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How Accurate Is Medieval Times?

| astronut1

In many ways, Medieval Times is a campy, theme park-esque place. Done’t get me wrong, I love this place and puppet Shakespeare and I enjoyed it immensely, but from a historical perspective, Medieval Times has more in common with Disney Land than British history. That said, it still contains a nod to this ancient culture that praised and highly ritualized the concept of judicial combat.


The Court

You are cast as a lord or lady, representing a fantasy kingdom (which corresponds to the color of the crown you wear). I was fortunate to get the Red crown for Valentines Day, and was seated right next to the King and Queen (more on that later). The hall was decorated with colored banners and each kingdom was introduced with trumpets and flags. The feast was a celebration of the uniting of all the surrounding kingdoms under the King and Queen. As the king and queen came out, everyone cheered and the royals toasted each kingdom and praised and thanked them all for their service to the crown. The monarchs then promised each lord and lady there a greater reward with sports, games, spectacles, and of course, the feast itself.

Feudalism

Map of the kingdoms in England during the Wars of the Roses

As I mentioned in my Game of Thrones post, a king’s main job was to unite all the lords in the land and get them swear fealty to him, binding the whole country under the crown. It was King Henry VI’s failure to keep the lords in line that resulted in the civil war known as the Wars of the Roses. Feasts like the one in Medieval Times, were essentially propaganda to keep the lords allied with the king. They demonstrated the power of the king and communicated loudly and clearly that the lands would be stronger together, as opposed to endless war. So, this kind of pageantry was political as well as entertaining, and the king and queen’s dialogue preserves the purpose of this kind of feast, which as a history nerd, I deeply appreciated.

Court Sport


While we waited for the feast, the knights entertained the court with displays of their skills and strength. They rode towards the quintain and hit it with their lances, threw spears at a target, and even their horses got a chance to trot without riders, showing how well trained they were.

The knights practice throwing spears at the target

The Joust

Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince Of Tyre has a very elaborate and detailed depiction of how jousts worked in the Medieval and Renaissance eras. Shakespeare knew that the joust was the ultimate display of skill, chivarly, and the ideals of courtly love. Knights were portrayed as romantic heroes who fought for a simple favor from a lady such as a rose or handkerchief and each one defined himself by his strict code of honor and virtue. All these traditions are hightlighted in the scene where Pericles fights in a tournament to gain the love of the princess Taisa:

Enter A pavilion for the [p]reception of King, Princess, Lords, &c.

[Enter SIMONIDES, THAISA, Lords, and Attendants]

Simonides. Are the knights ready to begin the triumph?
First Lord. They are, my liege;750
And stay your coming to present themselves.
Simonides. Return them, we are ready; and our daughter,
In honour of whose birth these triumphs are,
Sits here, like beauty's child, whom nature gat
For men to see, and seeing wonder at.755
[Exit a Lord]

Thaisa. It pleaseth you, my royal father, to express
My commendations great, whose merit's less.
Simonides. It's fit it should be so; for princes are
A model which heaven makes like to itself:760
As jewels lose their glory if neglected,
So princes their renowns if not respected.
'Tis now your honour, daughter, to explain
The labour of each knight in his device.
Thaisa. Which, to preserve mine honour, I'll perform.765
[Enter a Knight; he passes over, and his Squire]
presents his shield to the Princess]
Simonides. Who is the first that doth prefer himself?
Thaisa. A knight of Sparta, my renowned father;
And the device he bears upon his shield770
Is a black Ethiope reaching at the sun
The word, 'Lux tua vita mihi.'
Simonides. He loves you well that holds his life of you.
[The Second Knight passes over]

Chivalric ideals aside, the joust also had a practical purpose- it was a way for knights to train for war, an a way for them to win fame, money, and good reputations at court. As you can see in the photos above, the knights were separated by a wooden barrier called “the tilt wall.” Each knight was identified by the colorful designs on their banners, shields, and the blanket draped over the horse. Once the king or marshal threw down the warder, the knights charged headfirst at their opponents, armed with shields, lances, and full armor. Knights scored points for breaking lances and shields or by knocking other knights off their horses. Naturally, to create the most impressive display possible, all the knights at Medieval Times fell off their horses and no lances broke.


