Islands

 When asked what the population of Medieval Canada was, I answered "Somewhere between four and five million". From what I can tell, "central" Canada (Ontario/Quebec) has about three million people, and western Canada about a million between them. What we don't know for sure is how many people live in what's know as Atlantic Canada, or the Maritimes. 

In fact, the Medieval America project overwhelmingly explores what we would call the Continental United States, and it's closest borders. Occasional maps will give us a glimpses of the most adjacent surroundings--we know that British Columbia is part of the Northwest culture, Cuba and the Bahamas are part of an overall Gulf culture (Secretarial States and whatnot), and that Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are very much assimilated into the American Church (and the latter officially absorbed into the United States). We know a little less about Quebec, but we do know it remains as a political fiefdom and remains Roman Catholic (Likely leaning into it, resembling its Colonial days). 

White does not cover areas that are much further out, even if those areas are currently part of the U.S., some states, some not. This is probably to be expected, as the maps would have to be extensive, and covering a lot of "dead space" like ocean, or unpopulated wilderness. Alaska, already not filled with a lot of people, and most living in cities propped up by modern infrastructure, would most likely simply revert to the indigenous tribes that lived there for thousands of years, and shake off the past 200 years of developments like a thin coat of paint. Hawaii would probably be a little less isolated, as an important pit stop in the Pacific Basin. However, as the cities crumbled into nothingness, it's very likely the Native population, which has never fully accepted the coup orchestrated by the American mainland, would almost immediately divorce itself from the United States from a political or cultural standpoint. It would ultimately not be part of "Medieval America", except in any abstraction. Puerto Rico, which has been talked about for Statehood, would probably be more outside the American sphere than say,  Cuba, but it's pretty easy to imagine it's culturally very much like southern Florida.

And then there's New Foundland. One of the quirkier parts of Canada, with its own accents and culture.You could say it's not part of Medieval America. You could say it's not even a part of Medieval Canada. It did not even join Canada until the middle of the 20th century (After World War 2). It has its own time zone. While it's not too far off the coast geologically, the shortest boat ride is off the absolute most northern part of the coast. Most of the people, most of the culture, most of the activity is on the Eastern half of the Island. In Medieval America it's possible they only barely interact with Americans more than Europeans. (Most of the interaction would be the fairly limited pilgrimages and trade between the two continents.) It's probably unlikely they're able to be the source of Neo-Vikings, because the Northeast of America actually has the best centralized navy (It's quite possible they tried out Viking style raiding, and the U.S. nipped it in the bud. It's also possible the U.S. was the aggressor from the start, keeping New Foundland from growing its own barbarian troops.) The population is probably not very high--right now it's about half a million, but like Maine, it's probably not going to experience too bad of a crash, either. But however many people live there, when White talks about the population of U.S. and Canada having 61 million people, New Foundland is not part of those stats either way. It is its own separate thing.

The Holiday Season

North America has a far more diverse climate than Europe, and this has resulted in some quirky habits. The best time for many to hold tournaments is right after the Harvest season. People have free time, the dys are getting shorter, and armies are ready to lie low. (But are still pretty restless) In today's Canada, they celebrate Thanksgiving around the time Americans celebrate Columbus Day, which generally makes sense as seasons are shorter and they wrap up the harvest much quicker. Thanksgiving is now across the Non-Denominational World, a late November holiday, and the residents of Ontario have largely adopted the custom, although Quebec retains its traditional early October Thanksgiving. Still, Canadians start their tournament/Holiday season rotation right around October--it's generally a good start for preliminary rounds.

Once we get to the Midwest, we see the transition from the more Autumnal festivals to the Yuletide ones, and the décor switches from pumpkins and haystacks to holly and evergreens. It's right around the December solstice that the majority of tournaments happen below the Mason Dixon line, with knights and nobles using it as an excuse to be snowbirds and holiday in the warmer climes.

The heart of the Deep South--the Carolinas, Georgia, Mississippi is where they have the Christmas Bowl tournament, and a week later, the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day itself. There's a little bit of tension from the religous folks, but it's better than slaughtering each other.

