There is also a tendency to use the medieval past to be self-congratulatory to our own society. Of course, this was a feature of the medieval world but not the only feature of it. It is much more weighted toward conflict and violence. Often women in power are judged according to their sexual behaviour, which applies to the same discourse we see in the film about entertainment being very much built around sexualised jokes and innuendos.ĭo you think fair depiction is given to the medieval world in films? Or do you think it is misappropriated? It does really go into some sexualised discourse that is applied to the period in general. The film is more of a reflection on medieval entertainment than medieval society as a whole. On a more logistical note, it links well with gender and power.

Conflict is certainly not the sum total of medieval experience. Our sources and historians often privilege conflict as well. Certainly, conflict tends to leave more of a record than peace. It is nice to start on a different descending note which can serve to capture more of the wider medieval experience. So much of the medieval past is centered on war, violence, and death. It captures something about medieval discourse as it is based on a medieval source. It is a comedy which is unusual in terms of medieval films. Why did you settle on The Little Hours as the first film screening? It can be interesting to problematize that head-on. The medieval world does play a large part in pop culture today, often in ways that diverge quite dramatically from that past. The exception is those that are derived from popular culture, so students are not coming in having been formally taught in medieval material for the most part. This means that you are really starting from a blank slate, in the medieval world, most people come in without any preconceptions. One of the things that I love teaching about the medieval world is that almost all students come in having never studied the medieval past before. I also hoped that it would help interesting conversations around medievalism, the misappropriation and interpretation, and the reception of the medieval world today. I thought it would be a good way to build up a sense of cohort around the module. Philosophy ran a film club last year, and it seemed like it was well-received by students.

What gave you the idea to start this club? I spoke to her about her experience getting the club off the ground. Ingrid Rembold is a lecturer in medieval history at the University of Manchester with a primary focus on the Carolingian Empire. Charles Insley marked a successful start to the club.ĭr. Overall, the film, dinner, and commentary by Dr. Unlike most films set in the medieval era, The Little Hours is humorous, irreverent, and sometimes downright inappropriate. The film is a loose adaptation of the first and second stories of day three of Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron. The University’s new Medieval Film Club was kickstarted by the screening of The Little Hours.

Most violent medieval movies