Time travel to medieval Europe - Q&A

[@premodernist_history]

CORRECTION: The smallpox vaccine is still produced. Long ago I asked my doctor if I could get vaccinated for smallpox, and he said no. Over the intervening twenty years my memory of that degraded from "I'm not allowed to get it" to "They no longer manufacture it." But in fact they do still manufacture it. But it's only provided to select people on a need-to-have basis. Make sure you seek it out before your trip. I don't care if it isn't super easy to transmit. A bout of smallpox is no joke.

[@Dylan-kw6ss]

Shoot, I already checked-in for my trip. Appreciate the heads up though!

[@solitairepilot]

Make sure to have your blood let before you leave too

[@ikesileth2270]

Great note! The US handed out vaccinations to certain parts of the population (mainly young LGBTQ+ individuals) for monkeypox, which uses the same ingredients as a smallpox vaccine would. So I’d be ideal for traveling to the middle ages, as I was vaccinated for it last year 😂. Love your videos, and here’s a source: www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/mpox/vaccines/vaccine-recommendations.html#:~:text=Mpox%20(formerly%20known%20as%20monkeypox,the%20best%20protection%20against%20mpox.

[@annexcanada9987]

I got my smallpox vac from the US Army in 2012 as a precaution when going to Afghanistan.

[@John-qd5of]

Something more about smallpox: it could be lethal. In the second century, Galen, the most brilliant doctor of his age, achieved great things. But he was utterly helpless when confronted with the Antonine Plague. That was smallpox brought back from the east by Roman troops. There was no vaccine at all. It was the Chinese who invented the first smallpox vaccine. China was much more advanced than Europe at that time. It was also very hard to get to China from Europe by any means. Essentially medieval European doctors were just following on from Galen. Small pox killed many people. Inmedieval and early modern times, it killed even kings and queens.

[@edwardcardona717]

There's no way you actually think that the people watching an hour long history video about medieval Europe don't want you to nerd out about a passage you've read that feels significant to you. This is EXACTLY the sort of audience that wants to hear the details. Please, please, follow your heart on this stuff. The whole channel and video is just you talking about things you want to talk about, that's why we love it.

[@zeek5589]

Couldnt have said it better myself. The only thing I love reading more than firsthand accounts is when historians nerd out about something incredibly specific

[@johnhenryahmannlloyd488]

Hard agree

[@icannon6611]

​@zeek5589 That is my favorite genre of KZbin video, I can't find too many though

[@KeilGries]

+1

[@benhoz]

+100

[@MrCheeze]

"The episodes won't be able to come out very rapidly, because I have to do a lot of research." Now that's something you love to hear!

[@StefanCreates]

A lost art

[@lucbloom]

It’s the reason it’s good and the reason we love them. These videos with “a bit of research” would be meaningless.

[@MossyMozart]

@@StefanCreates - Research before video creating is _not_ "a lost art", You just have to know what channels to attend to. Look for citations.

[@maxh.5858]

Agree!

[@blueblack3591]

Oh yes i love it

[@LandonEpps]

I’d like to believe the only reason there were so many pilgrims in medieval Europe is because we eventually invent time travel and it’s the most popular backstory.

[@jackkendall6420]

I remember reading a time-travel story about tourists going to see the moment where Pontius Pilate asked the crowd if Jesus should be spared or executed. Because of the rules, you couldn't change the course of history, so you had to vote for Jesus to be executed. The story ends with the narrator looking around and realising the entire crowd is made up of time-travelers.

[@LandonEpps]

Interesting! I think I found the story you’re referring to. "Lets Go to Golgotha" by Garry Kilworth: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p5bJaGqBhMyaaqM

[@joaotomas3653]

Do you remember the name of the book?

[@jackkendall6420]

No, sorry. @@joaotomas3653

[@mooserbegg1623]

Dude. I know! Now think of this: theoretical thinking here says that this video about time traveling to ancient Europe is the beginning proof that the future has access to time travel!

[@cookieaddictions]

Your annoyance at people who are convinced anything out of the ordinary would get them executed is hilarious 😂

[@porcine83]

Agreed, I paused the video to have a good laugh about that.

[@sb2h]

Makes sense though. Liberal media has people convinced that women and other groups were treated worse than they actually were.

[@thedanish5523]

Everyone's worried about being executed, no one is worried about the boars

[@Tysca_]

That annoyance would probably get you executed!

[@SimonFrack]

BUURRRN THE WITCH

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

I like that now he's had a chance to hear our questions, the tone is less "Here's what you need to know!" and more "WHAT ARE YOU DOING THATS NOT HOW THIS WORKS YOURE GOING TO DIE"

[@premodernist_history]

this

[@Pauly421]

That's the opposite of the impression I took from this video. It was more "no you're not going to be killed why does everyone think that?" xD

[@osmium6832]

@@Pauly421 I think this comment is specifically in reference to people who thought this would be a fun bachelorette party destination instead of Vegas. It's not that the locals would kill them for being a witch, which he keeps emphasizing is not how it worked back then, it's that that particular kind of person wouldn't survive being more than 12 hours away from modern amenities. Don't vacation anywhere on Earth or anywhen in time that you aren't prepared for.

[@veramae4098]

There's a great time travel book "Lest Darkness Fall", an archeologist lands in Rome near the end of the Empire. He invents brandy, teaches double entry bookkeeping, some other stuff and gets established. Then he saves the Empire. The historical details are correct. The author wrote it just before WW II, which gives it a great poignancy. "Lest Darkness Fall"

[@Glenn_Close_But_No_Cigar]

Americans easily impressed by mundane information.

