ARGH! (A plea toReenactors and history lovers)

[NewGuise]

... I suggested they amend their web site to reflect what could be supported by the documentation.

The email I got back from them was horriffic, calling me every foul name under the sun. I had never read such vitriol!

...

But it is amazing how some people become so attached to their particular preconceived notion of history that they can willingly blind themselves to any evidence to the contrary.

As one who teaches the literature and culture of medieval Britain to students interested only in knights in shining armour or a world in which everyone is a Good Christian (that is, in perfect agreement with their own view of Christianity), I have contended with some amazing opposition in the classroom. And I obviously can't just walk away from that. The tactic I now employ there is to be really explicit in the first few minutes of the first class about what they can and cannot expect to encounter in the course, even stating that if I do not manage to offend them at some point I will not have done my job as instructor. And that if they can't prove me wrong at some point they haen't done their job as students. That pretty much ensures that nothing I say can offend, because they're prepared for it, but it also ensures some lively discussions. And fewer really stupid reenactor moments.

[sathor]

As one who teaches the literature and culture of medieval Britain to students interested only in knights in shining armour or a world in which everyone is a Good Christian ...

I think it was Sophomore English when we did King Arthur, whichever year it was...

anyways, the teacher had the class brainstorming about what we knew about King Arthur. She had an honor student writing on the big sheet of paper the various things we knew. I pipped up with "Arthur was a Bastard." (Which was really fun to say, btw.)

The poor girl turns a bit white, the room gets quiet, and the silence was broken by the teacher. "He was. Write it down." but the poor honor student still stared like a deer in the headlights. She did finally write it out, but it was some kind of weird shock to her system.