Chivalry Today Podcast

Serious scholars of history might once have scoffed at the notion of undertaking an arts and crafts project as a means of historical study. In recent years, however, dedicated efforts into living history and immersive historical experimentation have proved that bringing history to life can, in fact, achieve a different sort of understanding to research and data taken from artwork, chronicles, and written records. Experimental historians have, of late, worked at redacting historical recipes with heritage food items, reproducing scientific discoveries using period instruments and methods and – perhaps some of the most celebrated – recreating or rebuilding military hardware using historically accurate materials and production methods. If any of those endeavors sounds particularly interesting to you, then you are probably familiar with several episodes of the PBS series Nova, in which filmmakers have documented projects to reproduce military weaponry in Secrets of the Viking Sword, and Secrets of the Samurai Sword, and the episode in the series Secrets of Lost Empires in which two crews assembled a pair of full-size, functional medieval trebuchets on the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland. And now, Nova is turning this same sort of focus on another aspect of high-tech historical craftsmanship in their new episode titled Secrets of the Shining Knight. In it, a team of experts will attempt to replicate a well-known harness originally crafted in the 16th century in England’s renowned, state-of-the-art Greenwich Armory, putting their knowledge and skill to use to replicate both the construction and function of the original piece. But as fascinating as exploring the fine points of Renaissance metallurgy and forging skills might be, this project is hardly limited to uncovering the facts about engineering, design, and craftsmanship. Like products from specialty makers today, things like architectural monuments and military achievements (like swords and armor) have a great deal to tell us about the culture surrounding them. What were the aesthetics, the values, and the principles of the people who crafted and admired such items? What can studying and replicating a piece of armor from history tell us about the 16th century understanding of the values of chivalry? (A very complex and even contentious topic, even in the days of Tudor England.) And what can it tell us about our own perceptions – and misperceptions – about the knightly code today? Jeffrey Wasson is founder and chief craftsman at Wasson Artistry, and he is unarguably one of the finest American armor-makers working today. He has crafted museum-grade replica armor for jousters and historical combat and military experts all over the US and Europe, and his work has even been featured prominently in the 2004 Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog, which offered a custom harness for customers to bedeck their own “lord a-leaping” in Gothic plate armor for the mere cost of $20,000. When Nova needed an expert platener (that is, a specialty plate armor maker) to head up the reproduction project for Secrets of the Shining Knight, they turned to Mr. Wasson who, working with metalsmith Ric Furrer, took on the job of studying and reproducing this remarkable historical artifact. Jeffrey Wasson joins podcast host Scott Farrell for a conversation about his work on the upcoming Nova episode, and what it might help us discover about the culture o...

MAKE A DONATION ONLINE to help pay for the production of this podcast. Anyone who has read Christian Cameron’s historical adventure novels, such as the William Gold series, knows that creating a detailed medieval setting is one of his fortés. He is an author quite skilled at describing battles, armor, and fighting tactics, and at getting inside the personalities and motives of the men and women who lived in that era. And any of Christian Cameron’s reading fans who follow him as an author know that he is pretty dedicated to the adage: Write what you know. When he’s not at the keyboard, Christian can be found taking part in reenactments of Ancient Greek military life, exploring the wilderness using historically accurate medieval camping kit, and donning full 14th century armor to test his skills in friendly duels known as Deeds of Arms. But this past summer, Christian’s medieval fighting efforts took on a new and distinctly chivalric spirit when his Western Martial Arts study group decided to use their skills, equipment, and passion for historical detail as a platform for charitable fund-raising, which they called their Deed of Alms. Christian Cameron joins podcast host Scott Farrell to talk about the genesis of this outstanding idea, and how it fits in with the notion of chivalry as he has studied it, as he depicts it through the characters in his novels, and as he and his friends try to live it in the world today. Below: Watch a video of one of Christian Cameron’s bouts at the 2017 Deed Of Alms in Toronto, Ontario, as he and his colleagues strive to use their martial skills to raise money for worthy local charities.

