Medieval Stasis

Medieval Stasis describes the state of essentially all fantasy worlds that are not steampunk. As the title implies, most fantasy worlds are stuck at a technological level roughly equivalent to most of Europe in the year 1000.

On the one hand, it would superficially appear that most of Europe was stuck in a developmental rut between the fall of the Roman Empire and the start of the early modern era in the 1400s, wherein the creation of centralized nation-states and the end of feudalism (eventually) led to a blossoming of science. However, even throughout the medieval era of Europe, advancements were being made: the rise of windmills, improvement in construction, the creation of plate armour, and the development of the very first guns. Although the overall effect on the common man from generation from generation were not noticeable, gradual refinements in tools and methods gradually accumulated as the centuries went by, eventually making future refinements possible.

However, most fantasy writers ignore this fact and keep their lands at a developmental level equivalent to Europe in the middle of the medieval ages, around the year 1000, until the universe collapses. A knight's ancestors five thousand years ago fought against Orcs on the back of a great warhorse, wielding sword and lance, wearing plate and a greathelm, just as he does at present. At best, some groups in the universe may be more advanced than others (for instance, China or Abbasid Caliphate analogues will usually have better technology), but nobody will be developing new technology.

Even if an author claims that magic makes technological development unnecessary, it still often makes no sense as to why society decided to stop its progress so firmly in medieval times, as opposed to any other particular period of history, like the Roman empire or ancient Egypt (which was a remarkably conservative society, changing very little between 2000 BCE and 0 BCE and only adopting new technology when someone conquered them with it).

But hey, at least we get dudes with pauldrons.

Notable Examples of Medieval Stasis

• Lord of the Rings: Tolkien was a naturalist that wasn't too fond of industrialization, so the heroes of his stories preferred Medieval Stasis as well. Of course, unlike most of the writers that he inspired, Tolkien had five hundred pages of background explaining why (namely, Middle-Earth was in a state of decline due to the ravages of Morgoth and Sauron, and the decline of Númenor and the elves), so it's much more excusable.

Notable Examples without Medieval Stasis

• Warhammer Fantasy Battles: The Empire and the Dwarfs are actually about the level of most European countries around 1500, at the start of the early modern period and the Renaissance. They're also advancing, albeit slowly (the constant Chaos invasions don't help).
• Iron Kingdoms: The Iron Kingdoms setting is one of the best examples of steampunk. They're developed to the extent of the Victorian era (the mid-to-late 1800s), with a slow-but-growing industrial revolution and the discovery and development of electricity and chemistry.
• Eberron: Eberron is so-called "dungeon punk," so the technology is a strange mixture of all eras (plus a lot of magic!).

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