History ArtisticLicenseHistory / LiveActionTV

* ''ArtisticLicense/MagnificentCenturyKosem''

* ''ArtisticLicense/MagnificentCenturyKosem''

* ''Series/TheMinistryOfTime'':
** Cardinal Cisneros appears next to Queen Isabel in 1491. TVE has acknowledged that it is an anachronism because Cisneros was not in the Castilian Court until one year later, and was not made Cardinal until 1507, long after Isabel's death.
*** While the actor is the same that played Cisneros in the series ''Isabel'' (Eusebio Poncela), he seems to be way older, closer to what he looked like in the sequel ''Carlos, Rey Emperador'' which was set 12 to 24 years later depending of the episode. It's likely that Poncela shot his scene between takes of the second series.
** UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition was actually less harsh than depicted here. Only unrepentant defendants would in fact be sentenced to death. This issue never even comes up at the trial shown, but it would be the key one for real Inquisition tribunals. In any case, Torquemada definitely would never dare ignore an edict from the Pope or the Queen. He also wasn't bent on sending an accused to the stake as shown here.
** Episode 6's time door is in a confession booth... even though confession booths had not been invented yet in 1520.
** The tag at the beginning of Episode 9 identifies the location of El Cid as "Valencia, year 1079". However, El Cid did not go east until the following year, and arrived in the Valencia region for the first time around 1087.
** Episode 12 has Pacino going undercover as a priest and being horrified when he realizes that he has to say mass and he has no idea about how it is done. [[HilarityEnsues He manages in the end]], but nobody finds strange the fact that he says mass in Spanish even though Catholic mass was still said in Latin in 1808.
** Constanza and Don Fadrique's wedding in 1212 begins in Latin, but switches to Spanish later on. We probably can attribute this to TranslationConvention.
** The Loarre castle crew speaks Spanish in the 11th century, when Aragonese would be appropriate.

* In ''Series/FargoSeasonThree'', Yuri Gurka takes pride in his Russian heritage and likes to brag about his Cossack ancestors who [[RapePillageAndBurn murdered thousands of Jews during the Uman massacre]]. The actual [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_Uman Uman massacre]] was committed by Ukrainian Haidamaks with '''no''' Russian forces involved. That being said, the Russian Empire was at that time aligned with the UsefulNotes/PolishLithuanianCommonwealth, and the Russian troops fought on its side ''against'' the Cossacks (which means that Russians and Jews were de facto on the same side).
** Gurka also gives a... somewhat distorted description of Russian history in general:

** Gurka also gives a... [[{{Understatement}} somewhat distorted]] description of Russian history in general:
-->''All of Russia, hundreds of years, millions the tsar killed, then it was Lenin, then Stalin. Ten thousand, twenty thousand, but here you have, like, what? Malls … few dead Indians. Twenty million Russian died fighting Hitler. Twenty million. I see from your face that you can’t even imagine that. The pogroms, the starvation, twenty million more. Mothers cooking and eating their babies. That’s why the snow falls white, to hide the blood.''

** Sulla is portrayed as a populist who despises the Senate; in fact, he was a member of the conservative ''Optimates'' faction and marched on Rome to reverse the changes implemented by Caesar's father-in-law Marius and the ''Populares'' faction he led.

