Middle Ages

(Redirected from Medieval)

The Middle Ages were an era in human history following the Dark Ages. The Sixth Doctor believed that it was "an interesting period in its way but in increasingly small doses." (AUDIO: Leviathan) According to one account, the Middle Ages spanned from 500 AD, encompassing the Dark Ages, to the 15th century, when the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution began. (PROSE: History of Mankind according to Doctor Who ^[+]Loading...["History of Mankind according to Doctor Who (short story)"])

History[[edit] | [edit source]]

The Dark Ages[[edit] | [edit source]]

Main article: Dark Ages

12th century[[edit] | [edit source]]

In 1192, the First Doctor, Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Vicki Pallister saved the life of King Richard the Lionheart in Palestine during the Third Crusade, and defeated El Akir. (PROSE: History of Mankind according to Doctor Who ^[+]Loading...["History of Mankind according to Doctor Who (short story)"], TV: The Crusade ^[+]Loading...["The Crusade (TV story)"])

13th century[[edit] | [edit source]]

The First Doctor, Susan, Barbara, and Ian's trip to Cathay in 1289 (TV: Marco Polo) was later referred to by Ian as being in the Middle Ages. (PROSE: The Sorcerer's Apprentice)

14th century[[edit] | [edit source]]

1337 marked the beginning of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. (PROSE: History of Mankind according to Doctor Who ^[+]Loading...["History of Mankind according to Doctor Who (short story)"])

15th century[[edit] | [edit source]]

1475 marked the end of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. (PROSE: History of Mankind according to Doctor Who ^[+]Loading...["History of Mankind according to Doctor Who (short story)"])

The Renaissance[[edit] | [edit source]]

Historians considered the Renaissance period, which spanned from the 14th to the 17th century, to be the time during which the medieval era transitioned to the modern era, though the Twelfth Doctor noted that this view depended on what one meant by "modern". (PROSE: A History of Humankind ^[+]Loading...["A History of Humankind (novel)"]) Steven Taylor believed that Leonardo da Vinci lived in the Middle Ages. (TV: The Time Meddler)

Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]

Stangmoor Prison was a fortress in the Middle Ages. (TV: The Mind of Evil)

Broton, while disguised as the Duke of Forgill, claimed that there had been reported sightings of the Loch Ness Monster since the Middle Ages. (TV: Terror of the Zygons)

Leeds Castle was built in the Middle Ages. (PROSE: Legacy of the Daleks)

Compared to the 21st century, Britain was on average three degrees colder in the Middle Ages. (TV: The Last Oak Tree)

Upon seeing a Sontaran teleport pod in the Rattigan Academy in 2009, the Tenth Doctor told Luke Rattigan that "it might be Earth technology, but that's like finding a mobile phone in the Middle Ages," pointing out that the presence of such futuristic technology was an anachronism. (TV: The Sontaran Stratagem)

Also in 2009, Elijah Spellman told Sarah Jane Smith that mankind had always needed someone to make them laugh, slave or king. In Great Britain they had fools like the harlequin and, in the Middle Ages the jester. (PROSE: Day of the Clown)

The Tarans were neo-medieval human colonists who lived on the planet Tara. (PROSE: History of Mankind according to Doctor Who ^[+]Loading...["History of Mankind according to Doctor Who (short story)"], TV: The Androids of Tara ^[+]Loading...["The Androids of Tara (TV story)"])

Undated events[[edit] | [edit source]]

Sometime in this era, the Fifth Doctor and Vislor Turlough visited the village of Vadhoc and witnessed the storytelling of Grayling Frimlish. (AUDIO: The Last Fairy Tale)

At some point during the Middle Ages, the planet Strepto vanished. (PROSE: Something in the Water)

Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]

The non-narrative source Doctor Who: The Time Traveller's Almanac states that the Daleks had stolen Strepto, making it one of the twenty-seven planets they needed to activate the reality bomb. This is contradicted by The Stolen Earth, which counts twenty-four planets being taken from 2009 and the other three from other eras named by the Tenth Doctor and Donna as the Lost Moon of Poosh, Pyrovillia and Adipose 3.