Martial arts practice today is a relatively commonplace affair. In dojos, gyms, and studios all over the country (in truth, all over the world) students practice judo, karate, fencing, kendo, escrima, wrestling and boxing as part of their everyday lives – lives that don’t involve duels, assassination attempts, or open warfare. Though these sports maybe confined to tournaments and exhibitions today, in ages past the men and women who practiced these arts were (possibly) preparing to employ them in a very different set of circumstances. Knowing the right way to fight at the right time against the the right opponents could mean the difference between life and death – but using the wrong fighting skills at the wrong time against the wrong people could, in a similar vein, mean the difference between a case of self-defense and a criminal charge, sport and treason, or honor and dishonor. Context, in this regard, was everything. Today there is a renewed interest in the combative activities known as historical European martial arts (or HEMA) – and thousands of enthusiasts worldwide are exploring the arms, armor, (and fighting skills) of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, secure in the notion that their function is merely enjoyment and physical fitness, rather than dueling and battle. But does practicing sword fighting with friends on the weekends result in an incomplete understanding of what is, at it’s core, a culturally integrated methodology of the controlled and systematic application of violence? Can we claim to be studying the “true art” of sword fighting without having an awareness of the circumstances in which that art was meant to be applied? And is an understanding of the code of honor that drove people to master such martial arts historically, as important to their practice today as the mastery of the physical techniques themselves? What does the context of historical martial arts teach us about the context of our own understanding of chivalry? Richard Marsden (shown at left giving a workshop at a recent HEMA conference with one of his favored fencing weapons, the Polish saber) is one of the co-founders of the respected Phoenix Society of Historical Swordsmanship, and past president of the HEMA Alliance – an international network of groups studying the sword-fighting arts of past times. He’s won various medals and trophies at historical fencing competitions for his skills with the longsword, rapier, and in particular the Polish saber, which was the topic of his book, by the same name, published in 2015. This year, Richard has a new book on the shelves: Historical European Martial Arts In Its Context: Single-Combat, Duels, Tournaments, Self-Defense, War, Masters, and their Treatises, published by Tyrant Industries and available through Amazon.com. In this podcast episode, Richard joins host Scott Farrell to talk about the context of chivalry in the combative arts throughout history. Learn more with the links below: * Get a copy of Historical European Martial Arts In Its Context,

In the first part of my conversation with sword maker Peter Johnsson, we talked at length about the symbolism and cultural significance of the sword, and how it reflects both medieval and modern understandings of the ideals of chivalry. But after the show was over, we went on talking and we both realized that our discussion hadn’t really covered something that both of us found immensely interesting, which is: the proportions, specifications, and function of historical swords and their modern reproduction counterparts! So, we decided to continue our conversation, and make it available to all of my fellow sword nerds in something of a podcast extra. Now, if you’re not into the fine details of sword design, this part of the conversation may not be quite as interesting to you as the first part of my talk with Peter – although I daresay that Peter has some pretty interesting things to say about swords in history, even if you’re not into studying, collecting, and possibly even using them yourself. The topic that prompted the following discussion was the recent release of an online computational analysis tool called the Weapons Dynamics Calculator, developed by Vincent le Chevalier, an expert in both European martial arts and physics, in conjunction with Peter Johnsson. The program was created to present graphical analsys of the handling qualities of the swords that were on display in an exhibition called The Sword – Form and Thought, at the Deutchs Klingen Museum, in Solingen Germany. The illustrations that it produced are both beautiful and enlightening to anyone who has a interest in sword combat – and a catalog showing all of the swords and the dynamics illustraitons is available from the museum’s online book store. In this discussion, Peter talks about things like mass distribution, nodes of percussion, and points of rotation. Here are some graphics from the WDC website that will help you understand what those qualities are, and how Peter derives the metrics and data about sword handling and performance that results in the illustrations created by this analytical tool. * Buy the book The Sword – Form and Thought from the Deutsches Klingen Museum bookshop; * Visit the website of the online Weapon Dynamics Calculator, developed by Vincent le Chevalier, in conjunction with Peter Johnsson.  

