DOCUMENTARIES

History Channel’s The Templar Code

For nearly two centuries, the Knights Templar was the most powerful order in the medieval world. Today the group's legacy is played out in an array of Hollywood blockbusters and numerous works of popular literature.

Despite the Knights' long reign of power, the order experienced a sudden collapse in the early fourteenth century when certain members stood accused of unspeakable crimes and were subsequently tortured and killed. This insightful program interviews some of the world's leading biblical scholars and visits historic sites throughout Europe and the Near East to probe the past of this mysterious order. Did the Knights, as many believe, guard the Holy Grail? Or was the object of their attentions buried a thousand years before the birth of Christ?

PBS Home Video: Richard the Lionheart & Saladin: Holy Warriors

The epic legend of King Richard the Lionhearted and his struggle to save Christendom's holiest city, Jerusalem, from its Muslim conqueror Saladin is explored in this dramadocumentary using original Muslim and Christian sources, as well as interviews with experts from both the East and West. Filmed in the Middle East, it tells the story that defined religious conflict for centuries and transformed Richard and Saladin into legends.

NATGEO’s Last Stand of the Templars

The Templars were considered the pope's private army, protecting Jerusalem for more than 50 years. But their legacy came to a sudden end - casting them from the heights of wealth and power to the dark corners of history. Now, on the ruins of a 12th century castle near the border between what are now Israel and Syria, a team of archaeologists peel away centuries of sediment, uncovering signs of a six-day siege that could have led to the Templars' demise.

The Knights Templar, the real story of Europe’s Greatest Warrior Monks

So powerful, only death would stop them.
They wielded a double-edged sword, combining military might and impressive financial power. The Pope himself could not escape their long shadow and the whispers about a secret treasure, which was said to include the Holy Grail and The Ark of the Covenant. So who – or what – brought down the mighty Knights Templar?
The Templars were French knights dedicated to protecting Christians on pilgrimage. Highly trained and passionately devoted to God, they fought with no fear of death and eventually became monks, albeit monks with no problem using a sword on their enemies. The Knights built a complex financial empire that helped Richard the Lionheart and the King of France, but one that also raised suspicions that these “holy men” were too powerful. Thus began the accusations of heresy – and the burnings at the stake.

Professor Malcolm Barber, the world’s leading Templar historian, explores the impressive rise and rapid fall of a group ahead of its time. What happened to the surviving warriors of the Order? Even more important – was there a secret treasure and where might it be now? It’s a tale even better than Indiana Jones – because it’s all true!

History of Warfare: The Crusades- Knights of Christ

This episode of the War File's THE HISTORY OF WARFARE series explores the Crusades, a 200-year conflict between Christian Europeans and Muslim Arabs that raged in the Holy Land from the 11th to 13th centuries. The Crusades are brought to life through dramatic reenactments and computer imagery, while historical context is provided by interviews with historians and voiceover narration by actor Michael Leighton.

For nearly 2 centuries, generations of knights from England and Western Europe marched to do battle with the Saracen hordes that occupied the Holy Land. These bitter and bloody battles are known to history as the Crusades. Perhaps most famous of all was Richard the Lionheart's struggle with the Emperor Saladin on the burning sands of Palestine in 1190. This DVD features atmospheric reconstruction footage, spectacular computer effects, dramatized "eyewitness" accounts, and expert commentary. Michael Leighton narrates.

EWTN’s The Military Orders and the Crusades

For much of recent history, The Crusades have been confused as a black mark within the book of our Catholic faith, Jaime and Joanna Bogle strive to set straight the misconceptions between the Church and this ongoing territorial warfare in this EWTN Home Video program. Prior to the crusades, the Catholic world dominated from the Middle East, through northern Africa to Europe. Invading forces left the Catholic Church no choice but to defend Herself and her lands.

EWTN’s The Crusades

New 4-part miniseries on the myths, the legends, and the truths of the Crusades. Dramatic re-enactments filmed on-location in the Holy Land and Europe, with
commentary on THE historical event of the medieval era. Episode 1 - Journeys of Faith; Episode 2 - The Crusader States; Episode 3 - Christendom Responds; Episode 4 - Failures and Successes.

History Channel’s The Crusades; Crescent & the Cross

Presents the epic battle between two Middle Age superpowers: the Christian Crusaders and the Muslims. Fought over two centuries, the conflict decided the fate of the Holy Land of the Middle East. Only a tiny strip of land, just a few hundred miles long, it contained the ultimate prize, the city of Jerusalem.

The documentary is driven by the key personalities of the First, Second and Third Crusades, the popes, kings, sultans and knights who, in the name of God, ruthlessly fought for land and power. Experience the murder, treachery, and bloodshed of this legendary chapter of history through the eyes of key historical figures such as Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, King Louis VII and Nur al-Din.

With breath-taking CGI-enhanced visuals, heart-pounding reenactments, and stunning footage from rarely-seen locations THE CRUSADES: CRESCENT & THE CROSS brings the first three Crusades alive for a new generation in conflict.
DVD Features: Timeline; Behind-the-Scenes Featurette History in the Making: The Crusades ; Bonus Documentary The Knights Templar

BBC’s Heroes & Villians: Richard the Lionheart

Hospitaller Grand Master during the Third Crusade features prominently.

The year is 1192. Jaffa is a strategically important port city in Palestine. The Christians are about to lose the crusade against Saladin in the battle for the Holy Land. Richard the Lionheart put his honor and his name on the game in the final battle of Jaffa. With only a handful of mounted crusader and a few hundred foot soldiers, he attacked the city and won a victory that forever cemented his position in the history of the world as the noble warrior king personified.

Sovereign Order of the Knights of Malta

This is a very fascinating documentary is also beautifully shot and spans the history of the Knights of Malta from inception to present day. The filming of Malta itself and the history it has makes one desirous to go there just to see and experience the country.

History Channel's Crusades with Terry Jones

Take this documentary with a grain of salt, as you can see by the product description where it leans to:

“Of all the wars waged in the name of God, none has ever matched the arrogance and conceit of the Christian Crusades. For nearly two centuries (1095-1291), this medieval "holy war" variously raged, sometimes so spiritually misshapen by rapaciousness, murder, and political greed that to think it all had to do with Christian faith is absurd. And really, there is no one better to dramatize such a theater of holy war than Wales-born Terry Jones, host of The Discovery Channel's Ancient Inventions and an accomplished medievalist. Best known for his absurdist contributions to all things Monty Python--he was a founding member of Monty Python's Flying Circus and cowriter of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, among others--Jones wields an uncanny ability to explain the methodologies and madness of the Crusades while not failing us his sense of humor.

Jones wrote the scripts for each 50-minute presentation in the four volumes of The Crusades, which originally aired on The History Channel. His narration is not without an occasional sardonic air, almost of the roll-your-eyes type, which not only lends a skeptical perspective to a frequently misunderstood era in Western Europe, but also quite frequently editorializes the events that occurred between Pope Urban II's call for liberation of Jerusalem from the "infidels" of Islam and the embarrassing moment when officers of the fourth Crusade are conned out of its divine calling by the Venetians. While Jones's reconnaissance is sometimes oversimplified by casually not mentioning several Crusade sorties after the fourth (there were several, but by the 13th century they had become redolent of ennui and misguided commercial adventure), the technical ingenuity of the production and Jones's use of anecdote backed by academicians and preserved eyewitness accounts cinches a viewer's interest.”

Perhaps he should stick to comedic skits, otherwise there is some interesting visual material to enjoy throughout this product.