Comment by anthk

>hasn't much beyond blacksmithing and so was able keep those basic skills.

That's an Anglo-Saxon black legend. How do you think boats and trebuchets were made? Navigation in the ocean without trig? Astrolabes? Yeah, sure. Year 600 wasn't the same as 1200.

Read about Alphonse X. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfonso_X_of_Castile