Back to search results

Chivalry and the ideals of knighthood in France during the Hundred Years War

Enlarge text Shrink text
  • Book

Craig Taylor's study examines the wide-ranging French debates on the martial ideals of chivalry and knighthood during the period of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). Faced by stunning military disasters and the collapse of public order, writers and intellectuals carefully scrutinized the martial qualities expected of knights and soldiers. They questioned when knights and men-at-arms could legitimately resort to violence, the true nature of courage, the importance of mercy, and the role of books and scholarly learning in the very practical world of military men. Contributors to these discussions included some of the most famous French medieval writers, led by Jean Froissart, Geoffroi de Charny, Philippe de Mézières, Honorat Bovet, Christine de Pizan, Alain Chartier and Antoine de La Sale. This interdisciplinary study sets their discussions in context, challenging modern, romantic assumptions about chivalry and investigating the historical reality of debates about knighthood and warfare in late medieval France.

Title Chivalry and the ideals of knighthood in France during the Hundred Years War / Craig Taylor, University of York.
Additional Titles Chivalry & the Ideals of Knighthood in France during the Hundred Years War
Edition 1st ed.
Publisher Cambridge : Cambridge University Press
Creation Date 2013
Notes Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
Includes bibliographical references and index.
English
Content Contents
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
1 Texts and cont exts
Crises affecting France
Reactions of the writers
Moral reform and discipline
Leadership
Conclusion
2 Honour
Chivalric honour
The role of texts
Virtue and vainglory
Violence and competition
Reciprocity and trustworthiness
3 Prowess and loyalty
Prowess and deeds of arms
Representations of violence
Defining chivalric violence
4 Courage
Debating courage
Courage, cowardice and rashness
Inspiring courage
5 Mercy (part I): soldiers
Mercy and vengeance
The treatment of combatants Praising mercy
6 Mercy (part II): civilians and non-combatants
Commentary on the treatment of civilians in war
The treatment of civilians outside military campaigns
7 Wisdom and prudence
Defining prudence
The art of warfare
The value of books
Reading Vegetius
The science of war
Bibliography
Printed sources
Secondary literature
Unpublished dissertations
Index
Extent 1 online resource (xvi, 345 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).
Language English
National Library system number 997010700662005171
MARC RECORDS

Have more information? Found a mistake?