In Search of the Once and Future King: In Glorious Technicolour
How the story of King Arthur gets told during Hollywood’s Golden Age – the 1950s and 60s.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the Movies
A look at the movie adaptions of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, along with other media.
The Fountain of Youth in the movies
The legends led to expeditions in the 16th century to find the fabled fountain and their adventures, in turn, have inspired filmmakers to portray them.
El Dorado in the Movies
There are more movies that explore these myths than those which deal with the more mundane history of the conquest itself.
Conquistador II: Francisco Pizarro in the movies
The main account of Francisco Pizarro on film is actually the movie version of Peter Shaffer’s 1964 play The Royal Hunt of the Sun which explored the clash of cultures between its main characters: the last Inca Emperor, Atahualpa, and Pizarro.
Conquistador! Hernán Cortés in the movies
A look at how the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés is portrayed in movies and television series.
Christopher Columbus in the Movies
When looking for movies about Christopher Columbus we discover something surprising – there are actually very few such films.
Medieval movies set in the Pacific
Our world tour of movies set in the medieval period takes us to the Pacific – the bad news is there don’t seem to be many. The good news is that they reward a viewing!
Medieval movies set in North America
We have movies of the Vikings in North America, films of Hiawatha, and a remarkable film of Inuit culture.
Kings of the Sun: Indigenous Medieval Culture in the Movies
Kings of the Sun is a fascinating, if ultimately flawed, film. It is almost unique in Hollywood history because it tells an entirely indigenous, medieval American tale without contact with Europeans.
Seeing and Hearing the ‘Scourge of God’: Attila the Hun in film, music and opera
Attila is a figure who has been treated in all manner of different ways, positive and negative in various art forms – from classical to contemporary music, sculpture, painting, opera, fiction, and film.
Favourite Medieval Movies
This week on The Medieval Podcast, Peter Konieczny joins Danièle to talk about medieval movies, bringing you some classic favourites to help you escape to the medieval world.
Wara Wara and Apocalypto: Films set in Medieval Central and South America
Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto is a fascinating, if controversial and flawed, film depicting the indigenous peoples of South America just prior to their contact with European conquerors.
The Other Conquest: Films set in the Medieval Americas
In this article we will turn our attention to those films which have made the indigenous peoples of medieval America their main subject. As we shall see, this actually uncovers a remarkable set of movies.
Back to the Middle Ages: Medieval Time Travel in the Movies
Looking at time travel films as a genre, there seem to be more medieval time travel films than those to all other periods combined.
Five Japanese Anime series inspired by Medieval Europe
In the realm of Japanese animation, medievalism also blossoms and flourishes. Here are five animation series that are inspired by Medieval Europe and, out of its myth, legend, and literature, have created something new.
The medieval world of Star Wars
Star Wars world has several connections to some very medieval ideas: (Jedi) knights and their swords, their code of conduct, Arthurian myth with the special boy who is unaware of his ancestry…
Genghis Khan on Film
How has the ruler of the Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan, been depicted in film?
Medieval Movie Review: The Knight Before Christmas
No one who clicks on Netflix’s new movie The Knight Before Christmas is looking to find a realistic depiction of a medieval knight.
The Ahistoricism of Medieval Film
As many readers will know, the long debate among historians about the relevance and value of historiophoty – the creation of valid or useful historical narrative in film – has been “won”, for the moment at least, by the advocates of film.
Medieval Movie Review: The King
Netflix is continuing to feed viewers’ interest in the Middle Ages with a new movie: The King.
Playing Merlin: Authorship from Geoffrey of Monmouth to Neomedievalisms
Interestingly, the writers of each new version of the Arthurian legend have chosen Merlin as their avatar: he functions in each text as historian, author, and prophet.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
It may be the most famous medieval movie of all time. This week, Danièle talks with Peter Konieczny about Monty Python and the Holy Grail, its legacy, and some of their favourite moments.
Beowulf at the Movies: From Anglo-Saxon Poetry to Modern Cinema
Are there differences between the character’s portrayal in the poem and the cinematic adaptations? To what extent has cinema reinvented monstrosity in Beowulf? How does this reflect our modern day view of humanity or the beast within?
Life, Fantasy, Sagas, and Whatnot: Some Thoughts on Tolkien the Movie
I felt both very thrilled and scared when I learned that they had made a Tolkien biopic.