Once we head into January, we have the less "official" but still very prestigious Super Bowl tournament in January, and a few weeks later, around the Gulf Coast, there's the downturn in tournaments for "Mardi Gras", as that is not an official Non-Denom holiday. After that, the tournaments largely stop for the rest of the year while people cleanse their souls and sow their crops.

"The Modern Prometheus"

 

Frankenstein's Monster is considered at least number two in the holy trinity or Mt Rushmore of classic monsters. Along with Dracula, he has feet in both Victorian literature and more modern Hollywood, and is on the shortlist of anything evoking an old school, creepy feel. However, he occupies a strange middle ground in monster lore. Vampires, witches, and werewolves spring from late medieval beliefs, and are relatively easy to fold into medieval settings. By contrast, Mary Shelley's novel credited as the first entry in science fiction, and laboratories and electricity are considered as much a part of the lore as its gothic trappings. This may be why the subject matter has had a more difficult time transitioning than even older monsters, it's not quite ancient enough nor truly "futuristic enough". As well as the idea of stitched together corpses being someone aesthetically unpleasing to people.

But it's actually interesting if one goes back to the original text. Stiches and laboratory flasks and a lever collecting electricity are mentioned nowhere. In fact, it's implied Victor Frankenstein has looked back and reverse engineered the practice of alchemy, which would be more familiar to the, or a medieval world. Long before Boris Karloff''s lumbering, flat-headed, bolt-necked take crystalized the image forever, one can see early book art and even advertisements for stage productions, which paint a different picture than what we're used to. While there are variances on whether the creation is supposed to be good-looking, there's a generally common thread of it being long-haired and donning the apparel of classical antiquity, emphasizing the oft-dropped subtitle of "the modern Prometheus", and evoking the sense that Frankenstein is mucking around in more arcane and archaic knowledge than pushing the limits of "mad science".

In fact, what's also of note is that these illustrations dress Baron Frankenstein (He would not be a "Doctor", the textual version is basically a college dropout.) in clothes more likely found in the renaissance than the Regency era of the novel's setting. If this was in fact Frankenstein's costuming, there's a strong resemblance to dramatic depictions of Doctor Faustus. This would make sense, as Doctor Faustus was probably one of the earliest icons of "Forbidden knowledge", and costumers would be most inspired by him. The classical "alchemist" Frankenstein might be more appealing to audiences who see forbidden knowledge as something forgotten and buried, as opposed to on the precipe.

It's unknown what Frankenstein or his monster would look like to the denizens of 2900, as there's probably a considerable drift from any standardized look. It would be interesting if it came full circle to the toga-clad perversion of Adonis.

 

The king of Scotland had died without a son, and the king of England, a cruel pagan known as Edward the Longshanks, claimed the throne of Scotland for himself.

Medieval America is a religiously diverse place, perhaps the most diverse for a pre-Industrial society since the classical era. This is generally convenient for warmongers, as their strange rites and foreign tongues make for good propaganda to justify taking up arms. Even for places ostensibly share the same faith, the range in topography and centuries of legends and well, the urge to pick a fight have people even considering their neighbors rather queer. Each region has its quirks that its enemies spread stories over.

New England, has seen the exact details of the Salem Witch trials lost to time, and as far as many are concerned, the region is the gateway to Hell. For their part, New Englanders see themselves as the capital of both reason and piety, and everyone else is just falling behind.

The Mid-Atlantic is seen by many as an empire brought low by decadence and sin, who's more eserotic elements are merely keeping a relatively low profile. For their part, the people of the Tri-State see their people are the most civilized on the continent.

The Midwest is seen by many as a bizarre place where the oceans have no salt all things converge. For their part the Midwesterners consider themselves the most American of Americans, and the true heirs the nation.

The Cowboys of the plains are seen by many as brutes commanded by Shamans, who might as well be part beast. For their part, the herdsmen see themselves as the only men who are truly men, and their faith as one which has shed all pagan trappings.

