Why Medieval Peasants Knew the Bible Better Than You Do

From Medieval Mindset

Were medieval peasants really ignorant of the Bible? Popular myth says yes, but history says otherwise. In this video, we’ll bust one of the biggest misconceptions about medieval Catholicism: the idea that ordinary villagers were cut off from Scripture. From sermons in the common tongue, to saints’ lives, to medieval mystery plays and festivals, the Bible saturated daily life in ways modern audiences can hardly imagine. Chapters: 0:00 Intro – The Myth of the Ignorant Medieval Peasant 1:04 Sermons in the Common Tongue (Ælfric of Eynsham & Jacques de Vitry) 3:45 Saints’ Lives as Living Scripture (Golden Legend, St. Margaret, Marian miracles) 5:48 Mystery Plays & Exempla – The Bible on Stage 7:20 Art, Relics & the Biblia Pauperum – Scripture in Images 8:31 Fields, Festivals & Sacred Seasons (Rogationtide, Corpus Christi) 9:21 Apocrypha, Legends & “Holy Gossip” (Infancy Gospels, Harrowing of Hell, Marian Legends) 10:39 Conclusion – Why Medieval Peasants Knew the Bible Better Than You If you want to understand medieval Christianity beyond the myths, this deep dive is for you. Subscribe for more on medieval history, Catholicism, and how the past still shapes us today. Works Cited: Ælfric of Eynsham. The Catholic Homilies: The First Series, Text. Edited by Peter Clemoes, Early English Text Society, Oxford UP, 1997. Basevorn, Robert of. The Form of Preaching. Translated by Leopold Krul O'Donnell, Catholic University of America Press, 1967. Caesarius of Heisterbach. The Dialogue on Miracles. Translated by H. von E. Scott and C. C. Swinton Bland, Routledge, 1929. Egeria. Egeria’s Travels. Translated by John Wilkinson, Aris & Phillips, 1999. Jacobus de Voragine. The Golden Legend: Readings on the Saints. Translated by William Granger Ryan, Princeton UP, 1993. Jacques de Vitry. The Exempla, or Illustrative Stories from the Sermones Vulgares. Translated by Thomas Frederick Crane, The Folk-Lore Society, 1890.