Medieval Studies

Series created by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Johnny Capps, and Julian Murphy for the BBC.
24 videodiscs (approximately 2829 min.).
When Merlin arrives at Camelot as a young man, he quickly makes an enemy of Prince Arthur, the headstrong heir to Uther's throne. Starring Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby, John Hurt, and Michelle Ryan.

Directed by Sergei Eisenstein and Dmitri Vasilyev.
108 minutes; released 1938.
Biographical story of Prince Alexander Nevsky and his successful resistance against an attempt by the Teutonic Knights to invade Russia in 1242.

Directed by Chris Newby.
108 minutes; released 1993.
In fourteenth-century England, a peasant girl is so attracted to a statue of the Virgin Mary that the local priest suggests she be walled up in the church as an anchoress. But when the priest has the girl's mother tried as a witch, she digs herself out of her cell, a crime for which the punishment is death.

Directed by Antonello Belluco.
100 minutes; released 2006.
A reformed criminal recounts the story of Saint Anthony who challenged the money lenders that enslaved the people of Padua. Starring Jordi Molla. In Italian with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Daniele D'Onofrio and Tiziano Mancini.
84 minutes; released 2008.
Composer Ildebrando Pizzetti's opera about the murder of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.

Directed by Peter Glenville.
150 minutes; released 1964.
The lifelong friendship of King Henry II and Thomas Becket is tested when Becket is appointed Archbishop of Canterbury. Based on the play by Jean Anouilh. Starring Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis.
114 minutes; released 2007.
Starring Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Brendan Gleeson, and Angelina Jolie.

Directed by Sturla Gunnarsson.
104 minutes; released 2005.
Based on the epic Anglo-Saxon poem, this medieval adventure tells of a Norse warrior's battle against the great and murderous troll, Grendel. Starring Stellan Skarsgård, Sarah Polley and Gerard Butler.

Directed by Mel Gibson.
177 minutes; released 1995.
Gibson directs and stars in this Academy Award-winning epic based on the life of legendary thirteenth century Scottish hero William Wallace.

Directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
120 minutes; released 1972.
Franco Zeffirelli's feature-length movie based on the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

Directed by Joshua Logan.
180 minutes; released 1967.
A film adaptation of the popular musical about the tragic love triangle between King Arthur, Queen Guenevere, and Sir Lancelot.

Directed by Clive Donner.
205 minutes; released 1993.
A dramatization of the life of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne.

Directed by Anthony Mann.
183 minutes; released 1961.
An eleventh-century military leader drives the Moors out of Spain. Starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren.

Directed by John Boorman.
140 minutes; released 1981.
The saga of King Arthur and those around him -- the knights, his Queen, and the wizard Merlin.
Starring Helen Mirren and Nigel Terry.

Available on DVD at the Kelly Library: PN1997 .E93 1999 DVD SMC

Directed by Liliana Cavani.
115 minutes; released 1989.
The story of St. Francis of Assisi. Starring Mickey Rourke.

Directed by Michael Curtiz.
105 minutes; released 1961.
A feature-length movie based on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. Starring Bradford Dillman and Dolores Hart.

Directed by James Runcie.
52 minutes; released 1994.
A dramatization of the trial of the eleventh-century mystic Hildegard of Bingen.

Directed by Christian Duguay.
180 minutes; released 1999.
A feature-length movie adaptation of the life of St. Joan of Arc. Starring Leelee Sobieski.

Directed by Antoine Fuqua.
138 minutes; released 2004.
This film attempts a realistic retelling of the King Arthur story, placing Arthur and his knights at the time of the fall of the Roman Empire. Starring Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, Ioan Gruffudd, and Stellan Skarsgård.

Directed by Guy Ritchie.
126 minutes; released 2017.
A version of the King Arthur story. Starring Charlie Hunnam, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Mikael Persbrandt, Jude Law, and Eric Bana.

Directed by Ridley Scott.
144 minutes; released 2005.
Orlando Bloom stars as Balian, a young Frenchman in Medieval Jerusalem during the Crusades, who, having lost everything, finds redemption in a heroic fight against overwhelming forces to save his people and fulfill his destiny as a knight.

Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.
131 minutes; released 1986.
Investigating the deaths of two monks, a visiting brother discovers a secret library containing rare books considered lost to the world and dangerous to the Catholic faith.

Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer.
82 minutes; released 1928.
Dreyer's 1928 black and white silent film about the trial and execution of St. Joan of Arc. French intertitles and optional English subtitles.

