge deal.

[@dc4457]

@jose tapia Nationalism wasn't even a concept in the middle ages. It marks the division between the medieval and the modern world and it was, on the level of the common man, a very GOOD thing. Now, for the first time, you weren't getting raped, robbed or burned out by the baron two miles down the road because your lord called his wife a sow. Declaring a private war against your countryman was no longer a part of daily life under feudal anarchy, now there was a central government with more power to enforce rules. Also, for the mass of common people nationalism reduced xenophobia. Previously if you encountered strangers, even if they were speaking your dialect and lived ten miles away, they were probably coming to commit some atrocity against you. Now if you heard some strangers coming up the road speaking your language you could relax a little. They might be coming to extort some tax from you but at least you would be alive and still have a home when they passed through. If they were speaking a language you didn't recognize, best to gather your women and livestock and hide out in the woods.

[@iopklmification]

@@dc4457 Yeah Nations really protected the common man. There was the risk of a war in 1914, then again in 1939 but nation-states prevented them and the common people were untouched!

[@TheShadowOfZama]

@@iopklmification The destructiveness of modern war is not necesarrily a fault of nationalism and more the result of weapons and technology becoming more powerful. Do you think things would be different if a local baron had an arms factory? Nationalism allowed the formation of massive, efficient nations, nations tend to be more powerful than random local lords or even the king who had to ensure his vassals obeyed him. Which in turn allows for larger conflicts to be fought. Of course a local baron can't raise the kind of hell a nation like germany in 1939 for example could, but neither could a local lord hope to match the kind of warfare fought between for example Carthage and Rome in the punic wars. Nations ensure things are safer since there are fewer actors who can cage wage war ( a hundred or so nations worldwide vs thousands of lords in French alone) and due to the globalisation the geopolicital scene is very complex which complicates things to succesfully wage war. How many modern wars are fought with third party actors? The Russians, Turks and Amercans in the Syrian civil war are good examples. There are fewer conflicts in the world than ever even though the ones there are will be bloodier and messier than those of earlier periods tended to be.

[@everfree4175]

@@TheShadowOfZama it is uncommon to see a person of reason, who is able to see the big picture and know why it exists. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[@DZ-1987]

Heh. Peasant goes to court. Goes back to his people. They asked how it went. He said: "Its all french to me."

[@christerjonsall5415]

You could say 'twas a breath of french air.

[@CrownRock1]

Pardon my French.

[@DZ-1987]

@@CrownRock1 I was actually going to add that in, but the story had to he extended a bit to include it. Ruining the joke.

[@greenstuff9361]

DZ well you could’ve fried at least

[@DZ-1987]

@@greenstuff9361 Oh, i did. Then read it. It didn't make me laugh as much the version i have settled with.

[@stfclm]

There's a historical difference that is not perceived by us modern people that much. People can be able to read but not able to write, especially when "paper" and pen were expensive and not readily available. Also, numeracy was much more common than we might think, and people were able to "do numbers" in their mind, for similar reasons as above.

[@coindorni]

I know that people can be able to read without necessarily being able to write, but I still can't really understand how. If you can identify the shape of letters and how they form words and stuff, why wouldn't you be able to reproduce it yourself?

[@foulmercy8095]

@@coindorni You have to have the experience with actually doing it. Learning something is cool but doing it is something different. Watch a video on how to write with your off hand then actually try to do it. Highly doubt you’ll be able to.

[@4philipp]

@@coindorni I saw a Picasso the other day and tried to copy it with a marker. Then I got thrown out of the museum for vandalism. Trust me, reading and writing are not the same.

[@coindorni]

​@@4philipp That's a good analogy. You may be able to appreciate art or understand it (it's a very subjective concept but you know what I mean) while not necessarily being able to replicate it.

[@4philipp]

@@coindorni yea, at the end of the day it’s about being shown how to do it and then practice practice practice. Talent, interest and attention span probably also play into it.

[@JonnesTT]

Shad: "You can be literate and still uneducated in varrying fields" Me: *angrily stares at about 95% of fantasy authors and more importantly screen writers"

[@DZ-1987]

Oi, don't look at me. Before this video, i had suspicions about this. Seems i was right.

[@Abayas.]

While I understand your irritation with unrealistic fantasy settings... you have to give ->some

[@Leo122188]

Reminds me of a bit from Stargate SH-1. "Dr. Jackson, attend my wound." "I'm an archeologist." "You're a doctor aren't you?" "Of archeology."

[@JonnesTT]

@@Leo122188 honestly, that bit was amazing but didn't they also write samantha as scientist for everything (excluding medicine, had enough suspiciously attractive doctors through the seasons, lol)?

[@Intranetusa]

Conversely, you can be illiterate and still be educated. Some cultures and societies have a tradition based on oral learning. The Incan civilization didn't have a formal writing system that we would consider a "written language" today, but they had plenty of people educated in astronomy, architecture, engineering, agriculture, etc that was taught by oral learning.

[@laierr]

Myth: Most of the people in the medieval period couldn't actually read. Reality: It's not that hard of a skill to master and it's REALLY USEFUL. Shad: Rambling about and waving hands for 16 minutes to convey such a simple idea. Me: Watching Shad for years exactly for that reason. Love you, Shad.

[@the_hanged_clown]

@Nospam Spamisham I think you mean comprehend

[@taxtengo7427]

Well if the estimated one per household to 50% were literate doesn’t it mean the majority was illiterate. He didn’t say which region or period these estimates applied to… sure, it only makes sense that by the end of the medieval period being literate had become the norm.

[@atraxian5881]

"...Reading and writing is useful..." Says the novel author! Conflict of interests much?

[@Pengepugeren]

Typical propaganda from Big Reading 😄

[@Andre-gn4sj]

is it a conflict of interest to write your dispute of the usefulness of writing?

[@-dennis3755]

@@Andre-gn4sj Man was never meant to ponder such questions.

[@TheRealOtakuEdits]

@@Andre-gn4sj Nice

[@dubuyajay9964]

Would you be able to debate him if you in turn couldn't read and write? Pot, kettle called. Asked how you was doing.

[@Chidsuey]

Man: Medieval people were idiots. Time-traveling Medieval Man: Can you plant crops? Fix a wagon? Forge metal? Tan a hide? Man: I can pull up pictures of cats on a wizard box. Time-traveling Medieval Man: The future is filled with idiots.

[@berilsevvalbekret772]

You do realize the only thing in that we cannot that easily learn is forging metal right?

[@Nullius_in_verba]

No problem we could learn everything with google

[@lowlandnobleman6746]

Easier said than done.

[@Myrdden71]

@@Nullius_in_verba Learning how something is done is not the same as learning how to do it, or mastering it. :)

[@itshunni8346]

@@berilsevvalbekret772 Actually forging metal is easier than planting crops. farming is a generational activity that carries with it generations of knowledge. there's a reason why people study it in post secondary settings while forging is something you can learn to a workable level or even leave to a machine quickly in the modern day. proper tanning is also not just something you do. even today we have professional tanners. make no mistake we are far more educated than the medieval man but we shouldn't look down on the challenge with these activities.