* ''Series/TheSpanishPrincess'':
** Joanna of Castile is portrayed as an atheist who declares her disbelief in God to both her sister Catherine and her husband. However, though Joanna was reportedly impious and expressed religious skepticism, it never went this far. Reportedly, she really was tortured for saying skeptical things, and thus would presumably refrain (even or especially assuming this included atheism).
** Isabella of Castile never fought in battle. While she was present at the siege of Granada in 1492, it was mostly for morale reasons. It was considered unbecoming of a woman (''especially'' the Queen) to fight. After all, dead queens can’t produce heirs.
** Likewise, Catherine wasn't even at the Battle of Flodden, let alone riding her charger into the thick of the conflict and killing soldiers; when word came to her of the victory she was nearly 300 miles away in Buckingham. Again, no one was going to risk a ''heavily pregnant queen'' on the battlefield. While she did ride north from of London to provide inspiration and moral support to the troops, it's debateable as to whether she was wearing armour or not; several sources record she was ''bringing'' 1500 suits of armour to help the English forces, rather than wearing it.
** While several of his fellow humanists worked as tutors to aristocratic children during their careers, Thomas More never did.
** Henry is shown to be extremely disappointed when Mary is born, to the point that his wife's failure to produce a healthy son is practically ''all'' he ever talks about. Contrast with the real Henry, who was glad at least one of his children survived past infancy and it wasn't until Catherine hit menopause that he grew desperate for an heir. Catherine herself isn't much better, since in real life she loved her daughter very much and likewise hoped that other healthy children, sons in particular, would follow; one of the reasons she was so adamant in refusing an annulment was because it would have stripped Mary of her right to the throne and made her a bastard.
** Catherine's awful treatment of Bessie Blount would most definitely not be allowed by the real Henry, who removed Bessie from court soon after learning she was pregnant - mostly in order for the birth of his illegitimate child to be as discreet as possible. It wasn't until the child turned out to be a (mostly) healthy boy that Henry's joy overrode his fear of scandal. While it's likely Catherine didn't have a whole lot of fuzzy feelings for Henry's mistresses, she not only looked the other way when it came to Henry's extramarital affairs (well, that is, until a little something called the Great Matter started), she also refused to even ''badmouth'' them, even around her ladies in waiting. And yes, that even includes ''Anne Boleyn'' herself.
** It is mentioned in passing during the Field Of The Cloth Of Gold episode that Louis XII was the father of Francis I. Which is both nonsensical and funny, since the showrunners avoided an interesting parallel between Louis and Henry. Louis XII was so desperate for a son he married only a few months before his death, when his health had already started to fail (people then joked that he died because of being ''too'' enthusiastic with his young bride). He had two wives before Mary Tudor - Jane of Valois, who was infertile, and Anne of Brittany, whom he married for her riches, but who had trouble producing a healthy child. Out of five children she had with Louis (she had already born six to her previous husband, none of which survived) only two girls survived their parents. Because French customs forbade passing of the crown trough a female line, the throne went to Francis, who was a distant cousin of Louis XII and who then married his older daughter Claude to seal the deal and gain the fortune she inherited from her mother.
** Francis I. also questions the legitimacy of Henry's daughter Mary, which in reality he wouldn't have done, especially not in public; the marriage of Henry and Catherine of Aragon was considered valid because of a papal dispensation. To make matters worse, the reason why he questions it was because of his firm belief at the time that the Pope doesn't have the power to make an otherwise illegitimate marriage permissible. Francis, at least in public, was a good Catholic and would never question a decision of the Pope without a very good (political) reason. In the show, his only motivation to do so is to ask for a bigger dowry for Mary when discussing her potential marriage to his son - which is ridiculously petty.[[note]] There ''were'' concerns on the Continent regarding Mary's legitimacy even with the dispensation, and this caused some difficulty while trying to find her a husband, but that's different from suggesting to the English monarchs' actual faces in public that their daughter is a bastard.[[/note]]
** In real life, Meg and her second husband Angus had a daughter named Margaret Douglas, who is AdaptedOut here. Since Margaret Douglas was the mother of Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots and father of James I, this leads to an AdaptationInducedPlotHole for the British royal family's future existence.
** While some people in the Protestant Reformation did deny the divine right of kings, Martin Luther did not go that far. Many Protestants supported book burnings, torture and capital punishment as well. There were also tolerant Catholics during the early 16th century such as Margaret of Austria, Erasmus and Margaret of Valois-Angoulême. Cardinal Wolsey and Catherine of Aragon also have an exaggerated role in the Catholic reaction. IRL they were not as involved in it as shown in the Spanish Princess. Anne Boleyn's role in the Protestant Reformation is downplayed. John Fisher and Bishop Gardiner are not shown either, ignoring the role they played in the Catholic reaction.

