Ye Olde Celebrities

Spanning roughly a thousand years from 500 to 1500 CE, the so-called 'Dark Ages' were anything but. Rather than a time of endless suffering and squalor, where everyone wore rags and farmed dirt like in Monty Python, the Middle Ages were actually a vibrant period of art, exploration, and illumination. Here are 20 names you should know—how many do you recognize?

Viktor Vasnetsov on Wikimedia

1. Charlemagne

Charlemagne—also known as Charles the Great—is considered one of the fathers of Europe. Not only did he unite most of Western and Central Europe under the Holy Roman Empire, but he brought on the Carolingian Renaissance half a millennium before the Renaissance we all know and love. Charlemagne implemented a new monetary system, promoted education, and patronized the arts.

Albrecht Dürer on Wikimedia

2. Joan Of Arc

Saint, heretic, farmgirl, soldier. All of these words describe the short and brilliant life of Joan of Arc. Barely into her teens, Joan heard the voices of saints and angels telling her to lead the French army in battle and end the Hundred Years War. While Joan's actions contributed to the end of the war, she was executed as a heretic.

Meidosensei on Wikimedia

3. Vlad The Impaler

When a person's epithet is "The Impaler", you know you're in for a wild ride. The inspiration for Dracula lived at the tail end of the Middle Ages in Transylvania where he ruled with an iron fist. He got his nickname after impaling hundreds of his enemies, enough to resemble a forest of corpses.

Banekondic1996 on Wikimedia

4. Christine De Pizan

One of the first women to support her family by writing, Christine de Pizan used her courtly education to write novels, biographies, poetry, and even advice books for Medieval life. Christine's best-known work The Book of the City of Ladies advocates for female education, and cemented her status as one of the earliest feminists.

photography The British Library Board, Harley 4431, f.259v on Wikimedia

5. Genghis Khan

One of the greatest military leaders to have ever lived, Genghis Khan birthed an empire that stretched from Seoul to Kiev. Leading the Golden Horde, Genghis Khan not only created one of the first postal systems, but he also promoted religious tolerance and ethnic diversity throughout the empire. He also wiped out 11% of the world's population, something he balanced out by being the however-many-greats-grandad of 8% of the population of his former empire.

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6. Eleanor Of Aquitaine

We could easily write a whole article about Eleanor of Aquitaine and her incredibly messy family. Eleanor of Aquitaine was of the wealthiest and most powerful woman in Medieval Europe, giving birth to Richard the Lionheart and King John (of Magna Carta fame) and outliving them both. Her intelligence, political acumen, and sharp wit live on more than a century after her.

Frederick Sandys on Wikimedia

7. Richard The Lionheart

The favorite and most famous of Eleanor's children, Richard the Lionheart was a hero to his people, but is less well-regarded by modern historians. Richard was happiest when he was on a military campaign, yet is remembered for failing to capture Jerusalem during the 3rd Crusade. In short, he was an excellent soldier but a lackluster ruler.

Albert Kretschmer on Wikimedia

8. Hildegard Von Bingen

One of only four women to be named Doctor of the Church, Hildegard von Bingen was a nun, natural historian, linguist and composer. Known as "Sibyl of the Rhine", Hildegard began experiencing visions as a toddler, which she eventually published. Hildegard was also a skilled composer, and we have more surviving works by her—many of which are still sung today—than any other Medieval composer.

Fæ on Wikimedia

9. Marco Polo

In addition to giving us the swimming game (though we're unsure how that connection came to be), Marco Polo spent 24 years traveling the Silk Road that connected East and West. Along the way, Polo "discovered" tea and ginger, met with Genghis Khan's grandson, and introduced Europe to Chinese cultures. His travels were truly astonishing, going overland from Venice through most of continental Asia.

