39 Facts about the Middle Ages - mental_floss List Show Ep. 430

Why are the middle ages called the middle ages? And why do some conspiracy theories suggest that the middle ages never happened? Is there a difference between the middle ages and the dark ages? This episode of The List Show is all about facts about the Middle Ages.

The List Show is a weekly show where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, John shares some facts about his new favorite time period, the Middle Ages!

Subscribe for new episodes of mental_floss every Wednesday!

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[MentalFloss]

Love fun facts? Of course you do, why else would you be here? Join us for our LIVE trivia show this Friday to test your fun fact expertise:

[susanharman]

I absolutely love the Green brothers devotion to education. Channels such as these are so important.

[DeathlyTired]

Gloucester!
John pronounces an English place name correctly!
Chalk up the score: 1-24, 587

[ahhhfakemonsters]

I wasn't sure if this video was going to be about history or being 40 when I clicked on it

[desolatorXT]

You mentioned the Byzantine Empire at the start. Can you make a video with some facts about it? Thanks.

[UnwashedPearl]

When I asked my sister where in the past she would travel with a time machine, she said she didn't want to go back past the invention of the tampon.

[josephattwell]

2:14

Those famous beaked plague doctors wore those beaks for a reason. Instead of blaming the plague on witchcraft, the lack of morals of the poor, or on the Jews, doctors in the 17 century had realized that diseases had natural causes. These natural causes could be defended against, and the doctor who worked on the victims of the plague could escape the grip of the black death.

HOWEVER, the "natural" cause the doctors came up with was Miasma. It was "bad air", literally a stench of death, which caused the disease. Thus, the Plague Doctor's beak was filled with all kinds of herbs that was thought to ward off the miasma.

[DanielRieger]

I'm glad to live in modern times because we have HD videos! Wait...

[clf]

Gargoyles were never just decorative. Gargoyles are drain pipes and grotesques are just decorative.

[randythomet]

I would not want to live in any time or place where indoor plumbing was not the norm.

[HaSiHappy]

Is it just me, or should this be in more than just 360p?

[Beltin]

"Thanks again for watching a menopause video"

[MeisterHaar]

as a european i wanted to add to the castle topic. it is actually not completly true that they stoped building castles but the intention changed. it was no longer for protection it was more a way to show off, a way to show how wealthy and powerfull you were. In germany there even were rules on which royals were allowed to build castels and which didn't even though they might have been rich enough.
Nice examples of prestige castles are for example the castle of Neuschwanstein it was build in 1886 by the king Ludwig of Bavaria and the castle Marienburg build in 1867 by King George V of Hannover. Marienburg was intended to be a summer castle and a gift from George his wife.

[NickGreyden]

The internet, conditioned air, and modern medicine. In all the world there is no age greater and more friendly than our own.

[mastersirus]

I'm sure in the Middle Ages they didn't have to watch Youtube in 360p! Oh the Horror!

[blackparadoxx]

Of course Yoda is pictured in manuscripts from the Middle Ages, he was 900 years before he died in 1984.

[mattguye]

I feel like I am in the middle ages with this 360p

[HalloranIllustrations]

Well for one thing, I'm happy to live in a time where we are visiting other worlds.

[sophiapeck]

lol did anyone else think of Supernatural when he mentioned the Winchester bible?

[kelejsaunders]

Second time now, I thought I heard something else while you were saying "mental floss".
I heard "menopause"!