[@AngryKittens]

It always amuses me how in movies and TV shows, characters in the medieval period or in ancient times are often depicted as having LITERAL DIRT/SOOT ON THEIR FACES. Like they fell face-first in dust and mud and never wiped it off. Or like they were toddlers who just ate chocolate.

[@doctorofallrats]

"No. Everyone was educated in the medieval era. They were taught by me." -Shad in another universe

[@joanignasi91]

He told them how to build MACHICOLATIONS!

[@adolfodef]

@Sightless_Seeker They were also well versed on Liquid Nitrogen cryogenic preservation (at minimum), since Shad is also living today. -> Alternatively: (real) Witchcraft

[@ecthelionalfa]

@@adolfodef ha! do you think Death have the guts to show up in front of the shad, fool! The shad It too powerfull for those mundane concepts as mortality

[@marvalice3455]

@@adolfodef we don't have that even now though...

[@Omniroc]

This makes a lot of sense, especially the maybe one person per household could write. My father was illiterate, smart and crafty but couldn't read or write. He disassembled and reassembled military Jeeps in the Army during Vietnam. He just had a fellow mechanic read the parts list and my dad would rebuilt a Jeep motor. Illiterate does not equal stupid.

[@marcuskurze9759]

@108johnny Exactly.What use has reading or writing in this area?It does not make one smart if he can read or write and it makes nobody stupid if he can not.

[@davidtogi5878]

My fuckin neighbor is an idiot bastard but he is well educated.

[@Omniroc]

I believe being able to work a trade without the ability to read or write is a sign of high intelligent. I mean could you imagine building a house or rebuilding a car from memory alone. No notes, journals, or guides. That is amazing. And at least in my dad's case, he grew up in a coal mining town and had learning problems so they just passed him along until he was old enough to work the mine. It was how it was in his home at that time.

[@rubbers3]

Well... There's no justification to be illiterate in modern times, unless it's some african tribe in the middle of nowhere or one have a brain damage. In modern times illiterate does equal stupid. You can still be crafty, you can still have knowledge about other stuff, but if you're illiterate in modern times you are stupid. You're stupid not because illiteracy causes stupidity, but you'd have to *actively refuse* to learn. And that is a sign of stupidity.

[@Omniroc]

@@rubbers3 my father was raised in the 60's in a coal mining town. As I said, it was a different time and place than modern day. Having learning disabilities before they were known about also had an impact. I am talking about a past world that is not comparable to modern day in education or medical science. So your rant is completely off topic.

[@ecthelion1735]

One important thing to remember is that while French was pretty standardized, English was not, until the early renaissance. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation was fairly ad hoc. If you're interested, check out Simon Roper's channel. He deals with Old English, Middle English, and Cumbrian.

[@donkmeister]

Was French *that* standardised back then though? L'Academie wasn't established until the 17th century, and one of the key reasons for its establishment was to standardise French. What we call "French" is the Parisien dialect, just one dialect albeit the one that is enshrined in their constitution as the official language of France. To this day, the dialects of France are many and varied. I'll grant you that there would have been a particular dialect of French spoken in the royal court but French was not a standardised language in the medieval era. I'd also posit that English still isn't a standardised language; whilst the OED goes some way to documenting the lexicology of our tongue, there isn't an "Academy of English" in London that tells us what is and isn't proper English (so that we can promptly ignore it, much as most French do when L'Academie invents a proper French term for something they've already got a loanword for 🤣 )

[@rudde7918]

yeah French wasnt standardized either

[@iloveprivacy8167]

Even if "French" was standardised, a lot of people weren't speaking it: Occitan in the South, German dialects in the North-East, Celtic dialects on the NW coast, etc.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

something that's often forgotten is that while we may know a lot more today, the intelligence and capacity to learn hasn't really changed between someone today, someone 500 years ago, even someone 5000 years ago. We see evidence of intelligence and skill in every era of civilization.

[@54356776]

That's also something that we take for granted , the belief that we do know more in the modern era. We simply have access to controlled information , take away the Internet and people are suddenly far less "knowledgeable". Misinformation is rampant, so is confirmation bias thinking and so called "common knowledge" is more often than not simply a commonly held belief that is incorrect, misinterpreted or a down right lie propagated by many people believing the same thing to be true. One such example is similar to your comment in that many people believe that we are more intelligent than our ancestors were but as you said we haven't really changed on any other level than the superficial one. I'd wager that our ancestors and even just the older generations had more practical knowledge than is common in many people today.

[@cstephenson3749]

They must have been able to create and learn because what we have today has been built on the foundations of generations past.

[@drumguy1384]

On an evolutionary scale, we are absolutely no different than the humans who ventured out of caves at the end of the last Ice Age cr. 10,000 BC. They had just as much intelligence and capability as we have. The only difference is that we have several millennia worth of knowledge passed down to build upon.

[@henrikg1388]

@@drumguy1384 Yes, "we" are different. Evolution didn't just stop and they just started farming. The differences are very small but yet relevant, and we aren't necessarily more intelligent, just different. The last common ancestor of all humans living today was ca 70 000 years back.

[@drumguy1384]

@@henrikg1388 Right, I was speaking biologically. We likely aren't any more intelligent, only more technologically advanced. I would bet if you took one of "them" as an infant and raised it in the modern world they would be just fine.

[@ModernKnight]

Thanks for the shout out Shad!

[@shadiversity]

My pleasure mate!

[@katybechnikova2821]

You are both the best medieval history channels on KZbin.

[@FarmboyJake]

My two favorite medieval history KZbinrs! Thank you both for all your work!

[@pwnmeisterage]

@@FarmboyJake Three faves ... Lindybeige

[@blacklegbeastro5295]

@@pwnmeisterage 4,skalgrim

[@daeuslamb8191]

Wycliffe-guy who translated the Bible to English once railed against some priest guy saying he’d make the common plow boy to know more of the Bible than the priest........ I guess that means plow boys could read. I mean, I don’t think Wycliffe went around starting reading schools

[@shadiversity]

Exactly! The issue was having the book in the language they were literate in.

[@daeuslamb8191]

*lightbulb*

[@asahearts1]

Maybe he figured the plowboy would have the Bible read to him by one of the few literate laymen in his villiage.

[@adolfodef]

@@asahearts1 THIS is the _real_ POWER a translated bible could give to many. -> You do not need ALL people being able to read. Just those who can be trusted.

[@Kamtar34]

The main point is that why they should be able to read? There wasn't much of point in learning to read in some local dialect.

[@DFX2KX]

I hadn't thought of it like this. I've always thought that illiteracy was just more common then it is today, hence the myth, but the fact that you could be perfectly literate in the lingua franca of your own class yet not read the Bible or understand court never occured to me.