Directed by Paul McGuigan.
110 minutes; released 2002.
A disgraced priest in medieval England takes up with a traveling band of actors, who try to solve a murder by recreating the crime in a play.

Directed by Daniel Vigne.
123 minutes; released 1982.
A 16th century peasant disappears shortly after his marriage, but then returns nine years later. In Frech with English subtitles. Starring Gérard Depardieu and Nathalie Baye.

Directed by Umberto Marino.
95 minutes; released 2002.
A dramatization of the life of Saint Anthony, the young Portuguese nobleman who became a Franciscan monk and preached across Africa and Europe. Starring Daniele Liotti. In Italian with optional English subtitles.

Directed by Otto Preminger.
111 minutes; released 1957.
Preminger's feature-length movie adaptation of the play by George Bernard Shaw about the life of St. Joan of Arc. Starring Jean Seberg.

Directed by Ingmar Bergman.
96 minutes; released 1957.
A knight returning home from the Crusades encounters Death, who agrees to a chess game. In the balance hang the lives of the knight and a group of traveling players. In Swedish with English subtitles.

Directed by Robert Hughes.
90 minutes; released 2000.
A feature-length movie based on the life of the world-famous Irish hero. Starring Patrick Bergin, Malcolm McDowell and Alan Bates.

Directed by Ingmar Bergman.
89 minutes; released 1960.
In14th century Sweden, a father seeks revenge after his daughter, a young virgin, is brutally raped and murdered after her half sister has invoked a pagan curse. In Swedish with English subtitles.

Directed by Margarethe von Trotta.
111 minutes; released 2009.
The story of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century Benedictine nun, who was one of the of the most important, inspirational and visionary female leaders of her time.

Directed by Peter Kershaw.
26 minutes; released 1995.
A documentary about St. Aidan, the seventh century Bishop of Lindisfarne. Part of the Memorable Leaders in Christianity series.

Directed by Peter Kershaw.
26 minutes; released 1995.
A documentary about St. Bede the Venerable, the eighth century monk most famous for his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Part of the Memorable Leaders in Christianity series.

Directed by Murray Grigor.
60 minutes; released 2001.
"The Book of Kells" tells the story of this magnificent masterpiece. Created on the windy Hebridean island of Iona thirteen centuries ago, it now rests in the Trinity College library in Dublin. The manuscript has mystified, and motivated writers from W.B. Yeats to James Joyce and Umberto Eco, and its intricate Celtic knotwork continues to influence artists and craftsmen today.

Directed by Ron Johnston and Derek Towers.
208 minutes; released 1997.
A Learning Channel documentary on the Byzantine Empire, shot on location in nine countries.

Directed by Peter Newington.
60 minutes; released 1983.
An introduction to the British castle and its place in medieval life and warfare. Hosted by David Macaulay.

Directed by Tim King.
58 minutes; released 1986.
The construction of a fictional but representative Gothic cathedral, showing how the building was shaped by cultural and religious forces. Hosted by David Macaulay.

Directed by Peter Kershaw.
26 minutes; released 1995.
A documentary about St. Cuthbert, the seventh century Bishop of Lindisfarne. Part of the Memorable Leaders in Christianity series.

Produced by Trinity Television, the Parish of Trinity Church.
24 minutes; released 1996.
A documentary about the medieval Italian writer, focusing on the religious aspects of his work. Part of the Pioneers of the Spirit series.

Produced by The Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2001.
This video-only course considers the rich landscape of the Middle Ages by juxtaposing views of the countryside and city in medieval and modern times. This allows you to see medieval art "from the inside" view of those who originally created it.

Produced by The Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2004.
This course provides insight into the "Dark Ages," the era which spanned the decline and fall of Rome's western empire and lingered for centuries.

Produced by The Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2003.
The Crusades have been hailed as the driving force that brought Western Europe out of the Middle Ages - and condemned as the beginning of European imperialism in the Muslim Near East. But how are they best understood? This course follows the causes, events, and effects of one of history's most protracted periods of conflict.

Produced by The Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2002.
From its humble beginnings in the great river valleys of Iraq and Egypt to the dawn of the modern world, discover the essential nature, evolution, and perceptions of Western civilization. With these 48 lectures on the people, places, ideas, and events that make up The Foundations of Western Civilization, award-winning scholar and teacher Thomas F. X. Noble of the University of Notre Dame invites you to explore "Western civilization."

