Scrooged

 Sometime things can remain resonant despite changing mores, even surviving a complete reversal.

One of the most well known stories is "A Christmas Carol", about an old miser who learns the value of generosity and compassion to his fellow man, and to celebrate the holiday season. One would think the moral of the story is downright progressive, and might be considered incendiary to be told around medieval hearths. But it is not completely out of whack with a pre-Industrial value system. One might even interpret a Christmas Carol a romantic rebuke of England's industrialization in the vein of Tolkien. In any case, Ebenezer Scrooge is not exactly a landed gentry to call about, but very clearly a much of the merchant class, a class distrusted by all sides of the social hierarchy until the early modern period. (And in Feudal Japan, considered the lowest of the low) And moreso, Scrooge does not really produce or trade in actual good, but engaged in money-lending, which, under Christian practices, was taboo in the Middle Ages. This is why banking was largely a profession of Jews, and there would unfortunately be a good chance that retellings of a Christmas Carol might have anti-sematic leanings. 

There would also be an impetus for aristocratic class, particularly royalty, to encourage stories of festive charity. In the Middle Ages, money was meant to be spent, not hoarded to accumulate more wealth. Displays of conspicuous consumption were meant to project the image that all was well, and . It was also in the interests for feudal lords to make sure their vassals weren't holding on to some secret stash that could make them more autonomous--even a potential threat. Guilting the nobles into holding Christmas parties and feeding the poor accomplishes the dual purposes of draining other warlords and also maybe placating the commoners.

Perhaps the second most well known fantasy Christmas story is It's a Wonderful Life. Some argue the movie has bleaker connotation, but it may be more reassuring in a rougher medieval period. George Bailey is similarly a money lender, and the sentiment that everyone should have their own home is perhaps not the quite the sentiment medieval lords like to push, but the Bedford Falls Savings and Loans was not exactly the for-profit institution that has people quaking in their boots. In fact, the contrast to the more overtly usurious Mr. Potter  definitely places George in a purer context. (And there's that old time abelism to boot) The economics of "It's a Wonderful Life" is ultimately aside to a story of self-sacrifice, family, and staying in one's place for the greater good.

Mummies and Zombies

The Mummy is a curious addition to monster lore. Unlike vampires of werewolves, mummies are not a piece of organic folk traditions, at least truly indigenous. The idea mummies rising from the tomb to terrorize the living is an invention of Victorian literature, and more importantly, Hollywood. However, it quickly become just as iconic, because the Egyptian locale allowed it to distinguish itself from the usual gothic or Transylvanian settings. The bandaged look was a also very simple yet recognizable, and artists in the new Middle Ages are quite adapt at depicting them no matter what tools are at their disposal.

Perhaps the second most well known mummies, after the Egyptian ones, are those found in Peru, where places like the Tacoma, similarly arid, allowed a an efficient form of mummifications, and which were the subject of veneration in the Incan empire. They did not use the sophisticated embalming methods of Ancient Egypt, and were not bandaged, but interestingly enough, drawings of South American mummies, by Medieval American, depict them as such. In fact, in many illustrations and stories, Mummies in Peru are treated as indistinguishable from those of the Pharaohs.

This is for several reasons. One is it's quite simply hard to have precise geographical knowledge to your medieval denizens--one end of the world is as good as another. A huge contributing factor can also be found with the kingdom of New Mexico--there are definitely echoes of Neo Egtyptianism in God King of the American desert, and in the New Age religion they follow. Many have in fact, deliberately sought to combine the aesthetics and customs of both Mesoamerica, and Ancient Egypt, and the rulers often build pyramids to house their tombs in fashions that have made it very blurry for much of more Anglo-American types, and they figure everything south of New Mexico also strongly resembles it. Also as a result, they think South America is often plagued by Mummies in the Karloffian mode.