[@NeoForsyth]

You should make this a series. Like "Time traveling to ancient Greece" or "Time traveling to ancient China". Edit: Yes guys I know he already said this question. At time I commented this, I was only 10 minutes in.

[@gabe170]

I second this, or just make more videos in general I love this style of historic content

[@finn9951]

heavily agree these videos are brilliant

[@kidinPJs]

YES

[@Alexovsky]

It's likely he only really specializes in one field like medieval Europe.

[@ClarenceFM]

good idea

[@johndoeusa65]

Thank you for reassuring that Vegas is a better destination for a bachelorette party than a medieval Paris. Almost made a mistake! lol. Anyway, great video, thank you for sharing your knowledge

[@olivere5497]

Done both brah. Las Vegas before the Spanyards arrived is pretty tame from my experience.

[@Jakob.Hamburg]

:D

[@fairycat23]

I legitimately would read a story about a bachelorette party taking place in medieval Paris, though.

[@Blox117]

we all know bachelorette "parties" are just an excuse to blow a bunch of guys

[@John-qd5of]

I read a book in French, about medieval France. It said that on cold winter days, packs of wolves would wander into the city streets, looking for trouble.

[@edudespinosa]

Back in high school I used to have a history teacher who made our classes so engaging that I would spend all the time imagining myself living there. Listening to your videos, I get the same exact feeling. It is so refreshing to have found such an amazing and incredible channel! Your videos are always engaging, well researched and massively interesting!

[@premodernist_history]

Thank you!

[@Makotnik]

I agree in 100% - Premodernist's videos come as a very "bright side" of the Internet. And the piece about time traveling to Middle Ages is such a brilliant stuff 🤯 I used to imagine myself in boots of Great War soldier under the influence of my history teacher and I think I understood then what hellish horror it was (and actually every war is) rather than just looking at black-and-white pictures of anonymous men without any consideration... One can even discover a deeper kind of empathy thanks to knowledge and imagination of great teachers. And that's what I find within Premodernist's materials 🖖

[@feşTR-81]

Oki but not "well researched"

[@johnrubensaragi4125]

​@@feşTR-81Alright, where's yours?

[@feşTR-81]

@@johnrubensaragi4125 do expect to write here? Clever boy(!)

[@shadetreesurgeon]

My man’s confused exasperation with the KZbin comment section is the most wholesome thing I’ve seen all week. Found the channel yesterday and been binging the content. Thanks for the entertainment!

[@premodernist_history]

Thank you!

[@davidwarren719]

Yoo! I like both your channels!

[@johnferris]

Citations throughout (and at the end of) the video, researching a topic thoroughly before releasing a video, clearly distinguishing your opinions, a peer-recognized expert on a subject articulating concepts in clear terms to a naive audience, following up with a Q&A commentary... this is how information should be propagated on the internet! Well done! Even if these videos are infrequent, the broad and lasting impact is undeniable. Thank you

[@Letterswords]

As an Epidemiology PhD student: On the topic of smallpox, you can actually still get the smallpox vaccine today. It's still used for protection against monkeypox in high-risk individuals, as smallpox and monkeypox are similar enough that the antibodies offer cross-protection. On a historical note: observing the cross-protective effect between cowpox exposure (which results in relatively mild symptoms in humans) and smallpox infection was what led to the development of the first vaccines (and explains the connection of the word vaccine to the latin word for cow, vacca)

[@edwardlulofs444]

Yes, and I heard that death from cowpox was 1 in 3. Death from smallpox was almost certain. Vaccines have improved since then!

[@Alfonso162008]

His comment about the effectiveness of the vaccines did make me think, though: would a modern vaccine (be it for smallpox or anything else) work as well with those ancient versions of the pathogen as the ones from today? Or would the virus or bacteria have experienced enough mutations along the past hundreds of years that would render the modern vaccine useless (at least partially)? I imagine the answer depends on the type of pathogen, but it's something that I would've never thought about before.

[@ilikechineseteaespeciallyj7262]

inoculation goes hard ;)

[@user-jq1mg2mz7o]

@@Alfonso162008that is a fascinating question which I would love an expert to weigh in on

[@meatyburritos145]

I study antibody engineering against influenza. It's really difficult to say how effective modern vaccines would fare, since we only have recent molecular/antigenic information about these pathogens. Due to the constant 'competition' between hosts and pathogens, there will always be some degree of genetic drift that selects for pathogens that are more readily capable of evading host immunity. My best guess is that the further back you go in time, the less effective our vaccines would be due to the genetic drift that occurs over the centuries. Even for influenza, a virus most of us can relate to, it is almost impossible to make a universal vaccine for all influenza strains because it just evolves so rapidly, and in the past 100 years since the spanish flu there are thousands of new influenza variants, completely different from the original H1N1. Even minor changes in influenza genetics can render vaccines completely obsolete. A lot of this has to do with viral forecasting as well, which is another issue entirely. This does pose an interesting 'simulation' so to speak. I'd be curious to see if anyone knows the relative mutation rate for pathogens like smallpox. I imagine it's low compared to influenza, given that vaccination alone eradicated it, but there is always some error that occurs during DNA replication, which is essential to all pathogens and organisms alike.

[@jackhazardous4008]

This video has the vibes of a school field trip asking the tour guide questions

[@Metzli]

And the tour guide is one of those that's very excited to talk about the topics because he just has a passion for it :D

[@elle4630]

@@Metzlibut also exasperated by the misinformation of the students lol

[@Glenn_Close_But_No_Cigar]

Americans easily impressed by mundane information.

[@MossyMozart]

@@Glenn_Close_But_No_Cigar -- What's with your negative posts?

[@Glenn_Close_But_No_Cigar]

@@MossyMozart just making an observation.