First, and most important, was the Joust Royal, or "tilting," in which mounted knights armed with lances charged at their opponents across a barrier.
This was followed by a "tourney" in which mounted knights ran at each other without a tilt barrier (as pictured here).>
Combatants armed with spears and swords also fought on foot over a barrier 
Best, Michael. "Chivalry and Duels." Internet Shakespeare Editions, University of Victoria, 28 Sept. 2016, ise.uvic.ca/Foyer/citing. Accessed 30 Sept. 2016.

The Lance

The video above is from Weapons That Made Brittain, in which historian and reinactor Mike Loads, explains with vivid details, how Knights learned how to master the art of the Lance, and how the Lance became one of the most important weapons of the knight.

Duels

In the climax of the evening, the knights stopped fighting for sport, and started fighting for power! The Green Knight (as green with envy as his armor and horse), suddenly refused to dismount from his horse and began striking knights left and right. He then challenged the leadership of the king, threatening to rebel from the kingdom, along with his fellow knights! The king then decided to choose a champion to fight the Green Knight to the death! The Red Knight, (who as I mentioned before, represented my kingdom, and threw a rose as a favor to my family), picked up the glove of the envious Green Knight, thus signifying that he would be the champion, and fight for the fate of the kingdom!

Why the Green Knight?

Illustration from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 14th century.

At the hall door comes a frightening figure,
He must have been taller than anyone in the world:
From the neck to the waist so huge and thick,
And his loins and limbs so long and massive,
That I would say he was half a giant on earth.
But more than anything
His color amazed them:
A bold knight riding,
The whole of him bright green. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

In most (but not all) interviews and clips I’ve seen, the Green Knight is the bad guy- the one Knight whom almost everyone is supposed to root against. When I got home, I wondered why this was. After all, isn’t the black knight usually associated with villainy? My personal theory is that this is a subtle reference to the classic medieval story, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The eponymous Knight is supernaturally strong and able to even survive decapitation! He serves in the story, as the ultimate test for our young hero, Sir Gawain. I think the writers of Medieval Times definitely did their homework, making this Knight the antagonist.

The duel began on horses, but quickly changed to single combat on foot. They fought with axes, maces, and of course swords.

Even though dueling was a bloody and dangerous pastime, it has a long history that even kings couldn’t erase. Back in Anglo-Saxon times, private disputes, (such as the murder of one’s father) could be settled through means of a duel. In this period, England was occupied by the Danes, (which we would now call Vikings), and several Viking practices of judicial combat survive. For example, the Hólmgangan, an elaborate duel between two people who fight within the perimeter of a cloak. These kinds of fights continued throughout medieval Europe and, like Medieval Times Shakespeare knew their devastating dramatic potential.

Fighting to Win: The Art of Sword Combat in The Early Modern Period

At the end of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the revenge cycle between Hamlet, Leartes, and Fortinbras, comes to a close using a duel. Hamlet has murdered Leartes’ father but Hamlet did not intentionally kill him. This kind of legal dispute would certainly have been settled with a duel in Saxon times. This is one reason why Leartes scorns Hamlet’s offer of forgiveness at the beginning of the scene, and instead trusts in the outcome of the fight to prove his cause. Hamlet and Leartes begin fighting officially under the terms of a friendly fencing match, but it becomes clear early on that at least in the mind of Leartes, this is actually a blood-combat. Laertes is demanding blood for the death of his father, and like the Green Knight, his fight will decide the fate of the Danish throne.

