Die besten Mittelalter-Filme
Eine Liste der besten Filme und Serien rund um das Mittelalter. (Fantasy, Adventure)
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- StarsChristoph WaltzMario AdorfDeborah KaufmannThe 1530s. Many are convinced that the Day of Judgement is at hand. A protest movement is making the heart of Europe beat faster and louder: it is a protest against the dissipation of the Catholic clergy, but also against the religious remedies prescibed by Lutheranism. The Anabaptist movement preaches the second coming and prophesies that all enemies of the "true faith" will "drown in rivers of blood". All those, however, who renounce the devil are promised both earthly and heavenly happiness in a "new Jerusalem". When the Anabaptist doctrine overtakes the flourishing town of Münster ("the pearl of Westphalia") and the town's Catholics are either driven out or forced to live in a ghetto, the newly-elected Prince-Bishop of Münster and Osnabrück, Count Franz Waldeck, decides to take fiercer action against what he sees as the "Anabaptist scourge"; anyone who lets themselves be rebaptized in his diocese, whether male or female, is to be hanged from the nearest tree. Sebastian Kien, a vagrant travelling actor (actually quite similar in nature and temperament to François Villon) uses a mixture of cunning and deceit to save a young girl from being hanged. Since the girl, Engele Kerkerinck, has lost her entire family, Sebastian takes her under his wing, gives her the courage to carry on living, and says he will teach her how to sing and to dance. Engele, however, wants to go to Münster where the legendary Jan van Leyden, an Anabaptist, is preaching, and to whose sermons Catholics and Protestants alike - and women in particular - are flocking. Engele, too, is under the spell of this man, and mesmerised by his stature, his fire, his powerful words and his charisma. Sebastian Kien recognises an old friend in Jan van Leyden: the latter is none other than the actor and pimp Jan Bockelson, with whom he used to make the same kind of living (often a pathetic one) that he still does now. A rapturous reunion ensues. Bockelson wants his old friend to join forces with him and predicts a glorious future for himself: "One day I'll be King of Münster!" But resistance from those Catholics who still remain in Münster has not yet been fully overcome. The prosperous burghers still distrust the man who preaches poverty and renunciation while stashing his own coffers with money and jewellery. Bockelson overcomes a crisis of confidence in his abilities, sparked off by the town council, by asking a famous prophet known as Jan Matthys to come to the town's assistance. Sebastian Kien is given instructions to turn the prophet's arrival into an occasion of popular celebration. After an almost supernatural piece of stage direction, Bockelson succeeds in winning the hearts of the townsfolk once more, little realising that the prophet's arrival in Münster means that he is about to be inexorably caught up in a rapid succession of events. The reason for this is Divara, Jan Matthys' wife. She and Bockelson seem to recognise one another as kindred spirits from their very first meeting: both are held in the sway of a powerful mutual fascination. Divara sees the future potential of the young, beaming Bockelson, and considers him far more promising than the already ageing Jan Matthys who, plagued by self-doubt, is falling prey to alcoholism. Divara, attractive, desirable and very self-confident, uses all the weapons a woman possesses. She provokes Jan Bockelson into killing the Catholics' leader, Trutelink, and accuses her husband of weakness, urging him to practice what he preaches and to go and prove his mettle against the Prince-Bishop. Fully aware of what is going on, and in the knowledge that his days are numbered, Jan Matthys rides off into a trap carefully prepared by Tom Korteboldt, a double agent in the pay of both sides. Jan Matthys dies with a prophecy upon his lips: "In three days' time I shall be resurrected from the dead!" When this prophecy is not fulfilled, Jan Bockelson faces yet another crisis of confidence. At the very last moment Divara manages to stop the mayor, Knipperdolling, and the rest of the town council from accepting the Prince-Bishop's offer of negotiation in return for surrendering the town without a fight. And once again Sebastian Kien is faced with having to help his old friend out of a dilemma. Engele persuades him to do so. Sebastian stages a supernatural event - the arrival of an angel - for the credulous and astonished townspeople, and thus restores his friend's charisma. Divara makes use of the townspeople's credulity to tie things up once and for all. She ensures that Jan Bockelson, favoured by the