[@Herr_Flick_of_ze_Gestapo]

not true. Most people would have had a decent grasp of Latin. as most people would have gone to Mass every day and thus being exposed to Latin all the time. I have a very good grasp of Russian. even while I have never learned it by taking lessons. But simply by going to the Orthodox Church twice a week and being exposed to Church Slavonic all the time. I have little problems in understanding russian. im not good at all in speaking it tho.

[@francescosirotti8178]

8:30 Here in Italy we still have very strong dialects, to the point of a dialect in northern Italy is totally incomprehensible in south italy and vice versa. Even if we all speak italian nowadays, it wasn't uncommon in the '60s or' 70s to find two italians who would find it very difficult to understand one another. A big unifying factor was television, even more than school

[@lmonk9517]

Alfred the great was very literate and translated many latin texts into old-English texts. Of course the educated monks and nobility could all read latin but the fact that he translated into English meant there must have existed a decent proportion of the population who weren't part of the ecclesiastical or the noble classes but could still read their mother tongue.

[@Fabianwew]

It was also about mass being held in Latin. Translating to other languages made it possible to hold mass easily in the local language. It doesn't necessarily mean that you translated to make the peasants read books at home, rather than being able to understand what the priest is saying.

[@lmonk9517]

@@Fabianwew You should know that Alfred didn't just translate bible verses or typical prayers said at mass but works of philosophy and history. for example he is thought to be behind the translation of 'Historiarum adversus Paganos Libri Septem', a historical work about the vandals sack of rome and other pagan-christian conflicts. This work would certainly not be the subject of a christian mass nor would it needed to be translated into Old-English if there wasn't a market of well educated Anglo-saxons who were literate in their own language but not in latin and therefore neither clergymen or nobility.

[@j.t.lennon177]

There must have been some hold outs because Alfred had to make it clear that to keep their positions in the higher classes in government had to learn to read .

[@medievalgirl002]

It used to be thought that Alfred was illiterate until his mature years, but its now believed that he learned to read and probably write in English in his youth. It was Latin he didn't learn until later. Asser, his biographer, mentioned that he had a 'little book' that he carried around with him, and sometimes wrote things in it. Presumably it was some kind of prayer book, but one which had blank pages in it.

[@medievalgirl002]

@@j.t.lennon177 That was the older men, who were presumably set in their ways. He seems to have put as much energy, if not more, into establishing court schools and teaching the younger generation.

[@ariantes221]

There is a reason why Martin Luther translated the bible into German.

[@insiainutorrt259]

Becuz evil antisemite?..... :p

[@LitlBlackDragonNinja]

Because he wanted to have an orgy with the ladies in the church. Look that up. The whole protestant movement was all about him doing whatever he wanted to, while allowing the impoverished German nobility to steal Church property. Same thing happened in England afterwards.

[@bearistotle2820]

He wasn’t the first, not by a long shot.

[@GunesOAcar]

@@LitlBlackDragonNinja wow can you give me some sites where i can confirm that?

[@LitlBlackDragonNinja]

@@GunesOAcar Check the part at 15:15 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJXXoYloZ759bJY Additionally, here's an article about the subject: www.patheos.com/blogs/davearmstrong/2015/12/reformation-theft-of-thousands-of-catholic-churches.html Dr. E. Michael Jones and others who have video conversation with him have pointed out Lurther's sexual desires in other videos, like this one ( kzbin.info/www/bejne/haGagndmeNeMqdU - check mark 37:45 through 39:05 and bit after that. I recommend listing to the entire contents of the two videos). I tried to search for links on the internet that have some more detailed info but what I am getting are irrelevant links for his beliefs about Marriage and Women and for topics about the nigro Martin Lurther, who you could also call a POS, if you do your research on his life. As a compensation for my inability to provide you with detailed links at this time, here are links about that guy as well. He had connections with the Communist party and was an agent to be used for destabilization of US. You can check Stefan Moleneux's video kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpjUq2Z5lqaKeZI as well as Michael Jones's video www.bitchute.com/video/7bgatLSpheQ0/ Before dismissing Dr Jones, he is a well-known catholic writer of books about historical subjects as culture, religion, capitalism and others. P.S. This is a timeline of his life with dates on which something significant happened in his life: www.visit-luther.com/reformation-heroes/martin-luther/a-timeline-of-luthers-life/ You can see that 1525, he married Katharina von Bora - a nun (check year 1523, above). To put things into context, monks, priests and nuns were forbidden from having sexual relationships and for a good reason, which is that the people in the clergy would be occupied with raising their families and not defending the Church or delving deeper into Christian teachings. In of his videos, Dr Jones talked about this and how after the Church caved in and removed that rule, the Church began to be slowly infiltrated by not so good people, whose goal was to get to the higher positions and they did so because those, who would have countered them, had family matters to deal with through their whole servitude in the Church and were too preoccupied to rise higher in the Church Hierarchy.

[@johnd4348]

My grandparents spoke several different languages, but never had more than a 3 grade education. Possibly never read an entire book in their live, but read the newspaper everyday. Born in the late 1800's They did ok and made a decent living.

[@shadfacts6465]

Shad Fact: Once completed it was discovered that the empire State building was built too close to the edge of the street. They called upon Shad to give it a small push.

[@qui-gone]

I thought he would slice off the part of the building closer to the road.. Longsword-man bad..err.. good..

[@AHEM1313]

If Shad was around back in 1931, how does he still look so young?! Now I know where Shad got the idea for the plot of his novel!

[@janb.3600]

Have you heard of a special species of KZbin-accounts known as "Kripperinos"? You seem to be one of them - exept on Shad's channel.

[@laden5568]

@@janb.3600 Care to define the term?

[@janb.3600]

@@laden5568 Kripperinos are (KZbin) profiles commonly found in the comments of Kripparian's videos. Their comments, username and profile picture are designed around a certain gimmick, usually a joke or channel related meme, there is even instances of roleplaying. These accounts are usually very active, leaving a comment under Kripparian's videos minutes after upload.

[@joanignasi91]

Of course they were educated, how else would they have been able to invent MACHICOLATIONS!

[@spacejesus6581]

Midichlorians?

[@joanignasi91]

@@spacejesus6581 Blasphemy! Burn the witch!

[@paweandonisgawralidisdobrz2522]

@@spacejesus6581 begone non-believer

[@spacejesus6581]

joanignasi91 but I weigh more than a duck! Meaning I cannot float as a duck does, not as a piece of wood does, and therefor I cannot be burned as Wood can

[@joanignasi91]

@@spacejesus6581 We still have to make the ultimate test. We drop you off a cliff, if you fly away then you were a witch, if you don't, well... Hmmm... I'm sure Jesus would grab you before you hit the ground or something...

[@wompa70]

Shad, “I’m a rambler.” Yes you are and we love you for it!

[@brijekavervix7340]

I finally feel vindicated for always having a nagging thought of 'is that REALLY true?' every time someone has proposed people from the past were '''''dumb''''' etc... and also a bit angry that we're constantly being lied to on the matter.

[@FroyourHistory]

People unfortunately only judge and dehumanize those who lived in the past.

