Why knights fought snails in medieval art

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  • Опубліковано 14 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 3,9 тис.

  • @sammylong3704
    @sammylong3704 5 років тому +6061

    The answer is simple, in medieval times giant snails were a real menace but thankfully the brave Knights of Europe wiped them all out for us.

    • @wackwacker8623
      @wackwacker8623 5 років тому +273

      Just like how lamps have shrunk Moths, Newton invented gravity to shrink the snails.
      The government wants us to believe no beasts can touch us, but I fear the day the moths and snails go back to their original size.

    • @tavishfinnegandegroot3513
      @tavishfinnegandegroot3513 4 роки тому +44

      ur one of the time travelling knights!!
      even tho theres no such thing as timemachine in the middld ages

    • @CaptainSeaDog_
      @CaptainSeaDog_ 3 роки тому +25

      This is my head canon now

    • @rahmat4848
      @rahmat4848 3 роки тому +21

      @@wackwacker8623 lol 🤣 good thing Newton invented gravity huh?

    • @ra_alf9467
      @ra_alf9467 3 роки тому +7

      Knight Jiub

  • @jordanguy4241
    @jordanguy4241 6 років тому +4963

    This is not a question I've ever asked, nor was I ever going to ask. yet here I am for an answer

    • @ReddishNeck
      @ReddishNeck 6 років тому +66

      Jordan Guy This is how we all feel, I think. Weird. But it's such an intriguing video title, we all just clicked on it.

    • @SaladinGucman
      @SaladinGucman 6 років тому +4

      😂

    • @StarStrike-1
      @StarStrike-1 5 років тому +7

      The answer lies in the stars. Specifically; a snail can be seen in Cassiopeia, where also can be seen the shining 'countenance divine' of William Blake's 'Jerusalem'. This countenance is that of the biblical god (c.f. 'snails! - short for 'god's nails' - being an interjection of surprise and es-car-got translating loosely as 'you're for god') and it is this the knights are confronting, with good cause. There is some myth about the snail returning to Jerusalem (can't locate it at the moment) and I think it safe to say that it is well on it's way. Happy days ahead!

    • @dionjaywoollaston1349
      @dionjaywoollaston1349 5 років тому +1

      Nick Addey I always thought that the snails represent the French, given how the french like to eat snails and it would have been a bit ridiculous to paint a giant clove of garlic, I feel a bit sorry for the knights who had to fight giant snails”my liege why doth That fellow from palastine George get to fighteth a dragon while I must slay a giant snail”speaking in RPG terms would a giant snail be more or less dangerous than a slime?

    • @Bee_v0mit
      @Bee_v0mit 5 років тому +1

      O wow I saw you on a Jack stauber video and I see you in this comment section as well. Nice profile pic btw

  • @FrizzleLamb
    @FrizzleLamb 5 років тому +2933

    This is the medieval times' equivalent to today's "this meme will be hard to explain in 100 years"

    • @johnnoahdeandres9458
      @johnnoahdeandres9458 4 роки тому +31

      True

    • @Mary_OTT
      @Mary_OTT 3 роки тому +31

      I don no If anyone cares but I made the likes 420

    • @ginterka381996
      @ginterka381996 3 роки тому +4

      Hahaha, true. XD

    • @rage_2000
      @rage_2000 2 роки тому +21

      “Here you can see an image of a common guy with a green shirt immersed in some sort of blue flame….”

    • @johnlee7164
      @johnlee7164 2 роки тому +6

      Try explaining 4 year old memes.

  • @TheSwordbird98sPage
    @TheSwordbird98sPage 6 років тому +2793

    i have a feeling it was probably over something dumb. like a well-known person freaked out over a snail once and they started mocking them through drawings of snails vs knights

    • @foxify_nz
      @foxify_nz 5 років тому +75

      Kind of like sarcasm?

    • @phanvan4076
      @phanvan4076 5 років тому +40

      But nope it was racial slur

    • @natebush8217
      @natebush8217 5 років тому +22

      Hmm..."Knights vs. Snails"...yeah, that sounds like the next big Dream Works hit! :D

    • @venture3800
      @venture3800 5 років тому +50

      and thus dank medieval memes were born

    • @bashkillszombies
      @bashkillszombies 4 роки тому +18

      Doubtful, it was some group so powerful that you couldn't ridicule them. To see who rules over you look to he who you cannot ridicule. Or count the cookies one can bake per year.

  • @r8them84
    @r8them84 5 років тому +4248

    everybody gangsta till the giant snail start fightin

    • @Ginerization
      @Ginerization 5 років тому +32

      Then nobody helps with the dishes after...

    • @mickymouse2445
      @mickymouse2445 5 років тому +12

      That giant snail that fights everybody really, really hard but also really, really slow

    • @rahmat4848
      @rahmat4848 3 роки тому +7

      Just throw salt.. problem solved 😌

    • @healthandsurvival4461
      @healthandsurvival4461 6 місяців тому +1

      You laugh but just wait....the great prophecy shall come true

    • @ErwinSiegwardHermann
      @ErwinSiegwardHermann 5 місяців тому

      everybody gangsta till it starts raining frogs and your body turns into a snail

  • @CraftxTD
    @CraftxTD 4 роки тому +568

    This technically is a meme since a meme is an “element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.”

  • @beelzeboo
    @beelzeboo 5 років тому +4117

    Its quite obvious that they were fighting giant snails hundreds of years ago

    • @GrassPossum
      @GrassPossum 5 років тому +178

      Or that people were much smaller then.

    • @anaccountmusthaveaname9110
      @anaccountmusthaveaname9110 5 років тому +241

      @@GrassPossum They wouldn't have written normal sized books then. I think we should leave behind these childish conspiracies about tiny knights and stick to the hard science of gigantic snails.