There is a special place in heroic lore for those who deal in the craft of weapons – specifically, for the smiths who make swords. Far from being just a “big ol’ knife,” the sword – in legends – becomes an extension of the personality of the hero (or the villain), and as such, the man or woman who crafts such a weapon has a great deal of influence over the ideals and principles that these archetypal characters, from Roland and King Arthur, to Frodo Baggins or Harry Potter, embody in the cultures they come from. But a sword isn’t just a mythical symbol – real swords were carried by real knights and men-at-arms, who fought in real battles throughout the Middle Ages. Like those swords of legend, the weapons put to use by medieval knights reflected – in some manner – the ideals of chivalry they admired, and (at least tried to) live by. Only a small fraction of the swords carried by warriors in the Middle Ages still survive today, locked away in cabinets and display cases in both museums and private collections all over the world. And there are serious craftsmen who put their skills at the forge and anvil to use trying, as much as possible, to create modern replicas of these medieval military treasures – and certainly one of the best in that field is Swedish sword-maker Peter Johnsson (pictured, examining a medieval sword during a recent collaboration with the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art). Peter started his love of swords and sword making at the age of 8, when he got his first anvil and (with the help of his dad) hammered out his first blade. He has been studying metallurgy, design, and the art of the forge ever since, and has been fortunate enough to get up-close encounters with of hundreds of surviving medieval and Renaissance swords, in places like the New York Metropolitan Museum, the Royal Armoury in Stockholm, and Imperial Treasury in Vienna. In 1999 Peter worked as part of a team of experts creating an exact reconstruction of an early 16th century sword that was once carried by the Regent of Sweden. Sword collectors today may know Peter as the designer behind many of the sword available in the Museum, Next Generation, and Maestro Collections from Albion Swords – which are painstakingly crafted to emulate the technical specifications as well as the handling qualities of existing medieval swords. And, in January of 2017 a lucky few students of the sword will be traveling to Tannery Pond Forge in New Hampshire to take part in a 7-day workshop called Sword Reflections, coordinated by forge owner Zach Jonas, to learn the fine points of replicating a sword worthy of a prince, or a king … or a knight. Like any good craftsman, Peter Johnsson sees more than the mere use and utility of his products – he recognizes the cultural significance and the ideological symbolism behind the swords he studies, and the swords he makes. Peter joins host Scott Farrell in a conversation about the mythology and realities of medieval swords, and their use – and how the design and function of the sword reflects the philosophy of the code of chivalry. * Peter Johnsson’s Sword Reflections workshop will be held at Tannery Pond Forge in New Hampshire, Jan. 14-20, 2017. For information about reserving a spot at the forge, check out the details on Peter’s Facebook Event Page: Sword Reflections. COMING SOON: Peter Johnsson and podcast host Scott Farrell shar...

From the drama The Walking Dead to the peppy teen comedy iZombie to the literary parody Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, the zombie apocalypse concept has become such a popular trope in today’s world that it is spilling over into just about every genre of entertainment. This year you can bet there will plenty of ghouls and zombies out on the Halloween trick or treat circuit, and the holiday is a perfect excuse to enjoy your favorite novel featuring the dead rising from their graves to feast on the brains and flesh of the living, to provide some spine-tingling seasonal chills. So, for those of us who enjoy adventures set in the Age of Chivalry, why not reach for a story that combines a zombie apocalypse with brave medieval knights in armor? Why not? Because there aren’t too many such stories around – until recently, that is. Now, everyone (including the Chivalry Today production staff) who think that zombies and knights are two great things that can only be better together, can enjoy a tale of the medieval living dead in the new book The Second Great Mortality, written by first-time novelist Lonnie Colson. For those involved in the world of medieval historical reenactment, Lonnie’s name maybe a familiar one. He has consistently been one of the top competitors in the mounted hunting and skill-at-arms games at the annual Tournament Of The Phoenix invitational joust in Southern California, and he has trained in the arts of medieval and Renaissance swordsmanship with ARMA, The Chicago Swordplay Guild, and the Schola St. George. He even has a field for riding and sword-fighting practice in the backyard of his home near Dallas, Texas. As you can imagine with such a studious background, historically accurate details about arms, armor, and 15th century medieval culture feature prominently in Lonnie’s zombie book, as they would in a respected historical fiction author like Bernard Cornwell or Sharon Kay Penman. But amongst all the battles against the forces of the undead, is there anything of the code of chivalry to be found in this medieval horror novel? If modern zombie stories force us to confront the thin veneer of 21st century civility and ethics as society falls apart, what might we learn about medieval honor and chivalry in the same situation? In the spirit of the Halloween season, Lonnie Colson joins host Scott Farrell for a conversation about knights, chivalry, and The Second Great Mortality. Learn more about Lonnie Colson’s background, interests, and continued writing projects – and get the schedule of his upcoming book-signing appearances – at his author website.