[@jared_deraj]

23:36 "you guys probably don't want me to slow down the whole video" no, that is exactly what I want, I literally cannot get enough of this type of content

[@RachelandJunAdventures]

"And boars. No one asked about boars, but that's another thing to be worried about." I love this line, haha. This is such a fantastic video and series. Thank you for answering everyone's strange, theoretical questions! I really hope to see more videos like this. Also, my thought with people asking "what about traveling alone" goes straight to the isekai fantasy genre. There is a massive fanbase for isekai fantasy anime/novels/manga/manhwa/etc where someone is unintentionally transported to some sort of alternative world or historical setting and has to make their own way through it. SO my question is: what if you're an unintentional time traveler? I feel like you would accidentally reveal yourself as being extremely out of place before you even realized what happened. I just imagine walking up to someone and asking to use their phone or inquiring about their old-timey cosplay, or demanding to know if this is "a prank show".

[@Mistersaul54]

whoa, did not expect to see you guys here :o love your videos, they entertained my girlfriend and I for hours! 😁👍 have a great day!

[@I_am_nobody999]

You wouldn't be able to display your otherworldliness by speech alone as literally not a single person on the planet would speak the same language as you. You would be incapable of communicating with another single soul verbally. It would take years to learn old English.

[@imoutodaisuki]

Oh, hello! I didn't expect to see you here! My opinion about unintentional time travelers is that they would have a hard time. The main barrier would be the language. In Japanese media, it is often portrayed that the main language in the isekai world is Japanese or that there is a 'magical device' that can translate languages perfectly. But this wouldn’t happen in medieval times. After watching this video (and the previous main video), I believe that with a hard effort, you could eventually assimilate into medieval society. Granted, it would be a hellish experience, but it should be doable-or maybe not. But before thinking about assimilating, you have other things to worry about. What about food? You don't have money and you can't speak Middle English to work. Where would you stay? It's possible that some benevolent people might take pity on you and give you shelter, but I think this is unlikely. In the end, navigating a medieval society would require significant adaptability, both in terms of communication and survival. Time travelers will face significant hurdles, but with persistence and a lot of luck (this one is really important), they could find a way to fit in-hopefully.

[@tritiumH3]

Ah, A Connecticut Yankee in Kind Arthur's Court: the original isekai.

[@christ.6211]

These videos are crezy good, it feels like my cool uncle is a history PhD and is answering my dumb memey questions seriously, please never stop

[@kadmii]

the stock footage of tourists with cameras in front of paintings of medieval battles was extremely funny Im absolutely loving these videos. They do a great job of conveying how the past is another country in specific to Medieval Europe

[@pax6833]

It's especially funny because of how blisteringly dangerous that would be. Definitely a situation where your chances of being executed *are* high. Either potentially being viewed as a spy, or soldiers just looking to loot a soon-to-be-corpse. Army discipline back then almost didn't exist. You don't want to be anywhere near a bunch of blood thirsty guys with swords where pillaging is seen as "normal"

[@dena81]

With the freaking starving horse as she's taking a selfie 🤣🤣

[@downeastbeast6448]

Traveling to medieval Europe: What I expected: "Heretic! KILL HIM!" What I got: "Hey, so, did you meet that weird guy who called himself an 'astrobiologist'? What an odd fella, man, takes all kinds, huh?"

[@Blox117]

The AI android pretending to be a human: "Yes, quite curious indeed."

[@ndschenk8552]

- Real shame what happened to him. - Yeah, those boars are a real pest

[@steven_003]

I like to imagine it the other way round. Just think of a medieval guy in a modern city like NY or Berlin: „Have you seen that weird homeless guy over there?“ „Yeah, he wouldn’t shut up about God and the French. Nice guy tho.“

[@Glenn_Close_But_No_Cigar]

Stupid American gibberish.

[@chuwasco]

@@steven_003 wait who's who in this dialog?

[@johny11150]

I would love to see this expanded as an entire series this is SO COOL.

[@heck3143]

I like that at no point do you lampshade the fact that time travel isn't possible. Your role is as a travel guide and historian, so you stay in that lane. It's such a small subtle change from how a lot of creators would do something like this and it has an enormous impact. It feels like I'm genuinely planning this trip and I am getting your earnest advice on it lol

[@MichelangeloBeats]

Get a load of this guy who hasn’t time travelled yet

[@katerrinah5442]

I don't know anything about "time travel isn't possible", my pet brachiosaurus would beg to differ

[@Sawrattan]

As someone from what used to be called a 'Third World' country until recently, I think your time traveller's guide to medieval Europe is still applicable to many countries around the world today which remained feudal and pre-industrial until the postcolonial mid-20th Century. In that respect, elderly people from modern underdeveloped countries might make better time travellers to medieval Europe than modern West Europeans.

[@mishaguitar]

Thank you! I'm currently living in North Africa and coming from the US there are so many misconceptions about other countries

[@lawrencescales9864]

I had a similar thought, can I ask where you’re from? I can’t stand the word “third world”

[@fuzzytheduck]

The joy I felt when you said you were gonna try to make a series cannot be expressed in words.

[@shamasmacshamas7135]

With regards to slowing down the video for the Buddhist bit, don't worry about it! If people aren't interested they can skip to the next question through the chapter marks you provided. Those of us who are interested would be delighted to watch the diversions.

[@molotays]

I loved that story and wanted to yell at him to continue more lmao. The other thing is to have a spare battery / plugged in because when the brought up the raisin he needed to rush through the rest of the video, it seemed like a very unfortunate harbinger for the video that is aboot to end. I would've easily watched another hour of this

[@GilgameshofUruk]

As someone who just came back from the Middle Ages Europe I can tell you he’s right about everything. It’s great there 10/10 would recommend

[@benedictgyimah2673]

Did u meet the king?

