Monty Python and the Holy Grail

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“Monty Python and the Holy Grail”

Several aspects of the medieval ages are depicted in the film named above. This enjoyable film is a satirical movie that depicts the comic misadventures and adventures of the legendary King Arthur and a cohort of his knights who included Sir Robin, Sir Bedivere, Sir Lancelot the brave and Sir Galahad the chaste. With this cast, the film had very interesting memorable jokes. This one of a kind film contained classic gags such as the “Trojan Rabbit,” where Sir Bedivere made the knights build a wooden rabbit to slip their way into a French Castle (Gilliam and Jones Web).

Amongst the film’s memorable scenes is when King Arthur stumbles on a number of peasants and announces that he is Arthur the Bretons King. The peasants clarify to him that they do not have a lord and that they employ a type of government in which the week’s official is put into office through a simple majority vote done by the peasants that reside in the area. This not only stabs the British monarchy, but is also a satire of the superstition and ignorance that typified the medieval ages (Gilliam and Jones Web).

As far as the Middle Ages are concerned, if Arthur existed, then he would have been a hero that held the Anglo Saxon when the Roman Empire packed and abandoned the British Isles. Arthur and his troops would have utilized Europe’s equipment of the Dark Age with nothing more than a helmet and perhaps a maille hauberk. His helm would have looked similar to the one found in the Sutton Hoo treasure. King Arthur is actually depicted in the film to be living in a later century than what he would have actually preferred. This is because most of these Middle Ages historical manuscripts portray him in such a situation (Gilliam and Jones Web).

The big stone castles in the film indicate that the “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” characters are in the Dark Ages and wearing Dark Age amour. However, in the Dark Ages, wood in the motte was used to build English Castles. The mansions were also made in barley style where a round enrichment built from timber was placed on top of a manmade hill, objectively to defend the people in the castle. As much as the film is not from the legitimate dark middle ages, it essentially manages to attain the feel and perception of the early to middle 13th century remarkably well with a few exceptions (Gilliam and Jones Web).

Arthur is observed with his knights in the film clad in maille amour with Sur-coats around the maille. These were historically used in the middle ages to give prominence to the coats of arms upon the identification of the wearer in a battle, while protecting the maille from getting rust. Jokingly, the knights avoid riding horses and are instead pursued by men who are carrying their clanging coconuts and belongings together to emulate horses’ hooves. It is ironical that medieval England was not famous for its cavalry forces. The English in the middle ages made better use of archers and foot soldiers than of heavy cavalry. The yeomen archers and longbow-men, together with the men at arms and bill-men of medieval England were first amongst all in this age (Gilliam and Jones Web).

Works Cited

Gilliam T. and Jones T. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (2013): Web.