The Mormons are seen as as a mysterious, insect-like sect. For their part, Mormons see themselves as cleaner and more efficient than anyone.

The New Agers are considered by many to be outright wizards with staves and everything. For their part, the New Agers think they're the only ones not doing magic.

The Californians are seen as the most opulent and mysterious of all the cults. For their part, Californians are the only enlightened one, and that everyone else is possessed by Thetans.

The Cascadians are seen as hallucinating Hippies are barely even American. For their part, they totally consider everyone else ogres.

The denizens of the Secretarial states are seen as a group of reptile-worshippers part of a matriarchal coven. For their part, the Louisianans say "Do we do magic? Maybe? I guess? Who cares?"

Mutants

 I was watching a one of those specials about mythical monsters (in particular, the Minotaur), and as a lot of these specials tend to do, it appealed to people's knowledge of more recent popular culture. In this case, the reference was to the X-Men, in comparing them to various animal hybrids throughout mythology--your Minotaurs, your Centaurs, your Mermaids. I sort of found it maybe a little easy, and to be honest, not completely accurate, as there's relatively few X-Men characters with animal motifs. But it is possible, one supposes, to make a sizable lineup of exclusively animal based X-Men characters. There's Wolverine, Beast, Wolfsbane, Angel, and if one were to really stretch it out, Nightcrawler and Phoenix. (The 2000 movie also really played up the animal side of the so-called Evil Mutants) In fact, this panel from an issue proposes the possibility of a lineup with most of these members. (Interestingly, one is Siryn, named after the mythical singing creature, and another, Namorita, has the wings/mermaid aspect of the mythical Siryn). But in general, X-Men characters have super-powers found among most regular superhero characters, the word "mutant" is usually just used to distinguish characters who develop those powers spontaneously with an origin story.

To be honest, I think the special name-dropped the X-Men because it's generally seen as a more serious use of mutants than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which has always been more cartoonish and tongue-in-cheek, but who's mutant characters are overwhelmingly bipedal animals or some kind of hybrid. It's quite possible over time, oral tradition and the like would conflate the two franchises, and "mutant" would almost exclusively refer to the American equivalent to Satyrs and Centaurs, which I don't think ever had an umbrella term in various ancient mythologies. I think people might use the term "monster", but monster itself would be an umbrella term which would cover undead beings like zombies and vampires, or ostensibly less sapient beings like the Jersey Devil or Sea Serpents.

It does raise questions about how beings like the Mothman and Bigfoot, which are more naturalistic, and more overtly supernatural, respectively, fit into the taxonomy. Then again, formal classifications with folklore are a relatively recent practice. In any case, the word "Mutant"used to apply to mythological beings would be in line with a Medieval America where more contemporary, clinical terms like "President" or "District" are used for fiefdoms.

Runs On Dunkin

Coffee is not grown in North America, and thus is something of a luxury. The Northeast of America was historically coffee crazy, especially on the drive to work. Cafes aren't really a thing anymore, and for that matter, neither are commutes. But during the collapse of America, coffee was hard for a lot of people to give up, and it is nice to have hot drinks in the winter months.

Root coffees: Chicoree root is the closest people came to approximating the taste of coffee, and dandelion is not too far off. They tend to be gathered like wildflowers, which makes them inexpensive but not always the most reliable.

Grain coffees: Grinding and watering wheat, oat or barley is not an unpopular choice for breakfasts, but the most common source are grains that are "on their way out" so it doesn't have the best reputation. Almost the Instant Coffee of the equation.

Cider: In New England, much as apple cider is usually the alcoholic beverage of choice, it's climbed in popularity here. The transition was not easy--many coffee aficionados were very put out and avoided out of principle, but the booming cider industry has come to mean it is the constant companion to donuts.

Path of Providence and the Ivy League

There's always been something of a dichotomy between young radical and educated elites.