* ''Series/{{Timeless}}'':
** The team goes back to Nazi Germany in December 1944, less than a week before [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge Germany's last major offensive]] in which very cold weather played a key role. Nonetheless, there is no sign of winter anywhere (probably due to CaliforniaDoubling) nor are any of the characters dressed as though there could be a blizzard in a few days.
** Clyde Barrow never used a Thompson submachine gun in his crime spree. His preferred streetsweeper was the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle, of which he stole at least a half-dozen from a National Guard armory. In the show, he empties a drum magazine from a Tommy Gun at Ranger Frank Hamer's posse before switching to the BAR.
** The electrical grounding is presented as a solidly known fact for the cause of the ''Hindenburg'' crash, when it's actually just one of numerous theories. The actual cause is unknown.
** The idea that Lincoln's death is all that prevented the post-Civil War South from turning into a racial paradise is, to put it charitably, quite naive. However, in context, Lincoln's death did cause reprisals against the South which affected race relations. Also his death did slow down the advance of civil rights for African-Americans.
** According to Lucy, the Department of Energy conducted atomic tests near Las Vegas in the early 1960s. That agency was created in 1977. Its existence in 1962 rather than its predecessor the Atomic Energy Commission may be due to a historical change brought about by a previous mission.
** While Judith Campbell was intimate with both President Kennedy and mob boss Giancana, her autobiography states that their relationships were entirely personal and that Giancana did not ask anything about Kennedy. Judith did say in later interviews that she transferred information and money between them, as we see in the show, but both liberals and conservatives have pointed out that this doesn't match with what is known about Kennedy and his staff, and that she is likely an unreliable witness, especially in light of her history of mental health issues and cancer diagnosis.
** Zigzagged with Creator/IanFleming's appearance: the official record says he only went on a single field mission which was at a different time, but the real truth of wartime espionage naturally remains mysterious - so who's to say there weren't more? He also says he's with [=MI6=], when in reality he was with the Royal Navy's Naval Intelligence Division. His brother Michael Fleming did die in 1940, but he wasn't killed by a V-2 attack; while serving as a captain in the BEF, he was severely wounded and captured during the fighting retreat to Dunkirk, and later died in a POW hospital.
** Katherine Johnson helps the team get back in contact with Apollo 11, when she wasn't actually at mission control that day but at a meeting in the Poconos, watching it on the news like everyone else. Of course, it's possible that the slight changes to history made by Flynn and the Lifeboat team have resulted in her being at mission control instead of at the meeting.
** The series has portrayed the outcome of the Cold War as having been on a razor's edge, with characters speculating that the failure of the moon landing or Von Braun being captured by the Soviet Union could have led to the United States losing the Cold War. In reality, the forty-year standoff of the Cold War was decided on much more than who was currently leading in ballistics technology.[[note]]Leadership in electronics played a much larger role, with the West providing the innovation and the Soviets pirating US, Japanese, and British designs. This was due to Brezhnev's de-emphasis on electronics and computing for ideological reasons. Not until the 1980's did the Soviets attempt to close the gap, and they did have some good computer designs, but the damage had already been done.[[/note]]
** Bonnie and Clyde are shown to be the dashingly handsome and daring bank robbers who are folk heroes. The real pair were unattractive sociopaths who weren't that famous in their own time. Also, rather than go out of their way not to hurt people, the pair had no problem killing innocent people in their robberies. Clyde Barrow ''did'' try to cultivate a "Robin Hood" image, but he tended to get homicidally violent if anyone stood up to him or didn't comply with his demands fast enough for his liking.
** Subverted with H.H. Holmes as the real man and his "Murder Home" were even ''worse'' than what the show has. And unlike in the series, Holmes lived longer to commit more murders and then gain infamy by being America's first well-known serial killer.
** In order to capture Jesse James, who escaped assassination in St. Joseph, Missouri, the team enlists the help of Bass Reeves, a federal marshal for western Arkansas and the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). The distance involved precludes the team contacting Reeves in a timely fashion. Additionally, the theory that Reeves was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger (on which Wiki/TheOtherWiki casts doubts -- see [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bass_Reeves here]]), despite never actually being a Texas Ranger, is treated as fact.
** In "Karma Chameleon" Rufus is trying to strike up a conversation with a lady in the bar. He notices ''Series/{{Manimal}}'' playing on the bar's TV and mentions he's a fan, whereupon she mentions she likes the show too. Leaving aside the probability of Rufus even being ''aware'' of a show that was cancelled ''the month he was born'' after only 8 episodes[[note]]Rufus mentions he was born in December 1983 and thus would have been conceived sometime in March--hence his concern about travelling to that time period. Manimal is widely regarded as one of the worst TV shows ever and was never aired in syndication nor released on video until a limited DVD run in 2012.