It might be making you smarter. One URI professor capitalizes on the show’s popularity to help her students understand Europe in the Middle Ages.
“Dragons do not do well in captivity,” says Game of Thrones scene-stealer Tyrion Lannister, known for being witty, wise—and often drunk. When asked how he knows this, his reply—made with wine in hand—is: “That’s what I do. I drink and I know things.”
But making medieval history as vivid and memorable as the popular HBO series requires a little more than that. Professor Joëlle Rollo-Koster reasons that if her HIS 304 students can follow the shifting alliances in GOT, they can understand the dynastic intricacies of the Middle Ages. “Who’s married to whom, why alliances are created, who’s allied with whom against whom,” she says, “This is the juice of history.”
Based on George R.R. Martin’s books, GOT is credited with energizing the field of medieval studies. But the show is “the work of fantasy writers,” Rollo-Koster says. To separate fact from fiction, we asked her to rule on GOT’s historical fidelity. Here are her yeas and nays.
YEAS
Kings have power. Chief among the show’s successes—social interaction is based on conflict and linked to power. Medieval kings and their lords held the power to make laws, levy taxes, enlist armies. GOT depicts this accurately. You see “independent states still owing their allegiance to the king of the Iron Throne.”
Widows are important. In the 14th century, Isabella of France, aka the She-Wolf of France, ruled after overthrowing her husband, Edward II (who was eventually murdered). “She would be a good Cersei Lannister. Widowhood was when women had the most freedom in medieval times.”
A Jon Snow can get ahead. Primogeniture—inheritance by the oldest son—protected family land and power in the Middle Ages. But illegitimate children could rise up. William the Conqueror, aka William the Bastard, who conquered England in 1066, was the Jon Snow of his day. “If the oldest son died, the bastard could do very well for himself.”
Honor matters. GOT depicts a violent world of loyalty to oath and homage to a king, who can confiscate the land of nobles who defy him—all very medieval.
NAYS
Clergy aren’t prominent. GOT includes religious leaders—the septons—but they don’t play a large role. In the Middle Ages, every ruler had a council of clergymen. Clergy were everywhere.”
Tears are in short supply. “In the Middle Ages, everyone was crying. A good sermon brought tears. I think what GOT does is take a modern view. Modern people don’t want to know that knights were always crying.”
There are castles without moats. “As a true medievalist, I get upset when I see castle walls but no moats.”
The world is static. No technological or social advances, little political change—the Starks have ruled the North for thousands of years. “It is interesting that in the fantasy genre there is a kind of idolization for an unchanging world. We are a society that runs fast, but here we are admiring a fictional world stuck in immobility.”
—Tony LaRoche ’95
HIS 304 • WESTERN EUROPE IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES
PROFESSOR JOËLLE ROLLO-KOSTER
This hands-on course delves into the social, economic, political, cultural, and religious history of Europe from the 11th to the 14th century.
Students learn to ask historical questions rather than simply memorize history.
Students are encouraged to visit the medieval collections at local museums, including:
• Worcester Art Museum
• Boston Museum of Fine Arts
• Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston)
• RISD Museum (Providence)