Product Description

Chivalry--"with its pageants, heraldry, and knights in shining armor--"was a social ideal that had a profound influence on the history of early modern Europe. In this eloquent and richly detailed book, a leading medieval historian discusses the complex reality of chivalry: its secular foundations, the effects of the Crusades, the literature of Knighthood, and its ethos of the social and moral obligations of nobility.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #443038 in Books
• Published on: 1986-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
The history (roughly from 1100 to 1500) of a potent cultural ideal: a dryly written but broad, deep, and learned study. Keen is a fellow of Balliol whose lumbering style (he will use "is" three times in the same line) almost obscures his headlong enthusiasm for this many-sided subject. Keen sees chivalry as a fundamentally secular "code of honour" of a warlike aristocracy. Its roots can be traced back to the increased military importance of cavalry after the year 1000, and beyond that to the old pagan Teutonic warrior ethic. It acquired a Christian coloration from the fact that it arose in medieval Christendom, as well as from the impetus of the Crusades (the Church attempted, with mixed success, both to condemn knightly violence, e.g., by the Peace of God, and to redirect it against Saracens, Albigensians, Lithuanians, and other infidels.) Centuries of political turbulence helped to nourish this martial cult, while weak and decentralized governments created a natural setting for the chivalric myth of the self-reliant hero. Keen looks into the ceremony of dubbing (the Germanic custom of "delivery of arms" slightly Christianized); the spread of tournaments (which were not just lavish spectacles but a practical - and often lethal - form of military training); the glorification of chivalry in the chansons de geste, Arthurian romances, and other medieval literature (interesting allusions to the use of Old Testament figures like Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabaeus as chivalric role-models); the institution of heraldry (blending expertise in reading coats of arms with promotion of "chivalrous ideology"); the shift in emphasis from knighthood (nonhereditary) to nobility; the secular orders of chivalry (Order of the Garter, etc.); and chivalry's well-documented pride, pomp, and circumstance. Finally, Keen examines the complex causes of the decline of chivalry (the enlargement of the infantry, the growth of professional armies, the expansion of royal economic and political power, among others) and quietly argues that some of its legacy (defending the defenseless) is as valuable now as ever. Keen has no radically new insights to offer, but his command of primary sources is exceptional and his judgment is sound. A first-rate general treatment for scholars and advanced students. (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author
Maurice Keen is.... Among his publications are The Outlaws of Medieval England, The Laws of War in the later Middle Ages, The Pelican History of Medieval Europe, and England in the later Middle Ages.

Customer Reviews

Elucidating the elusive
Keen opens this lucid study with an examination of the problems inherent for historians attempting to define and describe cultural phenomena. The elusiveness of the concept of chivalry is tackeled head-on by the Oxford historian, who outlines his sources and their limitations, systematically analyzing the information provided by sources such as romances and clerical writings. Each chapter is a concise yet thorough investigation of various aspects of chivalry, such as the secular origins, the crusades, heraldry, tournaments and historical mythology associated with medieval chivalric culture. By providing detailed accounts of these issues, the book provides a framework for viewing chivalry in a dynamic cultural and historical setting, establishing a credible place for chivalry in the ever-changing 'real' world of the Middle Ages, and not just a reflex of the romance fictions. Keen utilizes a variety of sources, from different periods and from across Europe, illustrating the developments, adaptations and changes over time and between cultures. In his conclusion he outlines the complexity of chivalry as it created a web of mental associations that influenced ideas of honour, love, Christianity, and martial practices which affected every aspect of secular medieval society.
Not only is the book well-argued, it also contains over 50 illustrations (many in colour), a detailed bibliography and notes, and is well-indexed. Keen's comfortable writing style makes the book hugely readable as well as being a good scholarly study and a difinitive guide to an integral part of the Middle Ages.