    • @kseventytwo
      @kseventytwo 5 років тому +28

      anAccountMustHaveAName its not exactly ‘hard’ science, unless we talk about the shells

    • @anaccountmusthaveaname9110
      @anaccountmusthaveaname9110 5 років тому +72

      @B. J. If giant snails aren't real, then explain how you were so slow to get a joke.

    • @nikolasmichael6377
      @nikolasmichael6377 5 років тому +14

      That’s what the History Channel would interpret from this

  • @lukmigindnuforhelved
    @lukmigindnuforhelved 5 років тому +3919

    Knights were the athletes superstars of the time. Monks were the academics.
    Maybe the nerds were mocking the jocks?

    • @bluemantis1448
      @bluemantis1448 5 років тому +224

      A time when nerds bullied jocks?

    • @lukmigindnuforhelved
      @lukmigindnuforhelved 5 років тому +266

      @@bluemantis1448 In their little margin world, yes :)

    • @maosama3695
      @maosama3695 5 років тому +61

      Nah it's probably the king hired those knights to kill any snails they could find for if anyone touches the king he'll die.

    • @deusexrockina
      @deusexrockina 5 років тому +4

      Haha! Nice

    • @venture3800
      @venture3800 5 років тому +10

      @@bluemantis1448 not so much bullying as satire? 😂

  • @Andy-gq5hb
    @Andy-gq5hb 5 років тому +6304

    The correct title would have been, "Rare medeival memes"

  • @dutchministryofdefence604
    @dutchministryofdefence604 6 років тому +1183

    its a older meme sir but it checks out

    • @-yourandyoureare2different612
      @-yourandyoureare2different612 5 років тому +15

      an*

    • @krabbza
      @krabbza 5 років тому +6

      Thank you Robert EO Speedwagon of the Speedwagon Foundation from the popular anime manga franchise Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

    • @yokokurama5174
      @yokokurama5174 3 роки тому

      @@krabbza obnoxious*

  • @seepdrer3990
    @seepdrer3990 5 років тому +747

    When you are lvl 1 player, so you have to fight some snails to get some xp.

  • @m1l22
    @m1l22 5 років тому +2791

    *_So basically this is the birth of shitposting?_*

    • @philiproe1661
      @philiproe1661 5 років тому +180

      Nah shitposting dates back to Egypt.

    • @philiproe1661
      @philiproe1661 5 років тому +139

      @Aleksa Petrovic
      Really shitposting is as old as drawing and writing themselves.

    • @Anti-HyperLink
      @Anti-HyperLink 5 років тому +7

      Can you speak like a person?

    • @guyfacks1320
      @guyfacks1320 5 років тому +27

      @Aleksa Petrovic the egyptians are as old to the romans as the romans are to us

    • @lashlarue7924
      @lashlarue7924 5 років тому +12

      @@guyfacks1320 That is freaking mindblowing, but yeah. Actually I think the Egyptians would have been even more slightly older to the Romans than the Romans are to us (today)...

  • @schmurble2254
    @schmurble2254 7 років тому +1813

    RIP dude at the end. Horrifically murdered by a mutant snail from the 1300s. Gone too soon.

    • @Cyber_Noot
      @Cyber_Noot 7 років тому +50

      KSJDbv you're right. Mutant snails are no joke.

    • @millerrepin4452
      @millerrepin4452 7 років тому +39

      How insensitive my family was killed by mutant snails

    • @TheOtherNeutrino
      @TheOtherNeutrino 7 років тому +23

      It was a decoy snail

    • @luiscarvalho6428
      @luiscarvalho6428 7 років тому +7

      TheOtherNeutrino If that's the decoy snail where's the real one...

    • @witnesstochange1801
      @witnesstochange1801 7 років тому +8

      Luis Carvalho right behind you!!!

  • @jaschabull2365
    @jaschabull2365 7 років тому +511

    1:40: Praying is no use, knight. Snails never do anything quickly!

    • @teslagirl1
      @teslagirl1 6 років тому +1

      Shellikybookies. There's a wonderful Irish children's song about snails, and that's what they were called.

  • @itsjustlukeRevive
    @itsjustlukeRevive 4 роки тому +952

    Snail: *slimes* on Knight's foot
    Knight: DEMON!!! 🗡️

  • @johnpetrov6602
    @johnpetrov6602 7 років тому +679

    Yes it is most accurate to say the snails are a meme. In my law class we ran over an ancient Roman law that required individuals to flee from battle if an avenue of retreat was available, rather than to fight an aggressor. This law was meant to prevent personal skirmishes from resulting in pointless death. Two aggrieved parties would menace each other with weapons then slowly back away to avoid combat while keeping their honor. In the margins of the book containing this law, there is a knight defending himself from a snail. Obviously, the point is that he could easily run away from the snail. That's the punch line. Like any meme, every time it appears the joke is slightly different until the original meaning is obscured. The joke might have several origins; there's no telling where it came from.

    • @OktoPutsch
      @OktoPutsch 7 років тому +41

      one of the most interesting comments here ,Sir, thank you.

    • @rib_rob_personal
      @rib_rob_personal 7 років тому +11

      That's really freakin' cool.

    • @ixian_technocrat
      @ixian_technocrat 7 років тому +6

      Do you happen to remember the title of the manuscript with the aforementioned law and the drawing?

    • @johnpetrov6602
      @johnpetrov6602 7 років тому +13

      Ixian Technocrat Ah well it would probably have been out of the Code of Justinian. That's all I remember.

    • @Barbeque_Sauce_1234
      @Barbeque_Sauce_1234 7 років тому +6

      If you removed the old law then you'd have to find every reference to it and change it appropriately, then check the references to _those_ laws to make sure they still made sense...
      New laws sort of overwrite old ones. There's that one about it being legal to shoot a Welshman with a longbow, but newer laws about bodily harm have priority.

  • @kitsandcards7968
    @kitsandcards7968 5 років тому +479

    Back then they go braggin about "I fought snails more fearsome than you!"

