A Knight's Tale is a 2001 American medieval action comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Brian Helgeland. The film stars Heath Ledger as William Thatcher, a peasant squire who poses as a knight and competes in tournaments, winning accolades and acquiring friendships with such historical figures as Edward the Black Prince and Geoffrey Chaucer. Its 14th-century story is intentionally anachronistic, with many modern pop culture references and a soundtrack featuring 1970s music. The film takes its name from Chaucer's story "The Knight's Tale", part of The Canterbury Tales, and also draws several plot points from Chaucer's work.
Arezzo is a city and comune in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about 80 kilometres southeast of Florence at an elevation of 296 metres (971 ft) above sea level. As of 2022, the population was about 97,000.
Pistoia is a city and comune in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typical Italian medieval city, and it attracts many tourists, especially in the summer. The city is famous throughout Europe for its plant nurseries.
Jousting is a medieval and renaissance martial game or hastilude between two combatants either on horse or on foot. The joust became an iconic characteristic of the knight in Romantic medievalism.
A tournament, or tourney, was a chivalrous competition or mock fight that was common in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and is a type of hastilude. Tournaments included mêlée, hand-to-hand combat, contests of strength or accuracy, and sometimes jousts. Some considered the tournaments to be frivolous pursuits of celebrity, even a potential threat to public order. But the shows were popular and often put on in honor of coronations, marriages, or births; to celebrate recent conquests or peace treatises; or to welcome ambassadors, lords, or others considered to be of great importance. Other times tournaments were held for no particular reason at all, simply for entertainment. Certain tournaments are depicted throughout the Codex Manesse.
Palio is the name given in Italy to an annual athletic contest, very often of a historical character, pitting the neighbourhoods of a town or the hamlets of a comune against each other. Typically, they are fought in costume and commemorate some event or tradition of the Middle Ages and thus often involve horse racing, archery, jousting, crossbow shooting, and similar medieval sports. Once purely a matter of local rivalries, many have now become events that are staged with an eye to visitors and foreign tourists.
Foligno is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located 40 kilometres south-east of Perugia, 10 km (6 mi) north-north-west of Trevi and 6 km (4 mi) south of Spello.
The pas d'armes or passage of arms was a type of chivalric hastilude that evolved in the late 14th century and remained popular through the 15th century. It involved a knight or group of knights who would stake out a traveled spot, such as a bridge or city gate, and let it be known that any other knight who wished to pass must first fight, or be disgraced. If a traveling venan did not have weapons or horse to meet the challenge, one might be provided, and if the venan chose not to fight, he would leave his spurs behind as a sign of humiliation. If a lady passed unescorted, she would leave behind a glove or scarf, to be rescued and returned to her by a future knight who passed that way.
Guardiagrele is a town and comune in the province of Chieti, part of the Abruzzo region of central Italy. It is in the foothills of the Maiella mountain at an elevation of around 576 metres (1,890 ft). Its population numbers about 10,000.
The Eglinton Tournament of 1839 was a reenactment of a medieval joust and revel held in North Ayrshire, Scotland between 28 and 30 August. It was funded and organized by Archibald, Earl of Eglinton, and took place at Eglinton Castle in Ayrshire. The Queen of Beauty was Georgiana, Duchess of Somerset. Many distinguished visitors took part, including Prince Louis Napoleon, the future Emperor of the French.
The Giostra della Quintana was a historical jousting tournament in Foligno, central Italy. It was revived as a modern festival in 1946.
Hospital de Órbigo is a municipality located in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2010 census (INE), the municipality had a population of 1,031 inhabitants.
Silvano "Nano" Campeggi was an Italian artist who designed and produced the artwork for the posters of many classic Hollywood films. His iconic images are associated with the golden era of Hollywood and Campeggi is now generally regarded as the most important graphic artist and poster designer in the history of American cinema.
San Giovanni Profiamma is a civil parish in the municipality of Foligno in the province of Perugia, which is also an active bishopric, and is the historical site of the former Roman town and bishopric of Foro Flaminii, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see as Foro Flaminio. It is in the circoscrizione no. 6: San Giovanni Profiamma-Belfiore-Vescia-Capodacqua-Pontecentesimo.
Montisi is an Italian village in the municipality of Montalcino, Province of Siena, Tuscany. It sits on a hill on the boundary between the Val d'Orcia and the Crete Senesi.
The Corteo Storico is a historical costume parade in Siena, Tuscany, Italy. It takes place before the famous horse race known as the Palio on the 2nd of July and on August 16, each year.
Traditions of Italy are sets of traditions, beliefs, values, and customs that belongs within the culture of Italian people. These traditions have influenced life in Italy for centuries, and are still practiced in modern times. Italian traditions are directly connected to Italy's ancestors, which says even more about Italian history.
Piazza d'Aracoeli is a square of Rome (Italy), placed at the base of the Capitoline Hill, in the Rione X Campitelli.
Freydal is an uncompleted illustrated prose narrative commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in the early 16th century. It was intended to be a romantic allegorical account of Maximilian's own participation in a series of jousting tournaments in the guise of the tale's eponymous hero, Freydal. In the story, Freydal takes part in the tournaments to prove that he is worthy to marry a princess, who is a fictionalised representation of Maximilian's late wife, Mary of Burgundy.
Tobias Emanuel ("Toby") Capwell FSA is an American historian who lives and works in London. His principal interest is in European arms and armour of the medieval and Renaissance periods. He was formerly Curator of Arms and Armour at the Wallace Collection in London.
