What mental image does the term “Middle Ages” conjure up? It is likely a mixture of castles, knights, dirt, disease and generally a primitive style of living - just as the proverbial adjective suggests. But what are the sources that have left their mark on our image of the Dark Ages and make us associate these properties? This is the question posed by KU students as part of their seminar on the Middle Ages and popular culture “Man sprach Latein, die Merheit ließ es sein: Mittelalter und Popkultur”. Instead of final presentations, they have created a publicly accessible website, on which they present podcasts and videos on different aspects of their research.
Student Mika Engemann, for instance, uses his video essay to review a selection of the countless film adaptations of the life of Robin Hood and gives us an insight into the state of historical research on the hero. He concludes: “Whether real person or fiction, Robin Hood is a highly divisive figure that has endured for a long time. Even if the movie industry’s interpretations often are not very realistic, they nevertheless allow us to translate legend to images intelligible to our contemporaries.”
![[Translate to Englisch:] Mittelalter](/fileadmin/_processed_/1/6/csm_COLOURBOX11743058_8b6c25556a.jpg)