    • @Corvus__
      @Corvus__ 5 років тому +14

      Just like how an f-1 racer today could say "I've seen snails faster than you!"

    • @lemiov6885
      @lemiov6885 5 років тому +20

      In the next few decades, it would be mud crabs.

    • @Corvus__
      @Corvus__ 5 років тому

      @@lemiov6885 Why mud crabs?

    • @kitsandcards7968
      @kitsandcards7968 5 років тому +6

      @@Corvus__ it's an elder scrolls game reference hehe

    • @Corvus__
      @Corvus__ 5 років тому

      @@kitsandcards7968 So mud crabs, aren't a real thing?

  • @yeah8598
    @yeah8598 3 роки тому +110

    Obviously people back then were just immortal,the snail is inevitable.

    • @tancredi7106
      @tancredi7106 3 роки тому +7

      Finally someone said it 💀

    • @skellybird8697
      @skellybird8697 2 роки тому +4

      Oh this is Christmas *WAAAR IS OVER IFF YOU WANT IT and what have we done

  • @ironsoul941
    @ironsoul941 7 років тому +302

    Actually, in medieval times animals represented something. Snails possibly represented slothfulness, so fighting slothfulness and to keep copying might have been a theme many monks writings these books were familiar with.

    • @naverilllang
      @naverilllang 7 років тому +12

      You know what represents slothfulness even more than snails?
      Sloths.
      Walked right into that one, didn't you?

    • @rin_etoware_2989
      @rin_etoware_2989 7 років тому +28

      Sloths lived in America.
      Walked right into that one, didn't you?

    • @thatonehamster4130
      @thatonehamster4130 2 роки тому +14

      @@rin_etoware_2989 and America is a sea away from europe
      Swam right into that one, didn´t you?

    • @muhammaddaffaarvianda5050
      @muhammaddaffaarvianda5050 2 роки тому +10

      @@thatonehamster4130 and swimming wasn't invented yet in medieveal Europe
      Boated, idk, right into that one, didn't you?

    • @raenaprottengeier
      @raenaprottengeier 11 місяців тому +5

      they actually represented strength, because they carry their houses on their backs.

  • @ChronicleLiving
    @ChronicleLiving 7 років тому +1729

    Legends says that the French Knights are still fighting with snails in their fancy restaurants.

    • @olddoggeleventy2718
      @olddoggeleventy2718 7 років тому +54

      How dare you insult my French forefathers..."I fart in your general direction." ( Monty Python and The Holy Grail) couldn't resist the opportunity to use that line!

    • @sendai6694
      @sendai6694 6 років тому +7

      Also the snails are eaten in the region of catalonia in spain

    • @jayrussell1825
      @jayrussell1825 5 років тому +2

      Deww nut git funnee with ME, Meeseuer - - Sir Jacques Clouseau, Knights of the Ringside Tables

    • @kwest9747
      @kwest9747 6 місяців тому

      Snails are widely eaten across Europe and can be popular village food, e.g on the island of Lebos. In fact you’ll sometimes find snails in the frozen section of Lidl (not by accident) even in the UK.

  • @willhoffman6629
    @willhoffman6629 3 роки тому +135

    False. The Knights were granted immortality but in exchanged a snail hunted them down, if caught the Knights would perish. The photos depict said events.

  • @roxyshow123
    @roxyshow123 7 років тому +615

    The knights killed off the really big snails. So only the little itty bitty mollusks were left.

    • @aljoschalong625
      @aljoschalong625 6 років тому +35

      @brainchild. Nonono, the knights didn't kill off the big snails - the normal, everyday mollusks, decimated the small anti-mollusc knights to extenction. So we still have snails today, but no knights, especially tiny ones.

    • @pamungkastabah8163
      @pamungkastabah8163 6 років тому +1

      Breaking Darwin

  • @caityreads8070
    @caityreads8070 7 років тому +337

    obviously it's because there used to be giant killer snails and the brave heroes killed them all which is why there isn't any anymore

    • @theAverageJoe25
      @theAverageJoe25 6 років тому +13

      Their weapon were made of salt

    • @Texelion
      @Texelion 6 років тому +7

      They probably played Bastion.

    • @TheSkepticalIdealist
      @TheSkepticalIdealist 6 років тому +8

      crusades was actually about snail wars

    • @pauljones3017
      @pauljones3017 6 років тому +3

      But there still are snails arround, what we lack is knights. Huw...

    • @robjossick7380
      @robjossick7380 6 років тому +4

      The brave men didn't kill the snails... The brave men rode them.

  • @eldaroses.g.r.7945
    @eldaroses.g.r.7945 3 роки тому +198

    So, it’s confirmed. Snail vs knight was a medieval meme. We’ve been memeing way longer than we get credit for.

    • @thecandlemaker1329
      @thecandlemaker1329 6 місяців тому +10

      Even longer than you think. Ancient romans shitposted on rocks and the walls of their public structures, leaving such important messages as "On April, 19th I baked a bread"

    • @TheCasualAbsurder
      @TheCasualAbsurder 6 місяців тому

      Absolutely. Dawkins just rehashed some classical rhetorical analysis as an evolutionary advantage. Even “meme” is just a variation and abbreviation of “enthymeme.”

    • @DeonGaming
      @DeonGaming 14 днів тому

      Even longer than you think. Ancient romans shitposted on rocks and the walls of their public structures, leaving such important messages as "On April, 19th I baked a bread"

  • @mugensamurai
    @mugensamurai 6 років тому +2306

    Maybe they really hated escargot.

    • @noneofyourbeeswax01
      @noneofyourbeeswax01 6 років тому +54

      I was expecting to find that the snail represented the French, a traditional foe of the English and notorious eaters of the cuisses de grenouilles, flesh of le cheval and more pertinently, as you have pointed out, the escargot in question... but apparently not.