Lord, becomes "King of Münster", while she herself takes over the role of Queen. Engele has long since fallen prey to her fascination for Bockelson. She is endured as the King's mistress by Divara, who sees the girl as next to no competition; indeed, she even sees her as strengthening her position. Sebastian Kien decides he wants to leave the town. His concern for Engele developed into affection, and affection has now turned into love - a very different kind of love, though, than that practised by his former friend Bockelson. Out of concern for Engele, Sebastian remains in the town - also, perhaps, because he is still hoping that she will come back to him. From now on Bockelson surrenders to his own personal whims and delights, cloaking it all in the guise of "divine inspiration". When Clarissa, the daughter of mayor Knipperdolling, and the last Catholic in Münster, is discovered hiding in a well-shaft, Bockelson orders her father - whom he has appointed the kingdom's chief executioner - to behead his own daughter. Bockelson's sudden decision to humiliate the intractably Catholic Clarissa still further, rather than just kill her outright, saves the girl's life. The King of Münster makes the mayor's daughter his courtesan, and shortly afterwards has polygamy and free love announced as a tenet of the Anabaptist faith. Münster celebrates this new edict with an orgy. The siege of Münster by the Prince-Bishop has now been going on for over a year. The town is riddled with disease and starvation. The townspeople scratch moss off the stones in the graveyards to fill their bellies, women scrape plaster off the frescoes in the church to make "milk" for their children. The cholera victims are tipped unceremoniously over the town wall. Divara is aware of the danger and she takes decisive action. She promises the town council "help and salvation" within three days. And, as a pledge, she promises that "the King will burn if the prophecy is not fulfilled". Panic-stricken, Bockelson seeks the advice and support of his friend Sebastian, whom he has thrown into prison. Yet again, it is an idea of Sebastian Kien's that allows Bockelson to extricate himself from the affair. He sees his chance in the double meaning of the verb "to burn". At a ceremony which the preacher Rottmann turns into a religious ceremony, Bockelson not only burns the books written by his religious rivals but also the last Catholic in Münster, Clarissa Knipperdolling, who refuses to renounce her faith. The crowd's enthusiasm is boundless. This first human sacrifice is soon to be followed by a second. Engele beseeches Bockelson in vain to spare the life of Sebastian Kien, whom Bockelson now regards as his most dangerous rival. For Kien knows the truth about Bockelson's past life - and he screams it into the face of the man who calls himself "the messenger of the Lord". At first, the townspeople, who have rushed enthusiastically to the Prinzipalmarkt to watch Sebastian Kien's execution, seem stunned. But then Rottmann the preacher puts on his most successful performance so far: he turns Kien's accusations upside down by treating them as proof of divine long-sightedness and mercy, and in doing so succeeds in winning the crowd's approval. And as if to prove his magnanimity and humanity, Bockelson answers Engele's prayers: he sets his friend free. Prince-Bishop Waldeck, unswerving in his faith and unbending in his desire to recapture Münster for his own, makes one final attempt to go down as magnanimous and merciful in the history books. He decides to defeat his enemies - who have used the word of God to take over the town - by the word of God too. In a magnificent display of religious pomp, he stands face to face with the "latter-day King", and reads him the parable of the lost sheep from the bible. Bockelson, seeing his followers already on their knees before the cross of Catholicism, manages at the very last moment to stop the Anabaptists from capitulating. Waldeck and his followers are then forced to realise just how much power Jan Bockelson has over the people of Münster: the Prince-Bishop's carefully staged entreaty is mockingly answered by a phalanx of naked Anabaptist buttocks along the town battlements. Waldeck gives the order to attack. That night, in the year 1535, Münster drowns in a sea of rain and blood. When the sun comes up again, the town is in the hands of the Prince-Bishop. Waldeck meets an enemy who shows no remorse or submissiveness. Even as a prisoner, Bockelson is condescending and full of scorn. Not one word of regret about what he has done. Bockelson senses that God is on his side - in the struggle against the corruption of the authorities. Count Waldeck and his followers prepare the punishment rite. It is to be an occasion of great magnificence: