A reminder that the Timewatch programme about William Marshal - The Greatest Knight - is on BBC2 on Saturday at 8.10pm if you're in the UK!The write up sounds as if it might be a bit 'boy's own' adventure without the budget, but it will be interesting to see how much of the essence of the great man - the Winston Churchill of his day - they actually manage to capture. I've just listened to the audio clip. Hmmm.... a lot about tournaments and warfare etc but very, very little about the Marshal himself. I really, really hope the programme focuses on the all round achievements of this remarkable, charismatic personality and doesn't just concentrate on the prowess of his lance. There was so much more to William Marshal than that. You can listen to the audio clip here: http://tinyurl.com/27cayj
There was a comment made that knights didn't have particular well developed leg muscles.. I don't know how true this is in an archaelogical context, but it seems to me that your legs would have to do a lot of work on the tourney field keeping you in the saddle. They wouldn't just be extraneous appendages. I'd be interested to know from a more informed viewpoint than that of the audio commentators.
2 comments:
This programme is already programmed into the video to make sure I don't miss it! They're limited by the amount they can get into a 50-minute programme, so it will be interesting to see what aspects they concentrate on.
The BBC Tristrams have been at Timewatch, decreeing as per usual that the British viewing public has the attention span of a slug for anything factual. So lots of repetitive fighting gristle and very little biographical or political meat. I'd have liked more of the talking heads, who were lively and enthusiastic as well as knowledgeable. But no. Having laid the ground for a good story with various hints, e.g. "he became Regent of England" (how?), had sons (but no wife mentioned), the makers promptly abandoned it. One minute William Marshal was a young man, the next he was 70! Oh well, I hope the programme boosted sales of The Greatest Knight, what with having the same title and everything!
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