The Hobbit, The Inklings And The New Middle Ages.

The medievalism of the Inklings was the tail end of a long tradition dating back to the Romantic movement of the early 19th century taking in along the way the novels of Sir Walter Scott and his various imitators,the philosophy of historian Thomas Carlyle,the Gothic architecture of Pugin who designed the Houses Of Parliament ,the paintings of the Pre- Raphaelites ,Tennyson's Idylls of The King ,the operas of Richard Wagner and the socialism of William Morris.The term Middle Ages was coined in the 17th  century to describe the period of western history between the ancient world of Greece and Rome and the modern world which is dated from the 16th century or thereabouts.The intellectuals of the modern period have always felt uncomfortable about the Middle Ages preferring to think of themselves  as being the heirs of Greece and Rome.Of course in a roundabout way this is true but the legacy was passed on through the civilization of the medieval period.The late medieval period of the 15th century saw the rise of strong national states in Spain England and France ,capitalism and technological developments such as gunpowder ,the printing press, the magnetic compass and the ocean going sailing ship.All Chinese inventions admittedly but developed by Europeans to a more advanced level than their originator.So in effect the late medieval period was more innovative and intellectually curious than the Classical period which was fairly stagnant culturally in comparison. The modern world still continues to misunderstand the Middle Ages in many respects.Frequently in modern film adaptions it is portrayed as a drab dun coloured world whereas the medievals in fact loved bright colours and used plant and mineral dyes and paints to achieve them.Likewise medieval armies eschewed the idea of camouflage and burnished their armour so that the sun would flash on it announcing their arrival from a distance. along with the noise from their drums and trumpets .Their love of spicy food had even more momentous consequences as it was the spice trade that inspired explorers such as Columbus in their search for a sea route to the Indies.