  • Hamlet. Come for the third, Laertes! You but dally.
    Pray you pass with your best violence;
    I am afeard you make a wanton of me.
  • Laertes. Say you so? Come on. Play.
  • Osric. Nothing neither way.
  • Laertes. Have at you now!

[Laertes wounds Hamlet; then] in scuffling, they change rapiers, [and Hamlet wounds Laertes].

[Laertes falls.]

By the Renaissance, dueling was highly controlled by traditions of honor and fair play. As Laertes admits, poisoning Hamlet and fighting him to the death without his knowledge would be considered treason, and highly dishonorable. The Green Knight does every possible thing to make the audience see him as the villain with his lack of courtesy, dirty tricks, and disdain for the king and queen. He is so dishonorable that, even Americans, who have nothing but disdain for monarchy and in real life, value independence and self-sovereignty, would rather take the side of the monarch and his stooge the Red Knight over the Green Knight, just because he refuses to play fair.

The Weapons

What Would I Do Differently?

Sources:

Sources-

  1. Ur- Hamlet
  2. Lear source- Hollinshed’s Chronicles
  3. Tony Robinson’s Crime and Punishment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yz9VLkNHJU&feature=youtu.be
  4. Truth Of the Swordhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFL2ghH0RLs
  5. Secrets Of the VIking Sword http://youtu.be/nXbLyVpWsVM
  6. Ancient Inventions- War and Conflict http://youtu.be/IuyztjReB6A
  7. Terry Jones- Barbarians (the Savage Celts) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSuizSkHpxI
  8.  Joe Martinez book

If you enjoyed this post, and would like to do some stage combat of your own, sign up for one of my history and stage combat classes on Outschool.com!

Title image for my Stage Combat Course

‘Frankenstein’ and Shakespeare

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Benedick Cumberbatch morphing between Richard III and the Frankenstein monster.

With awards season in full swing, there has been a lot of controversy over two stories that Shakespeare had a great influence over- Hamnet, based on the novel of the same name, and Guillermo Del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein. Despite getting five golden globe nominations, Frankenstein went home with a hand emptier than the monster floating off on an iceberg. Meanwhile, Hamnet took the best actress and best picture award, and is poised for an Oscar nomination.

I’ll review Hamnet at a later date. What I want to do now is discuss the influence Shakespeare and other Renaissance writers had on the classic 1818 novel, and how well Del Toro hints at the story’s Renaissance roots.I would argue that, although rooted in the 10th century Romantic world, Frankenstein has many Shakespearean and Early Modern influences, notably Dr Faustus by Christopher Marlowe,  and The Tempest by Shakespeare

In 1818, a young woman named Mary Wolstonecraft, heard from her friend, a Swiss doctor, about a prominent experiment called galvanism and was faced with the terrifying prospect that man might someday be able to resurrect the dead, (a feat that had only successfully been done by God). When Mary Shelley wrote the novel Frankenstein she redefined the Faustus story and made it about Man not taking responsibility for the consequences of his actions, and also a warning to progress for its own sake without compassion without reason without wisdom. As we shall see, Shelly was a trailblazer in turning the Faustian wizard into the mad scientist.

The Morality Tale

Faustus is one of the oldest and most quintessential German stories it is a morality tale medieval in its origins it also is loosely based on a real person a real scholar named Doctor John foustis and this story was influential on forming German cultural identity and the story itself has inspired countless authors some German and some merely influenced by German culture and it’s very interesting to trace the way that it’s being used And how the the trope of the Faustian bargain has influenced Germany America and and England other Anglo sects and countries so the story of Faustus is Medieval in origin but he became extremely popular when English playwright Christopher Marlowe Shakespeare’s contemporary and rival wrote it down in his play of Dr. Faustus

What’s interesting about this interpretation is that you could easily see it as Faustus Rejects from the beginning the notion of divine grace he believes that he cannot that he is either unwilling or unable to believe that he is beloved by God and therefore he turns to satanic poworse it’s somewhat ambiguous why he does this one possible interpretation is that Faustus might actually be a that faustis like Marlow might be a possible gay man and is convinced that he is an abomination under the Lord and therefore he might as well indulge in satanic activities.

