Juan Cole: Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven

I saw Kingdom of Heaven Sunday. The film has many virtues, with its attention to costume and scene. I could quibble. Medieval European swords of the 1100s could not be wielded in the way they were shown here; they were very heavy. And I doubt that whatever the catapults were throwing in the way of fiery material would explode like bombshells on impact. Even bombshells didn't explode until the 18th century, as I recall. The history is not entirely wrong, though predictably liberties are taken.