The following list presents some of the more remarkable and interesting films set in or inspired by the Middle Ages.Īuthor’s Note: Although there is some dispute amongst historians regarding the precise dates the Middle Ages or medieval period starts and ends, the general consensus is the years 500 to 1500 in Europe and 1185 to 1573/1600 in Japan and so this list is restricted to films set more or less within that timeframe.Ģ0.
Whatever the case, the medieval past continues to fascinate filmmakers and audiences alike. And then there are those who use the historical setting to explore themes and concerns that remain as relevant today as they were over half a millennium ago. Some use the historical distance of the Middle Ages to deal with topics that were not open to discussion in their own societies. Some come from a propagandistic angle, evoking a nation’s heroic past as a means of fostering a spirit of nationalism. That exotic, even alien, quality is partly what draws filmmakers to the medieval period, but there are many other reasons why they might choose the age as a vehicle for their particular stories and thematic concerns. The epoch has always seemed remote, however, not only temporally speaking, but psychologically and spiritually. The past may well be a foreign country, but in a world still plagued by political and ideological conflict, Holy Wars in the Middle East, and the threat of a worldwide disease pandemic, the Middle Ages is not so removed from our modern times as you might suppose.
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