[@TheCoolmaster131]

​@@benedictgyimah2673Which king?

[@ImNotaRussianBot]

How was the smell?

[@benedictgyimah2673]

@@TheCoolmaster131 King Phillippe IV

[@gr8cescale]

What year/years did you go to? Looking for advice when going myself next year

[@markcromer4069]

I know there are almost 1500 comments and no one will see this, but I have to say that I watched this video and the last and am absolutely fascinated. Please continue making videos.

[@Hunteromega]

I'm glad you mentioned pilgrimage tattoos! You can actually go to Jerusalem today and get a tattoo from the Razzouk family, the same family who was tattooing in Egypt in the 1300s. They still have some of the wooden blocks they used in the 1500s to tattoo pilgrims and crusaders

[@NeverKetamine]

Well, not anymore...

[@TankDerek]

@NeverKetamine What do you mean not anymore? Their shop is still open in Jerusalem according to Google and their Facebook page has updated since you last posted. Nothing on their website indicates they've shut down and there are three members of the family in the business.

[@mrsrcadalzo]

@Hunteromega really good information thank you

[@lasshrugged]

Thanks for this! Your entire channel is a goldmine of serious quality, the effort really shows.

[@premodernist_history]

Thank you very much!

[@user-uv2cp1qd1j]

@@premodernist_history feel free to not answer, but do KZbinrs get 100% of these donations? Like are they treat as tips, or as a part of KZbin’s monetisation?

[@lasshrugged]

@user-uv2cp1qd1j KZbin takes 30% (quite a lot). It's probably better to support creators on Patreon instead of here.

[@ironymatt]

​@@lasshruggedthis is the first I've seen donations on regular comments, didn't know you could do that outside of live superchats. Ditto your sentiments on the channel btw

[@caitxrawks]

The idea of this is so smart. I had so many questions and concerns after the first video, and this answered them all! Now I can comfortably and confidently time travel to medieval Europe.

[@anngray9171]

The problem with Americans is they are so Modern...can you imagine a world where you actually had to SIFT flour....( to get the bits out!) oh my God!

[@mo0se3]

"hopefully you won't forget about the channel before the next one comes out" I don't know how to tell you that I've been thinking about your time-traveling video and your channel non-stop since I watched it. It's probably one of my all-time favorite KZbin videos at this point. I IMMEDIATELY threw this video at the top of my queue when I saw you posted. I'll be here the minute the next one drops and I'm sure a lot of others can attest to this.

[@kinpandun2464]

I have been thinking about this video every day since the Original release, and even more intensely after this Q&A update.

[@Pauly421]

Please never be afraid of "geeking out" over anything, trust me that is why we are all here :) Love your calm delivery keep up the great content!

[@ataberkkarabag5969]

I just feel insanely lucky to have all this for FREE. Thanks!

[@minibobber]

There is a 'Thanks' button

[@scran7346]

Ok

[@brodieb5066]

The female merchant research paper is behind a paywall he noted, so no, its not all free…

[@IRosamelia]

You just saved some money in your next time travel experience, congrats!

[@TheTuttle99]

Holy these comments are so cringe

[@phatkau]

Thank you for confirming our concern about boars. As you correctly mentioned, I - and many others - did not ask about boars, but we were all indeed very worried about boars.

[@stinkytoy]

There was something terrifying about how quick and unqualified that statement about wolves was haha. After all this careful elaboration on the nuances of religion, science, technology, etc., he just hits us with "Yes you should be very concerned about wolves. Oh and boars. Anyway, moving on." 😦

[@Mekeweissame]

My dad & friend scared me about boars so badly that when I was walking through a strip of trees and someone in the village started a lawnmower or leaf blower or something I just about jumped out of my skin

[@1967sluggy]

The boars. They’re always after us. Cody tried to warn us but we didn’t listen.

[@antonnurwald5700]

I mean they are a pest where i live today, and they can get dangerous.

[@marycampbell3431]

Women weren't clerics obviously, but there were nunneries which could be very wealthy. And there were powerful women, wives/widows of men with status, who built castles etc.

[@jrisner6535]

​@@0x_hackerfrendumbass

[@whatr0]

@@0x_hackerfren wow that's great man, did you catch the game last night

[@astrasillage]

Yeah, but they probably didn't travel that much. Maybe just the head of a nunnery would have travelled to share information or something like that. I guess in this scenario it wouldn't make a lot of sense to pose as someone important/powerful.

[@dawnjohnson8739]

I met someone from CA who was traveling around the U.S., ran out of money in Chicago and that’s where I met him because that’s where he got a job 😊

[@roxyamused]

I'm a Vajrayana Buddhist, which is what is practiced in Mongolia since the proliferation of Buddhism in Tibet which really started flourishing in the early 11th c. with Atiśa, Marpa, Drogmi (Kadampa which evolved into Gelug, Kagyu, and Sakya respectively), though originally introduced in 6th century with Padmasambhava (Nyingma). Anyway, the temple has probably a bunch of buddhas, bodhisattvas, dharmapalas (dharma protectors) with wild thangkas and ornate enlightened ones adorned in silk and gold. Chanting OM MANI PADME HUM would mean there'd potentially be a four-armed Avalokita/Chenrezig... They'd look like gods and demons to this friar. I'm sure they'd have an interesting conversation, though not every monk is deeply trained in dharma. My lama tells me that monks he knew in the monasteries in India and Nepal often didn't do sitting meditation at all, never learned, and thought my lama's training was higher level. Himalayan Vajrayana Buddhist monks often don't meditate like we think. They may just chant thousands of mani mantras a day, as they do their chores. So they may not have a scholastic philosophical understanding of the dharma, but still a rich practice. Generally those that study that much are ordained as Tulkus sharing the moniker "Rinpoche" meaning precious. The friar would be very disappointed to find out that none of the figures are gods or really idols- they are representations of awakened mind and therefore our potential. Vajrayana believes in the "fruition view" which means that we're already possess the jewel of enlightenment but it's both very easy and incredibly difficult to find. So it's possible to achieve buddhahood in one lifetime because we already possess the jewel. Really, it would remind him of the blasphemousness of gnosis. The idea that the Holy Spirit is within and to look inside to realize your oneness with god. That is probably the closest thing I think he'd connect it with if he was taught in that stuff like Hildegard of Bingen. Very fascinating, I wish they had a better interpreter, cause I'm curious what the monks knew.

