View source for Terry Jones' Medieval Lives

{{Use British English|date=January 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox television
| image                =
| caption              =
| alt_name             =
| genre                = [[documentary television series|Documentary]]
| creator              =
| writer               = [[Terry Jones]]
| director             = Nigel Miller
| creative_director    =
| developer            =
| presenter            = [[Terry Jones]]
| starring             =
| voices               =
| narrated             =
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme            =
| endtheme             =
| composer             = [[David Mitcham]]
| country              = United Kingdom
| language             = English
| num_seasons          = 1
| num_episodes         = 8
| list_episodes        = <!--// Production-specific //-->
| executive_producer   =
| producer             = {{unbulleted list
|[[Paul Bradshaw (television)|Paul Bradshaw]]
|Nigel Miller
}}
| editor               =
| location             =
| cinematography       =
| runtime              = <!--// Broadcast-specific //-->
| channel              = [[BBC Two]]
| first_aired          = {{Start date|2004|01|03|df=yes}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|2004|01|24|df=yes}}
<!--// Chronology //-->
| related              = {{nowrap|[[Terry Jones' Barbarians]]}}
<!--// External links //-->
}}
'''''Terry Jones' Medieval Lives''''' is a 2004 television documentary series produced for the [[BBC]]. Written and hosted by [[Terry Jones]], each half-hour episode examines a particular [[medieval]] personality, with the intent of separating myth from reality.
The episode ''The Peasant'' was nominated for ''Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming'' at the 2004 Emmy Awards. Dr. Faye Getz acted as consultant for the series.
==Misunderstood history==
Being a comedian as well as an historian, Jones takes an established belief, turns that around, and presents proof for his assertion. For example, peasants did not live in complete squalor and actually owned property. Also class divisions were not as severe as people think; there are cases of low-born people who rise to quite high positions.
In the episode on kings, he says, "History isn't necessarily what happened. It's often what people want us to think happened." He uses the following examples:
*[[Richard I of England|Richard the Lionheart]] was actually a bad king, who only saw England (which he hated) as a means to finance his warmongering. [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] did a lot of good for England. Modern perceptions of these kings are reversed because, Jones asserts, chroniclers of the time were commissioned to write what was politically most convenient.
*[[Louis VIII of France|Louis]], [[Count of Artois]] (later [[King of France]]), was acclaimed as King of England in 1216, yet appears in no history books (see [[First Barons' War#French intervention|First Baron's War]]) because of, Jones asserts, embarrassment over a "second French invasion".
Jones explained his motivation for making this series in the article in ''[[The Observer]]'': "The main reason I wanted to make ''Medieval Lives'' was to get my own back on the [[Renaissance]]. It's not that the Renaissance has ever done me any harm personally, you understand. It's just that I'm sick of the way people's eyes light up when they start talking about the Renaissance. I'm sick of the way art critics tend to say: 'Aaaah! The Renaissance!' with that deeply self-satisfied air of someone who is at last getting down to the 'Real Thing'. And I'm sick to death of that ridiculous assumption that before the Renaissance human beings had no sense of individuality."
==Episode list==
The eight episodes were as follows:
* The Peasant
* The Monk
* The Damsel
* The Minstrel
* The Knight
* The Philosopher (Alchemist)
* The Outlaw
* The King
==Companion book==
* {{cite book
| date      = 5 February 2004
| title      = Terry Jones' Medieval Lives
| last      = Jones
| first      = Terry & Alan Ereira
| publisher      = [[BBC Books]] (hardcover)
| isbn      = 978-0-563-48793-7
| url-access      = registration
| url      = https://archive.org/details/terryjonesmediev00terr
}}
* {{cite book
| date      = 5 May 2005
| title      = Terry Jones' Medieval Lives
| last      = Jones
| first      = Terry & Alan Ereira
| publisher      = [[BBC Books]] (paperback)
| isbn      = 978-0-563-52275-1
| url-access      = registration
| url      = https://archive.org/details/terryjonesmediev00terr
}}
==External links==
* {{BBC programme}}
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/bbcworldwide/worldwidestories/pressreleases/2003/12_december/medieval_lives.shtml BBC Worldwide press release]
* ''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/3507439.stm Python slams 'overrated' Renaissance]'' [[BBC News]] article
*[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1143405,00.html The Middle Ages of reason]
* {{IMDb title|id=0398514|title=Terry Jones' Medieval Lives}}
{{Terry Jones history series}}
[[Category:2004 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:2004 British television series endings]]
[[Category:2000s British documentary television series]]
[[Category:Works by Terry Jones]]
[[Category:2000s British television miniseries]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]
[[Category:BBC television documentaries about medieval history]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Richard I of England]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Richard III of England]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Louis VIII of France]]