Or at least the drier. Zombies have strongly been reinvented since the Romero days, and are treated effectively like a metaphor for widespread epidemics, but have their roots in Voodoo, and were not widespread hordes that spread their infection through biting, but a more intimate form of sorcery, where the walking dead are not walking viruses, but thralls. The way Voodoo has flowered in the Caribbean and Gulf Coast of Medieval America, and that the culture of the 30th century is something like a "back to basics", or peeling off a newer layer of paint, means that Zombies have in some respects, returned to their Haitian roots, and sort of serve as the shambling, mystically imbued, but not endless, tropical counterpart to the desert dwelling mummies.

Amish Paradise

 The Amish are known for a peculiar way of life that is quite a complex orthodoxy that often comes down to the simplification "people who avoid all things modern".

Those who embark on "civilization collapses" fiction can be of two minds on the subject. On one hand, they would not directly feel too much of a pinch from a world that is no longer industrialized. On the other, such an upheaval would probably create roaming bands of marauders, and their pacifism would put them at a severe disadvantage. 

This may be a "truth is somewhere in the middle" situation. Their fundamental understanding of farming and craft would be immensely useful knowledge in a world that has to relearn all these things. The most pragmatic of said marauders could certainly make some kind of deal with them for goods, a truly pragmatic (and maybe somewhat compassionate) marauder would  arrange for some kind of learning exchange, and make sure nobody else touched them. Those Amish may, to some degree, agree, though it may come with some strings to perhaps call ceasefires, or attend their services once a week.

This couldn't last forever. Sooner or later society is going to become too belligerent, or desperate, and with their skills eventually no longer being unique, their protection will probably disappear. Or perhaps we will just see a society gradually and naturally blend into their surroundings, as many cultures do. The Amish, as a distinct cultural entity, will not exist as an entity by 2900. But if they're fortunate, Medieval America will have learned something from them.

Animal Icongoraphy

Many animals have become iconic in American culture, even as mascots for Americans, or something evocative of the American outdoorsman. There's the Bald Eagle, the Bison, the Puma, the Rattlesnake, as well as critters that can be found throughout the world but still scream "Americana", like deer, wolves, bears (though specifically the Grizzly)

Sometimes an animal becomes part of American iconography despite not being native at all. This is especially true with most livestock, especially horses and cows (though it didn't take long for horses to become an indelible part of American culture.). Some old world creatures however, are exotic even to the European descended, but are, if not as American as apple pie, certainly don't evoke "beast from the other side of the world" like they did to Europeans in the Middle Ages.

The popularity of elephants is pretty easy to understand. Their are very, very distinct looking, and 

Aces and Cheveliars

 It's somewhat poetic that the U.S. Air Force was created in Ohio, which was is the epicenter for what constitutes Medieval American chivalry. Both became the cruxes for premiere fighting forces for similar reasons--the way the plains meet the rivers and mountains are an optimum terrain for both the supply train and training. While the medieval knight is often considered more the equivalent to the tank, there are a few parallels to the air force pilot, and the heavy cavalry, at least on a cultural level.

In fact, the early European Air Forces were, more often than not, scions of waning aristocracies (And it's usually where modern European monarchs will find themselves involved), and it was not an uncommon branch for American old money families to have. As many medievalist will tell you, heavy cavalry was one of the more cost prohibitive ways to serve--horses, arms, and even the staff needed to maintain knightliness. The resemblance is not unlike a crew needed to maintain a plane, or in fact, a pit crew, which also maybe gives knights an air of race car drivers.

An American knight thus sometimes resembles the prototypical Tom Cruise character--cocky, brash, but, at least in literature extolling then, fearless and competent. The new Top Gun movie also depicts the pilots having colorful, personalized decals on their helmets. This may seem rather unrealistic and overly Hollywood, but that's because it's a very new development, implemented at the tail end of the 2010's. This would go well in hand with the neo-Medieval knights. Knights always had a sense of flair, for both reasons of vanity and practicality (To know whom is whom on the battlefield). In an era where warriors are a little more individualistic, and clarity, not stealth is, more of a going concern in war, knights would embrace flourishes that make them more distinctive.