Whatever the reason the play does a great job of showing the struggle of Faustus as he is presented several times with the chance to repent, and actively refuses it every single time. 

“Tutors Not So Careful”

In Marlow’s version, Faustus studies at the University of vittenburg in Germany, whicb also boasts other notable allumni- Prince Hamlet which Shakespeare would later write in his own play Hamlet Prince of Denmark. The prince broods over whether the creature he has seen return from the dead is actually a devil, sent to destroy him.

Shelley admits that a lot of her as a source for that her sources for Shakespeare her sources for Frankenstein included Shakespeare in The Tempest. Though Doctor Frankenstein his book is not a is Swiss not German he is educated at the University of english stat in Germany where he learns organic chemistry and acquires the ambition to do with the alchemists and conjurors of faustis day failed to do namely create the elixir of life.

“Graves, at my command, Hath waked their sleepers”

One big trope in Frankenstein is the danger of man crossing over into God’s domain- that from the beginning of time there has been a knowledge that God deliberately kept from humankind. In Frankenstein, this takes the form of scientific knowledge, but in Shakespeare, it is magic. In Macbeth, the title character is tempted by witches to know his destiny and is punished severely for it. Remember that when Shakespeare wrote the play, King James presided over hundreds of witch hunts and wrote a book on how to identify witches.

In The Tempest, Shakespeare gives us a more ambiguous look at magic where the magician Prospero has the power to create storms, conjure up spirits, and like Frankenstein, raise the dead:

 I have bedimm'd
The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder2065
Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
The pine and cedar: graves at my command
Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
By my so potent art. The Tempest, Act V, Scene i.

Even though Prospero is the protagonist and he faces no consequences for his magic, for some reason he chooses to abandon it. It’s almost as if Shakespeare was anticipating Frankenstein by having a proto mad scientist character give up his art before it is too late:

 But this rough magic
I here abjure, and, when I have required
Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
To work mine end upon their senses that
This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,2075
Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
And deeper than did ever plummet sound
I'll drown my book.
Prospero, Act V, Scene i.

“This thing of Darkness”

“You taught me language, and my profit in’t is I know how to curse!”

“Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants and have glutted myself with their shrieks and misery.

Shelly, Chapter 16

If you’ve never read the book Frankenstein, you might be surprised to learn that unlike Boris Karloff’s grunting silent monster, in the novel the Monster is actually intelligent and well-spoken. One thing I enjoyed about Guillermo Del Toro’s version is that the Monster gets time to tell his tale. As we in the audience get to know him, the notion of who is the true Monster and who is truly human becomes as murky as the subterranean lair the doctor chains his creation within. He engages in intellectual debates with his creator and demands to know why Frankenstein chose to abandon him.

My abhorrence of this fiend cannot be conceived. When I thought of him I gnashed my teeth, my eyes became inflamed, and I ardently wished to extinguish that life which I had so thoughtlessly bestowed. When I reflected on his crimes and malice, my hatred and revenge burst all bounds of moderation.

Shelly, Chapter 9

What to Get A Shakespeare Nerd For Christmas 2

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If you’re reading this as I post it, there’s a Shakespearean nerd in your life and your wits are about to turn trying to find a gift. I’ve already written about printed editions of Shakespeare and educational apps, so you can consult those if that’s what you are looking for. Now I’m covering the kinds of stuff that die-hard Shakespeare fans will kill a king and marry with his brother for, basically nerdy swag that no Shakespearean fanatics should be without!

