I'm not very well educated in the fields of history and philosophy so I constantly have to google for references to people or concepts I've only heard of before.

It's much more rewarding this way than how I went through half of the book in the past ignoring a lot of things I was ignorant of, but it's a way slower process.

It's an experience I'm thoroughly enjoying, but some of the characters described seem to me like they couldn't be real people, but this might just be that my way of thinking as someone living now clashes so heavily with how actual monks in the 14th century thought about the world. I'm giving the author the benefit of the doubt on this for now, as, again, I'm very ignorant on this topic and he was an actual academic in the broader field we're discussing.

> some of the characters described seem to me like they couldn't be real people

Could you elaborate? I'd like to hear what you find dissonant.

Apologies, I didn't find the time to look up a specific example as none came to mind on the spot.