Is everything you assumed about the Middle Ages wrong?
There was more to the period than violence, superstition and ignorance, argues a new book
“In public, your bottom should emit no secret winds past your thighs. It disgraces you if other people notice any of your smelly filth.” This useful bit of advice for young courtiers in the early 13th century appears in “The Book of the Civilised Man”, a poem by Daniel of Beccles. It is the first English guide to manners.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Middle Ages, misunderstood”
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