[@TomyDayos]

They want to feel superior. That's why they talk bad about everyone else.

[@AAZ-yu5ss]

@@TomyDayos exactly, that’s why the people of the Renaissance created all those misconceptions about the Middle Ages, because they wanted to feel superior despite the fact that their society was pretty bad (and there cities were actually dirtier, due to the higher population).

[@cioplasmmajic8327]

Shad: people aren't stupid! Sees modern news article. Shad: Medieval people weren't stupid!

[@exantiuse497]

The majority of people were, are and will be stupid. But medieval people were stupider, on average, than modern people, just because the quality and quantity of their food was worse

[@raifthemad]

@@exantiuse497 Wasn't around back then, so I can't assert anything with certainty. We do have more knowledge in many areas, but that doesn't mean that the average person is smarter, just that they're more knowledgeable. These days people in schools aren't taught to think but just to memorize a bunch of information for tests. A bunch of it being unscientific or even blatantly false propaganda. You just go nutrition was worse, so they must have been dumber. But they also didn't have solutions to every problem at their fingertips(teh internets) so they had to use their brains a lot more, scarcity breeds ingenuity. Brain, somewhat like muscles, gets better with use.

[@kristianferencik8685]

@@exantiuse497 they had a better diet than us. The reason why people weren't as adept as majority of today's world is due to lack of accessible resources to learn, the level of knowledge and technology at the time and their life spans. Not much use learning complex mathematics if you're close to dying from a scratch on your leg.

[@andrewjenkins9965]

Modern people: *have the world's knowledge at their fingertips* Also modern people: "The Earth is flat."

[@kristianferencik8685]

@@andrewjenkins9965 Vaccines cause autism and there ar 88 different genders. FACT

[@martynkalendar]

In skylitzes there is a passage about the roman emperor outlawing fractions in the marketplace during the 10th century, as the common folk did not understand them. Instead of using fractions, the merchants had to write down the prices, because according to skylitzes, everyone could read.

[@McHobotheBobo]

It's likely a matter of degree more than anything

[@foxsparrow8973]

Roman emperor in the 10th century?

[@albertochiusano96]

@@foxsparrow8973 probably holy roman

[@andrewlucia865]

LizardonPlayer Or Byzantine, as they were just the remnants of the eastern Roman Empire, and still thought of themselves as Romans.

[@AggelosKyriou]

@@albertochiusano96 Roman Emperor of Constantinople obviously. The guy who actually had inherited the title from ancient Rome. The other was counterfeit, as is well known.

[@hunterotte4085]

(2000 years later from today) 4020 Kindergartner: "THEY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO CREATE ENERGY AND MATTER FROM NOTHING BACK THEN!?! They were so uneducated, I bet they couldn't even cure diseases back then! XD"

[@LitlBlackDragonNinja]

You can't create something out of nothing. That is illogical statement, bud.

[@Jorash_Barison]

@@LitlBlackDragonNinja That's the point of his comment. We hold to the non ex-nihlo theory currently. But it could easily be disproven at a future date.

[@eliaskulp306]

First law of Thermodynamics.

[@xanthopoulos1825]

@@LitlBlackDragonNinja r/whooosh

[@VVayVVard]

@@eliaskulp306 The first law only applies to isolated systems. Hypothetically, it's impossible to disprove the possibility of a machine designed in some very specific way that could create a "white hole" that leaks (seemingly) infinite amounts of energy / matter from some external "space" into our universe. Though of course, it's still an unrealistic notion because we've never observed anything like it, or anything that would even indirectly indicate that this would be possible.

[@JeromeSkavenSlayer]

It was common for even the well to do children to "learn their letters" aka reading and writing, from their mothers as far forward as the early 1900s. Stoopid? Utter bunk! Thanks for addressing this, Shad.

[@leppeppel]

I remember hearing a joke about how in Medieval England, the nobles spoke French, the clergy spoke Latin, the commoners spoke English, and no one had any idea what anyone else was saying. (And that's to say nothing of Welsh, Cornish, and Scots)

[@acethesupervillain348]

This is something I came across studying the Norse. In Icelandic Sagas, there are often instances of literacy between the main characters (which to be fair, are always landowners) and they don't make a big deal about it. A lot of the surviving pieces of writing for the Norse are from merchants: sales documents, ledgers, inventories, etc. There is also the famous "Halfdan was here" graffiti inscription carved in Norse runes by one of the Varangian Guards in Constantinople.

[@cstephenson3749]

yea, Shakespeare was a landlord first who wrote plays in his spare time and one of the oldest surviving scraps of texts from the Biblical times is a bill for some products to a vendor.

[@Areanyusernamesleft]

@@cstephenson3749 Not just bills, sometimes it was complaints about a product to a vendor... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complaint_tablet_to_Ea-nasir

[@OspreyKnight]

Considering the chief god of the Norse felt writing was so important he died to learn the power and magic of writing, I think that tells a lot about the people who told those stories.

[@drumguy1384]

Wasn't one of the oldest examples of writing ever discovered used for accounting? Sumerian Cuneiform, I believe.

[@acethesupervillain348]

@@drumguy1384 Cuneiform was used for accounting, but it was used for other purposes as well. The Amarna Letters are written in a form of Cuneiform.

[@psyekl]

Of all of the educational programs regarding this time period, I find Shadiversity to be the most informative. While I have been a subscriber for some time now, I still receive notices from associates referencing this channel and links to videos ("have you seen this...?") in my inbox. Kudos for the fantastic content!

[@countD8852]

*Follows ancient recipe, trying to make Shepard's Pie. Winds up with Spaghetti Bolognese. Readies my sword-like Hate Piano and practices moonwalking while shouting 'Deus Vult'*

[@LisaGrimm-LG]

Oh, I hate it so much when modern standards are applied to previous eras, it literally drives me mad, and I'm glad to see someone highlighting this! Thank you for this video :)

[@kaynesylvar8277]

This really bothers me as well! Whether it’s people impressing modern values upon history (see crusades and American Civil War) or modern ideas of what literacy means, or cleanliness, or even the concept of modernity itself.

[@NecroAsphyxia]

Hell, not even 100 years ago, we believed the Universe had no start and judt always was... and it wasnt till the 40s that gravitational lensing was discovered Heck, by these people's logic WE must be idiots because sometime in the future the nature of Dark Matter and dark energy will be common knowledge...

[@hubertnnn]

@E.Y. Covian Watch out. The big bang theory is still just a theory and was never confirmed. It just got so popular that a lot of people consider it the truth.