    • @Changeling9au
      @Changeling9au 6 років тому +4

      Don't trifle with truffles!
      :)

    • @Hal-kc5bk
      @Hal-kc5bk 6 років тому +1

      and the french

    • @TheLiamis
      @TheLiamis 6 років тому +1

      mugensamurai or the french

    • @mywallet7367
      @mywallet7367 6 років тому

      are you in the wrong timeline?

  • @3hallaman
    @3hallaman 7 років тому +1633

    Man, this guy just ignoring the invasion of the giant alien snails.

    • @merrittanimation7721
      @merrittanimation7721 6 років тому +77

      gingersassy I know right? Those men died valiantly.

    • @tarasarma2888
      @tarasarma2888 6 років тому +57

      It's shameful. My friend's ancestors died in that war.

    • @codyg6514
      @codyg6514 6 років тому +74

      You mean the Snailens right?

    • @codyg6514
      @codyg6514 6 років тому +12

      Damnit, someone in the comments above already used my joke..

    • @AT-gk1tw
      @AT-gk1tw 6 років тому +3

      Cody Green is a genius.

  • @gunfiend5175
    @gunfiend5175 3 роки тому +62

    The snail has finally caught up with them...it's their final day, and they are going down by their own terms!

  • @aabcc
    @aabcc 6 років тому +748

    "Yo dude look at this snail i just drew"
    "Hey thats a good one!! Imma draw one too."
    Medieval meme stealing

    • @cerridianempire1653
      @cerridianempire1653 4 роки тому +15

      yup it's terriffying to think that our humor will just go full circle and revert back to banana slipping gags

  • @darrenlynch2619
    @darrenlynch2619 5 років тому +269

    The snails were very clearly just a meme for the medival arts

  • @justas423
    @justas423 5 років тому +235

    My theory is that it's a representation of them fighting boredom.

    • @bashkillszombies
      @bashkillszombies 4 роки тому +1

      You'd be wrong.

    • @reieben886
      @reieben886 4 роки тому +21

      Yes, before printing press, medieval scriber are very boring and time consumming job, they lose time to socializing with other people.. the snails symbolizing slowness and boredom

    • @therealrenegade
      @therealrenegade Рік тому +1

      YES! Finally! I knew I wasn't the only one think that.

    • @andyramirez6016
      @andyramirez6016 6 місяців тому +3

      Or sloth…

    • @petrospetromixos6962
      @petrospetromixos6962 6 місяців тому +1

      Dmn thats actually the best explanation i ve heard reading the comments

  • @chistinelane
    @chistinelane 7 років тому +523

    The reason we don't see them is because the knights won. The greatest heroes we never knew

    • @scienceme9794
      @scienceme9794 7 років тому +48

      Yeah, Don Quixote wiped the giant snails out before he took on the windmills.

    • @JotaDeeMeO
      @JotaDeeMeO 7 років тому +1

      Otherwise we would have heroic stories about snails and dragons nows.... and let's not talk about snail movies..

    • @Wavemaninawe
      @Wavemaninawe 7 років тому +62

      Surely you jest. Knights were wiped off the map centuries ago.
      My brother is still fighting snails in his garden to this day.

    • @alantomy1444
      @alantomy1444 7 років тому +2

      chistine lane history favors the victor

  • @aprilrhoden116
    @aprilrhoden116 7 років тому +394

    This was hilarious and informative. This has sparked an interest in me for medieval manuscripts that did not exist before. Thank you, Vox.

    • @Vox
      @Vox  7 років тому +55

      We linked the main paper/book in the description.
      If you want to just look at gorgeous medieval ms scans, this one is great:
      brbl-dl.library.yale.edu/vufind/Record/3433279
      You'll find a snail/knight battle on 169r.
      brbl-zoom.library.yale.edu/viewer/1020266
      -Phil

    • @aprilrhoden116
      @aprilrhoden116 7 років тому +9

      Thanks again!

    • @fdsdh1
      @fdsdh1 7 років тому +12

      It might be worth taking a look at the British Library too, they have a fairly substantial collection of digitised manuscripts
      www.bl.uk/manuscripts/

    • @aprilrhoden116
      @aprilrhoden116 7 років тому +2

      Okay, Thanks, I'll do that!

    • @JacobJonesy
      @JacobJonesy 7 років тому

      Are you older than 13, April?

  • @jeremyuzca7697
    @jeremyuzca7697 4 роки тому +62

    I imagine a video in 2420: Why 2020 memes used to have a frog named Pepe?

  • @SomeoneJustWatching
    @SomeoneJustWatching 7 років тому +425

    England, making memes since 1200

    • @marmorealcandors
      @marmorealcandors 7 років тому +2

      Donald J Trump isn’t New York your city?

    • @Jescide
      @Jescide 7 років тому +4

      Leonard Marc Ramos
      America is his city

    • @martind349
      @martind349 6 років тому

      Jescide Life and all of these Londons' still

    • @xenotypos
      @xenotypos 6 років тому +5

      The manuscripts (in this video) are written in old french.
      So I doubt any of those are from england.

    • @taptapuyo2714
      @taptapuyo2714 6 років тому

      Harry Sinclair before it was cool. 😎

  • @Laerei
    @Laerei 7 років тому +2234

    600 years from now: why astronauts fought rainbow farting toast cats in digital era internet art.

    • @mk_rexx
      @mk_rexx 7 років тому +99

      We'll never know...

    • @smaugtheimpenetrable8009
      @smaugtheimpenetrable8009 7 років тому +44

      The mystery will be unveiled , but until then...

    • @anonymous.t6649
      @anonymous.t6649 6 років тому +1

      Laerei ajakjsjjsjjehfbiejddjiosjenosodnowienodjdjowkemksidniwisn*djdj*eein(ejiiejdiiskwi*×××

    • @milascave2
      @milascave2 6 років тому +5

      Is that actually a thing?

    • @MrGamelover23
      @MrGamelover23 6 років тому +13

      Opinunate ted Well Nyan Cat is the thing he described being fought.