Historical sword-combat instructor Devon Boorman was asked to give an inspirational talk at a TED Conference. His presentation drew upon the historical values of confidence, prowess, and humility – ideals of the code of chivalry! In this conversation, he describes the process of bringing historical ideals of honor to the TED stage. TED Talks are all the rage today – luminaries of all sorts have appeared on stage at “technology, entertainment, and design conferences” held all around the world, including Bill Clinton, Filmmaker James Cameron, Rev. Billy Graham, Stephen Hawking, Malcolm Gladwell, Julian Assange, and Bill Gates – all to present their talks, focusing on their own fields of expertise as a means of sharing their passion, their vision, and their inspiration – in 18 minutes or less! In fact, it might be said that no trend, no fashion, no movement can really “hit it big” today until it’s been presented in a TED Talk. But in all the archives of more than 30,000 live presentations (with the marginal exception of one about conquering fear and the art of sword-swallowing) only a single TED Talk involves sword work on stage, and that was presented at the 2016 Vancouver TED-X Conference, and was given by Devon Boorman. Mr. Boorman is the co-founder and director of Vancouver’s Academie Duello, and has studied and taught medieval and Renaissance martial arts all over the world. He has won more than 40 European martial arts competitions, and has worked as a fight choreographer and stuntperson on stage and screen. He teaches combat with rapier, longsword, spear and other historical weaponry in a 6000 sq ft facility, and he leads a team of more than 30 instructors, working with more than 2000 new and repeat students every year. But though his presentation was titled Swordplay and the Lost Art of Knighthood what Devon brought to the TED stage wasn’t a talk about the latest interpretations of Fiore or Capo Ferro – but rather his own thoughts about inspiration, mastery, courage, and the power of physical movement. Mr. Boorman joins host Scott Farrell in a conversation about the challenges of bringing the ideals of chivalry to a TED Conference (who might know little to nothing about the historical practice of swordsmanship, and the code of honor that went along with it) as part of his talk about movement and mastery.  

Here is a little detour from our usual podcast format: In this episode we had hoped to bring listeners an interview with author Ethan Hawke – the same Ethan Hawke you maybe familiar with from his work on screen in films like Gattica, Dead Poet’s Society, and even the title role of Hamlet, as well as plenty of other movie and TV productions. You see, when Mr. Hawke is not acting, directing, or producing, he is also a writer, and his latest book is entitled Rules For A Knight. It definitely caught our interest as the perfect sort of book for an episode of our show. We invited Mr. Hawke to join us for a conversation about his set of knightly rules, but his publicist informed us – not surprisingly – a notable Hollywood star promoting a new book from a major New York publisher was a bit too busy to fit the Chivalry Today podcast into his interview schedule. But who knows? Perhaps once the initial publicity dies down, and Mr. Hawke wraps up the nationwide appearance tour he is doing in conjunction with the book’s release, he’ll find a bit of time to join us here to give us his thoughts on chivalry in the modern world. Until then, we hope you enjoy our look at Ethan Hawke’s book on the virtues of chivalry and personal thoughts on living an honorable life in a timeless way: Rules For A Knight. * Read the interview Ethan Hawke Explains His Thing For Knights in The New Yorker; * Below, watch Ethan Hawke’s interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show:  

How do the efforts to revive a 500-year-old style of German sword combat help us understand the ideals of chivalry in medieval culture, and its place in the world today? Author and historical researcher Christian Tobler joins us to discuss that question. When Christian Tobler’s book “Fighting With The German Longsword” was published in 2004, it was something of an eye-opener – the practice of truly historically accurate medieval sword work was, even just a decade ago, a relatively academic endeavor. But since that time, the historical European martial arts (HEMA) community has truly blossomed at the grassroots level, and today there are thousands of enthusiasts all over the globe doing their best to revive and interpret the fighting arts of the Late Medieval masters using (as much as possible) historically correct equipment, and (as far as we can recreate them) historically accurate fighting techniques. Of course, like any scholarly endeavor, the practice of these medieval fighting arts has not stood still – not by a long shot. The expanding level of interest and increasing quality of technical interpretation has led Mr. Tobler to create a revised edition of Fighting With The German Longsword, and it’s now available from Freelance Academy Press in both print and electronic editions, much to the delight of HEMA practitioners everywhere. But if we’re going to so much effort to understand and re-ceate the physical aspects of this fighting art – the weapons, protective equipment (or lack thereof), and techniques of attack and defense – what about the mental side? Historical fighting manuals include a great deal of focus, implicitly and explicitly, about the character qualities of someone who seeks to master the knightly art of the longsword, and other dueling and battlefield weaponry. Do we just assume all of that talk about honor, courage, responsibility, and courtesy is just superfluous cultural window dressing? Or do we need to make an effort to incorporate aspects of honor and chivalry if we are to truly approach an understanding of the medieval fighting arts in the 21s century? Mr. Tobler joins host Scott Farrell to talk about his study and practice of the art of medieval swordsmanship, and his own ongoing exploration of the chivalric ideals that stand alongside the practice – both in medieval culture, and in the modern world.

