The Last Kingdom is set during medieval times, but according to one subject matter expert, it takes some extreme liberties.
The Last Kingdom is a Netflix show set during the Middle Ages, and generally has a reputation for being pretty historically accurate…or any rate, it looks very gritty. But do the battles that Uhtred Son of Uhtred gets himself involved in actually stand up to scholarly scrutiny?
According to medieval arms expert Tobias Capwell. He watched a scene from The Last Kingdom for Insider, and he was not impressed. The video itself is over two hours long — they draft a lot of experts to look at a lot of fight scenes — but we’ve time-stamped the embedded video below so it starts with The Last Kingdom bit:
Capwell takes particular issue with the soldiers using rectangular shields built out of planks of wood that have visible gaps between them:
"Nobody ever used rectangular shields. I mean, that’s ridiculous, it’s stupid! And real early Medieval shields, which were all circular as far as we can tell, if air can get through, then a lot of other things can get through. Most real shields of this period are made out of boards, placed edge to edge, sort of like this, but they’re placed properly edge to edge, and they’re glued, and they’re sealed, and there’s arguments, good arguments to be made for them then being edged with rawhide or sometimes covered with hide or textile and glue. You should not be able to see that much air through your shield."
Capwell ends up giving The Last Kingdom scene a 0/10 for historical accuracy. Ouch.
The Last Kingdom is based on a series of books by author Bernard Cornwell. The Winter King, a new show based on a different series of books by Cornwell, is airing now on MGM+. Is that show any more historically accurate. My bet is no:
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