History Main / OlderThanPrint

* SexySoakedShirt: Story 6 of Day Ten of ''Literature/TheDecameron'' has a central scene in which the twin daughters of Messer Neri degli Uberti, dressed demurely in white dresses, go fully clothed into their father's fishing pool to catch fish for a banquet her father is hosting for the King of Naples and his court. The king and his courtiers were charmed by the girls when they walked in from the house, but absolutely captivated once they emerged from the water:
-->''On seeing that the fish had been cooked, the girls emerged from the pool, their fishing done, with their thin white dresses clinging to their flesh so as to conceal almost nothing of their dainty bodies.... The King, the Count, and the others who were waiting upon him had been eying the girls most attentively, and each of them had secretly much admired their beauty and shapeliness, as well as their charm and impeccable manners, but it was upon the King that they made the deepest impression. Indeed, he had studied every part of their bodies as they emerged from the water, that if anyone had pinched him at that moment he would not have noticed.''

* YouCannotKillAnIdea: Quoth [[Myth/NorseMythology Odin]] in the ''Literature/PoeticEdda'' (more specifically, ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A1vam%C3%A1l Hávamál]]''): "Cattle die, kinsmen die, you yourself will also die; but the fair fame never dies of him who has earned it."

* Almost everything we know of Myth/CelticMythology and Myth/NorseMythology was first written down during this period.

* BlackKnight: The two black knights from [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian legend]].

* TheCallLeftAMessage: The Sword in the Stone and the Siege Perilous from the KingArthur legends.

* DamselErrant: In [[KingArthur Arthurian myths]], such as in the Forest of Arroy.

* KingInTheMountain: KingArthur in Cadbury Hill, Frederick Barbarossa in Kyffhäuser, King Wenceslas in Blaník, to only name a few.

* Myth/{{Merlin}}: The "modern" incarnation of him began in this time period, along with the modern [[KingArthur Arthurian mythos]].
* MerlinAndNimue (a relationship between two magic-users): The pair from [[KingArthur Arthurian legend]] are the {{Trope Namer}}s and makers.

* SecretStabWound: In one KingArthur story, Sir Gareth inflicted one of these on a BlackKnight in a joust; said knight abruptly fell dead during the ensuing swordfight.

* TurnOutLikeHisFather: Some variants of Percival, from KingArthur myths.

* Most sources of [[KingArthur Arthurian legend]], from Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Literature/HistoriaRegumBritanniae'' (12th century) to ''Literature/SirGawainAndTheGreenKnight''.

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* WifeHusbandry: Hikaru Genji does this with/to Murasaki in ''Literature/TaleOfGenji''. King Conchobar of Ulster tries to do this with Deirdre in ''Literature/DeirdreOfTheSorrows'', but it doesn't work.

* ThudAndBlunder: ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}''

* TheNewRockAndRoll: [[OlderThanTheyThink Yes, really.]] In the 12th century, the Church denied all sacraments, including last rites, to all minstrels and street performers, effectively damning them all to Hell. The reason? Supposedly, what they did was unproductive and seduced people away from a "proper" Christian life. During the Middle Ages, musicians were seen as corruptors of youth who presumably learned their skills in Hell.

* SituationalHandSwitch: When the eponymous hero of ''Literature/{{Waltharius}}'' gets his right hand cut off in combat, he at once draws his backup sword and fights the battle to a draw.

* SexyCatPerson: This dates back at least to Myth/NorseMythology, which associated the LoveGoddess Freyja with cats.

* HandCannon: The TropeNamer was a late 13th-century Chinese invention; the earliest models were literally miniaturised handheld cannons, hence the name. (In some cases it was also already called a handgun, sometimes spelled "hand''gonne''".[[note]]What, you thought Creator/TerryPratchett invented [[Literature/MenAtArms that spelling]]?[[/note]]) It reached Europe around the early 14th century.

* CorruptChurch: Medieval Western Europe allegedly got it bad enough to be commented on in several contemporary sources. The most notable of these is Dante, who puts several popes in Hell for corruption in the ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]]'', and the one pope we meet in the ''Purgatorio'' is also there for being too greedy before he repented.

* HandCannon: The TropeNamer was a late 13th-century Chinese invention; the earliest models were literally miniaturised handheld cannons, hence the name. (In some cases it was also already called a handgun, sometimes spelled "hand''gonne''".[[note]]What, you thought Creator/TerryPratchett invented [[Discworld/MenAtArms that spelling]]?[[/note]]) It reached Europe around the early 14th century.

* CourtroomEpisode: Elaborate law court scenes are found in many of the [[Literature/TheIcelandicSagas Sagas of Icelanders]].

* DragonsAreDemonic: Niddhogg from Myth/NorseMythology, a dragon that gnaws at the roots of the WorldTree Yggdrasil in hopes of destroying all worlds.