(Editor’s Note:  Podcast player is now at the bottom of the post) For all the focus on war bows and armor, knights and the “band of English brothers,” it is important to remember that the Battle of Agincourt wasn’t just about arms and tactics. Soldiers on both sides fell in the conflict, leaving family members mourning and bereft. Hostages were taken in the fighting, requiring sizable ransoms to be raised in order to secure the return of these prisoners. And questions of proper behavior on the battlefield and the rightful reasons for waging war certainly must have loomed large in the minds of a generation that had, at that point, lived through nearly 80 years of conflict. To truly understand the full impact of the battle of Agincourt, and why it still carries such weight today, we need to go beyond accounts of valor and glory, and consider the words of those who stayed at home and carried on with their lives, namely, the women who lived through the triumph and tragedy, and who had to deal with the aftermath of both. What did the female onlookers and survivors have to say about the knights and soldiers who fought (and died) at Agincourt, and the code of honor that dictated how this encounter was played out? Anne Curry is the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, and Prof. of Medieval History at the University of Southampton, England. Her 2006 book Agincourt: A New History brought a very different perspective to the study of the battle and the campaign surrounding it, and it is being reissued in October, just in time for the 600th anniversary of the battle, in an updated edition from the History Press. Another book of hers, the “Agincourt” edition in the Great Battles series from John Offord Publishing will also be released in the month of October – which is a good indication of just how much focus there is on this battle as the anniversary approaches. Prof. Curry served as organizer of the Univ. of Southampton’s recent conference War on Land And Sea: Agincourt in Context, And she is currently working as the academic co-chair of the Agincourt600 charity. On July 16, Prof. Curry presented a talk at England’s Chawton House Library called Women and the Battle of Agincourt, in which she drew upon some notable contemporary letters and texts to explore the effects this famous battle had, not on men in armor, but on the women who had to deal with the aftermath months, years, and even decades after the arrows had stopped flying. Prof. Curry joins Scott to talk about the medieval woman’s perspective of honor, chivalry, and tragedy in wake of Agincourt.

Among the events of conflict and military activity in the age of chivalry, the battle of Agincourt stands head-and-shoulders above just about anything else. Fought on October 25, 1415, Agincourt is the place where an outnumbered army of Englishmen, a “band of brothers” composed primarily of archers and led by King Henry V, defeated a heavily favored contingent of French knights and men-at-arms, and made a place for themselves in the history books alongside beleaguered heroes like the Spartans at Thermopylae and the British at Rorke’s Drift. But as the 600th anniversary of Agincourt approaches, the “accepted view” of the battle is becoming more and more hazy. Recent research has shown that the details of the battle may have been markedly different from the traditional depiction of a “David and Goliath” encounter between humble English peasants and arrogant French aristocrats. Our understanding of the weapons, armor, and tactics of the armies that met in that fateful muddy field are being called into question – and even the goals and principles of the men who fought and died there may not be as clear-cut as witnesses, chroniclers, and dramatists over the past six centuries have led us to believe. Did the longbows of the English archers cut through the French armor like so much tin-foil? Was it the righteous belief of the English and their cause that gave them the fortitude to stand up to the better-equipped French royal army? And .. did the outcome of the battle prove, once and for all, the folly of the “fair play” image of chivalry on the battlefield – or is there a more complex and nuanced understanding of the armies, the fighting, and the chivalric ideals that still affect military doctrine to this day to be found in the history of Agincourt as we approach its 600th anniversary? Stephen Cooper, author of Agincourt: Myth and Reality, 1415 to 1915 joins Scott Farrell in a conversation about the myths (and realities) of the history of Agincourt, medieval knighthood, and the concept of chivalry. Read Stephen Cooper’s blog post Attitudes to Agincourt at the History Today website.