Slings and Arrows


For anyone: Immortal Longings.com- This company is very special to me. If you’ve seen any of my Play Of the Month posts, you’ve seen the gorgeous artwork for Shakespeare’s plays by the artist Elizabeth Schuch. Not only do I love her work, my wife and I put her prints on the decor for our wedding day, and wrapped some of my presents in wrapping paper with her designs on it. If you go to her website, she sells Shakespearean art printed on and inspired by Shakespeare’s plays on everything from tapestries to clothes to iPhone cases. I highly recommend checking her work out, and patronizing it as much as possible: https://society6.com/immortallongings/s?q=popular+framed-prints

I also want to give a shout-out to the website Good Tickle Brain, a weekly Shakespearean comic that satirizes the Bard’s work with love. I feel the best way to introduce anyone, young or old to Shakespeare is through a healthy dose of satire and parody. Mya Gosling loves Shakespeare and it comes through in her simple, funny retellings of his plays. If you go to their shop (spelled Shoppe to appeal to nerds like me), you can get some of her comic books, funny T-shirts, and a few educational posters for teachers too: https://goodticklebrain.com/shoppe/

Adults

  1. The Bard game This is the Monopoly for Shakespeare Nerds- each player pretends to be a theater manager putting on plays in real locations where Shakespeare’s company toured during his lifetime. You make money by reciting speeches or improvising one in the Shakespearean style, or by answering Shakespearean trivia questions. A must-have for any Twelfth Night Party! Review of the game: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12372/shakespeare-bard-game https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12372/shakespeare-bard-game
  2. Puzzles- The world of Shakespeare or Build it yourself Globe Theater- I love the idea of learning about history by building it yourself.
  3. Wine 🍷 Though I was unable to find actual wine with Shakespeare’s name on it, practically every other part of the wine drinking experience has been branded with Shakespeare- wine bags, glasses, corks and bottle stoppers, and even whole bars! If you spend a few minutes looking online, you can find tons of Shakespearean wine merch. By the way, here’s a convenient list of quotes Shakespeare wrote about alcohol: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/faq/shakespearedrinking.html
  4. T shirts 👕 https://www.redbubble.com/shop/shakespeare+t-shirts

Stocking stuffers

The title page of the clever comic book, “The Manga Shakespeare”

Shakespearean Comic Books. I’ve written reviews about some of these books and I’m very impressed by the artwork and the clever adaptations. Click here to read my review of the Romeo and Juliet Comic.

Kids

  1. Pop-Up Shakespeare by the writers of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. I’m a huge fan of The Reduced Shakespeare Company and they have created an amazing new popup book for kids of the entire Shakespearean cannon!

  1. Board books 📖 Yes, even toddlers can get into Shakespeare. I actually read this to my daughter a lot. It’s not the story of the play, but it does introduce some of the characters and famous lines which can help a child to become familiar with Shakespeare.
  2. Let’s hit each other with Foam Swords (Game)- Most kids get into Shakespeare for the swordplay, and here’s a fun, safe way to do so.

So there are some gift ideas for the Shakespeare nerd in your life. Merry Christmas!

Here’s one more gift that you could give a Shakespeare nerd ages 13-18: A class from ME!

Go to my Outschool profile and Get $5 off the following classes:

  1. Wizard Science for Kids!
  2. What Was Christmas Like for William Shakespeare?
  3. The Violent Rhetoric of Julius Caesar
  4. Stars and Constellations for Kids
  5. Romeo and Juliet: Why Do We Still Read This Play?
  6. Macbeth: An Immersive Learning Experience
  7. Love Poetry- Shakespeare Style!An Interactive Guide to Shakespeare’s London
  8. An Immersive Guide to “Romeo and Juliet”
  9. A Child Astronomer’s Christmas!

Get started at https://outschool.com/classes/a-child-astronomers-christmas-bhmPRpND and enter the coupon code at checkout. My classes are available for as low as $4 apiece! Get started at https://outschool.com/classes/a-child-astronomers-christmas-bhmPRpND and enter the coupon HTHESNIF6B5 code at checkout.

Course image: "The Violent Rhetoric Of Julius Caesar"
Course title image for my Outschool course, 2021