Terry Jones' Medieval Lives

Terry Jones' Medieval Lives is a BBC documentary series presented by Terry Jones, looking at the Medieval world with the intent of finding out what it was really like. The series consists of eight episodes, each of which examines a particular Medieval personality: the peasant, the monk, the damsel, the minstrel, the knight, the philosopher, the outlaw and the king. The series reveals that what most people believe life was like in the Middle Ages is totally wrong. For example, the medieval knight were far more interested in the fine arts of killing people and profiting from war than romantic notions of chivalry.

Episode 1 - The Peasant

Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5



Episode 6 Episode 7 Episode 8

Episode 1 - The Peasant

Terry Jones discovers that the medieval peasant was in fact literate, emancipated, highly political, legally savvy, house-proud and healthy (albeit with terrible breath).

Episode 2 - The Monk

Terry Jones investigates the truth behind the cloistered medieval monk.

Episode 3 - The Damsel

Terry Jones looks at the world of the medieval damsel; not the shy, demure creatures we imagine today but strong independent women who ran businesses, led armies.

Episode 4 - The Minstrel

Terry Jones reveals that minstrels were medieval spin doctors and could be warriors, political movers and shakers and even spies, playing a key and often dangerous role in history.

Episode 5 - The Knight

Terry Jones examines the world of the medieval knight; they were more interested in the fine art of killing people and profiting from war than romantic notions of chivalry.

Episode 6 - The Philosopher

Terry Jones looks at the medieval scientist, or philosopher as they were known then, showing how they experimented on a huge scale and made key scientific discoveries.

Episode 7 - The Outlaw

Terry Jones discovers that Sheriffs were pen pushing bureaucrats and the biggest threat to law were the gangs of upper crust outlaws terrorizing the country for the sole purpose of getting rich quick.

Episode 8 - The King

Taking the three king Richards as a sample, Terry Jones looks at the truth behind the medieval kings.