[[/note]] the episode takes place in March 1983. The show didn't even premiere until September 30. They're watching a show that ''doesn't even exist yet''.[[note]]What's even more amusing is that ''Manimal'', like this series, was also an NBC property--part of NBC's disastrous Fall 1983 lineup in which ''none'' of the nine new shows that premiered were renewed for a second season. The production staff if nobody else should have been aware of this.[[/note]] The lady is also a fan of ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'' and ''Staying Alive'', with both came out in 1983... on ''April 15'' and ''July 15'' respectively. (Not to mention the latter was (and is) nowhere near as popular than [[Film/SaturdayNightFever the movie it was a sequel]].) Not to mention that March 3, 1983 was a '''Saturday''' and ''Series/TheATeam'' aired first-run on Tuesdays... (and Rufus states the episode they see on TV is "The Beast from the Belly of a Boeing"... which first aired in May. Given that both ''The A-Team'' and ''Timeless'' were co-produced by Universal, you'd think someone would have noticed).
** Additionally from "Karma Chameleon", the characters are trapped in a hotel bar during a storm severe enough that the police have advised everyone to stay off the roads. [[https://weatherspark.com/history/31786/1983/Toledo-Ohio-United-States Weather records for the area in March 1983]] show no unusual weather patterns.
** In "Public Enemy #1" after [[spoiler: Eliot Ness is killed]] the team enlists the help of Richard Hart (a/k/a Jimmy Capone), another Treasury agent. Hart was based in Omaha, Nebraska, which is a seven-hour drive from Chicago in a modern car on a modern interstate highway. In a 1930's vehicle at night[[note]]Most cars had a top speed of 40 mph and their headlights were significantly dimmer than those on more modern cars[[/note]] on less-than-optimal roads[[note]]While most cities had paved roads, most rural areas did not[[/note]] the trip should take much longer, and yet the team manages to make the round trip in the space of one evening. This doesn't address the team's ability to get gas for the car without period currency...or why, given the transportation situation in the era, they wouldn't have simply grabbed the next train out. A day train out/night train back (or vice-versa) combination would have been much more believable than betting on driving.
** A minor case is Ernest Hemingway being said to have invented the term "the lost generation" to describe the people who fought in World War I. He popularized the term in his novel ''The Sun Also Rises'', but he actually borrowed it from his friend Gertrude Stein.
*** Which is {{lampshaded}} in the episode when Josaphine Baker confesses to Lucy she believes Hemingway 'stole it' from Stein.
** The real David Rittenhouse had no son, though he did have two daughters and two stillborn children of unknown gender.
** In "The Darlington 500" the team travels to 1955 to prevent the assassination of the heads of Ford, GM, and Chrysler by a sleeper Rittenhouse agent at the titular race. The head of Ford Motor Company at the time was Henry Ford II, the grandson of Henry Ford--established in "Last Ride of Bonnie and Clyde" as a Rittenhouse member himself. Given what we know about the organization, Henry Ford II is also a member of Rittenhouse. The conspiracy is trying to assassinate one of its own members. Additionally, Wendell Scott, the first sanctioned black NASCAR driver, is shown assisting the team. Scott would not race in NASCAR events until 1961. The race is also shown taking place on a dirt track. The actual race took place on a paved track.
** In "The Salem Witch Trials" William Stoughton is identified as the governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Although Stoughton was the chief magistrate in charge of the trials, he was in fact the lieutenant governor. The governor himself, William Phips, is credited with stopping the trials and executions.[[note]]Perhaps not coincidentally, Phips' own wife was among the accused.[[/note]]
** In "Mrs. Sherlock Holmes" the events of the episode result in the death of women's suffrage activist [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Paul Alice Paul]] while in police custody. Lucy notes upon their return to 2018 that she was completely erased from history. While Alice Paul's enormous achievements in her 92-year lifetime would not have come to pass (or would have been otherwise accomplished by others) it's important to note that as of 1919 she was a leading voice in the suffrage movement and had already endured a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Sentinels#Occoquan_Workhouse_and_the_Night_of_Terror five-week prison sentence during which Paul and others were beaten and tortured]]. While Paul may only be known to scholars of the movement in the new timeline it seems extremely unlikely she would have been forgotten about completely. If anything she would have become even ''more'' influential as an InspirationalMartyr for the cause, given the circumstances of her death. Also, the very premise of the episode (that Paul's arrest would stop her delivering a speech for suffrage that would persuade President Wilson to support it) is wrong. Wilson had already come out in favor of it a year before in his State of the Union address, after which his support succeeded in getting it passed through Congress. Her protests had already changed his mind.

