The Middle Ages refers to the one-thousand-year period in European history between the fall of the western Roman empire (5^th century C.E.) and the beginning of the Italian Renaissance (15^th century C.E.). This era is also sometimes referred to as the Medieval period or the Dark Ages, terms that became popular during the Renaissance and Enlightenment. For more on general misconceptions about the Middle Ages, see Winston Black’s, The Middle Ages: Facts and Fictions and Stephen Harris and Bryon Grigsby’s Misconceptions about the Middle Ages. In addition to portraying the Middle Ages as backwards and superstitious, other groups have erred in the opposite direction by romanticizing the Middle Ages. In reality, the Middle Ages were complex and diverse.

Contrary to popular depictions, people during this time bathed regularly and medieval cuisine didn’t include rotten meat. They knew the earth was round and didn’t drop dead at thirty or lock women into chastity belts. On top of that, most of the “medieval” torture devices found in museums and all over the internet are actually modern inventions. In recent years, historians have combatted these myths, shedding light on the achievements of the period, with one recent book even recasting it as the “Bright Ages.”

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