Of course, just as manned jets may see themselves growing in obsolescence with the creation of drone warfare, there's always the possibility of 3th century knights falling out of favor at any time.

Boss Hogg

The original middle ages had livestock that was much smaller than we see today. Partly was because of malnutrition, partly because they had not been bred for high yield. A sometimes exception was the pig, as they were often left to forage--and in warmer climates, they were so good at it they would become big--and vicious. Pigs, not just boars, pigs could ravage the countryside, and some, particularly children, would find themselves murdered at their hooves. Medieval France would actually put pigs in the seat of a murder trial.

In southern America, which is even warmer than France, the feral hogs are even more formidable, and their body counts more considerable. The sheriffs of the Deep South often have titles of "Swinebane", and rings or medallions signifying their office are often decorated with pigs. In fact, many surnames of sheriffs end up being some derivative of "hog".

And yes, their are murder trials for feral pigs in the new middle ages. Summary execution is pretty common (not that non-criminal pigs escape execution), and why let a good slaughter go to waste? Punitive barbecues are often held, and interestingly, the nature of southern barbecues (with pork) vs western barbecues (with beef or mutton) are another source of cultural clash between the farmers and the herdsmen. It's an often circulated piece of propaganda that the cowboys are ultimately cowards, and they only roast the docile bovine-they don't vanquish something as fierce as the bloodthirsty hog.

Plain Sense

 There's a certain irony that Russia, and in some respects Ukraine, is known for being cold, inland, and full of plains territory, is considered so foreign as to not truly be Western in the way European countries often are, has a topography not unlike the Rust Belt, which is often considered as American as American. This especially rings true in the New Middle Ages, with the frontier of the so-called "civilized world" falling back.

So it looks to wisdom to consider life in much of Medieval America just as similar to the that of Medieval Russia, as the countries like England or German which influenced the populace on a more cultural level. Harsher winter probably create a harsher people, but it's also quite possible folks in the Great Lakes bathe much more than many other denizens in the continent, due to the access to timber. 

In some respects, that denizens of the area come from generations that often experienced the hardest economic depressions created a frugal, cynical people, and the reversion to medievalism did not help matters. Russians in olden times often believed in something a zero sum game to a downright mystical level, and that probably hangs over the denizens of Michigan, West Virginia, and Upstate New York. 

Also, while the Orthodox faith has not as huge a impact as other denominations, the Non-Denominational Church very likely looked to to its structure for emulation, as opposed to the top-down Papacies, or the decentralized Protestant faiths.

That the Mississippi and Ohio and Great Lakes probably resemble the Russia of the Middle Ages more than the English Channel or Mediterranean also  means there's a good chance some of some inevitable parallels.

For the latter half of the 20th Century, the Unites States of the Soviet Union represented opposing poles on the political access, each trying to define itself what the other isn't. But there is no capitalism or communism in a pre-Industrial world, and in this new world, they might not be so different. Who knows how much closer America may come if having to start over from the same place as its rival.

The Global South

 In order to hew close to the general spirit of "In much of the world, the new Middle Ages was a rerun of the old Middle Ages.", to establish America as unique, one has to sort of think about what it means. Europe, and to a certain extent, Japan fit into our ideas of a feudal society. The Muslim world of the time does not 100 percent correspond with our ideas of "medieval", but there was a medieval world it regularly interacted it. It's easy to imagine China as a distinct 1000-1500 version itself. But there are many places it's probably harder, even with this very far-fetched scenario, to set the clock back with.

I've before mentioned something akin to a grace period. That is "the rules" allow, with certain discretion, more elements that existed up to 1600. This would largely be regarded with perhaps a post-Byzantine Anatolia, or Latin America, where Mexico to Peru would be a society probably not too dissimilar to the post-Columbian world, but still recognizably medieval. But besides the former United States, many parts of the world can't simply be rerun. This is the global south.