Fiore del Liberi is a name that is familiar both to students of medieval military history and practitioners of the skills known as “HEMA” or “historical European martial arts.” In the first decade of the 15th century, Fiore, a knight who was a veteran of several military campaigns and an accomplished duelist and combatives trainer, wrote an illustrated manual called The Flower of Battle, describing his techniques for fighting with a variety of medieval weaponry, from dagger to spear, both in and out of armor. The few surviving copies of this beautifully illustrated manuscript continue to be sources of inspiration and technical knowledge for those, today, who want to understand the martial arts employed by men-at-arms of the Late Middle Ages. However, you don’t need to leaf through the pages of a centuries-old manuscript with white gloves and a magnifying glass to understand Fiore’s art – in fact, there is a growing roster of scholars and interpreters who study the writings of historical sword-masters like Fiore, and help enthusiasts today (from historical reenactors to sport-fighting competitors) in bringing the medieval fighting arts back to life. Of course, swinging a sword can be great exercise and a fun competitive challenge – but is there more to this practice than merely getting in touch with your inner swashbuckler? Can we achieve a greater appreciation of the ideals of chivalry as we come to understand, not just the skills of medieval sword fighters, but the culture in which they lived (and died), and the context in which they put their formidable skills to use? Guy Windsor is one of today’s most recognized and respected interpretative researchers into Fiore’s arts of battle. Mr. Windsor studied sport fencing (as well as karate and other Asian martial arts) as a student at Edinburgh University, and in 1994 began participating in the then-very-new and quickly growing field of medieval martial arts. In 2000 Mr. Windsor launched his own foray into teaching historical sword combat, which resulted in the foundation of the School of European Swordsmanship, located in Helsinki, Finland, with affiliated branches all over the world, from Seattle to Singapore. Mr. Windsor is the author of five books on historical dueling and combat techniques, including “The Medieval Longsword,” published in 2014 as the latest volume in his “Mastering the art of arms” series, a “crowd funded” project published through SES.  

Like any code of honor, the ideals of chivalry have to be put into practice in order to be of value – and for knights of the middle ages, one very visible way of putting their chivalric principles into action was through a sort of an exhibition match known as a “passage of arms”, a test of both skill and (perhaps even more importantly) personal fortitude, courage, and respect in the face of an armed adversary. While not intended – specifically – to be as hazardous as a life-and-death duel or melee, a knight who took part in a passage of arms was showing that he had the skills – and the strength of character – to engage in something that was “as close to the real thing” as possible.   Today there are very few opportunities for those interested in reviving the ideals of chivalry to take the field in a true passage of arms – but in the coming month, as part of the historical sword combat conference and workshop known as Longpoint, a small number of individuals who’ve put in a lot of study and practice into the art of medieval armored combat, will take the field in a modern invitational passage of arms intended to be “a showcase for members of the HEMA community to show the public-at-large the precision and technicality of fighting in armor.” Longpoint is coordinated by the NY Historical Fencing Association, and will be held July 23-26 at the Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Maryland; and the invitational passage of arms – which is just one of many activities at the event – will be coordinated and presided over by author and HEMA instructor Jessica Finley. Jessica Finley has been studying medieval sword work and martial arts for more than a dozen years with the Selohaar Fechtschule. Her book “Medieval Wrestling: Modern Practice of a 15th Century Art” was published in 2014 by Freelance Academy Press as part of their “Medieval Martial Arts” series, and her paper on medieval wrestling can also be found in the collection “In The Service of Mars,” a selection of pieces on historical martial arts from the same publisher.   Jessica placed second in the “women’s longsword” tournament held at the Longpoint 2012 conference.

