6 myths about the Middle Ages that everyone believes - Stephanie Honchell Smith

Translator: Ka Kei Wong Reviewer: Aubrey Cheng

Medieval Europe.

喺中世紀嘅歐洲

Where unbathed, sword-wielding knights ate rotten meat,

唔沖涼嘅騎士身佩大劍、食腐肉

thought the Earth was flat, defended chastity-belt wearing maidens,

相信「地平說」、捍衛戴貞操帶嘅少女

and tortured their foes with grisly gadgets.

用各種可怕嘅刑具折磨敵人

Except... this is more fiction than fact.

之不過呢啲都同事實相差甚遠

So, where do all the myths about the Middle Ages come from?

噉關於中世紀嘅傳說係點嚟嘅呢？

And what were they actually like?

事實又係點嘅呢？

The “Middle Ages” refers to a 1,000-year timespan,

「中世紀」指一段一千年嘅時間

stretching from the fall of Rome in the 5th century

由五世紀羅馬帝國滅亡開始

to the Italian renaissance in the 15th.

直到15世紀意大利文藝復興

Though it’s been applied to other parts of the world,

雖然都用嚟講述世界各地

the term traditionally refers specifically to Europe.

但傳統上只係針對歐洲

One misconception is that medieval people were all ignorant and uneducated.

有個誤解：中世紀人無知、冇受教育

For example, a 19th century biography of Christopher Columbus

例如，有篇19世紀關於哥倫布嘅傳記

incorrectly purported that medieval Europeans thought the Earth was flat.

聲稱中世紀嘅歐洲人認為地球係平嘅

Sure, many medieval scholars describe the Earth as the center of the universe—

確實，好多中世紀學者 將地球描述為宇宙嘅中心

but there wasn't much debate as to its shape.

但冇乜爭論佢嘅形狀

A popular 13th century text was literally called “On the Sphere of the World.”

13世紀有篇熱門文章直情叫 《球體上嘅世界》

And literacy rates gradually increased during the Middle Ages

識字率喺中世紀時期逐漸提高

alongside the establishment of monasteries, convents and universities.

同時修建僧院、修女院同埋大學

Ancient knowledge was also not “lost”;

古代知識亦未曾「遺失」過

Greek and Roman texts continued to be studied.

希臘同羅馬嘅文獻被後人研究

The idea that medieval people ate rotten meat and used spices to cover the taste

中世紀人食腐肉，以香料冚住啲味嘅講法

was popularized in the 1930s by a British book.

流傳自1930年一本英國嘅書

It misinterpreted one medieval recipe

作者誤解咗中世紀嘅一份食譜

and used the existence of laws barring the sale of putrid meat

並以禁止販賣腐肉嘅法律佐證

as evidence it was regularly consumed.

指出當時日常會食腐肉

In fact, medieval Europeans avoided rancid foods

其實中世紀歐洲人唔食變質食物

and had methods for safely preserving meats,

仲有更安全嘅方法保存肉類

like curing them with salt.

例如用鹽醃製

Spices were popular.

香料好常見

But they were oftentimes pricier than meat itself.

但普遍比肉更貴

So if someone could afford them, they could also buy unspoiled food.

所以買得起香料嘅人， 自然會買得起品質良好嘅食物

Meanwhile, the 19th century French historian Jules Michelet

同時，19世紀法國歷史學家 Jules Michelet

referred to the Middle Ages as “a thousand years without a bath.”

話中世紀係「冇涼沖嘅一千年」

But even small towns boasted well-used public bathhouses.

但即使小城鎮都有公共浴場

People lathered up with soaps made of things

啲人用嚟沖涼嘅番梘含有

like animal fat, ash, and scented herbs.

動物脂肪、草木灰同香氣植物

And they used mouthwash, teeth-scrubbing cloths with pastes and powders,

仲會用漱口水、潔齒布配上牙膏、潔齒粉

and spices and herbs for fresh-smelling breath.

香料同藥草嚟保持口氣清新

So, how about medieval torture devices?

