Read on Twitter
I’m a graduate in Medieval Studies, and when I try to explain some myths about it, people look at me as if I was insane. The Enlightenment propaganda is so strong, that telling the truth about Medieval era sounds like a crazy right-wing conspiracy theory.
And this is a serious problem. Many school textbooks, media, etc. promote most of these myths, which are inherently biased and dangerous, because they distort the truth.
The Enlightenment historiography is still the most successful propaganda ever made; it refused to die, because the [anti-Christian] sentiment which these thinkers had promoted seems to be popular ever since.
Demonizing the Other is the best way to begin a fight, because it gives you the feeling of the moral superiority. In our case, this has been done by distorting and misinterpreting historical facts, and inventing myths and false villains and heroes.
This genius propaganda has affected and influenced most of us, therefore it’s not surprising how our imagination has been constructed. For example, when we think or talk about [the] historical horrors, the vast majority will think of the those ‘dark’ Middle Ages.
Ironically, we rarely realize that the most morbid and inhumane crimes were committed during the Enlightenment and Modern era. Concentration camps, gulag, genocides, eugenics, racism, reign of terror, totalitarianism, etc.
The aforementioned catastrophes are a result of the ideology which promoted the cult of progress, reason and science, which ended becoming the cult of irrationality, regress and crimes.
But of course, rarely will we hear that being denounced, because we still live in that era, where one of the most criminal and bloody act of history [the French Revolution] is presented as ‘glorious’ and ‘good’.
The Enlightenment way of thinking may have ‘freed’ people of believing in God, but at the very moment when this philosophy rose, ideologies were born.
So, today, many don’t believe in religion because they consider it dogmatic, but unconsciously and dogmatically believe in this ideology: Enlightenment.
Full post on my blog: https://theneomedievalist.blogspot.com/2021/01/how-enlightenment-ideology-obscured.html?m=1
Reading suggestions:
The Civilization of the Middle Ages -Norman Cantor
Religion and the Rise of Western Culture & Understanding Europe -Christopher Dawson
Medieval civilization - Jacques Le Goff
The Birth of Europe - Roberto S. Lopez
God's Philosophers by @DrJamesHannam
The Civilization of the Middle Ages -Norman Cantor
Religion and the Rise of Western Culture & Understanding Europe -Christopher Dawson
Medieval civilization - Jacques Le Goff
The Birth of Europe - Roberto S. Lopez
God's Philosophers by @DrJamesHannam
P.S.
To my dear scholars and readers, have in mind that this is a Tweet and not an academic paper. As a Medievalist, tired of the old dumb myths, I've simply emphasized a brief critique. I'm far from idealizing the Middle Ages, but the truth has to be said.
Best regards, A.B.
To my dear scholars and readers, have in mind that this is a Tweet and not an academic paper. As a Medievalist, tired of the old dumb myths, I've simply emphasized a brief critique. I'm far from idealizing the Middle Ages, but the truth has to be said.
Best regards, A.B.
Last, but not least book recommendation: “The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science” by @Seb_Falk
P.S. Follow him. :)
P.S. Follow him. :)
-Bearing False Witness by Rodney Stark;
-The Crusades: A History by Jonathan Riley-Smith;
-Inventing the Individual: the Origins of Western Liberalism by Larry Siedentop
-Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind by @holland_tom
-The Crusades: A History by Jonathan Riley-Smith;
-Inventing the Individual: the Origins of Western Liberalism by Larry Siedentop
-Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind by @holland_tom
For those who would like to learn more. Here’s an excellent @Yale course on the Early Middle Ages by @mornayphf. You’re gonna love it! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL77A337915A76F660
Since everyone seems to be [an] 'expert' on the Middle Ages, especially on the inquisition, here's a decent BBC documentary in which actual experts explain and debunk the infamous historiographical myths, which for some reason refuse to die...
