BBC Crusades with Terry Jones "Destruction"

1995 · BBC

Crusades is a 1995 historical documentary series presented by Terry Jones . It looked at The Crusades and occasionally used elements of black comedy . Prominent historical figures are depicted by actors wearing masks and costumes, giving the appearance of living artistic images in the style of their original cultures. Emperor Alexios I , for example, appears as a Byzantine mosaic , while European and Muslim figures are brought to life by actors appearing in the style of medieval European, and near eastern miniatures. At times, production is deliberately anachronistic, such as showing the use of 1930s style newsreels by the Church to drum up mass support for the Crusades. 4. "Destruction" The Crusade of Richard I of England is explored to find the seeds of his eventual failure. The fourth episode examines the massacres during the siege of Acre, the Treaty of Ramla in 1192 when Richard was forced to concede Jerusalem to Saladin, and the establishment of the Empire of Latins in Constantinople after the Crusade of Venetian statesman Enrico Dandolo .