Shane Mage
-------------
Certainly true. So the question is how do you get there. By studying medieval histories, works, societies, customs, etc. What emerges are the regional collective identities of say England, France, Spain, Germany, Slave and Scandinavian cultures. One of the weirdness to emerge is that while the Romans conquered Europe, they didn't create Europe. The Middle Ages created Europe. The minor arts flourished, in all kinds of things, jewery, of course, bone handled tools, etc. These culminate in the various architectures and their characteristics. Examining the carved architectural detail sometimes tells a story were you can see characteristic plants and their harvest with little figures working, say amid trellis, vine, harvester, wrapped in a serpentine wreath that makes up a column. These becomes symbols of growth, life.
You can do something similar in music and poetry. A friend is a sort of free lance medieval french musicologist and traced down poetry and song styles to recombined them played on authentic instruments of the period (late). This gets you way deep into maidens, chivalry, obligation, lossed love...
(Well Dennis C just recommended a book on how to do this reconstruction.) My interests have slowly changed away from the renaissance or even the early renaissance.. more or less back to the places where these later societies were created...)
Most people are not interested in these periods. It took me a long time to see their value...
CG