Product Description

In this book Maurice Keen examines the significance of chivalry as a secular social ideal in the period from c. 1100 to c. 1500, and finds that historians have exaggerated both chivalry's early Christian dedication and its later secular decadence, and that it may be better described as an ethos in which martial, aristocratic and Christian elements were fused together. Keen first discusses the secular origins of chivalry and stresses the importance of the development of new cavalry tactics in the late eleventh century, which set apart the knights - mounted warriors - as a separate and privileged group. The launching of the crusades sharpened existing ideas about their Christian role at about the same time, and rituals for making new knights gave definition to chivalry as an aristocratic order. The appearance in the twelfth century of a secular literature of knighthood did something more, endowing chivalry with an historical mythology of its own. The stories of Charlemagne and Arthur furnished a store of prestigious models of chivalrous values in action. In the same way, heraldry offered a means whereby both the class pride and the ideals of knighthood could be symbolically expressed, and the heralds, as experts in its history, literature and rituals, became a kind of secular priesthood of chivalry. Their learning helped to render the chivalry of the late middle ages ornate and often extravagant - a development which has led many historians to categorise it as decadent. Keen argues, however, that the attention lavished on externals in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and exemplified in the pageantry of tournaments and the ceremonials of such famous secular orders of chivalry as the Garter and the Golden Fleece, was not just empty show: it was rather an attempt to give expression, in a vivid and evocative manner, to the values and virtues of chivalry. The cult of honour, which seeks to give merit and loyal service their due reward in reputation and social respect, was at the heart of the chivalric ideal. An idea of nobility which emphasised the social and moral obligations that high status and a privileged way of life impose was the most important legacy of chivalry to later times, and it had a profound influence in consequence on the political mentality of the aristocracies of early modern Europe.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33813 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

BBC History Magazine, July 2005
Keen's seminal work...a work that redefined the way we look at the secular values of the medieval ruling elites.'

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.

vogue prejudice but very informative
On the downside, the author too often deconstructs the depth of human feelings and the complexity of mores required to support "chivalry as a secular social ideal from c. 1100 to c. 1500" into motivations of improbably two dimensional and modern character - especially his analysis of chivalry during later periods. Furthermore, is the resultant tone a dispassionate one or one that sometimes even disparages the phenomena he analyses? On the upside however, his book groans beneath a wealth of quality information, engagingly sequenced and presented in clear (though badly copyedited) writing and well deployed in the service of meaty arguments. A serious and analytical work of vogue approach and prejudice that won the author a prestigious prize.