Because the Non-Denominational Church set up shop in the old state capitals, major headquarters in the Northeast are fairly clustered together, to the point there are ten routes from city to city that are less than a hundred miles from each other, both New England (and including Albany) and the Mid-Atlantic have clusters of District HQ's that can be traveled in a fairly convenient circle. In fact, Providence to Boston is a relatively short trip even by Medieval standards. This means an often traversed road the hospitality industry takes advantage of. The location of the old Foxboro Stadium is not the commercial complex it was in the old days, but Patriot's Place is still the location of a decent-sized inn.

But what's also notable is District Headquarters are not too far from the old Ivy League colleges. Havard and Brown are right across the river, Princeton is only a few hours by coach, and Dartmouth, while fairly isolated is on the way between Concord and Montpelier. Columbia is located in the strategic and prestigious New York City. Only Cornell, the forgotten Ivy League, is out of truly out of the way for those who wish to traverse the circle. These ancient Universities are scaled back, and have sort of returned to the roots of colleges as religious institutions. So we have the Path of Providence, a circuit traversed by young, ecclesiastical intellectuals.

In times of strife though, the Path is occupied by a more motely flock of believers. In the 1960's, the counterculture sort of embraced Jesus as the ultimate Hippie, and this tends to come back in style when society looks like it's going to collapse and clerical intellectuals runs head first into youthful rebellion.Thus, the Christian Scholar circuit is occupied by unkempt students who are austere, and even self-flagellate, but preach "free love", and campfire orgies even break out.

Makeshifting

Avengers

While it's presumptuous to think just any pop culture phenomenon will endure a thousand years, Earth's Mightiest heroes seem to be more tailor made for the world of Medieval America than most. Many characters like Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye almost seem tailor-made for an adventuring party. Captain America's mix of chainmail and star spangles makes him a very "If he didn't exist we'd have to invent him" figure. And of course, the presence of Thor, and honest-to-God figure from actual medieval times to legitimize it. The first Avengers movie almost goes out of its way to evoke dragons, ogres and the Mouth of Sauron. I'm not the biggest fan of "scientist=wizard", but they definitely made it easy.

But even if it's not the same exact lineup (The team roster  from the comic changes over the years), it definitely left an indelible effect, not just on America, but the world. Just about every country has its own version of The Avengers, even if altered to accommodate its own regional culture.

The lineup we're most familiar with is probably mostly located in the Non-Denominational world, as Captain America definitely comes across the most as a sort of American Roland figure. As we move away, fidelity to the United States as a concept would fade. In fact, the Cowboys would not be big on the knights of the forest zone, and less likely to appreciate pagan figures like Thor. This would see a huge break in the "classic" Avengers. As we go out west, we would see Captain America altered to resemble the country faith of New Mexico, California or the Pacific Northwest, possibly merged with Iron Man. Thor may be replaced with Thunder Gods from Indigenous or East Asian cultures, less influenced by Europe. Other Marvel heroes like Spider-Man or the Human Torch, or wholly new creations to fill in the gaps, but the core usually consists of an armored/shield-bearing hero, a female warrior, a monster, an archer and a Thunder God.

Shadow Theaters

A subtle effect of Covid-19 is the spike in attendance for the Drive-In Theater. A signature of post-war America, its popularity waned due to things like technology and sprawl, but locations still number in the hundred. In some ways, this would be the hardest to transfer to Medieval America, as there are no cars, and it is unlikely every member of the hoi poloi would have their own horse and buggy. But how do

Something that has definitely seen a resurgence is the puppet show. When "turning the clock back", I think it's best to think the most enduring staples would be things that don't have to transform as much. That is, the most popular subject of puppet shows would be things that had already existed as puppets--Pinocchio, The Muppets, Howdy Doody. (Toy Story might also be an example, as the movies are already something of a high tech puppet show, and Woody was the star of one in-story)

