On Fanlore, users with accounts can edit pages including user pages, can create pages, and more. Any information you publish on a page or an edit summary will be accessible by the public and to Fanlore personnel. Because Fanlore is a wiki, information published on Fanlore will be publicly available forever, even if edited later. Be mindful when sharing personal information, including your religious or political views, health, racial background, country of origin, sexual identity and/or personal relationships. To learn more, check out our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Select "dismiss" to agree to these terms.
Medieval AU
Medieval AU, short for Medieval alternative universe, is the common term for a Historical AU that takes characters from another canonical time period—usually a more modern one—and reimagines them in the European Middle Ages (or, occasionally, the wider Post-Classical Period, like Feudal-Era Japan).
Historical accuracy is not a necessity for Medieval AUs, some fan creators will do the research to make their fanworks as accurate as possible, but others will merely use it as a background setting or aesthetic for their fanworks.
The medieval era lasted for roughly a thousand years, so when fan creators set their fanworks varies greatly, but during the middle or late medieval period seems to be popular, and will often include things like knights, chivalry, and systems like feudalism. One exception to this might be works set within the arthurian legends, which is supposed to be set in the early medieval period, but will often incorporate elements from the later periods.
Common Elements in Medieval AUs
Medieval AUs commonly feature tropes like Royalty themes, Master/Servant pairings, and Arranged Marriage.
There is a large overlap in Medieval AUs with Magic AUs, Fantasy AUs—most likely because of the influence of High Fantasy—and to a lesser extent Fairy Tale AUs, because they all tend to share similar settings. Not all Medieval AUs feature magic, however, as plenty of Medieval AUs are pure Historical Dramas set in the Middle Ages.
Fanwork Examples
Fanfiction
- Hiraeth (X-Files story) by Prufrock's Love (2001)
Zines
- The White Rose of Night (UFO) (1994)
- Medieval Fantasy (Man from UNCLE) (2004)
Example Art Gallery
from The Bloodstone, artist is Merle Decker (Star Trek: TOS) (1983)
Art from Foxhole in a Graveyard by TACS featuring Bodie and Doyle from The Professionals as medieval knights (1988)
Crusaders by Chris Soto from Matter/Antimatter #6 (Star Trek: TOS) (1988)
by Maureen B. from Matter/Antimatter #6 (Star Trek: TOS, with a nod to Leonard Nimoy's role as "Achmet" in Marco Polo) (1988)
Interior art by Holly Riedel from A Life Without Limits Beauty and the Beast (TV) (1991)
Interior art by Pam Tuck from A Life Without Limits Beauty and the Beast (TV) (1993)
from Medieval Fantasy, artist is Cat's Meow Creative Arts (Man from U.N.C.L.E.) (2004)
by Virginia Sky, from Warriors #4 (The Sentinel) (2005)
Art by Lorraine Brevig for the fic "The Morning Gift" (The Professionals) (2012)
They deserve the world by art-of-urbanstar (Arcane) (2021)
Archives & Fannish Links
- Alternate Universe - Medieval tag on Ao3
- Fuedalism works on Ao3