A Knight at the Movies: Medieval History on Film / Edition 1

by John Aberth

Overview

Imagining the Middle Ages is an unprecedented examination of the historical content of films depicting the medieval period from the 11th to the 15th centuries. Historians increasingly feel the need to weigh in on popular depictions of the past, since so much of the public's knowledge of history comes from popular mediums. Aberth dissects how each film interpreted the period, offering estimations of the historical accuracy of the works and demonstrating how they project their own contemporary era's obsessions and fears onto the past.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415938860
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/29/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

John Aberthreceived his Ph.D. in medieval history from Cambridge University in England and teaches history at several colleges in Vermont. He is author of From the Brink of the Apocalypse: Confronting Famine, War, Plague, and Death in the Later Middle Ages , also published by Routledge.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1 The Holy Grail of Hollywood: King Arthur Films 2 Lights! Camera! Pillage!: Viking Films 3 God (and the Studio) Wills It!: Crusade Films 4 Splendid in Spandex: Robin Hood Films 5 Welcome to the Apocalypse: Black Death Films 6 Movies and the Maid: Joan of Arc Films Afterword For Further Reading Index

Editorial Reviews

"This is an ambitious and exciting book. The author combines very up-to-date historiography -- some of it controversial but all of it interesting -- with a sensitive and deep appreciation of the art of the films. Any teacher of film or medieval studies should make use of this valuable resource." -- Jeremy duQuesnay Adams, Southern Methodist University

From the Publisher