[@gabunabu923]

@@hubertnnn Something tells me you also believe that the earth is flat

[@Artyomthewalrus]

I actually really disagree with many points shad made on this. Education does not equal intelligence - and I find that correlation insulting. Because someone is intelligent does not make them educated, and being educated does not make them intelligent. I know plenty of idiots who have a university degree. Just because someone is intelligent or has a skill like being a blacksmith or a tilemaker doesn't make them "educated", it makes them skilled. "Educated" is more so for academic pursuits. I don't think many people had the perception that blacksmiths/carpenters/etc didn't exist..... I would still say peasants were mostly uneducated (obviously some areas and timeframes are different) The only thing I would agree with is literacy was more common than many people assume (although in some areas it was as uncommon as people perceive)

[@diego199302]

I imagine that to most (if not all) of the peasants of the time, *we* would look incredibly dumb. "Wait, you don't know how to farm? How are you even alive?!" "You don't know how to make clothes? How will you fix those you are wearing when they torn?!"

[@probablythedm1669]

My complete lack of sewing skills is frequently an issue... I really need to learn that stuff.

[@LordEvrey]

@Daniel It's an easy skill. Becoming quick and precise takes a lot of practice, but the basic stitches are extremely simple.

[@spacehitler4537]

I'd say in return "You don't know how to maintain code? Or you don't understand the methods by which modern steel is reproduced en masse?" basically I'd call him a dick for trying to apply the generalist idea of medieval peasantry to a society of specialists.

[@RyuuTenno]

Maybe we would be dumb in comparison, but, I can assure you, they'd see us as gods because of our knowledge of technology. 😂🤣 I could use just my phone for a thousand different things, and if I brought anything like a drone, I could do so much. They'd understand rather quickly how smart we are, even if we don't have the same types of knowledge and skills that they do.

[@PartialDemon]

@@RyuuTenno Until the batteries ran out and you were exiled or sentenced to death for the crime of sorcery/witchcraft.

[@Sodalis_]

Consider: Signs Stock taking Orders Trading All things that are made a lot easier with writing. If am easier solution is present, it was possibly used, so writing is an obvious choice

[@sevenproxies4255]

"Me and my peeps be English yo!" -Henry V

[@drahcir8402]

I love this series. Destroying all the Victorian nonsense i was inflicted with growing up.

[@bobcharlie2337]

Oh Josh, YES!!!

[@yuriiherbenko8381]

Destroying some and introducing new ;)

[@varolussalsanclar1163]

you mean PROGRESSIVE nonsense. one of the most important tools of making people obey the progressive system is to convince them that the past was some kind of hell on earth.

[@Tonixxy]

@@varolussalsanclar1163 well it wasn't hell, but things were much worse in many regards. They propose shitty solutions to make world better though.

[@theodoresmith5272]

It start with a king of castile that first turned spoken Spanish into a written language then traslated books so the Spanish could get away from Latin. Most Spanish could read and write Latin but it had become an old language not spoken much. The rest of Europe fallowed suite shortly after. About 1100 ad.

[@nekotranslates]

Teacher: "Only the rich and powerful could afford to read in the Medieval period" Me: "Hey students, lets get together and replace our teacher with Shadiversity who knows more about this era"

[@Longshanks1690]

@Naughty Neko Plays I mean, does your teacher specialise in the Middle Ages or was this a point of comparison to what they were teaching about? Because I’ve not yet heard of an Anglosphere school where the Middle Ages are part of the curriculum.

[@nekotranslates]

@@Longshanks1690 Just making a point about the video ofc - when I was in school (10 years ago now) my History teacher did Native Americans and U.S Civil War as the topics (I think?), 2 topics ofc - and that was in EU (a decade before Brexit)

[@chrisrudolf9839]

There is a difference between being able to read and write simple everyday texts like a manual or a list of clients and their orders or a shipping list, which was certainly something any independent craftsman or trader would want to know and I guess at least the guild members in the cities could do that, and sitting down at leisure to read a book. Because for the latter you need: 1. leisure time 2. a book. Medieval lower and middle class people had very long working days and would usually work during daylight and good sources of artificial lights were expensive, so reading isn't likely to be something you do after your twelve hour work day in the evening. And books were even more expensive, since before the invention of printing with movable letters in the 16th century, every book had to be either copied by hand or printed like a picture anthology from individually carved printing plates for every page, that could be used exclusively to print this one book. The latter was only economic if you could sell that book in really high numbers, so only few books were printed that way, among them cheap versions of the bible. Any other book would cost a fortune, so only wealthy people would own books in the first place. Even practical guides like the book on farming Shad mentioned certainly weren't usually bought by your average poor peasant, but rather by wealthy land owners who sought to improve the performance of the peasants who worked for them.

[@berilsevvalbekret772]

@@chrisrudolf9839 thank you!! Someone said it. Knowing truth is important but romantizing said truth is also absurd. Of course they can mostly read and write , of course they wash once in a while but that doesn't mean they were what one can call adequite. If medieval era was so clean over 100 million people wouldn't have died during bubonic plague. This is just a fact. If people could read the bible the church ccould never manipulated people for so long.

[@jeffbenton6183]

@@berilsevvalbekret772 The plague had nothing to do with a failure to wash. It came from fleas which could hop on one of your farm animals and then on you, after a chance encounter between said animal and a rat. It would've been really hard for an individual to stop transmission, because it could be hard to stop the fleas. Further, they relied on Ancient Greek science which had a very different theory of contagion than we have now. Fleas were just an annoyance, even the greatest minds of the day wouldn't have guessed that they could be lethal.

[@howdoilogin]

"You can be literate and uneducated" Hell, after playing D&D I learned you can be educated and illiterate.

[@petersmythe6462]

Hello yes, GM? I want to play as a cleric. uhuh. I don't speak common. uhuh.. or any other spoken language. uhuh... but I have advanced knowledge of religious topics due to my extensive education. uh....

[@logicalwren8061]

@@petersmythe6462 yeah that's basically DnD for you "My character is one of the most knowledge people on the planet in terms of [thing] but he doesn't understand basic fundamentals and concepts."

[@domidium]

"How do we tell if she is made of wood?" "...Build a bridge out of her!" "Ah, but can you not also make bridges out of stone...?" "Oh yeah."

[@ArtistiqueMusic]

*Shad releases video on education and literacy in the medieval period *2 minutes in and hes talking about how people washed their hands in the medieval period.

[@Kalleosini]

one day he is going to need a script

[@iopklmification]

@@Kalleosini I hope he can find an author or something.

[@spykezspykez7001]

In all fairness, that is a more interesting question!

[@andremoore810]

If you think about it, what you're really saying is woah guys take a second to think, if we have common sense now, chances are they had it back then, and they did. The amount of misinformation out there is UNREAL, thank god there's people like you who can put it into perspective so you can easily understand.

[@samlindsey8978]

Your tangents are absolutely worth it, they are lovely and I sincerely hope you keep them. They always have something of interest in them and are informative! :)

[@kadonion367]

I hope your recovery is going great and I love literally all of the content that you produce! You mentioned briefly that things from the Victorian Era can be anachronistically applied to the medieval period, and I think if would be very enlightening if you might be able to make a video tackling the major things which can get confused across different time periods, both within different parts of the medieval period and in eras afterwards like the Renaissance, Colonial Age, and the Victorian Era.

[@miguelthealpaca8971]

People needed to be able to read in order to trade. Some of the oldest writing in the world was characters written on containers to say what was inside.