  • @Nytr8
    @Nytr8 5 років тому +137

    Title : why knights are fighting snails in images
    Video: we don’t know exactly why

  • @vixen768
    @vixen768 7 років тому +1333

    FINALLY! An answer I've been looking for!
    Thank you. So much.

    • @Sara3346
      @Sara3346 7 років тому +12

      Yes and I also wanted to know about the snails!

    • @mdarnell514
      @mdarnell514 7 років тому +13

      vixen768 no way, totally medieval world's misconception of ammonite fossils that could be quite large. You can see in the illustrations that sometimes they look more like modern day Nautilus's... or squid like in the opening... but... who can prove ammonites didn't walk on land? Maybe some were alive then still. >:)

    • @RIFLQ
      @RIFLQ 7 років тому +19

      The day I think about why knights fought snails is the day when Vox upload this video

    • @JacobJonesy
      @JacobJonesy 7 років тому +2

      Okay the problem is that this is just an opinion. Take your "answer" not as fact.

  • @coreyshipe
    @coreyshipe 6 років тому +373

    TLDR: Snails represent the Lombards, who were thought to be slimy merchants who carried their homes on their backs. The snail is a jest insult to the name of the time. (1400 Memes)

    • @fuckingblackgod
      @fuckingblackgod 5 років тому +4

      @@tijuanaforeplay8232 hehe, I understood that.

    • @hunterkiller7352
      @hunterkiller7352 5 років тому +5

      Oy Vey

    • @Max_Le_Groom
      @Max_Le_Groom 5 років тому +3

      Only 1400s kids will understand 👍👌

    • @Gadget-Walkmen
      @Gadget-Walkmen 2 роки тому +2

      lol just no, that's just ONE interpretation but no one knows for sure.

    • @jamescheddar4896
      @jamescheddar4896 19 днів тому

      and removing squatters is all most knights did

  • @Shaun-vy9vi
    @Shaun-vy9vi 5 років тому +22

    Just clarifying something, they were called illluminated manuscripts because they often had gold leafing/inks that appeared to make the pages glow under candle light.

  • @thelardmaker6806
    @thelardmaker6806 7 років тому +193

    In short these are basically medieval memes.

    • @eeeeea
      @eeeeea 6 років тому +4

      The Lard Maker now i'm actually thinking what people in 1000 years from now will think about today's memes

  • @hobbesfield1082
    @hobbesfield1082 7 років тому +856

    I just kind of learned that medieval monks made memes.
    I can die happily.

    • @ghiribizzi
      @ghiribizzi 7 років тому +7

      Hobbesfield well that escalated quickly , well for medieval time standards

    • @92alexmaster
      @92alexmaster 7 років тому +11

      There are even older memes. The Three Hares meme is about 1500 years old from China, The Abracadabra is from the Roman Empire and The Sator square dates to the roman republic.

    • @AxelLeJeff
      @AxelLeJeff 7 років тому +4

      And Kilroy has existed since the dawn of man.

    • @facelessman9224
      @facelessman9224 7 років тому +4

      History's first trolls!

    • @crazyeyes8962
      @crazyeyes8962 7 років тому +12

      It's really not hard to imagine when you realize that a bunch of dudes who all lived in monasteries totally remote from the rest of the population were in control of almost all written information

  • @2309-w5p
    @2309-w5p 5 років тому +233

    There is an explenation:
    The knights were french

    • @dearsol.
      @dearsol. 5 років тому +6

      *shook*

    • @akachi1046
      @akachi1046 5 років тому +1

      shut up

    • @mammontustado9680
      @mammontustado9680 4 роки тому +27

      "En garde, escargot!"

    • @lightningfletch5598
      @lightningfletch5598 4 роки тому +7

      Remember the Lombards were defeated by Charlemagne was also French. A French king at that.

    • @Letizia2810
      @Letizia2810 4 роки тому +1

      I don’t like French. Or Northern Italians

  • @crozraven
    @crozraven 7 років тому +218

    or snails pictures were just medieval trolls

  • @cluckcluck6494
    @cluckcluck6494 5 років тому +298

    Goku: I’ve got the strongest enemies
    Knights: Hold my beer

    • @6catsinacoat
      @6catsinacoat 5 років тому +19

      To be fair... I haven't seen goku fight a snail ...yet.

    • @cluckcluck6494
      @cluckcluck6494 5 років тому +3

      Thomas Ridley Freiza will turn to a snail I tell you!

    • @JarmalK
      @JarmalK 5 років тому +2

      @@cluckcluck6494 r u gay

    • @jordantampubolon8694
      @jordantampubolon8694 5 років тому +3

      Hold my snails

    • @atallguynh
      @atallguynh 5 років тому +4

      Hold my mead.

  • @weaklistworm
    @weaklistworm 3 роки тому +50

    He tried to fight the immortal snail, a brave soul

  • @flensdude
    @flensdude 7 років тому +156

    So it turns out the Monty Python joke about the killer rabbit (and other small animals) has been a long running joke in Europe.

    • @Abraxas948
      @Abraxas948 7 років тому +16

      gladomi Ah yes, I remember when King Arthur was arrested and put in a police van before he could fight the battle for the holy grail. Oh, and how could I have forgotten about the holy hand grenade? Those crazy scribes sure were inventive

    • @VinchVolt
      @VinchVolt 7 років тому +16

      Gilliam took various liberties for the sake of comedy, but if you remove the jokes it ironically follows the original plot of the legends closer than most other adaptations.

    • @MrMlinmlin
      @MrMlinmlin 7 років тому +8

      but if you remove the jokes theres barely anything left... a dude named Arthur riding around with a bunch od dudes... -_-

    • @gamingolympian4245
      @gamingolympian4245 6 років тому +2

      Which is exactly what it was... What did you think there was some like intense war or something? It's a Dude named Arthur who happens to be king of Wales/Britannia traveling through some shithole looking for the Holy Grail.

