#lance

#lance

I wrote and directed the Mel Gibson film Payback but got fired during post-production. It was my first film as director and I thought my career was over. It was during this downtime that I wrote A Knight's Tale. I loved the idea that jousting tournaments were medieval sports, but I had never figured out what to do with it.

We don't know much about Dunk's beginnings, but to be fair, he didn't know much either. He grew up an orphan in Flea Bottom, the slum near King's Landing. He had no idea who his parents were, but figured he was an orphan and probably a bastard. (Some fans suggest he could be related to Brienne of Tarth, since he was tall just like her, but that's still unconfirmed.) He made a life by scavenging all kinds of meat for establishments that made "bowls of brown," the go-to food of Flea Bottom.

So, on Sunday 25th January, members of the reenactment society will converge on The Mall from all across the country, some arriving already dressed in buff coats and broad-brimmed hats, others changing into period clothing on arrival. There are pikes to be shouldered, muskets checked, and a few tentative practice swings as old drill is recalled, before the ranks are set and order restored.

The Assassins and the Knights Templar have become two of the most iconic groups of fighters from the period of the Crusades. In recent times, they have been popularised through the video game and movie franchise, Assassin's Creed. But who were they really and how did they interact in the Holy Land? It's an intriguing story that Dr Steve Tibble and Tony McMahon investigate in the first episode of their new podcast series, Talking Templars.