Terry Jones:Medieval Lives (DBLD)

Being Medieval gets a really bad rap - ignorant, violent, superstitious. With lots of humor, he goes through the reality of what life was like then, and you realize we may know more about some technical stuff, but those people were not so different. Very interesting.

I used all or part of several episodes in a 9th grade unit on comparative Eastern and Western social history. I have a masters degree in Medieval and Early Modern European history, and it is, I think, far and away the best series on what society was actually like in the middle ages. Even though the focus is on High and Late Medieval England, much of the material is applicable to surrounding periods and societies and (and if you know what you're doing, there are clips that can be used as a teaching tool for very distant periods and societies). I've also used bits of the "the Peasant" episode (best in the series) which dealt with open field farming to teach about the so-called "tragedy of the commons" and the rise of capitalism.What also really stands out about the series is that it is much more heavily geared towards a critical reading of history (albeit usually overstating his arguments), and is in this way arguably much more like the work of real historians than almost any other documentaries you find (naturally there's less kooky animations and dressing in drag going on in the work of most professional historians). It is a very useful resource for teaching history, wherever it is relevant, for High School or Middle School (though some episodes may talk too frankly about sex for the tastes of some schools).

This DVD is medieval history at its finest! I loved it, and even my family, consisting of a 10-yr-old and a 15-yr-old, as well as a hubby, loved this video history of medieval times in Western Europe.My husband and I always enjoyed Monty Python, so when we found this gem on Amazon by Terry Jones, and discovered that he is actually a medieval scholar, we were curious to see how the subject matter would be presented. We had a blast! It was totally appropriate for the kids, and we really learned a lot about medieval Europe that we did not previously know. For example, the Peasant Revolt of the 14th century was something glossed over in high school courses, but Terry Jones actually points out some very interesting facts to wrap one's mind around, such as: how did a bunch of peasants have the wherewithal to get together and how were they able to communicate in order to be organized enough to rebel in the first place? Answers provided, and it was a neat surprise.If you are an Anglophile, Francophile, or history buff, get this DVD! If you just want to expand your mind without the use of illegal substances, get this DVD!

Critics can complain about what this is lacking,etc. I'm taking a class on the time period and wanted a visual history that wouldn't annoy the whole family to watch it with me. We loved it, a few parts I had to talk over movie so my child wouldn't hear the topic discussed (knights improper conduct). This struck up family discussions about history. My husband and I laughed a few times and my history class education was maximized by this purchase.I purchased this and Crusades also by Terry Jones and enjoyed them both very much. We rented History Channel's versions and found we didn't get as much out of them. History channels shows a lot of stock footage, again and again.. Terry Jones, however, shows us artwork in creative ways. Making this visually a much more enjoyable experience. I think this is a great springboard for future reading into history. He has done what I had hoped he would, inspire us, make history come alive, and leave us with a few laughs.Definately worth the money, continue the purchase of both this and Crusades.

Though he's best known for his Monty Python stuff don't be fooled into thinking this series is comedy. Terry Jones is an expert on this topic and presents some very compelling detail about roles in medieval society. The real gem of the series is that with each profession you watch another piece of the whole puzzle fits together to give you a broad picture. Finding real information about this time period that isn't about nobility or war is virtually impossible and Jones fills that gap admirably. Invaluable (and very entertaining) knowledge for anyone with a casual or professional interest in this sort of thing.If I were pressed to find a negative about this series, it feels like a few ends are left dangling- I'm left wanting to see more chapters about the daily life of professional soldiers or lesser nobles. Some chapters, such as the one about kings, is more concerned with interesting trivia over daily life. All in all, minor complaints.

And here I thought that the Medival Age was a time of complete ignorance, absolute stupidity and unbelievable brutality! How wrong can one get? But then, isn't that the picture most of us received way back in secondary school when we were forced to study such things? As it turns out, with the help of a delightful Terry Jones, those perceptions are not necessarily true. This is a most unusual documentary that never depends upon dull lecture-type tirades, long boring speeches, or statements of absolute truths. Instead, Mr. Jones always leaves the viewer with a whole lot of questions. Along with Jones' command of the situation in every case, there are the incomparable standards of the BBC production team, the camera angles, and the script writers. This mini-series is funny, informative and factual. I recommend it to any history buff...or even to mildly curious buffs.

