The Birth of the Middle Ages
About the title: This program provides an introduction to medieval Europe by showing surviving traces to provide a feel of medieval style and practice and by tracing the roots of the fall of civilization and the onset of darkness. Much that is medie...
The City of God
About the title: Augustine of Hippo is a symbol of humankind in early medieval times, seeking to understand the terror and destruction resulting from the barbarian devastations of the Roman world, seeking to find the hand of God—and finding it in ...
Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire
About the title: Out of the ashes of the Roman Empire rose the Holy Roman Empire, born during Christmas of 800 in the Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome. This program covers the antecedents and the life of Charlemagne, shows life at the court, life o...
Byzantium: From Splendor to Ruin
About the title: This program covers the founding of Constantinople as a second Rome, its flowering when the Roman Empire in the West was shattered, its gradual decline under the impact of Normans, Turks, Venetians, and the Crusades, and finally, it...
Christians, Jews, and Moslems in medieval Spain
Due partly to the weakness of its Visigothic rulers, partly to its proximity to Africa, the Iberian peninsula was conquered by Berbers and by Arabs belonging to the Ommayad Dynasty of Damascus. This program describes the history of Spain from the ti...
Picasso and his time
This superb documentary covers the long and extraordinary life of Picasso, beginning with the first period of his life in Malaga, La Coruna, and Barcelona (the time of his classic painting) and continuing in Paris, Vallauris, and Vouvenargue. This b...
Vikings and Normans
About the title: The Vikings were farmers and food gatherers, fierce and violent in battle, with family and clan loyalties that lasted beyond life. This program covers the Viking sea prowess and explorations: Viking influences in England and Scotlan...
The feudal system
This program covers the social and economic organization of Europe in the Middle Ages: life in a medieval farming hamlet; the role of the feudal lord, whose role was to defend its inhabitants in return for a share of the produce and other tribute; t...