a public execution that will remain etched in popular memory for generations, demonstrating the victory of the righteous and God-fearing over all that is evil. Divara, whom Waldeck finds very attractive, turns down the Prince-Bishop's offer to make her his mistress by committing suicide. All the anger and hatred the victors have left is now concentrated on one man: Bockelson. Bockelson is interrogated, and tortured eight times - all in vain. He is unyielding, even under pain. He impresses his inquisitors by quoting Thomas Aquinas, and uttering obscene jokes dating from his days as a pimp and innkeeper at the "Three Herrings" in Leyden. Bockelson, Mayor Knipperdolling and Chancellor Krechting are placed in three cages and put on display in front of the curious crowd. Looking at them costs one pfennig. Touching them costs one pfennig extra. Then there is the final wordless meeting between Bockelson and Engele, who prays to God to grant him a merciful death. It is the night of the condemned Bockelson's last meal, to which he has invited his "friend" Sebastian: the "latter-day King" uses up all his actor's talents to put on a show of pride and dignity. He, Knipperdolling and Krechting are to be hung in their cages high up on the Lambertikirche, and Bockelson's last wish is to be hung higher than the other two. The execution has all the trappings of a festival, especially for those who have long since returned to their original belief. The executioners, it has been decided, will slowly torture Bockelson to death with red-hot pincers. Bockelson knows about this because Sebastian has already told him, but he has also prophesied to Sebastian that he will neither groan nor scream - though he might just hum and sing... Sebastian Kien follows the progress of the event from some distance away. He has resolved to applaud and to shout with relief as Bockelson is slowly tortured to death. He sees the glowing pincers, hears the hiss of burning flesh and then, very quietly: he hears Bockelson singing a song, one that they used to sing together in the old days. Sebastian Kien does Jan Bockelson a final service. He rushes towards the tribune, past the executioners, and stabs Bockelson twice with a knife. The first time he misses the heart, but the second time he makes no mistake. Together, on the covered wagon they arrived in, Sebastian and Engele leave the town that has kept them like prisoners for 16 months. Engele confesses to Sebastian that she is expecting a baby - Bockelson's baby. "I'll teach him to dance and sing and write poetry", says Sebastian. "Can you be a comedian and sing and dance without believing in God...?" asks Engele. Sebastian: "You can..." "Why do people dance, then...?" asks Engele - and receives no reply...
- StarsJosefine PreußJacob MatschenzVolker Bruch14th century near of Ulm, Germany. Tilla is the daughter of a wealthy merchant. On his deathbed he requests his heart to be taken to Santiago De Compostela, Spain, which is a task, Tilla is willing to fulfill.
- StarsIan McShaneMatthew MacfadyenEddie RedmayneSet against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.
- StarsBen ChaplinCharlotte RileyNora WaldstättenThe English town of Kingsbridge works to survive as the King leads the nation into the Hundred Years' War with France while Europe deals with the outbreak of the Black Death.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsPaul WalkerGerard ButlerBilly ConnollyA group of archaeologists get embroiled in an adventure where they must travel back in time to 14th Century France, to save their professor before the French battle the English at Castlegard. If they fail, they won't be able to return.
- CreatorMichael HirstStarsKatheryn WinnickGustaf SkarsgårdAlexander LudwigVikings transports us to the brutal and mysterious world of Ragnar Lothbrok, a Viking warrior and farmer who yearns to explore--and raid--the distant shores across the ocean.
- CreatorFoz AllanDominic MinghellaStarsJonas ArmstrongGordon KennedySam TroughtonAfter 5 years of fighting in the crusades, Robin returns to England and leads a band of outlaws to outwit the Sheriff of Nottingham.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsCary ElwesMandy PatinkinRobin WrightA bedridden boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.
- CreatorJohnny CappsJulian JonesJake MichieStarsJohn HurtColin MorganBradley JamesThese are the brand new adventures of Merlin, the legendary sorcerer as a young man, when he was just a servant to young Prince Arthur on the royal court of Camelot, who has soon become his best friend, and turned Arthur into a great king and a legend.
- CreatorBruno HellerWilliam J. MacDonaldJohn MiliusStarsKevin McKiddRay StevensonPolly WalkerA down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.
