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Traditional studies and popular culture often consider violence as a hallmark of medieval life and hence, present it as a fundamental difference between a ‘brutal and violent’ Middle Ages and a ‘civilized and humane’ (Western) modernity. To evaluate these claims and images, we will examine different forms of violence in medieval societies—European and Middle Eastern—especially (i) martyrdom, (ii) communal violence, and (iii) public punishment. After exploring the specific cultural meanings of these practices, we will re-examine those modern polemics that invoke ‘the medieval’ (often vis-à-vis non-Western traditions and societies).