Myths, shortcuts and labels

Some familiar lines about the Middle Ages are fair. Some compress a disagreement into a single tidy sentence. Try these, then read why.

Medieval Britain, on this site, runs from 1066 to 1540, because that is Historic England’s listing date.

King John signed Magna Carta at Runnymede on 15 June 1215.

The Black Death reached Melcombe Regis, now Weymouth, in 1348.

The Black Death killed exactly one third of everyone in England in 1348–9.

Domesday Book is a census of everyone living in England in 1086.

Harold was definitely killed by an arrow in the eye at Hastings.

The Wars of the Roses were named at the time from the red and white roses the armies carried.

The Peasants’ Revolt failed as a social revolution, and the promises at Mile End and Smithfield were quickly forgotten.