Jason Kingsley & Ghost

“Reading old books and looking at manuscript illustrations is great but what is it like to actually wear armour, use a lance from the back of a charging warhorse or stand in a shield wall? We aim to find out by trying.”

Jason Kingsley OBE

Episode 3 The Knight Part 4
  • The Knight
    Episode 1 4 Parts
  • The Knight
    Festive Special 1 Part
  • The Knight
    Episode 2 4 Parts
  • The Knight
    Episode 3 4 Parts
  • The Knight
    Episode 4 4 Parts
  • The Knight
    Episode 5 4 Parts
  • The Knight
    Episode 6 4 Parts
  • The Knight
    Episode 7 4 Parts
  • The Knight
    Episode 8 4 Parts

The Knight
Episode 3
Part 4

Jason looks back at our shield wall experiment day that we filmed in the summer of 2017. We put shieldmaker Luke’s handiwork to the test with a group of twenty brave volunteers, who clashed together in various formations of shield wall. In doing so, we explored some of the events recounted in ancient sagas to determine whether they were flights of narrative fancy or genuine reports of the flow of battle.

Modern History is a series that aims to investigate the reality of the past. We’re familiar with re-enactments of history in film and television but often those recreations are dramatized and designed for entertainment and spectacle. Jason aims to investigate how accurate those portrayals may be, by trying them out for himself and looking at them from a modern perspective. Perhaps by drawing parallels between the past and our modern lives, we can better understand what life might have been like for our ancestors.