  • @DavidBlaze420
    @DavidBlaze420 7 років тому +62

    this means there were huge snails back then but the knights killed them all

  • @LordBrittish
    @LordBrittish 5 років тому +31

    Modern snails aren’t what their ancestors once were. Ancient snails used to tower over man, and we had to fight them off with fire and salt.

  • @Peasant_of_Pontus
    @Peasant_of_Pontus 7 років тому +77

    Snails=boredom. Reading=fighting boredom. Knights fighting snails=reading to pass time.

    • @kimurico1
      @kimurico1 6 років тому +4

      Nice. I would have thought rather snail = time, knight fighting against snail = scribe finishing a manuscript after a loooong time of hard work

  • @Kinopio710
    @Kinopio710 7 років тому +486

    Medieval memes need to make a comeback 🤔

    • @SargentoBonzo
      @SargentoBonzo 6 років тому +3

      I want Vox to make a video about: Why knights fought RABBITS in medieval art
      i.pinimg.com/originals/67/00/c4/6700c497d421ae1d0f032e740f7dfd00.jpg

    • @edwardliu111
      @edwardliu111 6 років тому +1

      They have
      www.reddit.com/r/trippinthroughtime/?st=JD6NYJK0&sh=d881a549

    • @Trashproductions2
      @Trashproductions2 6 років тому

      Oh I thought this was a meme.

    • @lohitjagarapu9351
      @lohitjagarapu9351 6 років тому

      +Matt B: What's going to do? Nibble your bum?

    • @jonathanruiz866
      @jonathanruiz866 6 років тому

      That's what I was thinking

  • @N1GHTSTRIKER-45
    @N1GHTSTRIKER-45 3 роки тому +26

    Immortal snail meme predecessor

  • @cheesecakelasagna
    @cheesecakelasagna 7 років тому +138

    Someone please make this ancient meme great again!

  • @tigerboy1966
    @tigerboy1966 7 років тому +18

    Here's a thought- the pictures were charms to protect the manuscripts from being eaten by snails.

  • @leo.6541
    @leo.6541 3 роки тому +23

    They fought the snails to protect themselves from the legion of the Immortal Snails; they succeeded, and got rid of all except one.

    • @leo.6541
      @leo.6541 3 роки тому +4

      They used creative mode, by the way. Deleted all except the last.

  • @onewhoisanonymous
    @onewhoisanonymous 7 років тому +1150

    God. I can heard the future historians trying to describe 21st century memes to our distant future generations. "Here we see a photograph of a young person outlaid with a black border. Notice the ancient text encircling the photograph...its true meaning lost to time. Dr. ---- has been studying their cryptic texts for years and theorized...."

    • @BvousBrainSystems
      @BvousBrainSystems 7 років тому +198

      My most profound hope is that I'm somehow transported to the future you're describing. I'm basically a meme scholar, I can explain them all about it and finally feel like I'm good at something.

    • @Diana-mu7pc
      @Diana-mu7pc 7 років тому +121

      This sounds like a joke on Futurama

    • @NicolasOrlinski
      @NicolasOrlinski 7 років тому +81

      All memes will disappear. The 21st Century will be known as the Dark Ages 2 without any written documents.
      Why? Because in 2017 I can't even use links to the digital articles from 1999, because whole newspapers and portals disappeared and when you google after them you may probably find some notes that they ever existed. The digital world is as stabile as the Facebook account with hundreds of pictures and wise words which get banned and goes to the digital nirvana during the one single minute.

    • @kipicbloud
      @kipicbloud 7 років тому +65

      That thought has always been darkly amusing to me. We have "all" the information in the world at our fingertips, but when our civilization collapses and the next one rises, it is almost a given that there will be almost no written accounts of it given our reliance on electronics and transitional media that is wiped daily.
      Crazy, huh?

    • @edlingja1
      @edlingja1 7 років тому +27

      Brandon Bricker it's like this analogy:
      Building a tent with no beams, instead we all have to blow as hard as possible to collectively help keep the tent up. If we all stop blowing, it ceases to be a tent and is, instead, simply just a very large blanket. Our current society relies on us ALL partaking in the fields of economics, politics, religion, and all other factors prevalent in our society.

  • @fionacowell3544
    @fionacowell3544 7 років тому +810

    So..
    Are you telling me..
    That snails are the memes of the 14th century???

    • @quandovoceleroscomentarios9622
      @quandovoceleroscomentarios9622 7 років тому +12

      They had memes. They had swords and pretty people. They were cool.

    • @armanderschreckliche
      @armanderschreckliche 7 років тому +4

      Fiona Cowell Lmao 😂😂😂😂👏👏👏👏👌👌👌👌👌

    • @henryt3802
      @henryt3802 7 років тому +18

      Fiona Cowell yup, they were people just like u and me, they also had their jokes, memes and running gags

    • @henryt3802
      @henryt3802 7 років тому +4

      The Banana Melon dude my name's henry you should expect me to talk like that.😂

    • @Katie-mw7pd
      @Katie-mw7pd 7 років тому +1

      JIM

  • @emmytweetie2177
    @emmytweetie2177 5 років тому +59

    Is it ok to draw in the margins of my school books now????

  • @Ares-5933
    @Ares-5933 7 років тому +153

    And we thought we invented memes, turns out memes are hundreds of years old

    • @dutch1641
      @dutch1641 7 років тому +7

      Ares5933 during ww 2 memes were a thing too

    • @nos4me
      @nos4me 7 років тому +5

      Ares5933 memes started existing when culture did

    • @krieginphernjacobson
      @krieginphernjacobson 7 років тому +14

      memes were born far before humanity, they will also outlive us all.

    • @horatiotrismegistus616
      @horatiotrismegistus616 7 років тому +2

      Memes are a new invention, like water and dirt.

