Medieval Knighthood

Paper Summary:

The paper relates that for the first two centuries, chivalry continued to denote proficiency in the art of fighting on horseback and it was only later that this social role of the knights became a specific ideology and a code of honor. The paper then illustrates how the romance of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is a symbol of the complex ideology that emerged during the Medieval Ages around the concept of knighthood. The paper also discusses how the crusades organized by Christendom against paganism relied on knights and on their extreme devotion and generosity. The paper therefore concludes that knighthood can be identified as an important part of the Middle Ages, with a complex ideology of its own but also with a determinate role in society.

From the Paper:

"Knighthood or chivalry has a very interesting and tumultuous history, which begins in feudalism and continues in the Medieval Age. In England, evidences of chivalry appear only after the Norman Conquest. In the beginning, the term "knighthood" was merely used to indicate the investment of arms of a young man after his training was over. For the first two centuries, chivalry continued to denote proficiency in the art of fighting on horseback. It is only later that this merely social role of the knights was rounded with a specific ideology, which soon become a code of honor. With the spread of Christendom, there appeared different orders of knights, each with their characteristic goals and ideals."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Harper-Bill, Christopher ed. and Ruth Harvey ed. Medieval Knighthood IV: Papers from the Fifth Strawberry Hill Conference 1990. Woodbridge: Boydell, 1992
• Kaeuper, Richard W. Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
• Nicholson, Helen. The Knights Hospitaller. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2001.
• Prestage, Edgar. Chivalry: A Series of Studies to Illustrate Its Historical Significance and Civilizing Influence. London: Kegan Paul, 1968
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Abrams, M. H. and Steven Greenblat, ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999.

More papers on Medieval Knighthood:

• Research Paper # 13888 : "Medieval Knighthood"
• Term Paper # 119633 : "Chivalry in Medieval Romance and Literature"
• Analytical Essay # 58538 : "Malory's Vision of Knighthood"

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