Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s anarcho-syndicalist peasant scene is one of the funniest parts of the film. In it, two peasants claim that they’re living in an autonomous collective, a small self-governed society that doesn’t answer to a higher power, such as a lord, a king or a government. It seems like it’s a crazy idea and just part of the zany humour of the film.

But how accurate is this scene? Could a society like this have existed back in the middle ages, and how would it work? It was a question recently posed on Reddit, and there were some truly fascinating answers. Let’s look into it. Thanks to Redditors Wifi-Knight, Mike Dash, J-Force and Airborne Walrus for their insight. Here’s the original question on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorian… See more great vids like this on our channel!    / yestervid   https://www.yestervid.com   / yestervid     / yestervid