A Knight’s Tale
By: Harry Katz, Ioana Scalco, Ashley Pestana
The 2001 film A Knight’s Tale is based on Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales. The film’s main character is a commoner, a so-called peasant who is seeking to do more with his life. When presented with the opportunity to “change his stars” William Thatcher along with his two childhood friends, Wat and Roland, begin a journey to make William the best jouster to ever be. Throughout their journey they encounter poets, women, artisans, and even royalty. While one may think the film is just retelling Chaucer’s 1387 tale, to their surprise a comedic and well-modernized film awaits.
The image above is the title page from the 1542 edition of Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales consists of several different chapters written by Geoffrey Chaucer that relate to knights, chivalrous deeds, and magical times. A Knight’s Tale is a chapter within The Canterbury Tales that revolves around men fighting in tournaments for the hand of a lovely, beautiful lady named Emelye (Emily). Throughout this book chapter the characters included are given titles such as the Knight, the physician, the cook and therefore we never really know an actual name to these given titles except only a few. A major part of the story is set in ancient Greece that will be very different from the film. One important detail that we are introduced to is about the narrator who goes by the name Chaucer, this name reflects back to the actual author of the book, Geoffrey Chuacer. While this is a very minor part of the overall story, it will be a detail that the film uses as part of their character list as well. (Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Canterbury Tales.”)
The image above is a page the Canterbury Tales along with an image of what a Knight would look like
In regards to the movie, director Brian Helgeland, posed a twist on the classical tale with modernized concepts. An immediate example is through the music and humor used. The soundtrack itself reveals a more modern image by using songs from artists and bands such as Queen, AC/DC, David Bowie, and more. This small detail adds suspension or comedic feel to each scene throughout the film and also plays a huge role on how each character is depicted. While the characters within the novel are very different than those in the film, some well-known names seem to pop-up throughout. The main character in the movie, William Thatcher is meant to portray the chivalrous knight who wins the lady’s heart. At the beginning of the movie he is originally a commoner but puts on the act of being a knight to fulfill his dreams of being such. He takes up the name Ulrich Von Liechtenstein which in history was an Austrian poet who wrote novels and stories of knights and noblemen (Classen, Albrecht. “Ulrich von Liechtenstein). Another very important detail found in the movie that is also found in the novel has to do with the author. In the movie we find out that one of the key characters is named Geoffrey Chaucer, or “Geoff,” and he is a struggling poet/author (Chaucer, Geoffrey (C. 1340–1400)). Ironically it matches some details of the actual Chaucer and his life. While the movie does highlight details such as jousting, fighting for a woman’s heart and the attitude towards the tournaments, the lack of full originality to the actual times and relation back to the chapter in the Canterbury Tales is evident through the armor as well as the outfits the other characters wear.
William Thatcher in the film A Knight’s Tale
One key character who we are introduced to in the film is “Colville” and is a well-known man in history, better known as Prince Edward. Prince Edward was portrayed in the movie as someone pretending to be a local man in order to be treated fairly and have an equal chance in the jousting tournaments. While in the movie he was portrayed as very calm, understanding, and kind, the real life Prince Edward was more intense and fearless (Edward the black prince , 2018). He is known for his many great victories and amazing qualities of being a great leader. Throughout history, Prince Edward was given the nickname of the “Black Prince” based on his armor that was used when jousting as well as the all black armor he wore in the Battle of Crecy. (Cartwright, Mark. “Edward the Black Prince.”) He enjoyed tournaments and being part of elaborate ceremonies and events, and was part of his fathers’ Knights club. While his movie portrayal is not inaccurate, his persona was dialed down for the character he played in A Knights Tale. ( “Black Prince: Achievements of The Black Prince at Canterbury.”)
Images (L) Edward, The Black Prince and (R) Edward, as portrayed in film
During another scene featuring a banquet, a dance begins by being truthful to the historical reality. Medieval instruments consisted of woodwinds, strings, and percussion, and were known to make simple sounds, while the dancers were going through formalized movements (Natalia Kuznetsova, “Overview of Medieval Music”). Quickly this fades into a modern song and dance in an attempt to entertain the audience. Consequently, David Bowie’s song, although a classic in our time period, is about six centuries off the mark for the setting of the movie. Further historical inaccuracy is also seen in the costuming and design. In the 14th century, bright colors and extravagant decorations adorned the clothing of the wealthy and can be seen in countless art pieces from the time period (Master of the Cité des Dames. “Reason Leads Five Sibyls into the City of Ladies,” Cité des Dames by Christine de Pizan, 1400-1410. Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France). Surprisingly however, there were few differences between the clothes of the wealthy and poor, mainly being material used and the fit of the clothes (Cartwright, Mark. “Clothes in Medieval England.”). The hairstyles and garb of characters Jocelyn and Christiana, are prime examples of dramatization. The outfits they wear are very modern and outrageous given the time period. In addition, the hairstyles have not been backed by any evidence of women during the middle ages sporting similar styles. Such scenes and depictions may seem interesting to the audience, however, they do not help in building the historical accuracy of this movie. Check out the following clip to see this transition from accuracy to inaccuracy as the dance escalates.
Banquet Dance. A Knight’s Tale (2001)
Cité des Dames by Christine de Pizan Jocelyn from “A Knight’s Tale”
Review
The rating of the film in regards to entertainment is a 5/5 but ⅗ for historical accuracy. The film was engaging and enjoyable but, while it brought a comedic feel, the accuracy of the film lacked authenticity to the time period when it came to original outfits as well as some other details along the way.
3/5 Stars for Historical Accuracies
5/5 Stars for Hollywood Entertainment
Works Cited
A Knight’s Tale. Directed by Brian Helgeland. Columbia Pictures, 2001.
Cartwright, Mark. “Clothes in Medieval England.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified June 28, 2018.
Cartwright, Mark. “Edward the Black Prince.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 12 Oct. 2020, www.ancient.eu/Edward_the_Black_Prince/.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Canterbury Tales.” Litigation, vol. 34, no. 2, 2008, pp. 72–66.
Chaucer, Geoffrey (C. 1340–1400). (2018). In Helicon (Ed.), The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia with atlas and weather guide. Helicon. Credo Reference: https://libproxy.highpoint.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/heliconhe/chaucer_geoffrey_c_1340_1400/0?institutionId=2970
Classen, Albrecht. “Ulrich von Liechtenstein.” Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature, Jay Ruud, Facts On File, 2nd edition, 2014. Credo Reference, https://libproxy.highpoint.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/fofmedieval/ulrich_von_liechtenstein/0?institutionId=2970. Accessed 18 Oct. 2020.
Edward the black prince. (2018). In P. Lagasse, & Columbia University, The Columbia encyclopedia (8th ed.). Columbia University Press. Credo Reference: https://libproxy.highpoint.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/columency/edward_the_black_prince/0?institutionId=2970
Master of the Cité des Dames. “Reason Leads Five Sibyls into the City of Ladies,” Cité des Dames by Christine de Pizan, 1400-1410. Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France
Natalia Kuznetsova, Tidewater Community College. “Overview of Medieval Music.” Lumen.AccessedOctober18,2020.https://courses.lumenlearning.com/musicappreciation_with_theory/chapter/overview-of-medieval-music/.
“Black Prince: Achievements of The Black Prince at Canterbury.” Encyclopedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles, doi:10.1163/9789004124356_emdt_com_157.
