Speaking of medieval Europe, what is your first impression? I think many people will think of three things for the first time, castle, princess and knight. They are the protagonists in many European medieval stories, with the castle as the location of the story and the princess and knight as the protagonists. In the castle, the love and hate between the princess and the knight are staged again and again. These stories make many people have an impression of the three, the castle is magnificent, the princess is beautiful and the knight is handsome. (Medieval Castle) But that's just a misunderstanding of European medieval knights by modern people after various artistic treatments. Many times, beauty only exists in stories. History is a knight in medieval Europe, and it is not as beautiful as a story. Today, let's discuss our misunderstanding of medieval knights in Europe! He is not tall and handsome. In film and television works or books and literature, the image of a knight is tall and powerful. And now the figures of European countries and Americans are significantly higher than those of China or Asians. This also reminds us that Europeans have always been taller than Asians in history. (Imaginary knights and princesses) But in fact, in the14th century, the height of European knights was only a little more than 1.6 meters. Don't scoff at this answer. In fact, the height of Europeans increased significantly after 1900- 1940. Prior to this, the average height of Europeans did not exceed 1.7 meters. In fact, there is a reason for this. European countries originated from Germans. After the division of the Frankish kingdom, Europe was often at war because of the dispute between imperial power and theocracy. The lords under the king also took the opportunity to expand the army. Big noble is naturally happy that soldiers are willing to fight, but the important task of supporting the army can only be imposed on ordinary people. Therefore, at that time, the quality of life of Europeans was generally low, and their height naturally could not go up. (European medieval knights) But you might say that most knights belong to the aristocratic class, and their quality of life is definitely higher than that of ordinary civilians. But in fact, nobility is not equal to knight. Maybe the knight will be a noble, but many times the knight is just a tool in the hands of the noble. They may live better than ordinary people, but they are not much better. And this height is universal, not unique to a privileged class. At that time, the Black Death prevailed in Europe, leading to mass extinction, so Europe represented poverty and hell at that time. Later, I will also give an average table of the heights of European countries since 1800, from which we can clearly see the height changes of Europeans. All Germany, all North Germany, North Germany, West Germany, Bavaria, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, all Italy, North and South Portugal, Spain, S Weden, Sweden, Switzerland, herlands, Netherlands and Norway (as can be seen from the above, the height of Europe before 1900 does not exceed 1.7 meters! As for the handsome appearance of the knights in the story ... medieval European civilians only took three baths in their lives, and knights were even better, taking three baths a year! Think about it. Even if Leonardo only takes three baths a year, his hair is unkempt, and his face is covered with pockmarks and pockmarks because of hygiene problems, do you think he can still be handsome? Medieval knights needed green arrows. In almost all medieval movies, knights kiss their goddesses after rescuing princesses or completing epic tasks. But if this happened in the Middle Ages, kissing a knight was almost unbearable. Because the taste in the knight's mouth is not very good, of course, this is not just a problem of medieval knights in Europe, but a common problem in medieval Europe. Both Europe and China attached great importance to the protection of teeth in ancient times. Unfortunately, there was no such thing as toothpaste in ancient medieval times. So what do knights use to protect their teeth? The answer is eating garlic! Garlic can effectively resist oxidation. People in medieval Europe believed that eating garlic could not only inhibit vampires, but also effectively protect gums. So knights use armor to protect their bodies and garlic to protect their teeth. Then the problem is coming. Although the knights' teeth are protected, you can imagine how domineering they are after eating garlic. Even if some knights don't eat garlic, his breath is definitely not as good as there. At that time, he kissed a beautiful woman, and the other person tasted not only garlic, but also various flavors mixed together, which made people feel numb. Even if the knight is handsome, the tone can make people stay at a respectful distance from sb. Even so, tooth loss was common among European knights in the Middle Ages. (Helmet area, become handsome immediately! In fact, neither of the above points can destroy the image of a knight. After all, no matter how ugly he is, as long as he wears a helmet and a mask, he is a' tin can' full of cold air conditioning. Even if the tone is heavy, he is a hero as long as he can beat him on the battlefield. But the following points really ruined people's three views and completely destroyed people's heroic image of medieval European knights. "Convenient" knights always wear heavy armor, which makes people feel safe at first sight. But in the late Middle Ages in Europe, even with the help of hydraulic hammer, craftsmen were able to make light plate armour. But one set is the total weight of plate armor, which is also about 25~35KG. (Gothic plate armor) Although the full-body plate armor has strong protective ability, it is also quite complicated to wear. Knights can't wear their own armor. Even with the help of a servant, it takes at least 30 to 60 minutes to wear a full set of armor. It is not easy to wear armor, which also raises a problem. How do people in armor solve personal problems? You know, in the early Middle Ages, because they all wore scales and chain mail, they could not achieve all protection. At that time, the armor belonged to the breastplate, or was composed of breastplate, wristband and other parts. So the knights at that time didn't have to worry about this embarrassing problem at all. However, this problem is really in front of knights in plate armor in the late Middle Ages. In order to solve this embarrassing problem, knights can only make a difference in armor, so some strange plate armor appeared. For example, make special customization in important parts so that the knight can let it out when he wants to pee. Although it is a pity, such armor does exist, and it is commonly used by medieval knights. ) Knights are neither elegant nor elegant. In many stories, knights take protecting ladies or princesses as their creed. But in fact, in medieval Europe, women's status was not high. Knight's treatment of women is not as gentle as in film and television works, let alone elegant. Knights often fight to win the heart of a lady, and the winner will get the lady. Yes, I won't get a woman's heart, but I will get all women's hearts directly. As for what the lady thinks, who cares? No, nobody cares about this award. During the Crusades, knights who believed in eliminating the strong and helping the weak often fooled around with women who raped them. If you say that their actions are only aimed at foreigners, then I can tell you responsibly that during the first Crusade, when the Crusaders set out from Europe, they often looted some European villages. These looted villages are often slaughtered and women are defiled. The villagers in these looted and slaughtered villages are all Europeans, not pagans who believe in other sects. More than that, in the Anglo-French War and the Thirty Years' War, knights often bullied women. So the story is just a story, don't imagine the knight as beautiful!