To be considered:
Forgotten knowledge and Autism in the Middle Ages take 2
Recently, I’ve been on a bit of a medieval history bender. Though it may feel at times like history is a static thing that is as firm as the ground we walk on, much like the tectonic plates that shift under our feet, the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and scientific research as a whole are changing as well. Even if it’s subtle, like a new technology used to unroll and read a petrified scroll without damaging it, it is definitely a new development in historical information. So every now and then I go back to topics and subjects I used to hyperfixate on for hours or weeks and see what has been updated or changed, which got me thinking about something that’s been rolling around my brain as of late.
We often think of the Middle Ages as being synonymous with mass ignorance of the general population, with knowledge, and rather, access to it; being reserved for the nobility or wealthy aristocrats. Hence why many people associate the beginning of the “Dark Ages” with the Protestant revolution, and in tandem, the murder of Hypatia of Alexandria and the burning of the Library of Alexandria to the ground. We associate this time period as a time of mass superstition, as in truth it kind of was.
Here’s a morbid fun fact: during this time period people used to believe in fairies, or the Fae, depending on which region you found yourself in; primarily to explain the existence of neurodivergence in children, specifically autism. Many records depict parents boiling their children alive or abandoning them in the woods on suspicion of being a changeling or mythical creature that “took” or “replaced” their presumably “normal child” with something that “knows more than they should” or behaves in any number of different ways a “normal child” should not. This superstition is of course, nonsense, and yet the stigma, or even subconscious thought; of neurodivergence being something that “replaced” a parent’s child is still a common theme that can be seen in the modern day. This fact alone in disability rights history is its own rabbit hole, but what fascinated me and gave me hope for myself as a trans human being with AuDHD were those very kids who were abandoned in the woods or stayed under the radar. The kids who survived, like myself in a lot of ways, who grew up and lived to adulthood. The ones that lived their lives. The ones who went back to the ruins of Alexandria and dug up those very artifacts that held thousands of years’ worth of valuable knowledge of engineering, mathematics, astronomy, history, apothecary documentation; it was all there! Just waiting to be rediscovered and repurposed!
When I see the rates of falling literacy, the culture wars of superstition, and an army of modern day Van Helsings targeting those they refer to as monsters to maintain control against their greatest enemy; the progression of time and the spread of knowledge; it scares me because I know there were other people like me that lived a few centuries earlier that understood something very important about the role academics play in society.
Hypatia of Alexandria was a polymath and a brilliant scholar, as was Aristotle; Sappho for her poetry; Avicenna of the Islamic Golden Age with his contribution to the foundation of modern hospitals; among others like Al-Khwarizmi, who invented algebra; Alhazen with his study of astronomy and the properties of light; and many, many others who would be persecuted for speaking out against the obvious injustice and targeted in a pointless war of aggression historians refer to as the Crusades. They all understood that learning about the world is a lifelong labor of love, not just for oneself, but for the human experience as a whole, and it was their writings and their records and legacy that brought about the hope for a better world than what we know today.
Just yesterday, I saw someone a few years younger than me on a podcast claim the pyramids of Giza must have been constructed by aliens because ancient peoples did not have access to modern construction equipment. Their claim seemed obviously ill-informed, but I wasn’t sure what the correct answer to the question they presented was. So I looked it up and was reminded about a concept I learned in the 3rd grade called simple machines.
Pulleys
Wheels
Axles
Wedges
Levers
At first glance, it looked like the pyramids were made by magical beings until I saw a textbook illustrated picture of a person carrying two buckets of water on their back with a pole balancing both buckets on either end. So I copied the movement with the shopping bags from the grocery store and walked up the 2 flights of stairs to my apartment in no time at all.
It was incredibly effective and it was more of a workout than any deadlift I could do in a gym.
Conspiracy theory girl was right: the ancient world was running on some sorcery!
Physics and simple machines. Who knew?!
But regardless, I think we are in a very interesting time because when the empire is on its last legs, we need the changelings and wizards and witches to rekindle the knowledge that was lost to save us once again, and perhaps this time we can ensure our descendants won’t have to live in a world where a dark age would ever be suffered through again. That’s the world I wanna build even if I won’t live long enough to its completion.
“They won’t be peasants anymore if you teach them. They won’t live such short, scared lives if they have real medicine. They won’t be superstitious if they learn how the world really works.”
“It’s not magic. It’s nothing but things we used to know that we forgot or lost over the years. No foot skin required.”
Lisa Tepes: Netflix’s Castlevania
Brilliant show; would recommend, though a bit of caution to those who are a bit sensitive to gore…
Converse and engage with more of my ideas and projects!