The term “museum curator” might give you an image of someone who fits the stereotype of an academic - quiet, retiring, and bookish. But in the world of medieval studies, there are plenty of interpreters, docents, and curators at castles and armor collections that break that mold quite handily - and right at the top of that list is Dr. Tobias Capwell. By day, Dr. Capwell is the curator of arms and armor at London’s Wallace Collection, an art museum that has, since it was established in 1897, housed one of the finest displays of medieval and Renaissance armor in England (with more than 2500 pieces in its vaults) as well as plenty of other outstanding paintings, sculptures, and other pieces of art. Recently, Dr. Capwell has been involved in a very high-profile project: The excavation of the remains of King Richard III (which were unearthed just last year) and the efforts to reproduce a set of armor that would have functioned properly for the malformed medieval king, based on his detailed understanding 15th century fashion in both clothing and armor. Dr. Capwell’s expertise on this topic has been recently brought to the public eye in a television documentary “Resurrecting Richard III,” which airs on PBS this month as part of the “Secrets of the Dead” series. Dr. Capwell will also be in San Diego in October for the annual Tournament of the Phoenix jousting competition, and Chivalry Today has been honored to help coordinate a series of lectures throughout Southern California while he’s here - one of which, presented through San Diego’s Oasis Learning Center, will give a “behind the scenes” look at the process of crafting an accurate replica of King Richard’s armor through Dr. Capwell’s extensive study of the uniquely English style of knightly habiliments. Dr. Capwell joins Scott Farrell for a conversation about fashions of English armor, the life and death of King Richard III, and what we can learn from both of these things about knights - and chivalry - in medieval England. Learn More Watch Resurrecting Richard III (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/resurrecting-richard-iii-full-episode/1934/), an episode of the PBS series "Secrets of the Dead," featuring Dr. Tobias Capwell on-line at the PBS Video website. Also: Watch Dr. Tobias Capwell's lecture on the remains of Richard III and his armor for the Richard III Society at the University of Leicester, shortly after the discovery of King Richard's remains. What, exactly, do we know about Richard III? Much of our modern perception of King Richard - an acclaimed warrior, and the last English king to die on the battlefield - has been shaped by Shakespeare, as a deformed, malicious, gleeful villain. This performance by Sir Laurence Olivier has, for decades, been the defining image of Richard III.

The term “museum curator” might give you an image of someone who fits the stereotype of an academic – quiet, retiring, and bookish. But in the world of medieval studies, there are plenty of interpreters, docents, and curators at castles and armor collections that break that mold quite handily – and right at the top of that list is Dr. Tobias Capwell. By day, Dr. Capwell is the curator of arms and armor at London’s Wallace Collection, an art museum that has, since it was established in 1897, housed one of the finest displays of medieval and Renaissance armor in England (with more than 2500 pieces in its vaults) as well as plenty of other outstanding paintings, sculptures, and other pieces of art. Recently, Dr. Capwell has been involved in a very high-profile project: The excavation of the remains of King Richard III (which were unearthed just last year) and the efforts to reproduce a set of armor that would have functioned properly for the malformed medieval king, based on his detailed understanding 15th century fashion in both clothing and armor. Dr. Capwell’s expertise on this topic has been recently brought to the public eye in a television documentary “Resurrecting Richard III,” which airs on PBS this month as part of the “Secrets of the Dead” series. Dr. Capwell will also be in San Diego in October for the annual Tournament of the Phoenix jousting competition, and Chivalry Today has been honored to help coordinate a series of lectures throughout Southern California while he’s here – one of which, presented through San Diego’s Oasis Learning Center, will give a “behind the scenes” look at the process of crafting an accurate replica of King Richard’s armor through Dr. Capwell’s extensive study of the uniquely English style of knightly habiliments. Dr. Capwell joins Scott Farrell for a conversation about fashions of English armor, the life and death of King Richard III, and what we can learn from both of these things about knights – and chivalry – in medieval England. Learn More Watch Resurrecting Richard III, an episode of the PBS series “Secrets of the Dead,” featuring Dr. Tobias Capwell on-line at the PBS Video website. Also: Watch Dr. Tobias Capwell’s lecture on the remains of Richard III and his armor for the Richard III Society at the University of Leicester, shortly after the discovery of King Richard’s remains. What, exactly, do we know about Richard III? Much of our modern perception of King Richard – an acclaimed warrior, and the last English king to die on the battlefield – has been shaped by Shakespeare, as a deformed, malicious, gleeful villain. This performance by Sir Laurence Olivier has, for decades, been the defining image of Richard III.