* ''Series/{{Victoria}}'':
** While the series depicts Lord Melbourne and Queen Victoria as sharing a romantic spark, the real-life Melbourne was reportedly more like a father figure to Victoria. This is contentious, as numerous histories of Victoria dating back decades do suggest that there was some romantic inclination, with Elizabeth Longford's ''Victoria R.I." describing them as "one of the romances of history" and others referring to them as "half-lovers". There is no indication that Victoria [[spoiler: considered proposing marriage to Lord M]] as depicted in the series, and the series depicts Lord M as more robust and attractive than the real-life counterpart, but on the topic of whether the two actually fell for each other in some way, there is no agreement in the history books. Victoria's own WordOfGod (her published diaries), offer no help given they were heavily censored by her heirs after her death, but even then Lord M dominates her memoirs.
** The real Duke of Cumberland left England for Hanover a year before Victoria's coronation and didn't return until the early 1840s.
** The Lady Flora Hastings affair occurred months after the Coronation, not during it. Some historians have implied that Lord Melbourne was as much to blame for it getting out of hand as Victoria; in the series, the blame falls on Victoria, her judgement being clouded by her paranoia about and dislike of Conroy, and it is characterized as a learning moment for the young queen.
** Victoria's coronation is substantially truncated from the real event, and also omits some of the more chaotic moments (such as the archbishop putting a ring on the wrong finger; the only suggestion that the event didn't go smoothly is the fact her crown is placed at a slightly awkward angle and appears close to falling off). The crowning also took place more than a year after she ascended the throne (most British coronations take a year or more to arrange after the death of the preceding monarch, which is why Edward VIII was never crowned), whereas the series makes it appear that it took place not long after she became Queen.
** A major figure in Victoria's early reign, Baron Stockmar, is Adapted Out of the series entirely. In real life, he was King Leopold's physician and acted on his behalf in terms of preparing Victoria to meet Albert and also acted as a mentor to her (in addition to Lord Melbourne). In the series, Stockmar's function is transferred to Leopold himself, and Lord M is depicted as her sole (political) mentor.
** Historically, Victoria considered her uncle Leopold her "best and kindest advisor", not least for setting up her marriage to Albert, whom unlike in the series she was immediately taken with after meeting him a year before becoming Queen. In the series, Leopold is depicted as manipulative and disliked by Victoria, although ( they finally bond in the final episode of Series 1, though in Series 2 rifts erupt).
** Edward Oxford's assassination attempt occurred in June 1840 when Victoria was four months pregnant. In the series, it happens shortly before Victoria gives birth to her daughter in November 1840. The episode also indicates that Oxford's pistols were not loaded; in reality, they were.
** The Duchess of Sutherland's marriage was a happy one. Also, by 1840, she had seven living children. Her husband makes a brief appearance in Series 2 and the fact she has children is mentioned in brief, but her kids are never seen.
** The show has George Sutherland, Harriet's husband dying from a hunting accident in the 1840s. In real life, he didn't die until 1861, after an illness, at the age of 75.
** In the second series, the Duchess of Buccleuch, Mistress of the Robes, is played by Dame Diana Rigg, who is in her seventies. The real Lady Charlotte Anne Montagu Douglas Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch, was in her thirties when she entered Her Majesty's service.
** The second series has Dash dying at around the same time that the retired Melbourne (apparently) succumbs to his own deterioration. In reality, Dash died in 1840 whereas Melbourne died in 1848 (in fact, he was still Prime Minister until 1841).
** Victoria's attitude exhibited during the Irish potato famine is at odds with histories of the period.
** Similarly, her attitude towards her children is also at odds with the histories that suggest Victoria was rather resentful of them. The first episode of Series 2 does touch on this, but dismisses it as Victoria exhibiting what would today be called postpartum depression.
** Series 2 strongly suggests that Albert is Leopold's illegitimate son. Although the narrative intentionally leaves the truth of the matter ambiguous, the only historian who notably promoted this idea was David Duff in a 1972 biography, with only circumstantial evidence, and the claim is generally considered to be without merit by historians.
** The timing and circumstances of Edward Drummond's assassination are changed significantly from real life (although he did die shielding Robert Peel from a bullet), while his same-sex relationship with Lord Alfred Paget is pure fiction.
** Victoria and Albert have fewer children at the end of Series 2 (the final episode being set in 1846) than they had in real life by this point. Fortunately, the beginning of Series 3 rectifies this, with the first episode, beginning in 1848, depicting Victoria and Albert with 5 children (and a 6th, Louise, on the way).
** Lehzen was dismissed in 1841, which would be near the beginning of Series 2, but the show has her dismissed at the end of Series 2, around 1846. The circumstances are much the same, but the change in chronology means that Princess Victoria is much older. In real life, she was an infant at the time of the incident.
** Averted with the character of Prince George, who appears in the Series 1 episode "Brocket Hall", as a disinterested suitor for Victoria who is pushed forward by the Duke of Cumberland. It has been pointed out that the Duke of Cumberland's son, Prince George of Cumberland, was blind in Real Life, which is why he wasn't considered a candidate for Victoria's hand by everyone except his father, while Prince George we see here does not have this disability. However, the Duke at one point refers to him as nephew, meaning that this Prince George is Prince George of Cambridge, the son of the Duke of Cumberland's youngest brother, the Duke of Cambridge. George of Cambridge was considered as a potential husband for Victoria, but, as shown in the series, he was not interested in becoming Prince Consort.
** One of Victoria's suitors is the handsome Russian Grand Duke Alexander, who ends up marrying a Danish princess instead. While Grand Duke Alexander did visit Victoria early in her reign there was never any intention of marriage, for the simple reason that Alexander was the heir to the Russian throne. Furthermore it was Alexander's son who eventually married a Danish princess.
** During the 1854 cholera outbreak, Florence Nightingale is depicted saying that she doesn't believe in miasma theory. In fact, Nightingale was a strong proponent of miasma theory throughout her life. Furthermore, the show has Nightingale reasoning that miasma theory must be false because she hasn't caught cholera from her patients, but that's exactly what miasma theory would predict. It was the opponents of miasma theory, the "contagionists," who believed that disease was spread from person to person. (Of course, we now know that certain diseases are spread from person to person, but it happens that cholera is not one of them.)
** On that note, the episode with the 1854 cholera outbreak features, as a subplot, the 1847 Cambridge Chancellor election. In the show's universe, both events have apparently been relocated to circa 1848-49.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E2CityOfDeath "City of Death"]] has a doozy — even when the episode aired, people were pointing out that life began on Earth about 3-4 ''billion'' (thousand million) years ago, not 400 ''million''. Given a lovely HandWave from producer Graham Williams:

