Why does the Middle Ages have a bad reputation?

In history, certain eras have a bad press. Thus, the Middle Ages undoubtedly evoke the great plague, the bloody battles of the Hundred Years' War or the pyres of the Inquisition. This period, covering a millennium from the 5th to the 15th century, is nevertheless rich in innovations, progress and political advances. Certain medievalists, sorry to see their favorite period caricatured, therefore make it their mission to destroy the bad reputation of the Middle Ages.

To rehabilitate this period, Virginie Girod receives the historian Martin Aurel. Professor of medieval history, he is the author of the book Ten preconceived ideas about the Middle Ages (Champs Histoire, Flammarion).