- CreatorHoward OvermanJohnny CappsJulian MurphyStarsMark AddyJack DonnellyRobert EmmsFar from home, Jason washes up on the shores of the ancient and mysterious city of Atlantis.
- DirectorPhilipp StölzlStarsTom PayneStellan SkarsgårdOlivier MartinezIn 11th-century Persia, a surgeon's apprentice disguises himself as a Jew to study at a school that does not admit Christians.
- CreatorKurt SutterStarsLee JonesKatey SagalFlora Spencer-LonghurstIn the early 14th century, several oppressed Welsh commoners unite to take revenge on the ruthless nobility.
- StarsAlexander DreymonEliza ButterworthArnas FedaraviciusAs Alfred the Great defends his kingdom from Norse invaders, Uhtred--born a Saxon but raised by Vikings--seeks to claim his ancestral birthright.
- CreatorDavid S. GoyerStarsTom RileyGregg ChilingirianEros VlahosFollows Leonardo Da Vinci during his early days in Florence, as a young artist, inventor and dreamer, trying to change the future.
- CreatorRonald D. MooreStarsCaitríona BalfeSam HeughanSophie SkeltonClaire Beauchamp Randall, a nurse in World War II, mysteriously goes back in time to Scotland in 1743. There, she meets a dashing Highland warrior and gets drawn into an epic rebellion.
- CreatorAlfred GoughMiles MillarStarsAustin ButlerIvana BaqueroManu BennettSeries of adventures, war, and evil that occur throughout the history of the Four Lands.
- DirectorPhilipp StölzlStarsTom PayneStellan SkarsgårdOlivier MartinezIn 11th-century Persia, a surgeon's apprentice disguises himself as a Jew to study at a school that does not admit Christians.
- StarsRuby O. FeeSteve WindolfSusanne WuestThe orphan girl Marthe lives with her aunt after the cruel death of her mother. She shamelessly uses his special abilities as a healer to earn money. In return for payment, she sends Marthe to the court of the burgrave, whose wife is in severe pain in labor. The visionary Marthe immediately recognizes that mother and child are doomed to die. Before the disaster occurs, she flees from the wrath of the lord of the castle. Arriving at her aunt's farm, she sees from hiding how the latter brutally kills her relatives. Alone and without provisions, Marthe wanders through the woods, where she finally falls into the hands of Franconian settlers. Under the leadership of the respected knight Christian, they move to the Mark Meissen to found a village there. After an attack by robbers, Marthe saves a pregnant woman and cares for a seriously wounded man. However, their gift to decide between life and death causes unrest in the entourage. But Christian stands in front of her, unimpressed. Word of her abilities spread quickly at the court of his patron Otto von Wettin, where Marthe was curing the armorer's back ailment. Margravine Hedwig calls the healer to treat her son Dietrich, who suffers from chronic fever. With her advice, Marthe, whose mother died a painful death because of witchcraft, incurs the wrath of the medicus and the margrave. This time too, Christian's protective hand prevents worse. But he soon has to lead a campaign against Henry the Lion. The fact that Otto's choice falls on him and not the ambitious Randolf does not want to accept without a fight. Now Christian has a vengeful adversary.
- DirectorRobert EggersStarsAnya Taylor-JoyRalph InesonKate DickieA family in 1630s New England is torn apart by the forces of witchcraft, black magic and possession.
- StarsSamuel SchneiderHerbert KnaupSascha Alexander GersakJakob Fugger's scheming to become as rich as Croesus from copper and silver mining as banker of the mighty in Catholic Christianity requires seeing the papacy to organize a European crusader defense against the Ottoman Turkish threat. The church's self-absorbed puritanical Inquisition party would rather concentrate on fighting heresy and so on within, which includes burning at the stake converted Saracene Zobeida, the mother of monastery oblate Richard, the bastard son of Fugger's late brother, who swears revenge at inquisitor Heinrich Institoris -and remains his target- which he seeks to find as Jacob's confident.
- CreatorDon HandfieldRichard RaynerStarsTom CullenPádraic DelaneySimon MerrellsA look at the final days of the Knights Templar during the 14th century.