KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 11, 2019 \u2013 \u201cYou will never find a medieval historian who has not read fantasy,\u201d says medieval historian Jo\u00eblle Rollo-Koster.<\/p>\n
The 溏心vlog免费B站 history professor shares that interest.<\/p>\n
In her narrow third-floor office in Washburn Hall, a \u201cStar Wars\u201d X-wing fighter and a Darth Vader figure decorate overflowing bookshelves. \u201cI love \u2018Star Wars,\u2019\u201d says Rollo-Koster, of South Kingstown<\/strong>. \u201c\u2018Star Wars\u2019 is mythology. I used to teach King Arthur, the Knights of the Round Table, using Luke Skywalker.\u201d<\/p>\n And of course, she\u2019s a fan of HBO\u2019s \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d \u2013 the mammoth medieval fantasy, which returns April 14 for its final season.<\/p>\n In its eighth season, \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d is a favorite of millions, especially among medieval studies scholars, its global reach credited with energizing the field, inspiring scholarship, courses, and enrollment.<\/p>\n Like \u201cStar Wars,\u201d Rollo-Koster has used \u201cGOT\u201d in class to explain aristocratic feuds of 12th<\/sup> and 13th<\/sup> century France and England, including this semester in Western Europe in the High Middle Ages. Simply, she wonders if students\u2019 ability to follow the labyrinth of shifting alliances in \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d can be transferred to following the dynastic intricacies of medieval Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2019s married to whom, why they are married, why alliances are created, who\u2019s allied with whom against whom,\u201d she says, \u201cthis is the juice of history.\u201d<\/p>\n But beware. Despite author George R.R. Martin\u2019s liberal use of the Middle Ages as a touchstone, \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d is not a mirror image \u2013 there are dragons after all. It\u2019s a work of medievalism, depictions of the medieval world influenced by the time in which it is created. \u201cIt\u2019s not the work of historians but of fantasy writers,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n To help students separate fact from fiction, Rollo-Koster offers examples of the show\u2019s historical hits and misses:<\/p>\n Hits<\/strong><\/p>\n Power of property.<\/strong> Chief among the show\u2019s successes is the dynamic that all social interaction is based on conflict and linked to power, she says. Along with that, a medieval king was dependent on lords who held the power of the state \u2013 the power to make laws, levy taxes, enlist an army \u2013 over their lands.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat \u2018Game of Thrones\u2019 does is show you all of those entities,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have that idea of a bunch of independent states still owing their allegiance to the king of the Iron Throne.\u201d<\/p>\n Power of widows. <\/strong>Widows of nobility were very important in the Middle Ages, such as Blanche of Castile, the widow of King Louis VIII of France in the early 13th<\/sup> century, who was a regent during the reign of her son Louis IX; and Isabella of France, a.k.a. the She-Wolf of France, who ruled after overthrowing her husband, Edward II (who was eventually murdered), and while her son Edward was coming of age.<\/p>\n \u201cShe would be a good Cersei Lannister,\u201d says Rollo-Koster. \u201cWidowhood was the best moment for women in medieval times. This is when women had the most freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n Power of the heir.<\/strong> Primogeniture, inheritance by the oldest son, was created in the Middle Ages. With property being a chief source of power, primogeniture prevented the family land from being disseminated.<\/p>\n But also …<\/strong> In \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d as in the Middle Ages, illegitimate children could also rise up. A good example, she says, is William the Conqueror \u2013 the Jon Snow of his day \u2013 who conquered England in 1066 and was known as William the Bastard. William\u2019s father, Robert of Normandy, kept him at court. Henry I of England did the same, recognizing his numerous illegitimate children, many of whom were married off well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have tons of stories in the Middle Ages where there was primogeniture,\u201d she says, \u201cbut if the oldest son died, the bastard could do very well for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n Power of honor.<\/strong> The show presents a world of loyalty to oath and homage to a king, who can confiscate the land of nobles who go against him \u2013 all very medieval.<\/p>\n Also, while \u201cGOT\u201d portrays a violent world, much of the violence is codified \u2013 think the capture of Jaime Lannister. \u201cIn the Middle Ages, you don\u2019t kill a knight who surrenders because you\u2019re going to make money ransoming him,\u201d says Rollo-Koster. \u201cThere is a code of chivalry and when you are knighted you are supposed to follow that code.\u201d<\/p>\n Misses<\/strong><\/p>\n Where is the clergy?<\/strong> While the show includes religious leaders (the septons) and a weird religious sect (the Sparrows), neither play a large role in the society of the Seven Kingdoms. In the Middle Ages, the clergy structured society, says Rollo-Koster. \u201cIt does not mean that people believed it, but every ruler had a council of clergymen. Clergy were everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Where are the tears?<\/strong> In the Middle Ages, everyone was crying. A good sermon brought tears; that\u2019s how a minister knew it was good, she says. \u201cIt\u2019s the tears of compunction. In Christianity, tears are good, tears are cleansing,\u201d she says. \u201cI think what \u2018Game of Thrones\u2019 did is take a modern view. Modern people would hate to know that knights were always crying.\u201d<\/p>\n Where at the moats?<\/strong> As a true medievalist, she says, you get upset when you see castle walls but no moat.<\/p>\n Where in the world \u2026? <\/strong>While the map of fictional Westeros and the world around it closely resembles maps of the Middle Ages, Westeros has defined frontiers. \u201cYou can only have designed frontiers if you have nation states,\u201d she says. \u201cYou don\u2019t have nation states in the Middle Ages.\u201d<\/p>\n Where\u2019s the change?<\/strong> The Seven Kingdoms seemingly are unchanging for millennia. No technological advances, no social advances, little political change (example: the Starks have ruled the North for thousands of years).<\/p>\n \u201cI think what is interesting is that in the world of fantasy there is a kind of idolization for a world that doesn\u2019t change,\u201d she says. \u201cWe are a society which runs very fast and here we are admiring a TV show and a book with a world stuck in immobility.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 11, 2019 \u2013 \u201cYou will never find a medieval historian who has not read fantasy,\u201d says medieval historian Jo\u00eblle Rollo-Koster. The 溏心vlog免费B站 history professor shares that interest. In her narrow third-floor office in Washburn Hall, a \u201cStar Wars\u201d X-wing fighter and a Darth Vader figure decorate overflowing bookshelves. 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