Knighthood and Society in the High Middle Ages

This book explores the development of knighthood and chivalry in the High Middle Ages, examining the five key factors that shaped noble identity: knightly practices, lineage, crusading memories, gender roles, and chivalric didactics.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 330 pages
Publication date: 26 November 2020
Publisher: Leuven University Press

Few phenomena in the popular imagination are as closely linked with medieval society as knighthood and chivalry. At the same time, and due to a long tradition of differing national perspectives and ideological assumptions, few phenomena have continued to be the object of so much academic debate. In this volume, leading scholars explore various aspects of knightly identity, taking into account both commonalities and particularities across Western Europe.

Knighthood and Society in the High Middle Ages delves into how knighthood, between the eleventh and early thirteenth centuries, evolved from a set of skills and a lifestyle typical of an emerging elite habitus into the basis of a consciously expressed and idealized chivalric code of conduct. Chivalry, then, emerges in this volume as the result of a process of noble identity formation, in which some five key factors are distinguished: knightly practices, lineage, crusading memories, gender roles, and chivalric didactics.

This publication is labeled as GPRC (Guaranteed Peer Review Content). Contributors:

Dominique Barthelemy (Sorbonne and EPHE, Paris)

David Crouch (University of Hull)

Jeroen Deploige (Ghent University)

John D. Hosler (U.S. Army Command and General Staff College)

Sara McDougall (City University of New York)

Jean-Francois Nieus (University of Namur)

Eljas Oksanen (Portable Antiquities Scheme, London)

Nicholas Paul (Fordham University)

Joerg Peltzer (Heidelberg University)

Nicolas Ruffini-Ronzani (University of Namur)

Louise Wilkinson (Canterbury Christ Church University)

Claudia Wittig (Ghent University)

In conclusion, Knighthood and Society in the High Middle Ages is a valuable contribution to the study of medieval society, offering a comprehensive exploration of knightly identity and its development in Western Europe. By examining the commonalities and particularities across different regions and periods, the volume sheds light on the complex and multifaceted nature of knighthood and chivalry, and their enduring significance in the popular imagination.

Weight: 512g
Dimension: 236 x 158 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789462701700