Shadowplays are one of the oldest forms of "high tech" entertainment. Not particularly common in Middle Ages Europe, it would probably be something of interest to people wanting to recreate the big budget spectacles and cartoons that would not be possible in a low-tech age. For a few decades, people might be able to use existing drive in screens. Recreating canvases of that size might be a little more difficult in the post industrial age, although the Hydraulic Empires of the Southwest (Which are always the most popular places for drive-ins, due to low inclement weather) might be able to whip up something. However, smaller scale shadow theaters could still operate around America, and they would largely resemble the drive-ins by being outdoors, and taking advantage of the nighttime. By contrasting light and shadow, they would be able to create effects and suspend disbelief (and better catch people's attention) the way they wouldn't be able to do with "live performances". (It would also give a LOT of leeway on the roles actors could play)

Puppetry is the most obvious use, but occasionally the use of human actors would be possible. The most popular stories would likely be genres with distinctive silhouettes, and a relative lack of talking. Westerns, swashbucklers, stories with vampires and with superheroes. Superman, Batman, Captain America and Thor--heroes with iconic capes and helmets would be the easiest to convey. Spider-Man would also not be difficult, as he's especially featureless, and could be conveyed with a lot of crouching. Also, the Hulk if you can find someone with the physicality. More generic characters with "laser powers" like Iron Man or Green Lantern would be difficult.

Other films that could be adapted that have recognizable silhouettes include Star Wars, The Exorcist, Psycho, and Gone With the Wind. Lord of the Rings would be very popular, as it would be easy to use height and pointy accouterments to distinguish the races of various characters In fact, the 1978 Lord of the Rings gives us a very good model on what it could be like. Puppety could also be used to convey popular cartoon characters--once again we go back to the basics and favor characters like Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat who were able to work with very, very simple designs. It may even be feasible to draw from video game characters from the 8-Bit era, like the original Mario Bros. However, this would require performers and craftsmen start doing this right off the bat, so that people are doing it out of tradition, long after they've forgotten what video games and cartoons were.

Tinglit Settlements

As mentioned, the least amount of info White has given is in regards to the Pacific Northwest. All we know, and some of it being conjecture;

1) They're largely Buddhist

2) There is smattering of small fiefdoms, with which contain some of the largest cities on the continent, and are republics--remniscent of the Italian city states.

3) However, a larger, de-urbanized feudal state exists east of the Cascades, called The District of Columbia.

4) The population has a subtle Asian ancestry.

In general, this indicates an Anglo-Asian fusion culture. However, the Northwest is also the home to some of the most sophisticated and high profile Native American cultures. I like to think the indigenous culture has a large influence on the area. Interestingly, I was looking for "Native American armor" I found most of the high profile historical cases belonged to the Tinglit people.

Some of flourishes include using the faces of their ancestors, which is fairly unique for old world cultures, but probably simpatico the ancestor-worshiping east. (Mind you, ancestor worship isn't particularly a part of Buddhism, but it's very likely the Medieval American version is very much a Pan-Asian McReligion) Another interesting facet is that ones with metal have Chinese coins sewn in. Overall, this makes it the best blueprint for the gestalt of Asian, Indigenous, and Medieval influences. Also of note is many Tinglit artifacts have found their way as far as Russia, meaning the concept of a sort of Pacific version of Colombian exchange is already baked in.

Also of note is Tinglit people are Matrilneaer, much like the Secretarial states. Of course, they're very far, but it might be worth considering terms of models and divergent evolution, etc.

Addendum on Heraldry

When I first wrote the piece about heraldry, it was largely off the series finale of Game of Thrones, and thinking about the banners which were a signature of the show. But I did some research on the most common sports team name/mascots, and came up with some interesting results.

It should be no surprise that eagle is the most popular mascot in all sports, from collegiate to pro. It's always been a popular symbol, from antiquity to American culture itself. Even when it's not specifically the bald eagle, we can imagine it being a frequent standard. "Falcon" and "Hawk" are also very ubiquitous, though some may have difficulty distinguishing.

