Why Medieval Knights Went Completely Insane

Did medieval knights suffer from PTSD, or was the psychological trauma of pre-modern warfare something far worse? We often look back at the Middle Ages as a brutal, chaotic time where soldiers felt no remorse, but historical primary sources reveal a completely different reality. In this video, we dive deep into the medieval mind to uncover the true psychological cost of hand-to-hand combat, crushing maces, and the crushing weight of chivalry.
While Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a modern clinical diagnosis originally defined around a fear response, medieval chronicles describe a deeper, more devastating wound: Moral Injury. By exploring the accounts of real 14th-century knights like Geoffroi de Charny, the harrowing memoirs of Jean de Joinville during the Seventh Crusade, and the tragic story of Sir Peter Bearn, we reveal how the medieval battlefield could leave you with scars that were invisible to the naked eye.