  • @TheReverendGreene
    @TheReverendGreene 6 років тому +109

    What if snails represented procrastination? Imagine you live in a monastery. People judge you harshly all the time, you're pressured to produce, but you never really go anywhere and probably lack motivation all the time. "Sloth" or laziness is a sin. Maybe it was an inside joke about how hard it was to fight off their laziness and actually make the manuscript they were always talking about

    • @yooringonghan
      @yooringonghan 5 років тому +4

      honestly that was my interpretation as well

    • @darkmasterchief227
      @darkmasterchief227 5 років тому +1

      Hmm yeah i gathered that too

    • @jelkel25
      @jelkel25 5 років тому +2

      One of the 7 deadly sins, along with the 7 virtues a big part of Western culture that conveniently disappeared.

  • @BOAYang
    @BOAYang 5 років тому +188

    Lion: I'm the king of the jungle
    snail: *I'm about to end this man's whole career.*

  • @yseson_
    @yseson_ 6 років тому +127

    Love the "pray that 🐌 kills you quickly" interesting fact an ex roommate and I would make our own paper and keep it in the basement guess what creature loves to eat fresh paper? 🐌
    So I imagine it was a precaution toward being diligent in the care of precious paper

    • @kriscampbell7807
      @kriscampbell7807 2 роки тому +2

      Oh gosh, I hadn't thought of that at all.

    • @markusgorelli5278
      @markusgorelli5278 9 місяців тому

      So it was a charm of sorts to frighten snails away. Cool!

  • @yosefyonin6824
    @yosefyonin6824 7 років тому +68

    *VINTAGE MEMES! VINTAGE MEMES! GET YOUR PERFECTLY PRESERVED 700 YEARD OLD MEMES RIGHT HERE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!*

  • @hansofaxalia
    @hansofaxalia 9 місяців тому +4

    “The snails reveal something….”
    No words have ever induced a greater sense of primeval fear within me

  • @IamMeHere2See
    @IamMeHere2See 7 років тому +72

    So it's basically the Wilhelm scream of Gothic literature. Cool.

  • @BltchErica
    @BltchErica 6 років тому +74

    I wonder if they actually had memes inb4 christ. Imagine some egyptian kids drawing mummies with shiny eyes doing t poses on scrolls without any explanation.

    • @Pugetwitch
      @Pugetwitch 4 роки тому +2

      It happened.

    • @chonacastillo4777
      @chonacastillo4777 4 роки тому +1

      Nice profile pic.

    • @Pollicina_db
      @Pollicina_db 4 роки тому +14

      There is one. When archaeologist found a place in Egypt with lots of pillars they noticed that one of them had hiyeroglifs. So they climbed up that very tall pillar to see what it said. It said:"This is a veryyyy tall pillar".

    • @swiggitysk8
      @swiggitysk8 4 роки тому +2

      of course they had memes. memes are a human thing. they were just called common jokes up until recently.

    • @copperlemon1
      @copperlemon1 4 роки тому +3

      Romans had graffiti accusing each other of buggery and cuckholdry, by at least year 79, as demonstrated by inscription preserved at Pompeii.

  • @NikkiKrissoff
    @NikkiKrissoff 5 років тому +28

    It’s all fun and games till the giant snail comes squirming into the room

  • @nonamedpleb
    @nonamedpleb 7 років тому +340

    TLDR: IT'S A MEME

  • @warhammernerd52Daxx-Lorenzo898
    @warhammernerd52Daxx-Lorenzo898 7 років тому +63

    +Vox, why don't we see cars in medieval art?

    • @nemoflexual
      @nemoflexual 7 років тому +33

      warhammernerd52 those things are way too hard to draw

  • @klyntarkenny8046
    @klyntarkenny8046 5 років тому +64

    Did medieval knights do battle with snails?
    Ancient Astronaut Theorists say “yes”

  • @checkmatefurries286
    @checkmatefurries286 7 років тому +84

    I think this is my new favorite Vox video. Meme in peace, scribes. Meme in peace.

  • @werbearjack
    @werbearjack 7 років тому +269

    So snails are medieval Pepes?

    • @iAmTheSquidThing
      @iAmTheSquidThing 7 років тому +19

      Now would be a great time to invest in rare snails before the normies realise.

    • @happyswedme
      @happyswedme 7 років тому +46

      Imagine future scientists being like "at the dawn of the third millennia people liked to draw frogs"

    • @TAURELLIAN
      @TAURELLIAN 7 років тому +33

      𝖄𝖊 𝖔𝖑𝖉𝖊 𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖙𝖕𝖔𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌

  • @mandyzabohne7059
    @mandyzabohne7059 4 місяці тому +2

    As an avid gardener, I'm amused that there's no recognition that these monks were gardeners by necessity and that the snails - who are absurdly pernicious - were wrecking their hard work. There were probably layers of meaning, but frustration over literal food loss seems like an obvious reference. These are the moments when I remember that people who go to graduate school have rarely experienced things like hunger and manual labor.

  • @Mars-ii6ki
    @Mars-ii6ki 7 років тому +18

    YES I LOVE UR GUYS' VIDS ABOUT HISTORY

  • @allhailqueenhelga
    @allhailqueenhelga 6 років тому +9

    One interesting theory I've heard about the rabbits and snails is that they're simply there because the people writing the manuscripts were monks and one of the main duties of monks was gardening. And who are two of
    a gardener's main enemies? Rabbits and snails.

  • @justcallmehaterik
    @justcallmehaterik 3 роки тому +9

    So this was the first time the snail was hired to catch some dude? O.o

  • @RandallStephens397
    @RandallStephens397 7 років тому +114

    the rare medieval pepe

  • @davidmccullough4678
    @davidmccullough4678 7 років тому +151

    now I understand both memes and Adventure Time

    • @gforskli4307
      @gforskli4307 7 років тому +3

      David McCullough lol

    • @samuelhadjaissa5201
      @samuelhadjaissa5201 6 років тому

      what you mean adventure time ?