[@chris-terrell-liveactive]

There are some interesting videos on KZbin about the "missing years" of Jesus's life, looking at possible evidence of him spending time with Buddhists in the east (Afghanistan or even India). It would certainly account for the profound difference between his teachings in the gospels and judaism. A pity the friar couldn't get a decent translator.

[@kinpandun2464]

Yup! Even Buddhists noticed that Gnostic Christians were very similar to themselves! When christians let Romans tell them how to Christian via the Nicean Creed is when they stopped listening to God and held their own systems up as in higher value than scripture and love. It is taking in vain (the Lord's name) that you are better because of your Christendom. Thus, the fail state of Christianity today. READ "Small Gods" by Terry Pratchett to understand better, but the only TRUE SIN is treating people like things.

[@fraktaalimuoto]

This continues to be an amazing presentation to help understanding medieval life and society. Goes very much against many dehumanising stereotypes.

[@robertjenkins6132]

"Goes very much against many dehumanising stereotypes." Yes, I agree. I learned about medieval people from the movie _Army of Darkness_ and I think it is not the best learning source 😁

[@ZarNakano]

YES, we have such weird ideas about ancient humans that we often forget they were first and foremost humans. I remember reading someone a while ago who was surprised a medieval town lynched a murderer and rapist saying they imagined medieval people didn't care at all if someone was killed or raped

[@John_on_the_mountain]

@@ZarNakanopeople were far mor moral back then they are are now.

[@freja9398]

"You guys probably don't want me to slow down the whole video so I can just geek out over this one guy talking to buddhists in 1254 or whatever" YES WE WANT! We want that! Please post more of these videos!

[@41rmartin]

30:20 reminds me of the old joke in England. The census taker knocks on a door to interview the household. When they get to the question 'are you religious?' The response is 'No, we're Church of England.'

[@marcyc1695]

I dont get it. Lost in translation.

[@Jojirius]

​@@marcyc1695 Being a Christian, in medieval Western Europe, is about daily observed rituals, habits, and basic beliefs about morality. Being "religious" in that context implies going above and beyond for the sake of religion. Being baseline Christian isn't religious any more than cooking over fire is pyromania. You see this in rural China, Japan, and Korea too. You will ask people if they are religious, and they will respond "No", but their daily lives comprise of many many rituals and beliefs, up to and including prayer at shrines, that could not have derived from any source but some religion.

[@marcyc1695]

@@Jojirius 💕💕💕thank you so much

[@swevixeh]

The religions people across western Europe turned jehovah's witnesses/baptists/Amish etc. and moved to the United States.

[@HereGoesKevin]

Thank you for content like this, please do more!! You're an amazing story teller

[@premodernist_history]

Thank you very much!

[@lovewenwin]

Please 🙏🏽

[@John_on_the_mountain]

I only saw the 20,000 and thought holy crap someone donated $20000! Then realized it was Wons lol

[@marcelodossantos2493]

This is so good. It is specially refreshing how you emphazise the importance of social and historical contexts in the development of science, politics and philosophy. This really makes me imagine what it would be like to live in different times.

[@HelloIAmJo]

The rant at 8:30 sounds like an exasperated time travel agent/consultant and I love it

[@lasshrugged]

Some people are undertaking this time travel thing way too lightly.

[@kinpandun2464]

If we could have a crossover work of Premodernist as you local cultural briefing person and Karolina Zebrowska as the wardrobe department of a Time Travel Tourism Agency, that would be AMAZING!

[@jbizzlemysizzle]

The idea of time traveling to a particular place and time and how to operate is such a good way to present a historical perspective. This and the last video were wonderful to listen to. Thanks for putting them together

[@agrippa2012]

im glad you pointed out why technological advancement isn't as simple as people think it is. it always irks me when i see people on the internet saying stuff like _"the ancient romans were aware of steam power, they totally could've kickstarted their own industrial revolution if they wanted to"_ No, no they couldn't have.

[@BeeTriggerBee]

ofc they could? Just not the same as our industrial revolution, However they never did seek out the power of steam since they had an abundance of slaves and other cheap labor. The people who lived during roman times had the same brain as the people who lived in the 1700s. Steam power wasn't received with open arms during the beginning of the industrial revolution either mind you.

[@swagmundfreud666]

I mean think of how much technology has advanced just in the last three years. We got AI generation machines like ChatGPT, the COVID vaccine, and potentially we're getting close to nuclear fusion breaking even (I know it's very complicated not here to debate about that). In 2020, that stuff wasn't around yet. But in medieval Europe, the progression that took us three years would take them a hundred to progress the same amount.

[@agrippa2012]

@@BeeTriggerBee The romans didn't know calculus, their metallurgy was nowhere near advanced enough to create anything that could use steam power for any actual practical use and they lacked accessible fuel deposites in large quantities. Without these, steam power can only be used for trinkets, which not surprisingly, is exactly what they used it for. So no, no they couldn't have.

