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BBC4 Medieval Season - last post
May. 12th, 2008 04:57 pmWell I think this will be the last post, as it appears the season is over.
Christina: a medieval life was fascinating. To be able to trace the life of one person, who lived so long ago, is a social historian/geneaologists dream. The wider background to her life was well told too - she lived through 'interesting times'! I like that they chose a woman for this too, as women's history from this period is still less known than 'regular, male history', although there is great progress being made.
How to Build a Cathedral was worth watching just for the stunning images - but then again I love Gothic architecture. Medieval masons were extremely skilled - more so than they are sometimes given credit for (unreasonably, I feel, as after all their cathedrals are mostly still standing), although of course, hearing of the mistakes is always more entertaining!
Clarissa and the Kings Cookbook has to have been my favourite programme from this season - I am sorry it was so short (and I bet it never makes it to DVD). I love that the cookbook in question is called 'The form of curry' - it just shows how language has changed, curry no longer just means cooking! The history of the kitchens and the food was fascinating - and links in well with the book I am currently reading (The Spice Route - John Keay), as spices were so important in medieval food, well rich people's food. What was particularly interesting was what had stayed the same (pears in red wine), and what had changed (blancmange is now sweet, not savoury). I would have liked to see more on the presentation though (A Tudor Feast at Christmas, currently on the iPlayer, is much better for this).
Also, Regia should eat more fish, as more than half the days of the year are fish days (according to the church calendar), but I suspect we won't, for practical reasons.
Christina: a medieval life was fascinating. To be able to trace the life of one person, who lived so long ago, is a social historian/geneaologists dream. The wider background to her life was well told too - she lived through 'interesting times'! I like that they chose a woman for this too, as women's history from this period is still less known than 'regular, male history', although there is great progress being made.
How to Build a Cathedral was worth watching just for the stunning images - but then again I love Gothic architecture. Medieval masons were extremely skilled - more so than they are sometimes given credit for (unreasonably, I feel, as after all their cathedrals are mostly still standing), although of course, hearing of the mistakes is always more entertaining!
Clarissa and the Kings Cookbook has to have been my favourite programme from this season - I am sorry it was so short (and I bet it never makes it to DVD). I love that the cookbook in question is called 'The form of curry' - it just shows how language has changed, curry no longer just means cooking! The history of the kitchens and the food was fascinating - and links in well with the book I am currently reading (The Spice Route - John Keay), as spices were so important in medieval food, well rich people's food. What was particularly interesting was what had stayed the same (pears in red wine), and what had changed (blancmange is now sweet, not savoury). I would have liked to see more on the presentation though (A Tudor Feast at Christmas, currently on the iPlayer, is much better for this).
Also, Regia should eat more fish, as more than half the days of the year are fish days (according to the church calendar), but I suspect we won't, for practical reasons.
More on the Medieval Season
May. 2nd, 2008 07:31 pmI have been catching up on what I can of the Medieval Season on BBC4 thanks to the wonder of the iPlayer. My thoughts on what I have managed to watch:
Heist
I watched this 'live' as it were, not on the iPlayer, and I don't think that was the best idea I have ever had, as I was still so very tired from the journey the day before. Having said that, I did enjoy Heist - it was a really entertaining. But so it should be. The medieval period was not all doom, gloom and seriousness, any more than any other period is. I thought it was a good retelling of the episode.
The Last Duel
This was a very interesting drama-documentary (although there wasn't much drama, just costumed talking heads), that also had animated medieval-style art, about one of the last judicial duels ever to be fought. The background to the case was fully explored, as were the motives of all the parties. Including the king. Who seems to have sanctioned the fight just because he wanted to see one - the legal grounds for it being somewhat shaky! What is more disturbing, was that the move away from duels in cases where there wasn't much witness evidence was due to the increasing use of torture to obtain 'the truth' - not really progress.
In Search of Medieval Britain
I saw the last 10 mins of this after I got home from evening duty on Thursday, and I liked what I saw, except for the presenter. Her voice really grated on me. But never mind, the information on small beer reinforced what I have read/heard elsewhere, but it was fascinating to see what the caves at the Trip to Jerusalem would have been used for (it also pleased me that the brewer was a proper beardy brewer)!
Sacred Music
I am not sure if this was part of the season, or not, but as it was dealing with Medieval music I watched it anyway. It was well worth it, the plainsong in particular was beautiful. One of the most interesting sections was where they made a monochord - such a simple thing, but so clever! I finally began to understand the connection between music and maths. It was also interesting to see how the method of writing music developed during this period.
Heist
I watched this 'live' as it were, not on the iPlayer, and I don't think that was the best idea I have ever had, as I was still so very tired from the journey the day before. Having said that, I did enjoy Heist - it was a really entertaining. But so it should be. The medieval period was not all doom, gloom and seriousness, any more than any other period is. I thought it was a good retelling of the episode.
The Last Duel
This was a very interesting drama-documentary (although there wasn't much drama, just costumed talking heads), that also had animated medieval-style art, about one of the last judicial duels ever to be fought. The background to the case was fully explored, as were the motives of all the parties. Including the king. Who seems to have sanctioned the fight just because he wanted to see one - the legal grounds for it being somewhat shaky! What is more disturbing, was that the move away from duels in cases where there wasn't much witness evidence was due to the increasing use of torture to obtain 'the truth' - not really progress.
In Search of Medieval Britain
I saw the last 10 mins of this after I got home from evening duty on Thursday, and I liked what I saw, except for the presenter. Her voice really grated on me. But never mind, the information on small beer reinforced what I have read/heard elsewhere, but it was fascinating to see what the caves at the Trip to Jerusalem would have been used for (it also pleased me that the brewer was a proper beardy brewer)!
Sacred Music
I am not sure if this was part of the season, or not, but as it was dealing with Medieval music I watched it anyway. It was well worth it, the plainsong in particular was beautiful. One of the most interesting sections was where they made a monochord - such a simple thing, but so clever! I finally began to understand the connection between music and maths. It was also interesting to see how the method of writing music developed during this period.