[@DemonicAkumi]

Why am I not surprised that Shad watches Modern History as well. Really awesome KZbin Channel. It does not have enough subs in my opinion for the awesome stuff they usually cover on there.

[@SuperKnight263]

I just like how you go off into a tangent, go back to the main point and go into another tangent. Thanks for the video Shad!!

[@estherb9023]

I was so happy to see your shoutout to the Modern History channel. It really is a great channel to learn from. Another amazing one is Real Crusader History. So glad that intelligent, truthful hosts dispel all the myths and lack of respect for our European ancestors.

[@alexmag342]

"You can be literate and still be uneducated" That's certainly true just look at Twitter and all its user shitty hot takes, or the ignorance spread all across the internet or even taught in schools

[@KaNoMikoProductions]

Those people are not literate, lol.

[@SidheKnight]

They can read and write. That's the textbook definition of "literacy" (Poor grammar notwithstanding).

[@insiainutorrt259]

Exact description of All of western schools the last decades or more... Retards that can repeat thousands of (equivalent of)religious texts without a single thought and much much less ability to handle the tinyest part of basic reality some literaly cant tie their shoes

[@amehak1922]

Prime example: trump. He proudly brags he hasn't read a book since college.

[@Malovane77]

Well, you can be literate and educated, but still as dumb as a box of rocks.

[@imokin86]

Another interesting case is the trading cities of medieval Russia. Between about 1000 and 1450, there were several thriving cities like Novgorod, Pskov and Rusa. They were affiliated with the Hansa. And in these cities, the vast majority of people were literate in their native language. We know it from hundreds of birch bark letters found by archaeologists. The rates of female literacy were notably high.

[@00Trademark00]

Russia had a great start, could have been on par with the most developed countries in Europe...And then Ivan the Terrible ruined everything...

[@iamcleaver6854]

@@00Trademark00 I hope it is a troll comment. You do realize that Ivan the fourth was a great reformer and the cognomen Грозный ("fear-worthy" or "awe-inspiring) would be a closer translation) was given to him out of respect? He consolidated Russian state such that even the time of Troubles that followed his son's death was not enough to tear it apart.

[@00Trademark00]

@@iamcleaver6854 He also destroyed the republic of Novgorod (which was lot more west-oriented and less oriental) and turned all of Russia into a despotic and self-centered monarchy. Peter the Great reversed the process somewhat but the damage was done.

[@iamcleaver6854]

@@00Trademark00 There was no damage, and in any there was, it was done by the Mongols long before him. He did not conquer Novgorod. It was his grandfather, Ivan the Great who did it. Ivan the fourth only passified a rebellion against him. Besides, Novgorod, no matter how "western" had no chance of unifying Russian lands. Despotic regimes are just more efficient at that.

[@Zwerchhau1411]

I’m so happy you’ve made this video, excellent work Shad as always

[@MegaStone99]

I am so happy to see you well and back to posting. I know this was filmed before but you up and doing and that's important.

[@roadhouse6999]

The virgin Medieval Misconceptions vs. the Chad Shad

[@irontemplar6222]

That's actually a very interesting thing. The catholic church and later charlemagne. Tried their damndest to teach people how to read and write in latin. The idea from what I was remmber was because they wanted people to be able to communicate across the empire, and teaching everyone latin was the best way in their mind to do it.

[@fitz3540]

And the Bible was required to be in Latin for fear of mistranslation and inaccuracy of its message, not to "keep the little man down" as is said by some people. It's still considered to this day as the go-to source for contextual accuracy.

[@feliciaf8]

@@fitz3540 exactly

[@berilsevvalbekret772]

@@fitz3540 Of course the chuch did EVERYTHING in their power to help the peasentry sure it didn't hide and emassed knowledge hundreds of years. You are mistaken the latin they had thought to the biblic latin. Chuch used Bible to keep the class structure going. And people still defending the church after hundreds of years is still staggering. Bunch of chid raping power hungry assholes controlled the karge portion of the known world through ignorance of the masses and fear but sure let's praise them.

[@santiagomartin221]

Most of the knolewdge for the ancient time was protected by the curch

[@antonikudlicki1100]

@@berilsevvalbekret772 Abolition of Church in protestant revolution has lead to increased exploitation of the peasantry by the noble. They banned cult of saints for a reason - less holiday for the working man. They changed or removed whole parts of the bible that didn't match Luther's narration, and only then "translated" it. German cities' big capital made huge money on the new invention of printing press and the "Luther's bible". Mass peasants uprisings were being brutally suppressed by noble paid mercenary and the homeless on streets were more numerous than ever as robbed/destroyed monasteries stopped giving them shelter. It's really ignorant to view Church through the marxist lens

[@BeautifulShaving]

Thanks Shad for another wonderfully enlightening video about medieval times. I always felt they were far from illiterate after discovering they had the very books about farming & cooking that you mentioned. Also ty for mentioning that awesome history channel, i have been watching/subscribed to that channel for a ling time. His video about medieval lighting with rushes was very good & he even showed how they made them too. My son & I love watching your channel cuz we both love medieval (and all other) history & info about castles, that series on castle building that you mentioned was amazing Ruth, Peter & their sidekick did an amazing job on that one.

[@dylanjones9061]

"People were educated enough to do their trade." That's true of every culture in every time. Even hunter-gatherers (tangent alert!) are educated enough to hunt and gather, and since you need to know animal behavior to hunt them, and you need to know what plants are good for you and which aren't, and how to use plants and animals to know when the seasons are changing, this means hunter-gatherers are expert botanists and zoologists (end tangent). But the important point is what people consider educated. I could be an electrician educated in the bare minimum to do my trade, and I'd be well educated in math and in one highly specific area of science, and be able to read and write well enough to do the job, but would not have to know the difference between Kansas and China or have any idea what this whole "Founding Fathers" or "US Constitution" was about. (For non-American readers, replace this with whatever history and governmental system is relevant to your country). So the question is what did medieval people consider to be an important part of being educated? There was plenty of history, philosophy, mathematics, and literature to be known at the time. To what extent were people educated in these subjects at this time? And to what extent did they value education in these subjects? Was it sufficient to be educated in practical subjects in order to be considered "educated" in medieval eyes? Or did they, like us, have higher standards to be considered educated?

[@dylanjones9061]

@Philip Moseman "Studying poetry or philosophy means learning other languages to have broader exposure and a more sophisticated understanding." I think the large number of English majors and philosophy majors who study philosophy in English testify otherwise. Granted, this wouldn't have been the case in previous periods that stressed Latin as a mark of education, but this points to their own ignorance, as there is plenty of poetry to study in every language, and the best philosophy was originally written in Greek, with the Latin translations losing much of the original nuance. On that note, the New Testament was originally written in Greek, not Latin, so it makes sense that New Testament scholars should study Greek. In fact, I would argue that any historian should study the language of the place and period they specialize in, so that they can evaluate the meaning of an original document themselves, rather than rely on a translation. Sometimes they find reason to dispute a given translation and present an argument that their translation is more accurate. There are a number of fields that require no education in Latin but still require a full education. Architects, physicists, historians of places and periods unrelated to the Roman Empire. A Chinese historian could be considered fully educated whether or not they knew Latin as long as they can read Chinese. People in these fields and others can have PhDs in front of their names without having to know a single word of Latin. But my question was about how many people during the medieval period would have been perceived by the people of the time and by modern standards, and what standards even make sense to apply? I'm not sure I understand your question because I'm not sure what romanticization you're talking about.

