Is everything you assumed about the Middle Ages wrong?
There was more to the period than violence, superstition and ignorance, argues a new book
“In public, your bottom should emit no secret winds past your thighs. It disgraces you if other people notice any of your smelly filth.” This useful bit of advice for young courtiers in the early 13th century appears in “The Book of the Civilised Man”, a poem by Daniel of Beccles. It is the first English guide to manners.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Middle Ages, misunderstood”
Culture February 24th 2024
- How Ukraine’s fortunes have ebbed
- The history of the opium trade helps explain the modern world
- Podcasts got their name 20 years ago this month
- Is everything you assumed about the Middle Ages wrong?
- Growing numbers of Chinese are escaping urban life for rural peace
- Refik Anadol’s use of AI has made him the artist of the moment
From the February 24th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionDiscover more
Is TV’s next sure-fire hit, “Disclaimer”, a must-watch or a dud?
The glitzy new thriller is both
Americans are chuffed as chips at British English
Why doesn’t the affection run both ways?
Time for LIV, golf’s Saudi-funded rebel tour, to drift into obscurity
As a golfing experiment it has failed
Boris Johnson shows how not to write a political memoir
His new book is full of revelations, but none of the sort readers actually want
How humans invented good and evil, and may reinvent both
Over thousands of years humans domesticated themselves
Fashion photography is in vogue
Museums and collectors now want what were once panned as commercial images for their walls