What's very interesting is that the second most common is "tiger", which, as a non-native animal to the Americas, really is a testament to its popularity. I've said before that the tiger might overwhelm the as a heraldic beast for medieval Americans, due the latter's association with monarchies, which Medieval Americans would spend centuries trying to assure people that they're not coming back. Still, lions are no slouches, as larger cats make up half of the top ten. Panthers are also more popular, and as they are conceivably a New World creature, and a symbolic animal to those of African descent, they make sense as a frequent standard. (In fact, the African panther was fairly popular in Medieval Europe, and according to legend had fragrant breath.) The cougar, the quintessential North American "big cat" is another popular one. What's interesting is "wildcat", which in nature is something of a pre-domesticated cat, not extant in the Americas, but it's quite possibly people pick the name because it sounds a little more intimidating than "Bobcat", which may actually be the standard.

The cardinal is the most common non-predatory bird, and is an exclusive new world animal. Its distinctive look, and low key patriotism would probably appeal to those who want to add it to their coat of arms. In fact, it's one of the most six team names that so common as to belong to two respective of the "big four"sports. The others are aforementioned Panthers, as well as Giants, Kings, Rangers and Jets. Now "Giant" could be an interesting symbol, but as for the others--there are no more "jets", as mentioned before American Warlords don't want to associate themselves with European monarchs if they can help it (And a crown would be a flourish anyways), and the concept of "Ranger" would be too vague. (When Texas refers to "Rangers" and New York refers to "Rangers" they've very different things.

It should be said these six don't count team names which are synonymous. For instance Bengals/Tigers, Bears/Bruins, the various names for horses, and then of course, the countless names, some of them fairly derogatory, in reference to American Indians. For better or for worse, it's very likely Native American imagery would make its way into a lot Medieval American heraldry. They're both "exotic", but at the same time warlords would very frequently claim Indian blood for the sake of propriety. Other human warrior classes might be hard to implement into imagery. Maybe somebody who looks like a soldier of Classical Antiquity, but the unlearned would not be able to tell if it was meant to be a Trojan or a Spartan. A cowboy might be unlikely, as cowboys are considered antithetical to the knight's class. And of course, a knight might come across as absurdly redundant for a heraldic symbol, like a tuxedo t-shirt, or wearing a portrait of your own face.

Christmas Through New Years

The interesting thing about the "Holiday Season" in Medieval America is the swing between between the secular and the sacred, and the government vs. the private. In the old Middle Ages, Christmatime was one of revelry, to the point many protestant sects would ban it. its origins as a pagan festival,a nd its status as an industry unto itself in modern times, means there was always a battle between the two forces. Because the Federal Government recognized as Christmas as a holiday, and because the Non-Denominational Church made the U.S. federal holidays into liturgical ones, this brought this conflict into the new era. How do they thread this needle? Well, basically, by making the 12 Days of Christmas a strange cycle of binge and purge.

Basically, starting from roughly Thanksgiving, the habit seems to be party, get your act together, party again, and so and so on. You have a week of feasting and drinking, and then going and praying extra hard to Jesus, and attending services. Then, the winter solstice, and from the 21st, the 24th, you go hog wild, all the rum and Frosty and Rudolph, and wassling that in many ways resembles the Industrial Age Office Christmas Party, and which got the Holiday banned in the first place. But once Christmas Eve is here, you go to services, and spend it with your family. But come the 26th, it's one more week of just having a good time by New Years Eve the expectation is that you get it out of your system and spend New Years Day in the Church. Christmastide does not extend into January, and some scholars even claim the Wise Men were just in time for Christ's birth. It was seen as an economically conservative move.

The Quebecois follow the fairly traditional Catholic European model of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, with the New Year being informally celebrated as a "12th" night, but being largely secular.

The ascetic lifestyle of the Mormons usually keeps Christmas as sacred as possible, equal in both stature and restraint as Easter, thought the tabernacle choir remains a tradition. It should be said some of the singers are career, will sometimes ensure they stay soprano. They recognize the Gergorian calendar, but do not make any big deal of it besides services, especially since nobody gets drunk.

The Buddhists of the Northwests celebrate the new year between January and February 20th, due to the Asian influence, and that the relative mildness of the climate keeps them from really embracing winter festivals. Christmas is celebratted