[@dylanjones9061]

@Philip Moseman "Being taught a form of combat would have probably been part of the well rounded education." Now that does make sense. For the lords, I imagine that would include theories on military strategy as well. In fact, there is an anecdote (I can't speak to how true it is) that Charlemagne was a lover of learning, but was too busy in his military campaigns to make room for it. He commented to a monk "At least I speak Latin," but the monk informed him that the language he was speaking was not, in fact, Latin, but French. This led Charlemagne to the realization that language standards needed to be updated, and he called as many scholars from across Europe as he could to bring about the Carolingian Renaissance, which gave us capital and lower case letters, the spaces between words, punctuation, and the letters J and W. That's something I'd like to know more about.

[@dylanjones9061]

@Philip Moseman "Educated means you pay someone to teach you instead of learning on the job or at home." This actually makes sense, and now that I've thought about it, I realized that during the Middle Ages, many people would pay masters of a trade for an apprenticeship, which meets this definition of education nicely while only requiring them to be educated well enough to do that trade as Shad described in his video.

[@abderrezakghozlane4427]

This what I was expecting from the video so I was kind of disappointed when he didn't cover it.

[@rebbyra]

Looking at your shirt... Have you thought of selling straight ties with cross guards?

[@ezrac704]

@Sightless_Seeker genius ideas.

[@Cionaoith]

@Sightless_Seeker If you use pommels for shirt buttons, you have an arsenal at your disposal to end your foes rightly. *(Such a high capacity of pommels may be illegal in California.)*

[@michaelblacktree]

The sword tie is genius! 👍

[@rudyvalle9022]

Came for the misconception, stayed for the tangents

[@epicairsoftsoldiers]

Glad the surgery went well hope your recovery goes quickly. Your positivity is an inspiration and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels that way

[@TonyBIndie]

very interesting and it makes a lot of sense. Of course, the commoners can read and write, just not in the language of the Nobility. or the church.

[@StephanieLand1]

I appreciate you banishing misconceptions about the medieval period specifically and human aptitude in general. REFRESHING!

[@NegaBot]

Those bible bans sound really stupid, someone should do something about it! Maybe write up their problems with the catolic church and pin them to the door of a cathedral so towns people could read them.

[@shadiversity]

And what hope would he have if the townspeople were all illiterate? Very presumptuous of him to expect the common people to know how to read!

[@NegaBot]

@@shadiversity Exactly, its the same with bathing. Roman empire just collapsed, practically every post-roman town has a complex public baths, but suddenly people are supposed to just shrug and go around stinking and dirty because reasons.

[@scutumfidelis1436]

What used to be a unified Church turned into 40,000 different denominations because of people peddling the bible.

[@berilsevvalbekret772]

@@scutumfidelis1436 yes we finally learned the bullshit the church has been feeding to the masses for centuries and finally started to evolve scientifically after. Are you stupid? Bible being translated is one of the best thing that happened to humanity.

[@berilsevvalbekret772]

@@NegaBot what about after a couple of centuries?

[@rdtradecraft]

Great video , Shad. Glad things are going well and a speedy full recovery to you. Another point of the illiteracy debate that is often over looked is that very often those who couldn't read and write were not as well able to compete economically with those who could. This tends to to lead to a higher percentage of people who can't read or write in theirr local language winging up in situations like indentured servitude, many indentured servants were illiterate, and those who dealt mostly with indentured servants might conclude that all people of the region they came from were illiterate.

[@adventurejoe24]

This changes my entire perspective on the the medieval period

[@dagalealtd4888]

I don't know why but I'm greatly offended when people say that the Medieval Era was just war and darkness, and that Europe was so backwards and Unhealthy. And I'm not even European, I'm Filipino 😅😅

[@justiniand6a788]

Me too!!!!!

[@rafaelllaban4115]

Same

[@sillypuppy5940]

Erm... they thought that green vegetables were unhealthy so they boiled them until they were yellow to make them "palatable".

[@bonercat3059]

same here the ironic thing is i even tell this people (which mostly western) that medieval people take a bath and have soap until renaissance with their perfume and their believe that public bath is the source of disease (which in my opinion technically is not wrong ) far before i even know shad or other historical channel, yet they remain stubborn or ignorant without even try to google or find a source, same thing relating with ancient china, just because the west conquer decadence china under drug they belittle it alot and think china is backward or how french like to surrender during ww2, which i include link and source for them to see.

[@dagalealtd4888]

@@bonercat3059 Such is fate of people who has no interest in History😔

[@davenevius6365]

"At least one person per household could read." The family lawyer!!!

[@xxlCortez]

I love that you give a little attention to modern history tv. It has very good content and host, Jason usually answers when I have question. As for the education of peasants: they were far more practical when learning stuff than modern society. Like 80% of the things we learn in school is totally useless and we aren't learning life perks what we would actually need. Peasants had their farms and animals to tend but since it was subjected to weather, they didn't have fixed working hours, therefore when they had more time, they could pursue professions they were interested in and which was USEFUL.

[@johnevans5782]

Thanks for this. I love the fact that you tend to make videos that show everyday history and how it affected everyday people.

[@watchinglearner]

I once looked up Mondern History TV, where I found that a medieval peasant's dinner actually consisted of really good stuff, like salmon and such.

[@michaelmartin9022]

Some foods change in desirability and expense over time, I think salmon used to be a "cheap" food. I know gin was considered a working class, poor people's drink in the past (look at the famous sketch called Gin Lane), but became all middle class later.

[@Shepps95]

Speaking OF reading, I finished your book Shad! It was absolutely fantastic. The magic system in it was very well executed and super fascinating to learn more of. The world itself felt like a cool mixture of Treasure Planet and Dragon Age in my head. Then the characters, my goodness. I think Ahrek was my favorite. I'm relatively new to reading books, but this is easily one of the best I've read so far! You're a great author. Hope your recovery is going okay from the surgery. All the best to you.

[@chrisdietrich4627]

Ive learned so much more from channels like this, than I ever could in school. And to add, school would often teach me all these misconceptions..

[@kathrynehiersche1817]

This is my favorite series from you! I'm so glad you did another one!!!!