[@BeeTriggerBee]

@@agrippa2012 You don't think if the need arise they would start solving those things? As i said it would not look like the one we got later. The sole reason why we didnt get any industrial revolution until much later is because labor were free/cheap, No need to make tools for efficiency if you can have 20 dudes doing it and all you really need to do is feed them. Humans innovate when put in a spot where they need to innovate. We didnt have the ability to microwave our food before the US decided that the Axis powers needed to feel the power of the fucking sun for example.

[@agrippa2012]

@@BeeTriggerBee Free/cheap labor is **one** reason, not the **sole** reason. You make it seem easy but who knows how long it would've taken the Romans to invent, create and discover all the technology, knowledge and other pre-conditions that are necessary to even begin *attempting* an industrial revolution. I can not stress this enough: the technological leap from what they had to what would have been required of them is **immense** Sure, if they had infinite time and their empire never fell they would have figured it out eventually, but thats just an unrealistic scenario.

[@recepates5091]

Again a great video, love your work. Teşekkürler.

[@premodernist_history]

Ben teşekkür ederim!

[@YersiniaPestisNPO]

Man I love falling asleep to these videos. Such a great voice and such an interesting topic

[@aliquida7132]

I find it interesting how hard it can be for some people to wrap their head around how different people were back then (or even now in various "remote & foreign" places) If you explained current values about democracy and equality, or science and technology, or "free market capitalism", or anything like that.. it wouldn't automatically make sense to them. It is as if we think these things are so natural and "normal" that any human introduced to them would instantly understand and agree. That might be a criteria for being a successful time traveler... the ability to adapt your mind to a radically different worldview.

[@sonkeschluter3654]

Someone may get a hint of the differences if you combine the first part of Back to the future and one of the many videos on KZbin about people moving to different countries and experiencing culture shock. Even after decades of Hollywood and shared tv series there are people moving between UK and USA who find things irritating different. How much more must at be at a 500+ years gap.

[@Alex_Meadows]

I was amused at the idea of telling a lord about the idea of equality. "Don't be stupid, man - I'm a baron and you're a peasant. We're not remotely equal! Richard, take this idiot to the courtyard and have him whipped for his insolence".

[@swevixeh]

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Explain anything outside of the current year overton window to most current year people and you'll get the same reaction.

[@AmandaNievi]

To the part where you said we wouldn't like to hear you geeking out "over this one guy talking to Buddhists in 1254 or whatever". I totally rebuff that premise, I would very much like to hear it please and thank you. (And from the specificity of the questions in the comments, I'm guessing I'm not the only one.) As a matter of fact, that's what I spend most of time doing here on KZbin: hearing people geek out about crazy specific things, MOST OF ALL if they are History related.

[@largepimping]

And the award for most obvious comment EVER goes to... YOU!! (sorry, just trying to come up with a novel way of agreeing with you)

[@Zzyzzyx]

I just love how serious you are with this. (I feel kinda bad mentioning it because I don't want to ruin it.)

[@worth432]

the deadpan seriousness of it is totally what makes it work. it's like a leslie nielsen movie.

[@MagdaL123]

You don't ever plan to time travel to medieval Europe?

[@Zzyzzyx]

@@MagdaL123 No, I don't think I would like it. I'll stick with backpacking through the wilderness.

[@Blox117]

@@MagdaL123 well its not possible to time travel, however, it is possible to make medieval Europe reappear by rebuilding it. Atom by atom.

[@ttttttttp2]

I hope you post again soon. I love watching your videos over and over again (usually to help sleep after I've watched it once awake ;) ). Hope you're doing well!

[@lindathebookmaker.justjunk6293]

Please make more of these. I hope this guy has a podcast! I could listen to him for hours.

[@KarnesMobileWelding]

We are beyond blessed to have this channel. Love this guy

[@mimaaamimmooo7725]

Had the laugh of my life at the point where you explained that they wouldn't execute you if you visited as a doctor and tried to teach them new and different ideas. Loved how you said "No, they're not gonna execute you 😑" in such a funny way.

[@AlexRN]

Will I get executed if I get caught singing La Macarena in medieval Europe?

[@mimaaamimmooo7725]

@@AlexRN yeah 😭

[@olivere5497]

@@AlexRN considering its based on a traditiinal tune, they'd join in.

[@AttilatheNun-xv6kc]

@mimaaamimmooo7725: And if you couldn't read Latin they wouldn't believe you were a doctor in the first place. In medieval Europe all medical literature (and all academic literature, for that matter) was written in Latin. Back then, no Latin meant no education.

[@mimaaamimmooo7725]

@@AttilatheNun-xv6kc that's very interesting, hadn’t thought of that, thank you

[@nathy0308]

I love how deadass we have all been with this thought experiment from the very beginning 😂 Very pleased to hear it'll become a series!

[@rubyproject]

Don't forget that this all exists for thousands of years what's written here, sometimes more

[@nathy0308]

@@rubyproject and?

[@rubyproject]

@@nathy0308 君はドラマの女王だ!

[@h0rriphic]

“You can’t have a body completely composed of eyeballs…” _Biblically accurate Angel has joined the chat_

[@justchilling704]

Ya know, a lot of folks think this, and I’d hate to be a party pooper but those descriptions aren’t necessarily literally but rather functional descriptions or perhaps even symbolism.

[@franargen1928]

@@justchilling704 booooo party pooper

[@antonnurwald5700]

​@@justchilling704plus the angel does have other body parts. Like fire.

[@justchilling704]

@@franargen1928 🤣

[@qwertydavid8070]

@@justchilling704 what do you mean by functional description?