* On ''Series/TheWestWing'', many of President Bartlet's historical anecdotes are inaccurate. [[FanCommunityNicknames Wingnuts]] often explain this as evidence that the President himself is not infallible, or (perhaps more of a stretch) that the series is set in a universe with a slightly different history (after all, if the current world political leaders are different, and the American election schedule is even two years off, why not some other things as well?). More weight is given to the alternate reality theory by the existence of the nations of Qumar and Equatorial Kundu, and their pivotal role in many episodes. No such real nations exist.

* ''{{Series/Vikings}}'': This show is based on legendary sagas set during the single murkiest period of Medieval history, so liberties with historicity are to be expected.
** Ragnar and Rollo are not usually thought to be brothers. The real Ragnar is much more ShroudedInMyth (like Myth/KingArthur for instance) while the real Rollo is attested as [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy the first ruler of Normandy]] (and a direct ancestor of King William the Conqueror and [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen Elizabeth II]]).
** The name "Lodbrok" is sometimes used as a surname for people related to Ragnar. However, Lodbrok is a nickname for Ragnar specifically (meaning "Hairy Breeches"), much like "Ironside" for Bjorn and "Boneless" for Ivar. The Vikings had no concept of surnames and used patronymics (naming after one's father) instead. Ragnar's actual second name was "Sigurdsson," and all of his sons would have been "Ragnarsson."
** "Rollo" itself is the Latinized form of the Norse "Hrólfr", the modern form being "Rolf". Similarly, "Lagertha" is a Latinized form of the Norse "Hlaðgerðr" or "Hladgerd".
** Earl Haraldson describes Britain as a mythical land to the west, even though archaeology indicates that the British and the Norse had been trading for centuries if not longer.
** The attack on Lindisfarne happened in 793, Ragnar Lothbrok was presumably killed in the 860s. While not totally impossible, especially since the dates concerning him are not very precise, it is highly unlikely that he lead the attack on Lindisfarne, or was even born at this point.
** Likewise Rollo as well as King Horik are around way too early. Rollo's birth year is tentatively given as 846, Horic became king around 813 and sole king of the Danes in 827.
** The presentation of Norse law: Haraldson is shown prosecuting a man for murder. In actuality, that would have fallen to the deceased's next of kin.
** Women are shown casting votes in Norse society. While it may be true that Norse women enjoyed a better position than that of mainland European women, the Norse weren't quite this progressive. Voting would be cast in the name of the whole household.
** Vikings didn't practice capital punishment as such. Rather, those convicted of heinous crimes were declared outlaws; which is to say, they are literally outside the protection of the law, and may be killed with impunity.
** It is said that Horik's father was killed by his brothers and that he ascended to his throne by defeating them. In history, Horik's father, King Gudfred was killed by a housecarl. After that, Horik's uncle Hemming (a cousin of his father) took the throne but did not last long. Then, Horik drove out Harald Klak and thus became sole king of Denmark as he was the only son of King Gudfred alive.
** Earl Haraldson mentions Russia. Russia did not yet exist in the 8th century. As a matter of fact, it was being founded by a confederation of Eastern Slavic tribes led by a Swedish subset of the Vikings, "the Rus". Thus, "''Russ''ia".
** King Ecbert already being a famous king when the Vikings raid Wessex around 800 AD, when in reality he just assumed the crown at best. His characterization on the other hand, is accurate. He did actually try to become Brytenwalda, at least.
** Ecbert briefly notes a wife is the husband's property and the husband is free to do to her what he likes. This was not the case in Anglo-Saxon culture, which esteemed women very highly for the time and as equal companions to men. The attitude of "a woman is a man's property" would only become a part of Anglo-Saxon culture in the Norman Conquest and beyond.
** In Season 2, episode #4 ("Eye for an Eye") former monk Aethelstan gets captured by the Saxons, who proceed to crucify him for apostasy; he only gets saved by the intervention of King Ecbert and despite the protest of an Anglo-Saxon bishop. Crucifixion was not a lawful punishment anywhere in medieval Europe; it had been abolished by the Christian Roman Emperors in the 4th century because by that time the Cross was adopted as a symbol of Christianity, and its further use as a means of execution would have appeared impious if not sacrilegious to a Christian. While the Middle Ages considered apostasy a severe crime that could result in capital punishment, even a bishop could not lawfully order an execution without a trial.
** Characters make several references to "Charlemagne," but this is a French version of his name ("Karl, der Große" or in English "Charles the Great") popularized after the Norman invasion of England. It's used here so that modern viewers can recognize the famous figure. Also, he was still alive in the period the show takes place.
** Aethulwulf of Wessex never married a daughter of King Aelle. He did marry a woman named Judith, but she was the daughter of the Frankish King Charles the Bald, and she didn't bear him any sons because he died shortly after.
** When Aelle and Ecbert join forces, the gathered Saxons begin chanting, 'God save England!'. In truth, the concept of a united country called England wouldn't emerge until some time after the period this show is set.
** Horik I did not die at the hand of Ragnar Lothbrok. But then, they also might have been the same guy.
** Some of the Vikings' clothing and gear is not appropriate to the period. For example, Ragnar's signature chainmail is very form-fitting, when the actual Viking mail was always quite loose.
** Habard mentions in a conversation with Aslaug that one of his bastard sons became Olaf, Grand Duke of Kyiv. Not only is there no such figure amongst the Ruthenian princes (there is a prince after Rorik called Oleg, but the Norse rendering of his name is Helgi), but Kievan Rus wasn't anywhere close to being created in the early eighth century. On the other hand, Ragnar is reported to have lived in the mid 9th century, when Kievan Rus was being formed, so this may just be another example of the show fast-forwarding history.