Australia and New Zealand have been as thoroughly remade in the image of colonials as the United States, and even if, isolated from the sphere of its Anglican cousins, it begins to absorb the demographics and cultures of its geographic neighbors, it would still be very, irrevocably different from an Australia of the pre-1600's. Said isolation, and that suitable farming would make a very small sliver would mean any sort of agrarian medieval type societies would not be considerably large--the population would most likely tap out at three million, and New Zealand maybe just as much. In short it, would be radically different, but perhaps not really noticed by much of the world.

South America is always a tricky thing to think about resetting. Once again, the idea is it could split the difference between the Pre-Columbian and early Colonial society for much of the continent. The interior, particularly the Amazon Basin, could very likely be seen as reclaimed by the indigenous tribes. There's also very likely a chance Brazil, one of the major nations of the world today, gets hit hard by escarpment. That is, the very fertile highlands, and the easily traversed coasts, are so stratified by the cliffs without industrial intervention, that it's very hard to form larger and complex kingdoms. A lot of sustenance farming villages on the interior, a few trading ports on the beaches. But where we'll probably see the U.S. challenged in "New Middles Ages' by scope is the Southern Cone, which is by far the most Europeanized, has some of the best farmland and rivers, and is definitely in a place where it pursue its own destiny, even away from most of Catholic Latin America. Probably something like twenty million people live in a "whole new experience".

South Africa is perhaps the continent's nation that has been most touched by colonialism, but demographic displacement has also been considerably smaller than Australia or America. Those of European descent make up approximately 10%, and could easily be absorbed or ousted. However, a westernized cultural memory, and a relatively temperate climate, and strategic maritime locations could lean itself to denser and more urbanized populations than that area saw in the "original" middle ages. 

The Mothman Cometh

The Snowbird Circuit

 Conventional wisdom is that the average medieval commoner did not travel very far in their lifetime. While it would certainly not be unusual for someone to have never seen more than fifteen miles outside their home village, there was quite a few means for travel, and a lot of incentive to do so, as Medieval Americans could see a wide variety of climate--harsh, snowy summers in the north and humid, steaming summers in the south. With little in the way of oil or air conditioners to mitigate that. For those who could manage, there  are a few ways to get around that.

Entertainment: As mentioned before, members of the noble class tend to hold tournaments. The season starts at roughly the end of a Harvest season, where people have time to watch it, and the circuit will sort of outrun the cold, until the last championships somewhere around January, usually called the Super Bowl. With them follow the smiths, merchants, prostitutes, and just about any industry that would pop up when a city of tournament tents takes root. This is also sometimes the plan for travelling entertainers, though some seek to swim upstream, knowing that castles and communities that are cooped up and bored during the winter might be more welcoming to someone who's wares are song and cheer. 

Pilgrimage: Pilgrimages were common in the Middle Ages, usually to visit the most prestigious monasteries, and during the core of the Middle Ages, it was imperative to visit the Holy Land. Americans certainly recognize the significance of the Holy Land, but are extremely unlikely to ever see it, so they hold pilgrimages to places significant to the American Church. In the warmer months they include Plymouth and  Rhode Island, (Near Cape Cod and Newport, very popular destinations to cool off in the Industrial Age) to Philadelphia (where the Declaration was signed)  to Washington D.C. (the capital of the Non-Denom world) to Jacksonville (Near St. Augustine, the first place in America to be colonized.) Fairly convenient, really. 

Warfare: One can always just embark on a military career--this being a Medieval society--there aren't a lot of standing armies in Medieval America, but compared to Europe, there are a lot of mercenary bands. The Northern states do not like to engage in warfare in the winter months, when fights are still going on a relatively short distance away, so the mercenary industry is able to keep busy fairly often. But even outside of the threat of being slain in battle, it's generally not as smooth as the pilgrimage of the Eastern seaboards, who are very much invested in keeping their path of providence from turning into a war zone. Still, some are more inclined, or just better, and taking the plundering and pillaging path to getting a little sun, than quiet contemplation in a monastery.