The Passing of King Arthur

In England, “the education secretary, has continued his assault on the great subjects of academe by revealing that he regards medieval history as ‘ornamental” and a waste of public money.” Guardian, May 9th, 2003.* A waste of money, medieval history may be, but ornamental? that’s another matter. I guess it depends on how you view history, but if you see the past as the inescapable foundation of the present, or in fact as integral to the moment now, then to dismiss it as ornamental is impossible.

And Robin Hood Too!

You don’t have to be a specialist in medieval history to know that key figures from that period in the past are ubiquitous in modern society. Who does not know King Arthur? Merlin, Lancelot or Guinevere? Medieval characters pervade our mythology and literature. But this is only fiction? Well, what about Richard the Lionheart or Saladin? Medieval constructs of belief and organization still largely underlie the Catholic Church, as well as the university. So the more you know about the Middle Ages-the more you know about contemporary society.

Golden Age or Dark Ages?

There is one more intriguing reason to study medieval history. Historians and others refer to several parts of the Middle Ages as being high points in human achievement. The Golden Age of Islam, or the Golden Age of China’s T’ang dynasty.** And there is even a curious old book (such as one might find roaming the stacks in a romantic old library-or on the Internet) called the The Thirteenth-the Greatest Century, which talks about medieval Europe-the much dreaded Dark Ages of yesteryear-as a kind of Golden Age in some surprising respects. Thus, in Chapter XXIV, DEMOCRACY, CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM AND NATIONALITY, the author writes this about the typical medieval institution, the guild: “The reasons for their popularity can be readily found in the many social needs which they cared for. Socialistic cooperation has, perhaps, never been carried so far as in these medieval institutions which were literally ‘of the people, by the people, and for the people.’”


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