Trivia: Several of the named knights were, in fact, real, though many of them are from different time periods. Ulrich von Lichtenstein was a knight and author who was said to have invented the concept of chivalry and courtly love. Piers Courtenay was a descendant of Edward I, born in the 15th Century. Sir Thomas Colville, Edward III's disguise, was a knight from the 13th Century.
Trivia: "The Knight's Tale" is the first chapter in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales."
Trivia: There was a period of about a year in Geoff Chaucer's life when historians have no records of what happened to him. This film is supposed to be set in that year.
Trivia: Paul Bettany developed laryngitis from all the yelling he had to do.
Trivia: Ulrich von Liechtenstein was a real knight, and regular jouster. He boasted that he would give a golden ring to any knight who could break a lance on his armour, giving away 271 in total, but remaining undefeated.
Trivia: Geoff Chaucer threatens to immortalize the summoner and the pardoner in literature, and the real Geoffrey Chaucer did just that in his Canterbury Tales. The Pardoner and Summoner were portrayed as two of the most corrupt and vile people imaginable in Medieval society. They are also homosexual lovers.
Trivia: The film has an interesting tech/science joke. Kate has discovered how to carbon temper steel making it vastly stronger and lighter. Of course, no smith back then would have listened to a woman about her techniques, so that advance wasn't invented until much later.
Trivia: This was a story written by Geoffrey Chaucer. At the end, Chaucer (the man that makes the announcements before the jousts) says something along the lines of "I think I'll write this down," which in real life he does, forming the basis for this movie.
Trivia: The Black Prince is shown at the battle of Poitiers. At that time, Geoffrey Chaucer would have been barely in his teens.
Trivia: There is an extra scene after the credits - I won't say what happens but let's just say that it's pretty disgusting.
Trivia: The production crew used homeless people from Prague as some of the extras in this movie.
Answer: The reason he is so agitated has to do with the manner in which he won the tournament. If you'll recall, William states, "I'll not be champion until I beat Adamar." Adamar had forefeited beforehand, (not wanting to joust against royalty) therefore not giving William a true victory. After his half won victory, Jocelyn's (Shannon Sossamon's character) inane chatter just rubbed him the wrong way. It had nothing to do with what she was saying...if anyone had spoken to him he would have reacted in the same way.