** King Ecbert never slaughtered an entire village of pagans for no reason. Though this is probably more due to the fact that there ''weren't'' any pagan villages in England during his reign. The settling of Danish and Norwegian pagans on English soil wouldn't begin until the 860s with the Danleagh, or Danelaw. King Athelred the Unready, another king of Wessex, actually did do exactly this in real life as a means of rebelling against the Danes. It didn't work out well for him.
** With the Franks:
*** The Siege of Paris as presented in the show is a fusion of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paris_(845) The Siege of Paris of 845]], the only fully historical appearance of a Viking chief named Ragnar, from which the show takes the King being Charlemagne's grandson and Ragnar Lothbrok's presence, and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Paris_(885%E2%80%9386) Siege of Paris of 885]] from which the show takes the presence of Rollo, the figures of Count Odo, Sinric and Sigfred (Siegfried in the show) and the overall set up of the battle.
*** The Oriflamme was never used by the Franks. It's first use was by the medieval French Kingdom during the 12th century.
*** The Emperor wears a crown styled with the lilies of France, and also his throne displays them. This famous symbol of France was not acquired by Charlemagne's descendants, but rather by the House of Capet, who didn't exist yet.
** A lot of Norsemen seem to have no trouble with letting their wives getting on top of them during sex, while in history it was considered something of a taboo. A man who allowed such a thing to happen was reckoned by other Norsemen to be unmanly and submissive. The show portrays it with modern sensibilities in mind. When Lagertha gets on top of Ragnar during one of their sex scenes, she compares him to "a wild bull," with no connotations of submission.[[note]]If anyone has an Old Norse sex manual detailing this, I'd like to know. This is just speculation.[[/note]]
** Ragnar never converted to Christianity. Not even as a ruse.
** That poem Ecbert recites to Judith is from Creator/TSEliot. No wonder she says that she can't understand a word he's saying.
** Harald Finehair, the equally semi-mythological first king of Norway, appears in Season 4. He is generally thought to have lived (if he ever existed at all) during the latter half of the 9th century, well over 80 years after the raid on Lindisfarne, and his surname of "Finehair/Fairhair" was an acquired nickname he obtained upon founding the kingdom of Norway (traditionally held to have happened 872, 7 years after Ragnar's death).
** When Aethelwulf and Alfred visit the Pope in Rome, the guards are seen dressed as Centurions from the Imperial era, a type of armor that had been long since abandoned before the Western Roman Empire fell, let alone in the 9th century.
** Historians have pondered the plausibility of the accounts of shield maidens being a real aspect of ancient Norse culture outside of the sagas, with no real conclusion. However, because the show is based on the sagas, and {{Action Girl}}s fulfill the RuleOfCool, shield maidens are decisively portrayed as very commonplace.
** Oh Allah, where do we even begin with the Mediterranean scenes in series 5?
*** Ifriqiya, or rather, el-Maghrib el-Adna; the Lower-Western Maghreb, isn't a desert. In fact, you would have to pass an immense swathe of the area before you even hit the desert, which is located in the far south.
*** It was also a rich, highly developed city from 745 AD. More than 60 years before the events depicted on the show. In series 4, it isn't even a city, but is rather depicted as a series of lavish tents belonging to a seemingly mostly nomadic people.
*** Zidayat Allah probably would never have offered slave women to satisfy his guests sexual urges, as Islamic law, as it was understood at the time, expressly forbade coercion of slave women to perform sexual favors given that intercourse has to be consensual or else it is considered to be deviancy as far Islamic morality is concerned. On the other hand, those laws would not have been in place if they weren't commonly broken, and slaves had very few ways of actually legally accusing their masters of abuse. And as some slaves were specifically trained for providing sexual pleasure, their consent would have been taken for granted. Not to mention that Zidayat Allah is decidedly not portrayed as a virtuous Muslim.
*** While Zidayat Allah and the Aghlabid dynasty was heavily criticized by the Qadis (Islamic religious authorities) for sinful behavior (mainly due to their decadent and extravagant lifestyles), it's very likely he probably never engaged in cannibalism. There's also little indication in contemporary sources that he was quite as Machiavellian as the show depicts, nor is it likely that he had extensive links with the Rus Vikings.
*** Euphemius was never placed under house arrest, executed, and then cannibalized by the Aghlabids. He was actually stabbed to death by a Byzantine garrison when he went there on behalf of the Aghlabids to negotiate their surrender in around 828 CE, after he defected to the Aghlabids to conquer Sicily.
*** Euphemius never abducted a nun named Kassia from the Byzantine Emperor. It's possible that this was based on a Byzantine account that Euphemius rebelled against the Roman Emperor when he was denied the opportunity to marry his betrothed, Homoniza.
*** The Aghlabid warriors would have worn mail or gambesons and would be wielding maces or straight Arabic swords modeled after the Roman gladius during the 8th and 9th centuries. Instead, they're wearing robes and wielding the more iconic curved scimitar; itself a ''Turko-Mongol'' weapon that would only be adopted by Islamic kingdoms after the conversion and rise to power of Turkic Muslim Khanates after the 10th century.
*** Likewise, the Byzantine garrison at Sicily looks more like Seljuk Turkic warriors rather than 8th century Eastern Roman men-at-arms, and are also wielding the same curved scimitars the Aghlabids are using. Even more strange, they're all wearing riding boots despite being stationed on an island.
** Aethewulf had four sons with Alfred being the youngest. Alfred's brothers all became King of Wesex before him but did not reign long and the succession passed to the next brother. Aethelred was king before Alfred and when he died, Alfred became king. Alfred was already a seasoned warleader and served as his brothers NumberTwo for a while. Alfred was chosen king by the nobles because he was the most experienced of all the candidates.

