National or ethnic stereotypes such as that Germans are humorless and the English are hypothermic have been around for a long time. Contrary to popular belief, they are not a product of nineteenth-century nationalism; they are older. An important birthplace seems to be the twelfth century. Due to increasing trade and international contacts, people increasingly thought in terms of 'us' and 'them'. In addition, an ancient medical theory became fashionable that explained ethnic differences by, among other things, geography and climate. The national character was therefore innate!
In the twelfth century there is an explosion of ethnic stereotyping in Western Europe. Suddenly there is talk of English drunkenness, German aggression, Brabant bloodlust, French arrogance. According to the late twelfth-century French bishop Jacobus van Vitry, Parisian students regularly insult each other because of their ethnic origin.
But not only students, also knights on the crusade, courtiers and monks attribute negative character traits to each other. Ethnic prejudices are found in lyric poetry, chivalric novels, letters, sayings, rhymes, historical works, learned geographical tracts, and teaching manuals. Lists, drawn up in the vernacular, speak of Greek traitors, wild Irish, cunning Saracens. Where does this urge for ethnic classification suddenly come from?
In the twelfth century – often referred to as a renaissance – cultural, social, religious, political and economic life boomed. Cities stretch out, Gothic cathedral towers stand like exclamation marks on the horizon, farm workers conquer savage lands. And, of great importance, new knowledge flows into Europe via the Arab centers. Literacy is increasing, with the classical poets and scholars as a benchmark for practice and competition. The new intellectuals, or moderns, as they call themselves, are dwarfs on the shoulders of giants, says the twelfth-century philosopher Bernard of Chartres. Although they are small in stature, their sight extends all the further.
Against this dynamic background, ethnic awareness is growing. The increasing contact with the ethnic 'other' stimulates awareness of cultural and social characteristics of one's own group. We call this the relational aspect of identity. It goes together with a tendency to classify oneself and the other with the help of often generalizing images and indications.
History of mankind
Ethnic stereotypes also existed before the twelfth century. Sources have been handed down about Romance- and Germanic-speaking monks who accuse each other of emitting barbarian sounds in monasteries along the language border. We also encounter ethnic vices (and occasionally virtues) before the twelfth century, especially in manuscripts about the history of creation and the end of time. Lists speak of the jealousy of the Jews, the perfidity of the Persians and the wisdom of the Greeks.
All nations have a role in the Christian salvation history of mankind. The world comes to an end and the heavenly Jerusalem descends when all nations have repented, including the Jewish. Such lists were therefore not so much intended to taunt the other, but to reflect on the role of each nation in creation. Until the twelfth century, stereotypes borrowed from the Bible figure. Afterwards, contemporary examples also emerge. There is talk of drunken Englishmen, predatory Normans and – as an early example of Orientalism – Saracens wallowing in luxury.
Ethnic stereotyping is becoming more important due to increasing mobility. As a result, people develop a stronger awareness of their own ethnic identity. But the growing state apparatus and increasing social mobility also play a role. It is very important that the characterization of other peoples is given a medical-scientific basis by the emergence of a climate and humor theory.
Innate temperament
As mentioned, from the late eleventh century onwards, Arabic knowledge flows into the West. This happens thanks to the numerous translations of philosophical, mathematical and medical treatises in (formerly) Islamic centers such as Toledo and Palermo. The originally Greek medical theories, further developed by Arab scholars, offer a strong foundation for the premise that peoples have an innate character.
Medics believed that man consisted of four bodily fluids:phlegmatic, sanguine, choleric, and melancholic. These juices (phlegm, blood, yellow and black bile) were the outcome of the game between the elements (water, air, earth and fire) and qualities (cold, heat, wetness and dryness). The balance between the juices determined one's temperament. Also of influence were the geographical location, the seasons and the position of the stars. Already in the ancient climate theory, entire population groups were attributed a certain orientation. Those who lived in the temperate middle (for the Greeks and Romans that was the Mediterranean area; for the twelfth century it was northwestern Europe) enjoyed the most harmonious balance of juices. As a result, they had the most desirable physical constitution and character traits.
From the twelfth century, intellectuals eagerly applied this medical knowledge to the peoples around them. Crucially, some scholars argue that certain peoples inherit an innate temperament. The Jews are melancholic, the Slavs phlegmatic, the Germans sanguine. The climate favors peoples living in the most temperate zone. According to northwestern European intellectuals, this is more or less the area around Paris. Here you will find the most ideal temperament and character. Such theories also spread among the nobility from the second half of the twelfth century, only to trickle down to popular culture later.
'The Germans are shit'
Ethnic stereotypes are often used as a justification for conquering or colonizing a people. For example, according to twelfth-century people like Gerald of Wales, Bernard of Clairvaux and Pope Adrian IV, the Irish are a backward people, balancing on a low rung of the ladder of the civilizing process. Typical colonization rhetoric suggests that they cannot curb their sexual urges, squander the proceeds of their land out of laziness, cannot organize themselves politically, and are not even true Christians. Similar images are known about the Scandinavian peoples.
But ethnic stereotypes can also be a means of power within social groups. During the crusades we come across ethnic insults back and forth. The French knights are arrogant, say the Germans, who themselves are too aggressive, rude and stupid to conduct a decent military policy. "The Germans are shit", according to the Norman Ralf van Caen, French knights would have shouted after an attack by the Turks during the siege of Antioch in 1097-1098.
A strained cooperation, combined with the tension under which an army stands in foreign territory, will undoubtedly have contributed to ethnic awareness. There is competition to be an excellent, even a God-chosen militia Dei (army of God). Appropriation of socio-cultural, courtly civilizational ideals thus meant a requisition of the role of guardian of the church. The northern French in particular want to present themselves as God's chosen vanguard. They are brave and intelligent – courtly qualities.
When authors such as the Anglo-Norman monk William of Malmesbury (early twelfth century) also describe this courtship in climatic terms, their position as standard-bearer seems set in stone:'You [the Franks] are a people of the more moderate regions of the world, men who are willing to shed blood and therefore have no fear of death or injury, but not without reason. For you behave in a controlled manner in the camp, and in the heat of battle there is room for reason.”
In the course of the thirteenth century this claim to reason and courtesy (knowledge and military strength) resulted in political claims. The French monk William of Nangis writes that the three petals of the fleur de lis represent France's superior faith, wisdom and military strength. For the late thirteenth-century political thinker Pierre Dubois, this implies that the French monarchy must claim the imperial title, which was in German hands, in order to rule over a universal Christianity.
Consequences
The shift from monastic introspection about ethnic virtues and vices to (medically grounded) us-them stereotypes had major consequences. In the thirteenth century, ethnic-religious groups (Jews, Saracens) were attributed a hereditary character. This leads to a hardening of attitudes towards ethnic and religious minorities. Their 'disposition' to adapt and to integrate into Christian society is being questioned. Especially after forced conversions to Christianity, mistrust and violence against minorities increases. After all, even after conversion, they remain "defective" Christians. It is precisely this border position that is experienced as threatening.
In the late Middle Ages, when medical theory permeated society, theories develop about how groups are part of a harmonious society. It is presented as a political and social body that is medically balanced. Ethnic and religious minorities, as corrupting members of society, would strain this harmony. This may explain the increasing violence against religious minorities. In any case, that would merit further research.