The Medieval Introduction

Welcome to the Medieval Swirl – Medieval mix. This site was designed to give you maximum exposure to all that is medieval. We call it a “swirl” because you never know what will come up on some of the pages. It is an eclectic site. So take a look around and dig in deep. There is some interesting stuff here.

The medieval period actually refers to the period more commonly called the Middle Ages. The word medieval (from a Latin word) was originally spelled mediaeval, and you may still see it spelled that way on occasion. The term medieval wasn’t used until the 1800s. On occasion the Middle Ages may be split into the Dark ages (410-1000) and the Medieval Period (1100-1450). But usually the entire Middle Ages is referred to as the Medieval Period.

It is completely unclear when the Middle Ages are supposed to have started. The most common interpretation says it began after the Roman Empire collapsed in 410 AD. It is equally unclear when the Middle Ages ends. In 1453 Constantinople was sacked by the Turks and a new cultural period began as Constantinople was one of the most influential cities in the world. This is sometimes seen as the end of the Middle Ages, since prominent cultural change came after that.

Much of our ideas and opinions of the Medieval Period come from influential movies such as El Cyd, Excalibur, Ivanhoe, A Man for All Seasons and The Lion in Winter. Many fantasy novels have given interest to the seemingly medieval period, although most of those have no real time period. There seems to be a good bit of medieval influence on fantasy movies and books. Unfortunately much of the glamorization is incorrect, but it is very entertaining. The Middle Ages was full of a lot of un-glamorous activity, stinky people, bland food, bad hair, limited food, poor transportation, disease, no teeth brushing, limited education and hard work for more than 8 hours a day. That was the everyday existence of the average Medieval Period person.