What would a medieval person think of us?

[lacktheknack]

Such a person would be frightened as all get-out by the noise. D'you realize that apart from war and rowdy parties, such people live their lives without great amounts of noise? Perhaps certain aspects of work count as well, but that's not the same as cars in gridlock, blasting radios, planes overhead, etc. And speaking of planes, your basic jumbojet would be thought of as a dragon. Hear the mighty roar as it flies overhead.

Oh dear heavens. Three weeks in India nearly killed me because of the unending noise levels. Even in our apartment, it never fell below 65 dB or so, which is glorious on night 20 of failing to sleep. Imagine being stuck in a crowded restaurant that never was empty for weeks, that's what the noise was like at all times.

Now imagine the poor sucker waking up in the middle of Calcutta today. I think he'd be dead by the end of the first three hours.

 

[Albino Boo]

I am rather put in mind of this


Its a French film called Les Visiteurs about a 12th century knight brought forward to the 20th century. Starring a pre Hollywood Jean Reno.

 

[jklinders]

I am rather put in mind of this


Its a French film called Les Visiteurs about a 12th century knight brought forward to the 20th century. Starring a pre Hollywood Jean Reno.

I kind of want to see that movie, subtitles and all.

 

[Shinkicker444]

Fear, confusion, anger... then probably drop dead from all the chemicals in the air.

I'm pretty sure I saw a movie years ago about people infected by the plague, so the villagers dug a hole deep into the earth and somehow dug their way into the modern day... I remember them running around at night being awed, and finding a church with the cross made of lights. Then they went back to their hole and back to their time... and I can't remember if they took medicine with them or not. This was a late night movie to.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I think even the most basic concepts we take as obvious would floor them: the ability to light an entire room with the push of a button. Paved roads that go on for thousands of kilometers. The sheer amount of ways we can produce noise and light from various devices. Buildings with endless supplies of food. The amount of books in the world (remember, until the 16th century all books were hand-crafted and written). Any and all forms of motor transport. I'm inclined to believe they would think we actually are gods, and he's in heaven. Or hell, considering how much noisier the world is compared to centuries ago.

And that's not even scratching the surface: movies, videogames, music, advertising, television, the Internet, schools, skyscrapers, electronic music, electricity in general, power plants, nuclear power, cruiser chips, sports, modern warfare... the list goes on and on.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Fear, confusion, anger... then probably drop dead from all the chemicals in the air.

I'm pretty sure I saw a movie years ago about people infected by the plague, so the villagers dug a hole deep into the earth and somehow dug their way into the modern day... I remember them running around at night being awed, and finding a church with the cross made of lights. Then they went back to their hole and back to their time... and I can't remember if they took medicine with them or not. This was a late night movie to.

Jeez, I remember that film! 'Navigator' something-or-other. I remember because I misread the teletext and recorded it thinking it was, of all things, Flight of the Navigator (very different film!).

EDIT - [link]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Navigator:_A_Medieval_Odyssey[/link]

 

[Shinkicker444]

EDIT - [link]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Navigator:_A_Medieval_Odyssey[/link]

Hoo, so it is. I remember it being quite odd, wish there was a longer description of what happened in the movie though. Could make the joke that they dig from 14th century England to 20th century New Zealand and see Hobbits and Dwarves running around, which is about what's expected in New Zealand these days anyways.

 

[small]

ignoring all the technology issues they would be shocked by the lack of religion in most peoples lives, find people these days unfocussed and scatterbrained, shallow and with bad memories not to mention thinking most people were a bit on the soft side with no morals especially females when it came to dress sense

 

[JoJo]

Yeah, if we're literally talking about someone coming from 1015 the language barrier would be huge. For comparsion, this is the Lord's Prayer written in Old English from 990, so just a generation before our hypothetical medieval person:

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum,
si þin nama gehalgod.
To becume þin rice,
gewurþe ðin willa,
on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.
Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg,
and forgyf us ure gyltas,
swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum.
And ne gelæd þu us on costnunge,
ac alys us of yfele.
Soþlice.

Sourced from the Wessex Gospels. The odd word or phrase can be picked out but you would have a hard time understanding much of that.

 

[Pseudonym]

I take it we are talking about the European middle ages. It would probably depend on their personality and where precisely they came from. I'm inclined to think they would be somewhat more reasonable and tolerant than a lot of people here seem to think. Near the year 1015 large parts of northern and eastern europe weren't Christian yet, large parts of the Muslim world wasn't Muslim yet and heathenous or heretical thought wasn't unheard of for most people. Also, a lot of people had probably met a jew once or twice. The average person was more religious and zealous than the average person now, but I don't think they would immediately try to burn us at the stake for heresy.