After a search I'd found out that to my surprise that this series had never had a region 2 release. In fact there seems to be very few of these DVD sets about available to purchase at all in my hunting experience, so although this was one of my more pricy DVD purchases (for a 2 disc DVD) I feel that the content was worth paying a little extra for than I might typically like to.After first watching these episodes on YouTube (the channel got shut down) I immediately wanted to get the DVD. Terry Jones's humorous re-enactments and his narration over the Monty Pythonesqe animated segments kept a light hearted approach throughout the series, while at the same time remaining sincere and informative, proving that history and learning need not be the preserve of stuffy classrooms and musty old books.Each episode starts with Jones recounting the well known stereotypical overview of that particular episode's subject before examining the evidence, including contemporary accounts that I found very enlightening, to determine just how those people probably really lived their medieval lives.The episodes are: The Peasant, The Monk, The Damsel, The Minstrel, The Knight, The Philosopher, The Outlaw, and The King. There's also a DVD extra on disc 2 called 'Gladiators: The Brutal Truth' again hosted by Terry Jones, looking at gladiators, Roman politics, and the Spartacus revolt.I thoroughly enjoyed this and I'm sure it's something that I could watch again and again.

At the time of writing, it is quite bizarre that this BBC series is only available to British purchasers by buying the BBC America edition!Eight half-hour episodes sees Terry pulling part received notions of what life was like for the peasant, the monk, the damsel, the minstrel, the knight, the philosopher, the outlaw, and the king in medieval England. Actually, he also ventures regularly across the border to his native Wales, down to the sunshine of Tuscan Italy and Provencal Avignon, to French Poitiers and Normandy, and a couple of times to Scotland. The series comes with effective use of animation techniques involving extracts from genuine medieval manuscripts such as the Luttrell Psalter and the Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. In addition, this set comes with an extra, a fifty-minute film called `Gladiators - the Brutal Truth' from 1999.As in his series on `The Barbarians', where Jones argued that it was the Romans who were more barbaric than the tribes who defeated them, in this series of medieval lives he takes the clichéd stereotypes of medieval life and often turns things on their heads. For example, he argues that peasants actually had a lot of control over their lives. Indeed, one could argue that Jones has a leftwing political agenda, being pro-peasant and pro-philosopher, but anti-monk and anti-knight. If so, then I am not complaining, although his series is devoid of feminism: there are no women peasants featured, no nuns. The only episode to concentrate on women is the damsel in distress, although Jones points out that that concept was created by Victorian menMuch of what Jones has to say is a little simplified in its detail, of course, but it is said with his usual gusto and good humour. For example, "Your average lord could make more money out of sheep than he could out of peasants. For a start, there's a lot more wool on a shape, and you can eat them, which is possible with peasant but socially tricky." He compares the Cistercians to MacMonasticism ("Once prayer acquired a monetary value, the game was up"), and notes that "The chivalric laws of war had absolutely nothing to do with the Geneva Convention." Sir John Hawkwood was a tanner's son from Essex, but his escapades in Italy meant "mercenary and knight had become one and the same."In the final episode, Jones concentrates on the three kings of England named Richard, who he compares to the good, the bad, and the ugly in the modern English mind. But Jones is not having that; he rightly plays topsy and inverts their reputations: Richard I "was king of England, but he was scarcely an English king"; Richard II was, if anything, "too soft on his enemies"; and as for Richard III, Jones puts up a good case for the supposed murderer of the `Princes in the Tower'.Terry Jones's conclusion is that "History isn't necessarily what happened; it's very often what somebody wants us to think happened."

I despaired of this ever coming out in Region 2, despite being produced by 2entertain for the BBC. Yes it is a genuine Region 1 (not region free), but at least it upscales well to a medium sized LCD and displays in 16:9.Terry dips us into aspects of social Mediaeval history, challenging the perceived mainstream notions, which were cobbled together by Victorian writers- we have damsels kidnapping future husbands, monks avoiding the restrictions of their orders (I never knew that Cistercians specifically wore no knickers!). He is careful to outline changes in social positions over the centuries and packs this into eight half hour episodes- quite a feat. We have excerpts from documents of the lives of real people (the Pastons feature of course), not just the tedious "royals", and backed with Gilliam like animated Medieval manuscript illustrations we are presented with a quirky, and memorable reworking of history.There's also a 50 minute documentary of "Gladiators: the Brutal Truth" which graphically portrays the Roman death industry where crowds watched the destruction of slaves, criminals and exotic beasts for entertainment (in contrast modern bullfighting is rather a wimpy affair, meaning no disrespect to the poor bulls).All in all a brief examination but very entertaining.

Despite only being available from the U.S.A. this is definitely a British history lesson. Terry Jones endeavours to remove some of the more mythic aspects of our history, but at the same time gives more insight. If you are already familiar with most of what happened in Medieval history, e.g. did Robin Hood exist or, the twisting of truths about various kings, then there may not be a lot more to learn. If, however, for example your knowledge of Richard III is from Shakespeare's portrayal then you will get to hear a different story. I shared this with an ex-pat Brit and he felt he learned a lot. His view was he wished this had been available when learning history at school.The graphics are a bit odd, interspersed with TJ in various guises, but it works fairly well. . It's not a heavy history lesson, but more adult in approach than Horrible Histories.- which is slightly more flippantly funny as it is presumably made for young people (although enjoyed by many adults as well).

Very informative and Terry really brings the subject to life with his wonderful characterisations