9 Medieval History Facts That Break the Usual Myths (Sourced)

The best medieval history facts are the ones that undo what people think they know about the Middle Ages. Medieval scholars knew the Earth was round. Magna Carta lasted about ten weeks before the pope cancelled it. The Bayeux Tapestry is not a tapestry. Below are nine facts from the medieval period, each with the source we checked, plus a short note on how each one could work as a video.

If you want weird stories from any era, we have 10 weird history facts (the dancing plague of 1518 and the corpse trial of Pope Formosus are there, so we left them out here). For famous turning points, see interesting history facts.

9 medieval history facts, with sources

1. Medieval scholars knew the Earth was round

The idea that people in the Middle Ages thought the world was flat is a later myth. The Public Medievalist points to the monk Bede (c. 673 to 735), who described the Earth as an orb that "resembles more a ball" and used its shape to explain why day length changes with the seasons. Roger Bacon in the 13th century also wrote that the Earth was a sphere. The same article traces the flat-earth story to 19th-century writers, especially Washington Irving's 1828 biography of Christopher Columbus, which mixed fact and fiction to make Columbus a hero fighting ignorance.

Video angle: a myth-busting video. Start with the classroom version of Columbus, then show where the story came from.

2. Magna Carta was valid for about ten weeks

King John's barons forced him to agree to Magna Carta in June 1215. John then asked Pope Innocent III to cancel it, and the pope declared it null and void. A British Library curator told NPR in 2015 that the charter was valid for only about ten weeks. It survived because it was reissued after John's death.

And it is still partly law. The 1297 version on legislation.gov.uk still lists three chapters: confirmation of liberties (the freedom of the English church), the liberties of London, and chapter 29, which says no free man shall be imprisoned except "by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the Land." That chapter is marked as applying to England and Wales.

Video angle: "the failed peace treaty that became a symbol of freedom." The irony carries the whole script.

3. A king's pilgrimage crashed the price of gold in Cairo

Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali Empire, passed through Cairo in 1324 on his way to Mecca. The historian al-Umari, whose account is translated at World History Commons, wrote that Musa's party spent and gave away so much gold that they "depressed its value in Egypt." Before the visit, a mithqal of gold traded at no less than 25 dirhams. Afterward it fell to 22 dirhams or less, and al-Umari said it had stayed low for about twelve years by the time he wrote. Some modern historians question how long the effect lasted, so present the twelve years as his claim.

Video angle: an economics story. One traveler moved a currency market, and you can show the numbers on screen.

4. Vikings were in North America in exactly 1021

Norse sailors reached Newfoundland centuries before Columbus, but the precise date was a guess until 2021. A study in Nature, covered by Science News, looked at wooden objects from L'Anse aux Meadows that had been cut with metal tools. A solar storm in 993 left a spike of radiocarbon in that year's tree ring. By counting rings outward from the spike to the bark, the researchers showed the trees were cut in 1021. That is 471 years before 1492. It doesn't tell us when Norse people first arrived, only that they were there that year.

Video angle: a science detective story. The clue that solved it came from the Sun.

5. The Black Death killed about a third of Europe

The plague reached Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the Black Sea docked at Messina, Sicily. According to History.com, it killed more than 20 million people in Europe, almost one third of the population, and had run its course by the early 1350s. It kept coming back every few generations for centuries.

Video angle: the arrival. Tell it from the docks at Messina, then follow the spread month by month on a map.

6. The Hundred Years' War lasted 116 years

Britannica dates the war between England and France from 1337 to 1453. It wasn't one continuous war. It was a series of conflicts over English lands in France and a claim to the French crown, with long truces in between. It ended with the English holding only Calais.

Video angle: a "why is it called that" video. The name itself is the hook, and the truces explain how a war lasts longer than any one person's life.

If you'd rather make videos than read about it, VidPuff turns a title into a faceless video. No waitlist, cancel anytime.

7. The Bayeux Tapestry is an embroidery

The famous record of the Norman Conquest of 1066 isn't woven, so it isn't technically a tapestry. The Bayeux Museum's 2024 press kit describes it as wool yarn embroidered on woven linen, made in the 11th century. Nine pieces of linen are sewn together for a total length of 68.58 metres, about 50 centimetres high. The museum is building a new home for it, set to open in 2027.

Video angle: read it like a comic strip. Pan along the scenes and narrate the story of 1066 as it unfolds.

8. Pigs were put on trial and hanged

In 1386, in Falaise, France, a sow was executed for killing a small child. The Leiden Medievalists Blog cites E.P. Evans's 1906 book on animal prosecutions, which says the sow was "dressed in man's clothes" before being executed in the public square. Evans listed at least 25 cases of pigs prosecuted between 1250 and 1500, mostly in France. In one 1379 case, the rest of a herd was arrested as accomplices and later pardoned.

Video angle: a courtroom video. Walk through the trial as if it were a real case, because to the people at the time it was.

9. The oldest university in the Western world dates to 1088

The University of Bologna says 1088 is "conventionally referred to" as the year its Studium was founded, and it is considered the oldest university in the Western world. Note the word "conventionally": the date is a tradition, not a founding document.

Video angle: a "how old is it really" video. Explain why the date is a convention and what a medieval university actually was.

Why medieval history facts work for YouTube

Each fact above has a one-line hook and a longer story behind it. That's what you need for a video longer than a few minutes. The Middle Ages also have a built-in advantage: most viewers carry a picture of the period (dirty, ignorant, violent), and facts that challenge that picture make people click.

History content sits in a well-paid ad category. In AIR Media-Tech's study of 300 monetized channels (May 2025 to May 2026), Education & Science had the highest median RPM at $10.22 per 1,000 views. That's a category median, not a promise. Our YouTube niche RPM data post shows how wide the range is.

A few rules if you turn these into scripts:

• Say where sources disagree. The length of Mansa Musa's gold crash and the age of the child in the Falaise case vary between accounts.
• Go narrow. "Medieval history" is a crowded topic. A series like "medieval myths that aren't true" or "strange medieval laws" is easier to own.
• Link your sources in the description. History viewers check, and they will tell you in the comments.

Making a medieval history channel

Most history channels are faceless: narration over maps, manuscripts, and illustrations. You can build these by hand in a video editor, or with VidPuff, where you type a title like "The Pig That Was Put on Trial" and it writes the script, generates narration, creates a visual for each scene, adds music and captions, and renders a long-form 16:9 video. You review each stage and can change the script, voice, images, and music. Check every claim in the script against your sources before you publish. Our guide on how to make a faceless YouTube channel covers the setup.

FAQ

What are some interesting medieval history facts?

Medieval scholars knew the Earth was round, Magna Carta was cancelled by the pope about ten weeks after it was agreed, Vikings were in North America in 1021, and courts in France put pigs on trial. Each of these is sourced above.

Did people in the Middle Ages think the Earth was flat?

No. Educated people knew it was a sphere. Bede described it as a ball in the 8th century. The flat-earth story mostly comes from 19th-century writers, including Washington Irving's 1828 book on Columbus.

When did Vikings reach North America?

Norse sailors were at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland in 1021, based on tree rings in wood they cut there. That proves they were there that year. They may have arrived earlier, and the study doesn't settle when.

Is any of Magna Carta still law today?

Yes. Three chapters of the 1297 version are still on the statute book in England and Wales: the freedom of the church, the liberties of London, and the right not to be imprisoned except by lawful judgment or the law of the land.