[@jakemeyer8188]

I'm definitely putting this channel in the category that also contains Esoterica, another very excellent channel. Super glad I stumbled onto this one!

[@jalle2k3]

I felt like being a child again with a wild fantasy while listening to the original video. Please do more, I would love one focused on time travel to Egypt!

[@sitara7664]

he might be a historian with focus just on medieval europe, but if he could make that i would loveee it

[@mejzzwejz713]

I love how many of the answers to people's questions boil down to 'what you would tell them contradicts the paradigm at the time'

[@charliebeareuwu]

It's weird how people assume that either ancient people are just like us and would totally receive with open arms all our ideas, or that ancient people are evil and bigoted by nature, and we should hate them for daring to exist at that time

[@ZimoNitrome]

I would love to hear you read and geek out about the mongol monks!

[@Alfonso162008]

Me too! When he described that book in these videos, I thought that would be super interesting to read.

[@0x_hackerfren]

Holy shit. Your a fucking legend bro. What the hell are you doing here. God bless. God speed.

[@ZimoNitrome]

​@@0x_hackerfrenI just love Premodernist.

[@0x_hackerfren]

@@ZimoNitrome

[@John_on_the_mountain]

I love these videos. I love the humanizing of people of the middle ages. Its so common now for a lot of people to dehumanize people of the past, even as recent as the 1950s. They think everyone from before the internet were awful, racist, sexist, violent, dangerously superstitious, and dumb. We somehow think we are more moral and righteous now than back when people were strongly religious. Its frustrating to say the least

[@Romandy13]

I love how the video ends not because he ran out of things to say, but because the camera battery was about to die.

[@katattack907]

This is so fun to think about! My MA is in cultural anthropology and I'm LOVING the deep dive into everyday life in medieval Europe. Framing it as time travel vacation tips is a brilliant way to make it fun and relevant! Subscribed!

[@3seven5seven1nine9]

I know it's fiction but a good example of a women going on a medieval pilgrimage would be the Canterbury Tales, there were women who weren't accompanied by spouses, iirc

[@SulfurD10x1de]

True but group travel though

[@antonnurwald5700]

Check out the Story of Margery Kempe.

[@matttzzz2]

It's funny how he completely missed the entire point of the question regarding women. His answer relates to like 0.0001% of the questioners. What most people wondered was the obvious difference between men and women: sexuality. Is a woman in danger of sexual assault? We know that's obviously yes. Just as much as a man is in danger of being mugged in the forest by bandits, a woman is in danger of something much worse. Most of us were hoping he'd shed some light on it but he completely and utterly failed in that regard.

[@gggyuli]

@@matttzzz2 thanks for commenting this I had the exact same thought!

[@joemiller947]

This was a great follow-up. I really enjoyed hearing about the Middle Ages from an average people's perspective, rather than talking about which King won some war in a random year I really look forward to it existing as a series!

[@TealMjM]

Wonderful video, it's great to see someone else so passionate about history. Knowledge about history is more important than ever, yet I feel like misconceptions about the past are more pervasive than ever as well. It's wonderful to see high-quality, researched information about the past!

[@Sentinel_White]

The one thing I really understood while watching this video and the last one is that people of that time was just like all of us just trying to survive and not a bunch of witch hunters and caveman

[@solitairepilot]

“Okay let me use a Star Trek analogy” 🗣️🗣️🔥🔥

[@ButzPunk]

Your Romulan-Human-Klingon analogy for the East/West cultural split was perfect!

[@conzmoleman]

I just want to say the combination of your microphone and your voice is very pleasing to me.

[@amphibianteeth]

i have watched all of the videos on this channel at least twice. the most compelling content possible i think

[@F_itaca9456]

Amazing story telling....I believe the time traveling thing makes a beautiful bridge between the public and your academic knowledge

[@ItsAPotterParty]

I wanted to tell you that I am currently studying Medieval history and found your time traveling to Medieval Europe video absolutely fascinating. I’ve recommended it to friends on my course and have listened to it a few times now! Can’t wait to hear what’s next in the series, and thank you for all the work you put into your videos! ♥️

[@jnperez6163]

The most underrated channel, informative, intriguing, and epic!

[@jonza2389]

This is absolutely top tier content. I could watch this for hours and hours. Great work!

[@AndrewHart-t8t]

I love how frustrated you seem with certain questions but then you provide a really thorough and insightful response anyway. Great just like the first part thank you

[@Mars-dv5pn]

I love how he talks like the medieval times was his childhood/talking on experience and not like it was nearly a thousand years ago

[@luciatheorphan]

Your point about medieval protagonists with modern sensibilities is exactly why I like The Witcher.

[@rwolfheart6580]

Regarding the Buddhism as weird Christianity thing, early European explorers to Canada also did that sort of equivalency with Indigenous religion. Samuel de Champlain writes about his conversation with Tessouat, the chief of the Kichespirini Algonquins. He basically says that Tessouat agrees with the Christian Genesis story, and that they worship the same God, but of course they're misguided while the French are enlightened. In that case, too, I'm sure interpretation played a big role in how each side understood the other, but Champlain doesn't particularly comment on his interpreter(s) iirc.

[@octopusexperiment1931]

Cool anecdote, thanks

[@mnemosyne1337]

Love this channel and love that you’re making this into a series. Can’t wait for the next video!

[@premodernist_history]

Thank you very much!

[@lovewenwin]

Generous 🎉😮 Also more please 🙏🏽

[@ninopwns]

Please do more time travel contextual history stuff like this dude you're awesome at it

[@spawnv2]

This is fascinating! I often daydream about being a time traveler across various epochs, so both videos are incredibly entertaining. Please delve into every detail; it stimulates the mind with different scenarios, and it's fantastic. Sometimes, I ponder extensively about the geographical location of where to appear. I suppose one could research and acquire a map of those times to not materialize in the middle of some random village.