Directed by Andy Thomas.
50 minutes; released 1994.
A documentary about the architecture of Gothic cathedrals including Notre Dame in Paris, Notre Dame in Chartres, and the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.

Produced by The Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2001.
In 1000-1300, the so-called High Middle Ages, a newly invigorated medieval society experienced a revival of urban life, the birth of new philosophical, educational, and political institutions. This course reveals how and why Europe experienced this reversal of fortune.

Directed by Peter Kershaw.
26 minutes; released 1997.
A documentary about St. Hilda, the seventh century Abbess of Whitby. Part of the Memorable Leaders in Christianity series.

Directed by Michael Fields.
239 minutes; released 2003.
A production of The Ritual of the Virtues, the oldest surviving European music-drama. Also includes two documentaries about Hildegard, and interviews with Matthew Fox and Mary Grabowsky.

Directed by Clare Beavan et al.
60-minute episodes; released 2000.
Written and hosted by historian Simon Schama, this mini-series enlivens British history from its ancient beginnings to the 20th Century, highlighting the epic themes and towering figures that transformed an island "at the edge of the world" into an empire.

Produced by The Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2007.
This course traces the development of the Italian city-states of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, showing how the modern nation of Italy was forged out of the rivalries, allegiances, and traditions of a vibrant and diverse people.

Directed by Timothy Copestake.
147 minutes; released 2004.
In this three-part series archaeologist Francis Pryor uses the myth of the ultimate British icon King Arthur to explain new discoveries that dispute the traditional view of early Britain as being in the Dark Ages. Instead of anarchy, he describes a flourishing culture enriched rather than crushed by its invaders. He travels to historic sites and uses diagrams and models to make history come alive, demystifying popular legends.

Produced by Shade Tree Studios.
48 minutes; released 2002.
The 900 year history of the world's oldest order of chivalry, the Knights of Malta.

Directed by Peter Kershaw.
26 minutes; released 1997.
A documentary about this seventh century illuminated manuscript. Part of the Memorable Leaders in Christianity series.

Directed by Justin Hardy.
220 minutes; released 2003.
A documentary about the Florentine family who helped ignite the Renaissance in Italy.

Produced by The Teaching Company.
45-minute lectures; released 1996.
Disc 1. Lecture 1. Europe in 1300: an introduction; Lecture 2. Europe in 1300: rural society; Lecture 3. Europe in 1300: urban society; Lecture 4. Europe in 1300: church, state and learning -- Disc 2. Lecture 5. An age of crises: hunger; Lecture 6. An age of crises: war; Lecture 7. An age of crises: the Black Death; Lecture 8. An age of crises: popular rebellions.

Produced by Greystone Communications for A & E Television Networks.
50 minutes; released 1995.
Examines the prophecies of the medieval physician Nostradamus, interviewing scholars on both sides of the discussion.

Directed by Peter Kershaw.
26 minutes; released 1996.
A documentary about St. Oswald, the seventh century first Christian King of Northumbria. Part of the Memorable Leaders in Christianity series.

Videography, Bob Kasarda ; editor, Jeff Kasarda.
28 minutes; released 2009.
The spiritual and cultural dynamics of early Christianity that gave rise to the art of the Byzantine icon.

Directed by Richard Bedser.
110 minutes; released 2005.
Filmed in the Middle East, this documentary re-creates the heroic encounter between Richard and Saladin. It uncovers a Richard who was as brutal as he was chivalrous, and a Saladin who was revered in the Europe of his day for his mercy towards the crusaders.

Produced by The Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released 2005.
As explorers and traders, the Vikings played a decisive role in the formation of Latin Christendom, and particularly of Western Europe. In this course, you will study the Vikings not only as warriors, but also in other roles for which they were equally extraordinary: merchants, artists, kings, raiders, seafarers, shipbuilders, and creators of a remarkable literature of myths and sagas. Professor Kenneth W. Harl synthesizes insights from an astonishing array of sources.

Directed by Peter Kershaw.
26 minutes; released 1997.
A documentary about St. Wilfrid, the seventh century Bishop of York who united the Celtic Church with the Apostolic See of Rome. Part of the Memorable Leaders in Christianity series.

Produced by The Teaching Company.
30-minute lectures; released by 2001.
Byzantine civilization played an important role in the Renaissance that reshaped the West. This course investigates the transition of Mediterranean power and culture from Rome to the eastern portion of the Roman Empire in the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D.