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A Historian's rant...
Jul. 12th, 2008 11:02 pmYou can see how much a historian/geek I am if I get annoyed by just a simple misguided blurb on the back of a DVD of Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V"...
Can you see what's wrong with the blurb (historically-wise)?
"He ruled a massive empire...and fought a mighty war!...Having recently been crowned King of England, Henry commands a massive invasion to assert what he believes is his legal right to the throne of France. But a mighty army stands in his way...and the young monarch must rely on untested reserves of courage and cunning as he personally leads his outnumbered forces into a desperate battle for the honor and glory of the British Empire."
I was irked by these mistakes:
1. Henry V, in fact, DID not rule over a "massive empire". At the time, the king and England only had, well, England, and some parts of France.
2. The British Empire certainly did not really exist until much later. The actual date and time when we can call it a British Empire is debatable, it might have been established during Elizabeth I's time when English explorers were seeking out the New World and established trading links as well as colonies in the Americas as well as the East India Company in India. Probably what we identify as the true British Empire started around the mid-18th Century to its peak during the late 19th Century.
3. There was no such thing as "British" or "Britain" until the Acts of Union in 1707 when England and Scotland joined to form Great Britain.
....yeah, I know, utterly pathetic of me but I am so utterly bored, lol
Can you see what's wrong with the blurb (historically-wise)?
"He ruled a massive empire...and fought a mighty war!...Having recently been crowned King of England, Henry commands a massive invasion to assert what he believes is his legal right to the throne of France. But a mighty army stands in his way...and the young monarch must rely on untested reserves of courage and cunning as he personally leads his outnumbered forces into a desperate battle for the honor and glory of the British Empire."
I was irked by these mistakes:
1. Henry V, in fact, DID not rule over a "massive empire". At the time, the king and England only had, well, England, and some parts of France.
2. The British Empire certainly did not really exist until much later. The actual date and time when we can call it a British Empire is debatable, it might have been established during Elizabeth I's time when English explorers were seeking out the New World and established trading links as well as colonies in the Americas as well as the East India Company in India. Probably what we identify as the true British Empire started around the mid-18th Century to its peak during the late 19th Century.
3. There was no such thing as "British" or "Britain" until the Acts of Union in 1707 when England and Scotland joined to form Great Britain.
....yeah, I know, utterly pathetic of me but I am so utterly bored, lol