[@nowthisisgaming117]

Sir you are too charitable with us. Thank you for sharing your knowledge in the manner you have

[@stevenburge557]

Thanks from the future!

[@premodernist_history]

Thank you!

[@harry.tallbelt6707]

OH! So that traveling to Medeival Europe video really blew up and more than 2.3 million people watched it! That is an amazing video and it'm happy that so many people found it!

[@ellepalmer]

i love these. just subscribed. dont feel pigeonholed into just this, i would love to hear more in depth research from the books you’ve read! like the one about buddhism sounded very interesting. thank you for making these; i love history!

[@TacticalLulu]

Man please keep making these. The internet will pay you!

[@cmrsnowflake]

Re. foreign looking people in medieval Europe (the tattoo topic made me think of it). My parents did archaeological work in medieval French cemeteries. My mom had told me that they found two people with modified skulls, one elongated and one sort of cubed. Skull modification can be achieved by binding the heads of infants, but that was by no means a normal practice in that time and place, so these individuals would have stood out like literal aliens. Fascinating to imagine what their life stories could have been. A third memorable skeleton they excavated had an unmodified, naturally distinctive skull with a heavy brow ridge reminiscent of a Neanderthal as well as unusual limb proportions, and would also have looked quite unlike others in the community. He had a high status, being buried as a clergyman.

[@cmrsnowflake]

💀💀💀

[@Wilderness-Will]

It's astonishing that you got some of these questions. I'm grateful that you made the first video and the followup; this is one of the most creative framing devices for a lecture on history and culture that I've ever seen-- especially since it focuses on the culture of the common people. I hope you do more videos like this!

[@Bluenamii]

Thank you for this series. I've always wanted to visit medieval Europe.

[@jaygoh8273]

The way this reads both sarcastic and sincere

[@jasperslavone1275]

These 2 videos have been so enjoyable start to finish. I would love to see more and will wait as long as it takes!

[@vladimirkrasilnikov2245]

It's wonderful news that you decided to make this a series. This is probably the most interesting and entertaining talk I heard in several months. Thank you for that!

[@calvincoolidge6627]

This guy just wrecks the KZbinr stereotype and It’s wonderful.

[@Scout_Typer]

For your point on eye glasses, I think just like how you mentioned how something like plastic or a modern fabric would make them think it's something foreign and exotic, you could sell everyone that your glasses are also foreign and exotic. Say how you got them from a merchant in Vienna who claimed he got them from some Ottoman Jeweler and I am sure most people would be puzzled on how they work but just hink this was tinkerers exotic craft.

[@John_on_the_mountain]

It would probably start some sort of fashion craze lol

[@CalumRaasay]

I just wanted to chime in with how much I loved your first video, in particular how sincerely you approached the subject and idea of being a time travelling tourist. It created a really compelling sense of fantasy and by the end I was planning my own visit! Fantastic work and can’t wait for the next video.

[@taimalik1110]

23:36 Mr. Premodernist, I want you to narrate that passage in another video please, because you're an awesome historian and teacher! Cheers!

[@migi7831]

Astronomy grad student here. I really appreciate your text warning about not only the years that would be required to prove heliocentrism, but also your comment about optics. It's generally understood in the field that advances in theory come from advances in the technology of observations, starting with the lenses made by Galileo all the way up to JWST in the present day. I would absolutely love if you made a video on the status of geocentrism in the medieval world.

[@janekschleicher9661]

Even for Galileo the major problem was that he couldn't back up his theory with observational proof. People were aware that if the earth circles around the sun, we should see a parallalax. But even with the telescopes of his time, it wasn't observable - the stars never moved, so it was completely justified to assume that the earth does not move either. His ideas were used later mainly not because they were correct, but because they made calculations easier. But at his time, it was just another theory beside epicycles with the same predictations on earth, plus that heliocentricism predicts something like parallalax that couldn't be observed, and in addition was not fully compliant with the interpretation of the Bible at that time. And there were also no explanation why the earth should surround the sun. The first scientific observation that backed up heliocentricism was Kepler who observed some rules that weren't explained by or even contradicted epicycles, but could hold up with heliocentric view, especially after Newton found an explanation for the why (gravitation). Before all of that, it was just a theory like string theory nowadays.

[@sophigenitor]

​@@janekschleicher9661Kepler was a contemporarian of Galileo, and he derived the elliptical orbits from the observations by his predecessor Brahe, who made these without a telescope. The missing parallax was an argument for geocentrism, but the correct solution had already been suggested by Annoxagoras in 450 BCE.

[@jacobmeyer2152]

Tapped on this video as soon as I saw the title. Great stuff brah

[@camillafrost229]

I love this channel. You paint such a vivid picture of the past and what the people then were like.

[@Stoneworks]

I loved watching that video, can't wait to get into some more nitty gritty details in this q&a!

[@bayani6302]

I love your videos. Please take as much time as you need to research about it. No one else is doing it like you and you've reached your target audience for sure!! And PLEASE feel free to nerd out about it as another commenter said. I'll look forward to the next one!

[@zeynepoyku]

It's refreshing to see other people also seriously pondered these questions like I have! I am an early music specialist and I like to really immerse myself in the period I am working on, I try to research all aspects of daily life in the period. It was nice to see you explain in such a way to clear many misconceptions people have, like everyone being hostile to foreigners etc. I feel I am lucky in that I have a job that I could do in any period and probably most parts of the world and it's a profession where being a woman wouldn't disadvantage me as much.