噉中世紀嘅刑具呢？

In the 1890s, a collection of allegedly “terrible relics of a semi-barbarous age”

1890年代，一系列據稱為 「半野蠻時代嘅駭人文物」

went on tour.

攞嚟巡迴展出

Among them: the Iron Maiden, which fascinated viewers with its spiked doors—

其中，以鐵釘門聞名嘅「鐵娘子」

but it was fabricated, possibly just decades before.

可能面世咗幾十年

And there’s no indication Iron Maidens actually existed in the Middle Ages.

亦無迹像顯示「鐵娘子」喺中世紀存在過

The “Pear of Anguish,” meanwhile, did exist—

而「苦刑梨」確實存在

but probably later on and it couldn’t have been used for torture.

但可能係喺中世紀之後，更唔係用嚟折磨

It may have just been a shoe-stretcher.

可能只係鞋撐

Indeed, many ostensibly medieval torture devices are far more recent inventions.

好多據稱出自中世紀嘅刑具 其實係更近代嘅發明

Medieval legal proceedings were overall less gruesome than these gadgets suggest.

中世紀嘅法律制裁甚至冇呢啲刑具噉可怕

They included fines, imprisonment, public humiliation,

例如罰款、關禁、當眾羞辱

and certain forms of corporal punishment.

同部份體罰

Torture and executions did happen,

當時確實有酷刑同處決

but especially violent punishments, like drawing and quartering,

但尤其係暴力嘅懲罰，例如「四馬分屍」

were generally reserved for crimes like high treason.

通常用喺叛國等罪行

Surely chastity belts were real, though, right?

噉貞操帶係真喇掛？

Probably not.

未必

They were first mentioned by a 15th century German engineer, likely in jest,

最早喺15世紀由德國工程師提起

但玩笑成份頗高

alongside fart jokes and a device for invisibility.

同時仲有「放屁笑話」同「隠身裝置」

From there, they became popular subjects of satire

從此經常喺諷刺作品入面見到

that were later mistaken for medieval reality.

後嚟被誤認為係中世紀嘅產物

Ideas about the Middle Ages have varied

對中世紀嘅想像有各種各樣

depending on the interest of those in later times.

取決於後世嘅喜好

The term— along with the pejorative “Dark Ages”—

「中世紀」一詞， 仲有「黑暗時期」呢個貶稱

was popularized during the 15th and 16th centuries

廣為喺15至16世紀流傳

by scholars biased toward the Classical and Modern periods

當時嘅學者偏頗其前後嘅

that came before and after.

古典同近代時期

And, as Enlightenment thinkers celebrated their dedication to reason,

其後啟蒙運動思想家 宣揚佢哋對理性嘅奉獻

they depicted medieval people as superstitious and irrational.

將中世紀人描繪為迷信且非理性

In the 19th century, some Romantic European nationalist thinkers— well—

喺19世紀， 一啲歐洲浪漫民族主義思想家

romanticized the Middle Ages.

將中世紀浪漫化

They described isolated, white, Christian societies,

喺佢哋口中與世隔絕嘅白人基督社會

emphasizing narratives of chivalry and wonder.

充滿騎士精神及各種奇思妙想

But knights played minimal roles in medieval warfare.

但其實甚少有騎士參與中世紀戰事

And the Middle Ages saw large-scale interactions.

當時出現大規模文化交流

Ideas flowed into Europe along Byzantine, Muslim, and Mongol trade routes.

拜占庭、穆斯林同蒙古嘅貿易通道

And merchants, intellectuals, and diplomats of diverse origins

各國商人、知識份子同外交大使

visited medieval European cities.

拜訪中世紀歐洲城市

The biggest myth may be that the millennium of the Middle Ages

最大嘅迷思大概係將中世紀嘅黃金時期

amounts to one distinct, cohesive period of European history at all.

視為歐洲歷史上獨特且蓬勃嘅一個時期

Originally defined less by what they were than what they weren’t,

最初就被忽略咗真實嘅一面

the Middle Ages became a ground for dueling ideas—

中世紀充滿咗對立嘅情節

fueling more fantasy than fact.

激發出嘅幻想比現實更多