The Medieval Era: 300 BCE to 1800 CE?

[Erpingham]

Over on Medievalist.net, Peter Konieczny has penned a curious article "How Will the Middle Ages Be Studied in a Thousand Years?".  I don't intend to discuss the whole, as I find such titles struggle to imagine things a couple of decades away, let alone a thousand years.  But this little section on redefining the "Middle Ages" is interesting.  Labels like Dark Ages, Viking era, Late Medieval are only convenience terms invented by historians to help compartmentalise times and places, so why not go big and redefine a couple of thousand years?  I have long thought "Middle Ages" is only really appropriate for the European & Mediterranean cultural sphere and its application wider may be more misleading than helpful.  Perhaps a big globalised term of reference might help? Perhaps we could call them by numbers and sound like Tolkein .  Europe in the Second Age (or is it Third?).  Anyway, enjoy the reasoning in the article.  And, no, I won't be rushing to adopt it 

[Jim Webster]

I had to smile when I read "Will they focus more on the everyday lives of ordinary people rather than kings and battles? "

Given that is the current fashion in some parts, my answer would have to be 'perhaps, but only by chance' 

[Erpingham]

Yes, if asked to comment on trends I would have said we've been moving towards "ordinary" lives and away from "kings and battles" for the last half century.  Battles became very unpopular for a time in the late 20th century as a move towards the more social aspects of military history and the very topic was shunned by the mainstream.  Although it has swung back, there is a lot more diversity of angles being studied generally than "kings and battles" these days. Konieczny knows this (he's an experienced historian and writer) so I suspect he was just stirring the pot. 

[Nick Harbud]

If one expects the worst prognostications for climate change, then the answer is "Not at all!".

Failing that, it might well be described as 红色野蛮时代

[Jim Webster]

If one expects the worst prognostications for climate change, then the answer is "Not at all!".

Failing that, it might well be described as 红色野蛮时代

عصر البربرية الحمراء seems appropriate, everything considered