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I think Teresa Rupp's way of dealing with "misconceptions" is excellent, and sensitive to the point that nobody has a monopoly on truth. So-called "misconceptions" arose for a reason, and the reason is not that people were stupid. Could we stop crowing about other people's "misconceptions" on a "we're so smart and they're so dumb" basis? Especially in an academic forum, it's more interesting to untangle the threads to see why people thought as they did. Most "misconceptions" served a purpose in their time, and it's often the purpose which is interesting. pat sloane > Subj: Popular misconceptions > Date: 97-07-11 08:52:36 EDT > From: [log in to unmask] (Teresa Rupp) > Sender: [log in to unmask] > Reply-to: [log in to unmask] > To: [log in to unmask] (medieval-religion) > > In the first meeting of my medieval survey class, I try to bring these > modern misconceptions to the fore. First I ask them what they think of > when I say "Middle Ages" or "medieval." I write their responses on the > board as they call them out, dividing them into two columns. In one > column goes such responses as "Dark Ages," "barbarian," "filth," etc. and > in the other goes "Age of Faith," "castles," and "knights in shining > armor," etc. Then I show two clips from movies that correspond to the two > sets of images: a feasting scene from The Vikings (with Kirk Douglas), in > which people are shouting, gnawing on large bones, and throwing knives, > and the wedding scene from Camelot (also a celebratory gathering), which > is much more "courtly." Next I explain the origins of the two > conceptions: the first is the legacy of the Renaissance's invention of > the Middle Ages, and the second is the legacy of the Romantics' > rediscovery of the Middle Ages (here I give examples of 19th C > medievalism, like pre-raphaelite painting and the Houses of Parliament). > Finally, I point out that we in the twentieth century are heirs to both > images of the MA, and we have to keep our preconceptions in mind as we > study the sources. > > > Teresa Rupp > Department of History > Mount Saint Mary's College > Emmitsburg, MD 21727 > > [log in to unmask] > > > %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%