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Eleanor Janega

@eleanor-janega · 6 positions · 0 changes of mind

Medieval historian and author, writing the blog Going Medieval on the Middle Ages and on what popular culture gets wrong about them.

Eleanor Janega did not write this page.

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  1. Our reading

    We picture the past as populated entirely by the wealthy, because the wealthy are whose documents and buildings happened to survive.

    Their wordsBecause of how source survival works, or indeed, how architectural survival works, we are often encouraged to think of the past as a place populated entirely by the wealthy elite.

    ↗On contrarian historygoing-medieval.com 1st of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  3. Our reading

    The Roman Empire was not necessary to keep industry going: metal production in Britain rose after the Romans withdrew.

    Their wordsThe Roman Empire, therefore, is actually not necessary for keeping industry going.

    ↗On contrarian historygoing-medieval.com 2nd of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  5. Our reading

    There was no "Dark Ages": the term described gaps in the surviving sources, and its popular use is not a live scholarly position but a settled error.

    Their wordsFurther, the fact that there is no such thing as a ‘Dark Ages’ and that a term we used for source survival has escaped containment and been rendered meaningless by a bunch of poorly read self-congratulatory dolts is, in fact, what we call ‘settled academic fact’.

    ↗On contrarian historygoing-medieval.com 3rd of 4 in this piece

    Interesting

  7. Our reading

    There is no such thing as revisionist history: re-evaluating the sources and controlling for bias is simply what writing history is.

    Their wordsThere is no such thing as revisionist history. Writing history is a constant process of re-evaluation of sources and attempts to control for the biases of the past as well as our own.

    ↗On contrarian historygoing-medieval.com 4th of 4 in this piece

    Interesting
  8. 7 months earlier

  9. Our reading

    The Renaissance and early modern period were not a better time to be alive than the Middle Ages they are said to have rescued Europe from.

    Their wordsI am not here to tell you that the medieval period is a specifically peaceful time, but it pales in comparison to what goes down in the early modern period, in which both the apparently beloved Renaissance and Enlightenment periods lie.

    ↗On what Americans know about medieval historygoing-medieval.com 1st of 2 in this piece

    Europe

    Interesting

  11. Our reading

    How harshly people judge the Middle Ages tracks how little they know about it.

    Their wordsClearly as well we see that the more people know about the medieval period, the more likely they are to be correct about it.

    ↗On what Americans know about medieval historygoing-medieval.com 2nd of 2 in this piece

    Interesting