Browse Items (167 total)

The Woful Knight, written by Marie de France (fl. 1160-1215), gives a wonderful example of courtly love and its implications.  In medieval romance, knights are portrayed as trying to win the heart of a beautiful and noble lady. In romance, knights…

The Roman Coliseum is the central place of action in Gladiator. It is, of course, where countless actual gladiators fought and died, and it is where the movie’s Maximus fought and died. It is a testament to the filmmakers’ attention to detail that…

This large mural painting from the fifteenth century, originally in Taby Church in Stockholm, shows Death playing chess with a man, as he does in Bergman's The Seventh Seal. It was painted by Albertus Pictor, a famous late medieval artist (who is…

The Advocate (the U.S. version of the British/French production, which goes by the title of The Hour of the Pig), having its widest release in 1994 in 17 theaters, generated a domestic lifetime gross of $602, 329, which is quite respectable…

The life and times of Hypatia, a Greek philosopher in fourth- and fifth-century Alexandria, Egypt, including a fictionalization of her scientific research undertaken during the religious turmoil of her day, concluding with her murder in 415.

Fred Zinneman’s A Man for All Seasons proved to be a resounding success upon its 1966 release. It swept the 39th Academy Awards with eight nominations and six wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor.The film’s success was…

Directed by Marshall Herskovitz and released in 1998, Dangerous Beauty is a romance set in Renaissance Venice, with feminist tones, a strong leading lady, and an endless array of beautiful costumes and enchanting Venetian settings. Dangerous Beautyis…

Anchoress is a little-known film that explores one a significant expression of spiritual devotion—that of female anchorites—during the high middle ages. Directed by Chris Newby, the film was released in the United Kingdom in 1993 and received…

After hearing about a curtail friar from Will Scadock, Robin sets out to meet this man he’s heard about. After finding friar Tuck on the side of a river, Robin forces him to carry him over the river. Halfway across, the friar tosses Robin off of his…

This is an excepted section from Fytte 1 of the anonymous A Geste of Robyn Hode, which dates to the mid-fifteenth century, and is a long-form poem about Robin Hood’s notable deeds and exploits. This passage describes how Little John follows Robin…