There are some things that need unpacked- history is hard to understand- by definition it dwarfs a human lifespan, so we really aren’t well equipped for proper concept of time and change across centuries- most people start having problems with the passage of time within 3 decades of life. So- the “Middle Ages” generally covers from the fifth to FIFTEENTH centuries. Do you think that in almost 1000 years that technology, culture, the world changed some? Probably yeah? “Middle Ages” also general refers to “western history” but the time period of “Middle Ages” corresponds to year range roughly. What that means is that when we talk about the “Middle Ages” or say things like: “they are this kind of food in the Middle Ages…” not EVERYONE all over the world or all across “Europe” ate the same foods for 1,000 years and they certainly all didn’t eat the same foods as each other for 1,000 years.
In other words- when you generalize things like: “the Middle Ages were barbaric because…” or “the Middle Ages knights didn’t do XYZ!” Well…. When and where? “French” “Knights” and “English knights” in the same time period may or may not have had many differences, but over 1,000 years these organizations changed a lot as did cultures and practices. For reference asking “what did they eat in the Middle Ages?” Is like asking “what did the people eat between 1020ad and 2020ad?” Well- that depends a lot on where you live but also where right? Even trying to generalize something like the clothes people wear or the types of shows and movies we watch for one HUNDRED years vs. one THOUSAND is not so simple.
Is the USA an uneducated country? Well- 100 years ago the rate of adults with formal education or literacy were much lower. If we generalized over a century… but… it also depends on where right? Some states are pooper or less educated or have higher crime etc. some states lean…
.. conservative and others liberal.
Barbarism? Some states allow death, forced labor, have harsh laws and punishments and other states ban those things. Some states have better social welfare etc. so when historians look back- what they consider barbaric and what time period they look at and which states they might judge our culture on would impact how they view us- but if we got lumped into a group over the last thousand or even last 100 years- forced lobotomies, forced sterilization or abortion, hangings, firing squads, lynching a, mobs, riots, mass shootings, all manner of government and social practices that could see is labeled as barbaric or such.
It’s informally correct to split the Middle Ages into parts such as early or late so that you can discuss generalities applying to smaller chunks of time than 1000 years. Of course, the PLACE is still important and even a very specific place or specific cultural context may be required. The lives of the powerful and the poor within the same city could be vastly different as could many customs or routines. But think about this in a more relatable way- the 2000’s are distinct from the 1990’s and so on for the 1980’s and on back right? You can generally tell style and speech and technology from each era or close to right? Music changed a lot and with all the “cancel culture” and this and that- we know culture has changed a lot over these decades even for those not alive for more than one or two of them. So- if TEN years can be so distinct- imagine 100. 1000. Also remember that it tends to get fuzzier towards the end.
So in 1999 there wasn’t a huge shift in the style or clothing or entertainment and music or technology to the early 2000’s. In some ways yes- but it is a bit hard to tell by looking of something is from 1998 or 2002.
That said- 1990 was VERY different than 2000. It is generally pretty easy to tell something from 1990 vs. 2000. The world was vastly different- effectively no internet to most homes in tech savvy countries having computers or internet among other things.
So ten years makes a huge difference and 10 years is something that anyone on this website should be able to understand from experience despite some being much younger than others- for the younger ones ten years ago you were maybe wetting or pants or learning to read. Hopefully not now? For those in their later 20’s or their 30’s- how much has changed in 10 years? So “Middle Ages” is a big broad range which would inherently be full of contradictions.
Is the USA an uneducated country? Well- 100 years ago the rate of adults with formal education or literacy were much lower. If we generalized over a century… but… it also depends on where right? Some states are pooper or less educated or have higher crime etc. some states lean…
Barbarism? Some states allow death, forced labor, have harsh laws and punishments and other states ban those things. Some states have better social welfare etc. so when historians look back- what they consider barbaric and what time period they look at and which states they might judge our culture on would impact how they view us- but if we got lumped into a group over the last thousand or even last 100 years- forced lobotomies, forced sterilization or abortion, hangings, firing squads, lynching a, mobs, riots, mass shootings, all manner of government and social practices that could see is labeled as barbaric or such.
That said- 1990 was VERY different than 2000. It is generally pretty easy to tell something from 1990 vs. 2000. The world was vastly different- effectively no internet to most homes in tech savvy countries having computers or internet among other things.
So ten years makes a huge difference and 10 years is something that anyone on this website should be able to understand from experience despite some being much younger than others- for the younger ones ten years ago you were maybe wetting or pants or learning to read. Hopefully not now? For those in their later 20’s or their 30’s- how much has changed in 10 years? So “Middle Ages” is a big broad range which would inherently be full of contradictions.