People are people, no matter when they lived. ![]() In particular, the tendency to view the distant past as a time of unrestrained barbarism provides us with both an unearned sense of superiority and often a dangerous hubris – ‘we’re not like that anymore, that can’t happen anymore – people in the past were just stupid.‘ But they were not just stupid or just maniacs – they were people. How we view the past has a tremendous influence on what we think about the present. For a great many people, Westeros will become the face of the European Middle Ages, further reinforcing distorting preconceptions about the period. But – for once – I think this is useful nitpicking. Finally, Part III, linked here, will look at political structures and norms (and also have the conclusion).īut first, I want to answer a question: Why am I bothering? Isn’t this all a bunch of useless nitpicking? Well, first – what did you expect from a blog named A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry? Useless nitpicking is our specialty. Part II, linked here, will instead pose this question from a social history perspective, looking at cultural and religious norms along with questions of gender and family structure. ![]() Part I, which you are reading now, will deal with this from the perspective of the structure of war and conflict. The following post is the first part of a three part series where we look at the question “how medieval is Game of Thrones?” and – if not the European Middle Ages – what period of history does it most draw from? In each part, we will draw on a different historical framework: first military, then social and finally political history. ![]() This series is now available in an audio format the entire playlist can be listened to here.
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