Editing Terry Jones (section)

==== History ====
{{Quote box|width=29%|align=right|quote="[you] speak to him on subjects as diverse as [[fossil fuel]]s, or [[Rupert Bear]], or mercenaries in the [[Middle Ages]] or Modern China&nbsp;... in a moment you will find yourself hopelessly out of your depth, floored by his knowledge."|source=—Python biographer George Perry on Jones<ref>Perry, George (2007). ''The Life of Python''. p. 40. Pavilion</ref>}}
Jones wrote books and presented television documentaries on [[Middle Ages|medieval]] and [[Classical antiquity|ancient history]]. His first book was ''Chaucer's Knight: The Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary'' (1980), which offers an alternative take on [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s ''[[The Knight's Tale]]''. Chaucer's knight is often interpreted as a paragon of [[Seven virtues|Christian virtue]], but Jones asserts that if one studies historical accounts of the battles the knight claims he was involved in, he can be interpreted as a typical [[mercenary]] and a potentially cold-blooded killer.<ref name="Conversation">{{cite web |last1=Turner |first1=Marion |title=Terry Jones: professional comic, amateur historian, accomplished human being |url=https://theconversation.com/terry-jones-professional-comic-amateur-historian-accomplished-human-being-130514? |website=The Conversation |publisher=The Conversation UK |access-date=20 March 2023 |date=24 January 2020}}</ref> He also co-wrote ''Who Murdered Chaucer?'' (2003) in which he argues that Chaucer was close to [[King Richard II]], and that after Richard was deposed, Chaucer was persecuted to death by [[Thomas Arundel]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Jonathan|last=Myerson|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/nov/15/classics.highereducation|title=Review: Who Murdered Chaucer?|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 November 2003|access-date=11 September 2018}}</ref>

Jones' TV series also frequently challenged popular views of history. For example, in ''[[Terry Jones' Medieval Lives]]'' (2004; for which he received a 2004 [[Emmy]] nomination for "Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming")<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/terry-jones-medieval-lives|title=Terry Jones' Medieval Lives|website=emmys.com|access-date=22 January 2020}}</ref> he argues that the Middle Ages was a more sophisticated period than is popularly thought,<ref name=tjml>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/3507439.stm|title=Python slams 'overrated' Renaissance|work=BBC News|date=23 February 2004|access-date=22 January 2020}}</ref> and ''[[Terry Jones' Barbarians]]'' (2006) presents the cultural achievements of peoples conquered by the [[Roman Empire]] in a more positive light than Roman historians typically have, attributing the [[Sack of Rome (410)|Sack of Rome]] in AD 410 to propaganda.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00791rm|title=BBC One – Terry Jones's Barbarians|website=BBC}}</ref>