It's a period of human history marked by rampant economic inequality, entrenched sexism, horrific violence and the Black Death, but our fascination with the Middle Ages only seems to grow stronger.

But should it?

If medieval-inspired shows were grains of sand, you'd have a beach's worth of binge-watching to get through every week.

Yet for all the Game of Thrones cliffhangers and Vikings-era intrigue, there is a deeper reason for why we, in an age of mass communication and space travel, yearn for yesteryear.

A life away from mundane modernity

Phillip Leitch is one of very few people who can accurately claim that they are a knight in shining armour.

Phillip Leitch has won the St Ives Medieval Faire in New South Wales twice. ( Supplied: St Ives Medieval Faire )

For the past five years, 'Sir' Leitch has been entertaining crowds at Ballarat's medieval theme park Kryal Castle, and has even won jousting competitions in the United States and France.

He said there was a certain romance to medieval history that brought people to the tourist attraction.

"A lot of our myths and legends and stories are based in the Middle Ages...there's something quite primal about it," Mr Leitch said.

"I'm a real history buff. I enjoy learning about the Middle Ages but I also enjoy these Game of Thrones shows and stuff like that, equally as much.

"I love getting immersed in the fantasy worlds where people were fighting for their lives day to day. It's an exciting time to think about in what is normally a fairly mundane, modern lifestyle."

Mr Leitch said even as Ballarat's temperature dropped during the winter months, the lure of the medieval kept tourists coming through the doors.

"Winter, as we're in now, is our low period but by doing special shows like the Knights of Fire, it's a reason for people to come back if they've been before and come to see something that's a little bit out of the ordinary.

"We actually do quite well for our numbers in what is would normally be a quiet time of year."

No potatoes, no coffee, and bad beer

Modern medieval events, like jousting, often show the more glorious aspects of medieval culture. ( Supplied: St Ives Medieval Faire )

Historian at the University of Melbourne, Dr Catherine Kovesi, said popular culture had romanticised modern perceptions of life in the Middle Ages.

"You have to imagine a world in which there was no potatoes, no tomatoes, no good strong coffee, fairly bad watery ale, unclean water, uncertainty for food, [a] pretty miserable kind of sanitation," she said.

"So I think for the average person, life would have been really tough on a daily basis."

However, Dr Kovesi said the romantic appeal of medieval culture allowed modern society to have fun with it.

"There are elements of it that are so strongly a part of our culture that we almost don't realise it has been assimilated, so we relate automatically to that culture.

"But then other parts of it do seem so strange and different...it enables us to play these romantic games without even realising it."

A 14th century musical manuscript commissioned by a convent of Dominican nuns in Poissy, near Paris, France. ( 774 ABC Melbourne: Simon Leo Brown )

Dr Kovesi said the mix of horrors like the Black Death, and the virtuosity of chivalry, encouraged more interest in the Middle Ages, but that fact could be blurred with fiction.

"One can have a lot of fun with the period and there's no harm of course in all of the romanticisation, but at the same there can be deep misunderstandings as well, that do have long-term implications," she said.

"It's more deeply satisfying to look at it with close attention to detail.

"As a historian I would say have fun with that but be very attentive with the reality and try to uncover as much as we can about this strange world."