The Middle Ages Were Not as Drab As Movies and TV Led Us to Believe
If we go by modern depictions of the Middle Ages in movies and on TV, we would have to conclude that the period must have been a pretty drab one. Just about everybody is shown clad in dull brown clothes, occasionally broken by a bit of black thrown into the mix. Buildings are either plain brown wood for the lower classes’ dwellings, or unadorned stone gray for the castles of the aristocratic elites or the churches and cathedrals of the usually brown-clad clergy.
The reality however is that medieval people did not restrict themselves to shades of brown and black. Instead, they tried to get as colorful as they could whenever possible. People back then liked to take a paint brush to anything that couldn’t move, and liked to pack as many colors into their wardrobe as possible. Those with means decorated their walls with vibrant tapestries and frescoes. Clothes often had a splash of color by way of trim, or the whole thing might be dyed.