Bias in History

No matter how hard a historian might try to distance themselves from their personal history and and approach a subject without bias, it is virtually impossible to do successfully. It is this reason that most historians appear dry and dull to those they are trying to teach and it is only recently that many have decided to abandon this practice in favor of a new more alive history that accepts bias and tries not to ignore it but rather to understand it. 

In the first manner the approach to the middle ages would have been dry facts and figures that shied away from cultural impressions because the historian could not control their bias in a discourse of supposition. In the new manner a historian would discuss the basics of lifestyle that would shape an individuals thoughts and use their own experiences and the examples found in primary sources to form the basis for their theories. For example, it was often believed that women in the middle ages were in a similar state of male domination as their Victorian counterparts. It is true that most of documented history supports this, but it seems they had much more freedom than was previously believed. Although they were often in the minority and sometimes lesser than their male counterparts, there were women artisans, writers, theologians, and rulers. 

Here are some primary sources to support this. (A primary source is any document, art, or other first hand account that is from the time period being studied.) Christine de Pizan (1364-1430) is often viewed as Europe's first professional female writer. She was the court writer for several French courts including Charles VI. Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, and Benedictine abbess. Margaret I of Denmark ruled Denmark in her own right and through her marriage to King Haakon VI of Norway and Sweden established the Kalmar Union which united the Scandinavian countries for over a decade. Below are depictions of Christine de Pizan and Hildegard of Bingen from illuminated manuscripts.