[@xskyhawkx7821]

I remember reading somewhere that during the crusades, King Richard sent servants out to find ammunition for his trebuchets. But before sending them, he gave a description of a specific type of stone he wanted. This was to show that in the Middle Ages, people had a reasonable grasp of geology (or it might have been about specialized ammunition)

[@Southfloridelphia]

First off, feel better. I think you touch on an important point that perhaps many people in middle ages could read and write but it wasn't exactly literate as we think of it. This situation was mainly because there wasn't a whole lot "published" (for lack of a better term) in common languages. It was a major turning point when Dante wrote poetry in the vernacular. Heck he wrote a book about it (De Vulgari de eloquentia). So while the people of the middle ages may have been able to read and write there was not an established standardized system of writing for many languages outside of Latin and French.

[@ColtDouglasMusic]

Very good video, Shad. Education throughout different time periods is always fascinating to me. Also, after a long break from KZbin (like two years) I am going back to making and uploading HEMA / History related content. I had deleted all of my videos, but now reuploading the few good ones I made. I started with the collaboration you and I did. Still sucks so many people backed out. .y fault entirely. Anyway, glad you're recovering well! :)

[@Torus2112]

"When Adam delved and Eve span, who then was the gentleman?" -John Ball

[@klayn5611]

Something i found interesting while reading Julie Gie's "Life in a medieval village" that despite literacy not being super common, people were able to store information using things like knots

[@mindself8474]

I would even say that medieval people were MORE experienced in some ways than modern people because they didn't rely so much on technology. Cut google and Wikipedia from people and they wouldn't be able to understand most things.

[@matthewgalicia1101]

Shad, rest up, hope you feel better. Been looking for stuff on this. Big Thank!

[@matthewheald8964]

Absolutely loved the video. I was looking for stuff on medieval literacy for a sort of research project & found your channel. I plan to come here more often in the future. And Im used to tangents; I know a few people like that. 😂

[@marktuovinen3888]

Great to see you're back Shad, been keeping you in my prayers. Hope you're well. Also that thumbnail got me excited for a Holy Grail review/analysis lol.

[@derpimusmaximus8815]

"Cocus nocifera and 9th Century Mercia: The Evidence"

[@Riceball01]

He's not actually back, yet. If you read the the pinned post at the top, you'll see that this video was recorded before his surgery and that he's still recovering.

[@TheRogueRockhound]

Morning Shad, hope you are doing well with your recovery! Get lots of rest buddy, we are all here for ya!

[@alusias3183]

holy shorts I have been searching for a video on modern history for over a week now and I forgot the channel name. I’m so glad I watch your channel

[@patrickdouglas2171]

Hey Shad. Two things. First, I hope the surgery went well. After your last video I decided to purchase a copy of your book to try to help you out! Second, I find it funny that you recommend that channel, as I only just discovered it today.

[@dwarlord3716]

I always try to apply my families learnings to previous decades. They are old, my mother was the youngest born in 1942. She stopped going to school at the age of 10. That was considered educated enough, in her family for those years. Back then it was school or food. Not school and food.

[@80krauser]

My pawpaw dropped out in the 3rd grade after his father died if TB. My momaw said she taught him to read after the met with the Bible. Of course my other grandmother got her master's degree in the late 40s. She actually wrote the Mississippi State history ciriculum way back when. My other grandpa married up into money and her dad helped him get a master's in geology to go work for Standard Oil. But the market fell out so he went back and got a master's in history and taught history and French for many years. I actually found his computer manuals from back in the early 60s.

[@jellevanalthuis5289]

must admit, i believed this myth. thanks for educating me and others. this is why i love your channel Shad :D

[@drumguy1384]

You touched on it, though maybe not necessarily realizing it at the time, but the most awesome thing about the written word is not the ability to send thoughts over distances, though that is pretty cool. The most amazing power the written word has is to transmit thoughts over vast spans of TIME. The ability to transmit knowledge from one generation to the next without the need to tell every one of them directly is the root of much of our technological and philosophical development.

[@magpiehadorn7442]

Hope your doing okay in your recovery. Take it slow and rest up well. Dont worry about your channel because many of us are going to watch every one you put out to keep you recovering well. I just recovered from a gullbladder removal, so... ya take your time.

[@ohauss]

It's always very dangerous to generalize over a large and very heterogenic period and area. At the same time, one has to be careful with overinterpreting information that is available. Much like documents issues by kings were not necessarily written by them, a letter from a peasant was not necessarily written BY that peasant. Likewise, an average percentage of the population being literate does not mean that said average could be applied equally across the country.

[@ajrobbins368]

No such thing as too much accuracy, am I right?

[@Axelovskji]

Hear me out on this one... -April Fools -Fight Scene Autopsy of the Black Knight against King Arthur (Monty Python & the Holy Grail)

[@professionalmemeenthusiast2117]

Actually quite a good fight scene that shows how to take advantage of sloppy technique. The Black Knight does ridiculous haymaker swings and Arthur just sidesteps and cuts him up.

[@Biggles_mets]

Shad, i got your book on audible today. It is going to be my next week book. Glad to see you're back. Hope all is well. Good video

[@bigguy7353]

I'm fascinated by the sheer preponderance of conflicting information about this subject. By academics and otherwise. Good vid, Shad.

[@thejakyl1369]

Everyone today thinks that every culture before them was stoopid. They fail to realize that their work and sacrifice is why we have what we do today.

[@emeraldmann1329]

I mean you're not wrong, but at the same time, isn't that the point of education? You want to make sure the next generation is smarter than you are.

[@moseyonover733]

@@emeraldmann1329 You want to make sure they have more to work with than you. People can make the way easier for future generations to obtain certain types of education, but that's no guarantee that they'll actually be 'smarter', in the sense that they'll be more resourceful or more pragmatic with the opportunities they've been given. We're certainly better off than our Medieval ancestors, but I think you'd have to be pretty narrow-minded or just ignorant of the complexities of their lives to honestly hold that you're inherently smarter than they are because the financial and educational wealth you were born into plopped a lot of 'common' knowledge on your lap with significantly less work or ingenuity on your part than it would have taken to obtain that knowledge when it was a cutting-edge discovery (and the internet didn't exist).

[@GuitarsRockForever]

Look around today, human is getting more stupid.

[@BirdTurdMemes]

GuitarsRockForever Or are you getting older?

[@stelmaria8991]

There were also massively differing ways of spelling all over England during the Mediaeval period and only in the 15th Century when the printing press was introduced to England specifically in 1476 that it forced a higher level of standardisation of spelling and writing throughout more of England

[@Longshanks1690]

@Stelmaria > 1476 > the UK *Screams in Anachronism.*

[@imokin86]

Same is true about most European languages in the medieval and early modern eras.

[@stelmaria8991]

@@Longshanks1690 I'm sorry sir

[@hglundahl]

7:07 Guilds - Germany and France differred. In Germany, the overall guilds for a certain number of trades were involved in the administration, hence everyone was in a guild, as he was burgher of his city. In France, trades were going in and out of the guilds. There were from St. Louis IX to Louis XVI diversity of trades between unrelgulated, semi-regulated and guild regulated. In these last, you needed to be a master approved by the guild to open a shop.

[@UEGMEAT]

Omg welcome back Shad I missed your videos. I'm so glad to see you're OK.