MAHONING VALLEY Medieval acting focuses on period's brutality

TCTC seniors study British literature in their English classes.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CHAMPION -- The Middle Ages wasn't all about a knight's honor like depicted in the movies.
Some of it was pretty brutal.
Dr. Eleanor Congdon, a professor of medieval history at Youngstown State University, delivered a medieval history lesson Thursday to students at Trumbull Career and Technical Center.
The presentation coincides with a unit in English classes on British literature.
Wearing the dress and veil of a noblewoman of the Middle Ages, Congdon talked about knights and their weaponry, castles and way of life.
Depictions by Hollywood of the Middle Ages aren't always accurate, with filmmakers mixing different periods of history, she said.
Brian McCarty from Newton Falls High School dressed as a page with Jesse Hitch of North Bloomfield High School portraying a knight in the morning's demonstration.
Strength and protection
Jesse wore a chain mail, a 15-pound hood made out of wire rings knitted together.
"The strength of your protection comes from your chain mail," Congdon said, adding that movie portrayals of knights in head armor aren't historically accurate.
"Full body armor wasn't until later, and then it was only for tournaments to play games," she said.
Knights wore the headpieces into battle from about 300 to 1400, the professor said.
The highlight of her presentation kept with the fall season. Congdon pulled out a pumpkin, raised her broad sword and swiftly sliced the gourd in half to show the brutality of the period.
"Killing is the whole object of all of [a knight's] training," she said, using an ax to whack out another chunk of pumpkin flesh. "This is what knights in shining armor do for their living -- kill people."
TCTC is the only school where Congdon has delivered her presentation.
"I want to do it much, much more," she said. "It's a lot of fun. It gives students a realistic idea of the Middle Ages."
denise.dick@vindy.com