Batman's Village of Fools: Gotham, England
EducationTom Scott•251.2K Views
Why This Video Went Viral
This video achieved moderate visibility primarily due to strong early engagement signals.
Content in the "Education" category typically performs well when it triggers
immediate viewer interaction within the first 24–48 hours.
Audience & Engagement Insights
Based on historical trends, videos like this resonate strongly with viewers interested in
education content, particularly audiences who engage through likes
and repeat watches rather than comments alone.
With 17.0K likes relative to 251.2K views,
this video demonstrates above-average engagement efficiency for its category.
Editorial Analysis
There's a link from a 13th century legend, to a 16th century insult book, to a 19th century writer, to a 20th century comic book hero. And it starts in a small village near Nottingham, in the time of Robin Hood. Here's why Batman comes from Gotham City.\n\n(I am reliably assured that the modern-people of Gotham are not, in fact, fools.)\n\nMany versions of the Merry Tales were printed: the earliest reference I can find a reference to is 1540 here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/nottingham/article_1.shtml\n\nFurnivall (1870), The fyrst boke of the introduction of knowledge made by Andrew Borde, of physycke doctor. A compendyous regyment; or, A dyetary of helth made in Mountpyllier, is available here: https://archive.org/details/fyrstbokeofintro00boorrich\n\nThe Bill Finger phone-book story is found in multiple places, but I'm quoting Steranko's History of Comics p44 (admittedly as referenced in Wikipedia, I didn't have time to track down the original).\n\nI'm at http://tomscott.com\non Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott\non Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott\nand on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo
