Top ten medieval battles in the movies!

What are the top ten medieval battles in the movies? The following is my selection but if you disagree – do say! I’m always happy to be corrected.

I wouldn’t say that Outlaw King is a great movie – but it features an incredible battle scene. We see the Scottish king Robert the Bruce (played ably by actor Chris Pine) fighting the English forces at the Battle of Loudon Hill on May 10, 1307. The English were led by Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, who was an Anglo-French noble with huge power, wealth, and influence – but he still lost the day. It was one of those very messy battles as you can see below. Scottish courage bested English numbers.

Staying in Scotland for a couple of seconds more, I’m not going to include Braveheart because that movie’s stock price has definitely declined since the 1990s in my humble opinion. You can disagree if you wish. But I think the cartoonish depiction of the English and a whole host of historical inaccuracies make it unwatchable today.

OK, moving on. We need to feature Kingdom of Heaven – the 2005 Ridley Scott movie set in the Crusades. The battle scenes were amazing. Unfortunately, in my view, the casting of Orlando Bloom as the main protagonist was a misstep. Although the film was flawed, it brought this period of history to millions of people. Here is Jerusalem being besieged by Saladin.

Now for something completely different. In 1938, the Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein directed Alexander Nevsky – a story that includes an incredible battle scene between the Teutonic Knights and the Russian Prince of Novgorod after whom the movie is named. When the movie came out, there were growing fears of a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union so the Teutonic Knights were seen as invading Nazis and Nevsky was a medieval Stalin, resisting the onslaught. In 1242, the real Nevsky fought the Battle of the Ice and the depiction in the film is magical, set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev.

Another classic movie is the 1944 version of Shakespeare’s Henry V with its stirring Battle of Agincourt scene. The French cavalry charge is beautifully shot with such rich colour. The tracking shot was revolutionary for the time. Here is the entire movie, but fast forward, if you wish, to an hour and a half to get the main battle. However, watching it from the start is also a great option. Laurence Olivier as Henry V is without equal.

If that depiction of the Battle of Agincourt seems too old-fashioned, then we can fast forward to 2019 with Timothée Chalamet playing a very young Henry V in the movie The King. The battle scenes are a lot more lifelike and you can almost feel the weight of the armour and swords as well as the horror of close combat. I could have included the 1989 movie version of Shakespeare’s play Henry V, with Kenneth Branagh in the lead role, but I don’t think it’s aged very well. Not as well as Laurence Olivier in 1944. However, it was ground breaking at the time and worth a look…but not in my top ten.

In my book on the Templars – The Knights Templar: History & Mystery – I set aside a chapter for the Mongol invasions of the Middle East and central Europe that occurred during the Crusades. The rise of the legendary Mongol leader Genghis Khan is the subject of the 2007 Russian made movie, Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan. In the film, we see the battle fought by a young Genghis Khan – then known as Temüjin – against his blood brother, Jamukha, for control of the Mongol tribes. It could be nothing less than a brutal confrontation.

Nobody can doubt that being confronted by an army led by the Messianic and quite mad Joan of Arc would have terrified most people in history. The 1999 movie – Joan of Arc – also known as The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc – shows how this mixture of holy lunacy and conviction led the French to victory…for a while…against the English. Apologies but England versus France does feature a lot in this list. But in the medieval period, these two kingdoms loved to beat each other up. Here is Joan doing her thing.

I’m including the Turkish movie Malazgirt 1071 as a product of the very nationalistic media content coming out of President Erdogan’s Turkey in recent years. This film depicts the seminal Battle of Manzikert in the year 1071 between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks.

At that time, the long established Byzantines had ruled Asia Minor for centuries as a Greek speaking, Christian empire. The Seljuks were an invading force from central Asia that had already overwhelmed the Islamic Abbasid caliphate, ruling from Baghdad, and – having converted to Islam – was now determined to snuff out the Byzantines. And they nearly did.

As with a lot of movie and TV content from Turkey these days, the narrative is very heavy handed. Evil Christians get their just desserts from plucky Turks. Just in case you don’t know the Byzantines are Christian, they wear Templar-style white mantles with red crosses in battle – an ahistorical touch. That said, it’s a fun watch. And introduces you to a side of medieval history you may not know. But it was this battle that led directly to the First Crusade called for by Pope Urban in 1095.

The Crusades were also fought in Spain and Portugal – what is termed the Reconquista. The southern half of the Iberian Peninsula was ruled by Islamic emirs from the 8th century CE while the north saw Christian crusader kingdoms emerge and gradually expand. In the year 1212, the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa turned the Reconquista decisively in favour of the Christians.

The Muslim Almohads were soundly defeated. It wasn’t the end of Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula, but they never exercised the dominance of earlier times again. This is a Spanish language drama documentary – so not strictly speaking a movie – but it’s a brilliant watch. And you can practice your Spanish!

I’m going to end with a fictional battle from Game of Thrones – the hugely successful HBO series. It has to be the Battle of the Bastards – enjoy!

If you would like to know more about the Knights Templar, then get your hands on a copy of my book: The Knights Templar – History & Mystery. Published by Pen & Sword and available on Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, and WHSmith. Don’t miss out on your copy!