Salviati on Wikimedia

10. Empress Matilda

Depending on who you ask, Empress Matilda was the first woman to rule a united England, though her tumultous maybe-reign coincided with a period of Civil War called the anarchy. After her younger brother, the legitimate heir to the throne drowned, England was plunged into a succession crisis. While Matilda's cousin Stephen was crowned king, Matilda fought for her stronger claim, and eventually won when her son became king.

PurpleHz on Wikimedia

11. Leif Erikson

500 years before Columbus "found" America, Leif Erikson became the first European to step foot on American soil. Having Christianized Greenland, Erikson set his sights further west, sailing into the great unknown to establish the Vinland settlement. Modern archaeology suggests that Vinland was the northernmost tip of Newfoundland, Canada.

RickyBennison on Wikimedia

12. Julian Of Norwich

Julian of Norwich spent most of her life—marked by plague, famine, and revolt—in a small cell in quiet contemplation. Around age 30, Julian took so sill she feared death, but survived and was rewarded by a series of divine visions. Julian's visions, compiled in two versions of Revelations of Divine Love are influential on theology and literature as a whole, being the earliest surviving works by an Englishwoman.

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13. Muhammad

Viewed as the final prophet of God in Islam, Muhammad's began receiving divine visions at the age of 40. He compiled these revelations into the Quran, which set the foundations for what would become one of the world's biggest religions. Within a few years, Muhammad's followers grew from a few to over 10,000, and by the time most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted.

Possibly Sultan Muhammad on Wikimedia

14. Tamar Of Georgia

Called King of Kings, Tamar was the first and only woman to rule Georgia (the country, not the state) as a king rather than a queen. Rather than let a male relative rule in her place, Tamar was king in her own right, accompanying her armies to the battlefield. Under Tamar's reign, Georgia was at its strongest in terms of both power and size. 

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15. Ivan The Terrible

Ivan the Terrible was the first Tsar of Russia and, coincidentally, one of the worst. A warmonger with a ferocious temper, Ivan treated his family about as well as he treated his enemies. Ivan's paranoia led to the creation of Russia's first secret police, the sack of Novgorod, and 25 years of unsuccessful war against Poland and Lithuania.

Viktor Vasnetsov on Wikimedia

16. Margery Kempe

Did you know that the first English-language autiobiograhy was written by a woman? Margery Kempe was a memoirist and mystic, but not a saint, no matter how badly she wanted to be one. After bearing more than a dozen children, Margery forsook her family in favor of displaying her devotion to Christ through frequent and incessant public weeping during her pilgrimages.

Nheyob on Wikimedia

17. Mehmed The Conqueror

Mehmed II succeeded where many had failed, successfully turning Constantinople into Istanbul. Mehmed's 1453 seige of the city is a masterclass in land-and-naval warfare. Not only did Mehmed manage to breech walls that stood for over a millennium, he circumvented the deadly "throat cutter", a habor chain meant to slice oncoming ships.

Konstantin Kapıdağlı on Wikimedia

18. Fredegund

Known (perhaps unfairly) as one of the most bloodthirsty women to have ever lived, Fredegund rose from a lowly servant to queen of the Franks. While rumors were definitely exaggerated, Fredegund was responsible—either directly or indirectly for three royal deaths, but she held on to her power in an extremely tumultous time. 

Emmanuel Herman Joseph Wallet on Wikimedia

19. Saladdin

Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, better known as Saladin was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria, along with being Richard the Lionheart's mortal enemy. Saladin united the Muslim world against the Crusades, successfully repelling back the Third Crusade. Saladin was also known for his chivalry; Europeans regarded him as a model of kingship.

Cristofano dell'Altissimo on Wikimedia

20. Olga Of Kiev

If you ever need proof that "good" doesn't necessarily mean "soft", look no further than Olga of Kiev, the princess-turned-saint who took fowl play literally. A princess of the Kievan Rus' (modern Russia, Ukraine & Belarus), Olga became regant after her husband's brutal death. Olga got her revenge by releasing thousands of pigeons, each with sulfur tied to its foot, upon her enemies, burning their city to the ground.

Mikhail Nesterov on Wikimedia