    • @fulcrum2951
      @fulcrum2951 6 років тому

      There is some snail waving its uhh "hand" in the background or something or a talking snail

    • @samuelhadjaissa5201
      @samuelhadjaissa5201 6 років тому

      I guess that makes sense

  • @liviahorowitz2225
    @liviahorowitz2225 3 роки тому +8

    Plot twist: the crusades were actually just wars about killing giant snails, which were considered a delicacy for the elite.

  • @IsThisRain
    @IsThisRain 7 років тому +29

    *Insert comment here stating that the snails were medieval dank memes because no-one has commented this before*

  • @booklover569
    @booklover569 7 років тому +63

    so...knights battling snails was an ancient meme?

    • @yesmansam6686
      @yesmansam6686 7 років тому +5

      Emily Daenzer it would appear so 😐

  • @DZ477
    @DZ477 5 років тому +64

    2019: Why knights fought snails in medieval art
    2119: Why players fought chickens in CSGO

  • @NeptunesLagoon
    @NeptunesLagoon 6 років тому +522

    1000 years from now they will believe that primordeal Hello Kittys went to war with Cosmic Space Kittens with bad grammer ( has Cheeseburger)... Lol

    • @SargentoBonzo
      @SargentoBonzo 6 років тому +16

      𝕿𝖍𝖞 𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖊 𝖎𝖘 𝖉𝖆𝖓𝖐

    • @BarryMichaels
      @BarryMichaels 6 років тому +8

      Stop, it's cringy - its 2018, old stale cringy memes are not funny anymore

    • @NeptunesLagoon
      @NeptunesLagoon 6 років тому +5

      the snail shape also resembles Egypt and the Gulf that boarders it, its a snail shape....
      and MEMES will return... MOCK MY WORDS Blasphemer!!!... Lol J/K

    • @ReddishNeck
      @ReddishNeck 6 років тому +3

      Neptunes Lagoon *grammar. Oh, the irony.

    • @BarryMichaels
      @BarryMichaels 6 років тому +3

      Memes are a thing, stale memes are just cringe

  • @sias9546
    @sias9546 6 років тому +22

    My own hypothesis on the manuscript snail phenomenon is much simpler, less psychologically venturesome, and dare I say nearer-fetched. It goes as such: SNAILS ARE ARMORED.

    • @xaedes
      @xaedes 6 років тому +5

      Even simpler: snails eat paper(--> enemy of books) and they put up the fighters against the snails to give the book some protection. Not that the snails would care..

  • @SerendipitousProvidence
    @SerendipitousProvidence 3 роки тому +17

    I heard it was called the dank age because of its unfathomably profound memes.

  • @thinkgodd2501
    @thinkgodd2501 7 років тому +184

    Plottwist Giant Snails Exist!!!

  • @KevGoesRiding
    @KevGoesRiding 7 років тому +195

    Last time I came this early, it was the dark ages

    • @maggers2580
      @maggers2580 7 років тому +64

      *dank meme age

    • @youreallinsane
      @youreallinsane 7 років тому +7

      the internet doesn't need to know your fetishes.

    • @quester09
      @quester09 7 років тому +1

      Ride The Track and giant snails roamed the earth.

    • @FERTHEBOSS1
      @FERTHEBOSS1 7 років тому +9

      more like the dank ages

    • @CeeVell
      @CeeVell 7 років тому

      Mh

  • @lorettap.925
    @lorettap.925 5 років тому +16

    I really like that first "snail" at 0:34. It's like a cat-snail. Cnail.

  • @haarukko
    @haarukko 6 років тому +15

    Snail... what a foul beast, intresting creature to observe as it slithes towards it's enemies demise

  • @sarahtoonswastaken9990
    @sarahtoonswastaken9990 3 роки тому +14

    the immortal snail came for them

  • @maxinenall9950
    @maxinenall9950 5 місяців тому +2

    Thanks that was very interesting 🥰 Can you imagine sitting there day after day writing and drawing colorful pictures in a book 😵 I'm so grateful they did 😘🥰

  • @AtZero138
    @AtZero138 5 років тому +47

    Who Also.. just got a New Tattoo idea!!????

    • @wangxian_
      @wangxian_ 5 років тому +3

      Did you actually do it??

  • @petersamps
    @petersamps 7 років тому +163

    So the scribes were marginalized? :)

    • @ailinr9385
      @ailinr9385 7 років тому +16

      James Peters I appreciate your usage of humor there.
      I hope you're happy someone got it. XD it's always sad when someone doesn't get your well thought out pun.
      Have a good day.
      Because you made my day.

    • @MysteriumArcanum
      @MysteriumArcanum 6 років тому +8

      damn, you beat me to it. I tip my proverbial hat to you, sir.

  • @spineck5499
    @spineck5499 5 років тому +20

    everybodys gangsta till the snails roll up in the castle

  • @cernunnos_lives
    @cernunnos_lives 5 років тому +84

    So basically: how an ethnic slur became a meme for perhaps a few generations of scholarship.

  • @peehaha9742
    @peehaha9742 7 років тому +8

    This question has been bugging me for months now! Thanks, Vox.

  • @jonhoge153
    @jonhoge153 5 місяців тому +1

    The whole 'invincible snail that kills you if it touches you' myth is older than i thought

  • @mainaccount3087
    @mainaccount3087 6 років тому +7

    Amazing! I'm doing a paper on dogs in medieval text and marginalia, and it's such a big coincidence how I'd stumble across videos like this in my downtime. Kinda annoying how work tends to impinge its presence even when I try to relax, but amazing anyhow.

  • @bluemariomedia8351
    @bluemariomedia8351 6 років тому +47

    Jontron: im a brave boi
    *see a snail*
    Jontron: NOT A BRAVE ENOUGH BOI FOR THIS!

  • @apexshinbi638
    @apexshinbi638 5 років тому +14

    2:52 *First Battle Royale Mode, colorized (1260)*

  • @tnought
    @tnought 7 років тому +11

    Vox: Answering the important questions.