Heroic Dreams - All Things Medieval

Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World: Equipment, Combat Skills and Tactics

If you are a fan of Medieval Weapons, warfare, and tactics this is the new bible for the lay person.

It is clearly written and full of lots of great stuff about Medieval weapons and warfare for the period between 500 and 1500 Ad. This is the High time of the Middle Ages and it ended with the introduction of Gunpowder.

 There are five chapters in the book:

Chapter 1: The Role of Infantry

Chapter 2: Mounted Warfare

Chapter 3: Command and Control

Chapter 4: Siege Techniques

Chapter 5: Naval Warfare

As you can see it takes a really good look at all the different aspects of Medieval warfare and it stays true to its title in that it covers the whole realm from weapons, to techniques and tactics.

Some of the outstanding things about the book.

First off this is not a dry scholarly work. It is clearly written and replete with hundreds of pictures, diagrams, images and maps. And it is an explanation and understanding book. It tells you the how and the why of medieval warfare. A good example of this is my favorite section; the section on siege techniques. It is full of examples of castles, how they were built and how they coped with siege techniques. It also shows you all about the siege engines that attacked!

Extra Stuff:

One of the absolute best things about the book is the maps of famous battles. They give you a good understanding of famous medieval battles and how they happened. The maps show the terrain and troops and explain how events unfolded in the battle.

Some of the famous battles covered this way are The Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, The Battle of Hastings in 1066 and the Siege of Paris in 885. Lots more famous battles covered and analyzed.

This book is a great addition to my library and if you are a fan of all things medieval you should take a look at it.

Popularity: 14% [?]

I have written a lot about the new History Channel film about the Dark Ages. It premiered Monday Night. If you didn’t get a chance to see it they are giving a special encore presentation tonight. So bring down the portcullis grab yourself a pint of mead and enjoy the chance! It is tonight at 8/7c on the History Channel.

If you want to learn more about this film read my review here on the Heroic Dreams Blog at:
Review of the Dark Ages

Popularity: 11% [?]

Film Making is a fascinating craft. And making a film about a subject like the Dark Ages must be quite an experience!

Have you ever wondered what it was like to make a movie? Have you ever thought about how great it would be to make a movie grounded in research and fact? I have.

And I have been given the opportunity to ask some questions of the Director of the upcoming History Channel film called The Dark Ages. His name is Chris Cassel and he lends us some interesting insights into the making of this film.

In particular I wanted to ask him questions that you might be interested in, and seeing as this blog is all about medieval times with a big focus on weapons and castles I thought it would be interesting to find out what happens to all the weapons, armor and other stuff that is used to make a film. So my interview in entitled :

“ The Making of a Medieval Film: The Dark Ages or “What do they do with all those swords?” 

Here is the beginning of the interview:

Will: Hi Mr. Cassel, You have just completed a project for The History Channel called: The Dark Ages. Could you tell us a little bit about this project?

Chris: It’s a two-hour special that delves into the chaos that reigned in Europe between the sacking of Rome in 410 AD and the First Crusade in 1095 AD. It’s a period that is usually glossed over in history books, if it’s addressed at all, yet it contains some of the most compelling characters and events in world history. And this period, perhaps more than any other, really shaped the course of modern Europe and through it, the world.

The film was shot in Lithuania for The History Channel, by Kralyevich Productions, Inc. (KPI) in association with Baltic Film Services. We had a total of about 850 actors and 70 horses that participated. Our locations were mainly medieval structures and sites in the area of the capital, Vilnius. We shot it over the course of five weeks.

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He gives us some interesting insights into where and how the film was shot (They did a lot of shooting in a very famous Medieval Castle), how they procured all the weapons, armor and other things and I ask him the big question of “What do they do with all those swords after the shooting is done!” Read the interview to find out his answer! 

Here is a link to the complete interview:

“ The Making of a Medieval Film: The Dark Ages or “What do they do with all those swords?” 

I also have lots of other interesting stuff about the Film and about the Dark ages including a look at the main characters of the period and you can play the official Dark Ages game right on my website. Learn more About the Dark Ages! 

Popularity: 12% [?]