ABOUT
Thinking about the Future of Work, reflected by the distant past.
WHY DOES THIS EXIST?
Manage Like A Medieval is created for modern managers who enjoy seeing how what they do today reflects what happened in the past.
When working in a modern corporation stresses you out, it can be helpful to know that this has all happened before. Crazy boss? Demanding clients? Chaotic organization? Yeah, it’s all been done. Some things never change. You can learn a lot about today by looking back to yesterday. More importantly, you can prepare for tomorrow. History doesn’t always repeat, but it often rhymes.
WHY WOULD ANYONE VISIT THIS SITE?
This is meant to be fun.
If you’re 1) interested in history and 2) want to think more about modern work but 3) find most business books a bit dry and 4) have a relatively low bar for humor, then come along and enjoy the ride. It’s free. There is no “premium tier” or monthly fee. If you’re looking for all the answers, you probably won’t find them here. But if you’re looking for a new way to think about the questions for why work works how it works, then you might be in the right place.
HOW OFTEN IS THERE NEW STUFF?
The intention is to post 2-3 new chapters each week throughout 2024.
Each chapter will center on the people, events, and ideas of the medieval world, and how what happened in the castle back then is reflected by what happens in the boardroom today. No prior knowledge of history is required, but vaguely remembering something you learned in school or saw in a movie is encouraged.
WHAT IF I’M OVERLY SENSITIVE?
Trigger warning: they don’t call it the Dark Ages for nothin’.
The powerful constantly oppress the weak. So many groups are disenfranchised. It might shock you to learn that men and women did not have equal status. Religion is core to identity, and anyone who thought differently from you was an outsider deserving of mistrust. But don’t worry. Everything is PG-rated and safe for work. There’s a lot of violence, but if you can imagine it like a Saturday morning cartoon from the 1980s, then you’ll be fine.
THERE SURE IS A LOT OF RELIGIOUS STUFF HERE.
Religion was of central importance in the Middle Ages.
It was core to everyone’s identity. Some historians call it the Age of Faith, contrasted with the later Age of Reason. In many ways, the era is the story of the development and spread of the major monotheistic faiths that still guide the lives of billions of people today. While many saints and sinners and sufis will feature, there is no intention to persuade you to believe anything other than these people did these things a long time ago. No offense is intended at any religious tradition. The individual human beings, well, they might not always act in the way their spiritual paths would suggest.
WHAT IF I HAVE A SPECIFIC POLITICAL AGENDA I WANT TO ADVANCE?
The medieval period is so cool and so much fun to study.
Sadly, a bunch of nationalists and even a few racists always try to hijack it to fit their preferred narrative. The facts don’t support these views, but people want to yell at each other. This site is not about yelling. If you want that, join an “ancient maps” group on a social media site and you’ll get an earful from Country A saying that Country B stole all their land while Country B says that Country A doesn’t even exist. Sheesh. Again, this is meant to be fun. If you want to fight to no effect, please go away.
YOU GOT YOUR FACTS WRONG.
While the goal here is accuracy, so much has to be simplified and nuances may be lost. The aim is the accuracy of the movie version, maybe even the made-for-TV-movie version.
Entire books have been written on characters who get the 500-word treatment here. "History is a set of lies agreed upon." -Napoleon. He may or may not have ever actually said that. Who knows. Historians disagree on just about everything, so here the goal is to present the best story history has to offer. When the controversy is worth your consideration, multiple sides will be presented. When the objection can best be summed up as "Well, actually…” or “Nyah nyah nyah," then it might be ignored. Cite this website in your term paper at your own risk. But it’s probably better than Generative AI at this point.
THIS SOUNDS AWESOME AND I DON’T WANT TO MISS A POST.
Aww shucks. Thank you.
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