Nelson: An Interview on the Middle Ages

A scene from a medieval university.
Image located by Nelson at letralia.com.

A few weeks ago we sat down with Nelson, a junior new to Edge (and Kildonan!) this year.  In his short time with us he has not only displayed a kind heart and an outrageous sense of humor but also proven a veritable encyclopedia on innumerable topics.  We therefore asked him whether we might create a blog post together in the style of an interview.  His response?

"I never did a blog before.  I always made fun of my sister for it."

Onward and upward! Ms. Charlap, one of our advisors, posed the questions (marked in green).  Nelson, in turn, responded (answers marked in purple).

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1. Tell me about the Middle Ages.

Well, did you know that the medieval period is anti-science? Everything was symbolic to them.  Like an antelope has two horns, like a gazelle.  They were saying that a gazelle was a metaphor for the two gospels (the horns) and was used to nourish the land with its death.  And the mountain lion? It was meant to represent Jesus, whose only predator was the dragon (the devil).  So the people were symbolic, but they were also very practical.  They came up with things that the Romans never did (like farming techniques).  The Romans had this powerful empire, but they never figured out to how to put a wheel on a plow, how to rotate crops.  Their systems worked for them, but the Middle Ages came up with advancements.  They came up with architectural innovations (like the flying buttress). 

Like in Charlemagne's palace? He had a bath rebuilt.  They said when he was swimming in his Roman bath, he listened to works of St. Augustine.  Swimming around and having servants reading to him.  That's what you can do when you are the emperor! Get some random guy to read to you while you're in the bath.

2. Were there extremes in poverty?

A serf who was bound to the land.  People didn't value money as much; they valued status.  They didn't even value freedom; they valued safety.  You could be a freeman and go wherever you want.  If you couldn't provide for yourself, though, you were nothing.  You could have rights, but you could lose them for any reason..

3. How did the plague start? Was the plague pervasive in other places of the world?

They say that the plague came from Asia.  It was from the trade routes.  Yeah, the Europeans got the bad deal from that one.  It came to the point where death was very common, where people were like, "He's with Jesus now."  Life was nothing more than a journey.  It's like seeking worldly attachments.  They didn't care so much.  They cared enough to continue their lives and live.  They didn't care so much to believe "This is it."  They wanted to live and wanted to prosper, and they didn't want to do too little and so hinder themselves.  Like on pilgrimages:  the worse the road, the better it was. Hardship was something to look forward to.  You wanted to live a hard life; you didn't want an easy one.