* ''Series/TheWhiteQueen'': [[SarcasmMode In case you were wondering]], there is very little evidence that Elizabeth Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxemburg were actual witches, despite them being accused of witchcraft during their lifetimes.
** Depending on your views about UsefulNotes/RichardIII, the show might be a case of the trope to some viewers. Even then, while it is possible that Richard may have considered marrying his niece Elizabeth of York for political reasons, there is very little evidence an affair between the two of them happened, especially while Anne Neville was still alive.
** Regarding Margaret Beaufort's participation in the death of the Princes in the Tower... well, historian Dan Jones' reaction to being asked about it during Q&A was to.. scoff and believe it was a joke.

** The series is set in 1852-3, while the Republican Party gets mentioned. It wouldn't come into being until 1854.

* ''{{Series/QuantumLeap}}'': Being a show all about history and time travel, the creators did their best to be accurate; however, there is one small slipup in the series finale "Mirror Image": While in a small west Pennsylvania town on August 8, 1953, Sam finds himself watching an episode of the kids' sci-fi TV series ''Captain Z-Ro''. While ''Captain Z-Ro'' did exist in 1953, it was not nationally syndicated until 1955, appearing only on a couple of West Coast TV stations before then.

* ''ArtisticLicense/MagnificentCenturyKösem''

* ''ArtisticLicense/MagnificentCentury/Kosem''

* ''Series/BabylonBerlin'': The Russian Trotskyists use "Long live the Fourth International!" as a rallying cry. However, this is 1929-the Fourth International was only created in 1938.

* A number of 2012-focused "documentaries" wistfully wonder what the Maya would say about 2012 doomsday theories if they were still around. Evidently, someone forgot to inform the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_peoples roughly 7 million living Maya]], most of whom view the doomsday stuff as a load of bunk, of their non-existence.

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** In "Army Of God" Gillian and Dolly claim the Knights Templar had been suppressed by the Church (along with French King Philip IV) for being troublesome religious fanatics who (it's implied) advocated poverty too much for the elite's liking. However, this is far from the truth. While the Templars were sworn to poverty officially, like monastic orders generally, over time the Order acquired massive wealth due to charitable donations, noblemen joining them placing their assets in the Order's trust, them accepting fees for protecting Christian pilgrims' property while in the Holy Land, and being entirely tax exempt. The Templars grew into bankers, inventing innovating highly financial techniques and establishing what some have described as the first multinational corporation. Over time, they also acquired large tracts of land across Europe, not only churches and castle for Templar soldiers, but also fields or vineyards. As their power grew, so did distrust. Philip in fact took advantage of this because he was deeply in debt after taking out loans from the Order. He pressured Pope Clement V, who dissolved the Order after many of the Templars were arrested, then tried on charges of blasphemy, sodomy and fraudulent financial dealings (which most historians regard as wholly trumped up). So the motive in fact stemmed from the ''opposite'' than described here.

* ''{{Series/QuantumLeap}}: Being a show all about history and time travel, the creators did their best to be accurate; however, there is one small slipup in the series finale "Mirror Image": While in a small west Pennsylvania town on August 8, 1953, Sam finds himself watching an episode of the kids' sci-fi TV series ''Captain Z-Ro''. While ''Captain Z-Ro'' did exist in 1953, it was not nationally syndicated until 1955, appearing only on a couple of West Coast TV stations before then.