A person who opposes or rejects the ideas, culture, or values of the medieval period.
From anti- (against) + medievalist (one who studies or admires the Middle Ages). The prefix 'anti-' comes from Greek, while 'medieval' derives from Latin 'medium aevum' (middle age). The term emerged in the 18th-19th centuries alongside the Enlightenment's rejection of medieval thought.
During the Renaissance and Enlightenment, antimedievalists were rebels against tradition, viewing the Middle Ages as a time of darkness and superstition. This attitude actually shaped modern science and philosophy—by rejecting medieval authority, thinkers like Descartes and Newton freed themselves to question everything and invent the scientific method.
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