I also think we need to take in account what medieval people didn't know. They mostly couldn't read, the state of mathematics and natural science was a joke. (translating the ancient greek mathematical texts from arabic proved difficult because the average european translator couldn't wrap his head around Euclidean geometry and it's proofs, and those translators were the learned men of the time) Universities weren't around until 1200 or so. The decimal numeralsystem was unheard of in Europe. Your average peasant probably would, in adition to not being able to read, have difficulty with basic arithmatic that we mastered in primairy school. The classics of greek and roman literature were mostly unavailable to medieval Europe. Books in general were expensive. I think just the sheer knowledge of your average person these days would confuse them. Not just because it's more than they had but because a lot of it would clash with their world view. (geocentric, religious) Because of this I expect them to be extremely confused about pretty much everything.

They'd probably also have great difficulty understanding the bizarre centralization we have. Being a ruler in medieval times was hard because messages could take weeks to reach their destination. Coördinating with people a 100km down the road (lol, roads) already took effort. This left local lords with a lot of power.

And the technology. Well, we have paper and buttons to turn on the light. We can cook on a modern furnace. Like I said, I expect confusion. They'd probably try to grasp our society by comparing it with their own.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Coördinating with people a 100km down the road (lol, roads) already took effort.

The roads were often quite good, at least in parts that used to be Roman. Except you had to walk, not drive.

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

The roads were often quite good, at least in parts that used to be Roman. Except you had to walk, not drive.

Yeah, Rome, and I believe their greatest rivals, Carthage, had very impressive highways for their time. I'm pretty sure Rome innovated road technology in their day, and Carthage used great roads and paths to help increase the speed in which mercenaries from LIbya and Numidia took to reach the great city for outward shipping. To say "lol roads" in regards to ancient times is pretty ignorant. This isn't even taking into effect the magnificent silk road, linking India and Asia to Arabia and the Seleukid Empire.

 

[Thaluikhain]

The roads were often quite good, at least in parts that used to be Roman. Except you had to walk, not drive.

Yeah, Rome, and I believe their greatest rivals, Carthage, had very impressive highways for their time. I'm pretty sure Rome innovated road technology in their day, and Carthage used great roads and paths to help increase the speed in which mercenaries from LIbya and Numidia took to reach the great city for outward shipping. To say "lol roads" in regards to ancient times is pretty ignorant. This isn't even taking into effect the magnificent silk road, linking India and Asia to Arabia and the Seleukid Empire.

Can't really say for Carthage, but Roman roads tended to be decent by any measure, not just for their time. Perfectly straight, if a hill got in the way, you dug through it, you didn't go over or around it. The foundations could start a metre or two below the surface. There are Roman roads which are still in use today.

In large part because this meant their legions could march to places faster, but also because whatever important Roman was behind making the road could let everyone know about what a great road he'd given people.

(Though, personally, I find it more impressive that there are Roman aqueducts still providing water to farmers today, some 20+ centuries after they where built. Admittedly, it helped that they built a lot, because not all of them survived, but still)

 

[Dalisclock]

Coördinating with people a 100km down the road (lol, roads) already took effort.

The roads were often quite good, at least in parts that used to be Roman. Except you had to walk, not drive.

Didn't a lot of the roads become more and more...pilfered after the empire fell, making them less and less useful? Since, over the centuries, a lot of people saw the stones just sitting there and decided "Hey, I need to build a new house. Look at all these precut stones just sitting there".

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

snip

Yeah, ancient Rome was mighty impressive for technology. But there was other great innovations in the ancient times. Greece for intelligence and philosophy. Carthage for tactics and the use of outside cultures/people. Persia for human rights and being the first civilisation to grant rights to slaves. Scythians for a military equality between men and women. Cultures of antiquity aren't as silly as people say. In fact, I'd almost say they were more enlightened than during the Middle Ages.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Coördinating with people a 100km down the road (lol, roads) already took effort.

The roads were often quite good, at least in parts that used to be Roman. Except you had to walk, not drive.

Didn't a lot of the roads become more and more...pilfered after the empire fell, making them less and less useful? Since, over the centuries, a lot of people saw the stones just sitting there and decided "Hey, I need to build a new house. Look at all these precut stones just sitting there".

That sort of thing certainly happened (the pyramids currently being smooth only at the top is probably the best example), but I don't think it affected the road system that much. If nothing else, people would tend to take local stones, the roads linking settlements would be less vulnerable in the middle then the ends.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I take it the op haven't seen "Just visiting"? (Doesn't matter which version, it's still has the same synopis.)

I suppose that medieval person will think of us as witches and wizards!!!

 

[FalloutJack]

I am rather put in mind of this


Its a French film called Les Visiteurs about a 12th century knight brought forward to the 20th century. Starring a pre Hollywood Jean Reno.

So do I! This is awesome! Where do I find this?

 

[VintageNHC]

I'm guessing this medieval person would believe our devices and TVs are magic.