Module overview
The knight is one of the most emblematic figures of the Middle Ages, a rich and multifaceted character: from the warrior whose privileged social status was justified by the exercise of violence to the gentleman who embraced a sophisticated aristocratic court culture. In this module, we will examine what shaped the ethics of these knights, what influenced their conduct and their state of mind, paying particular attention to the gap between the ideals of the knights' code of conduct and the reality of their lives (1100-1500). This exploration of elite culture will focus not only on the harsh realities of the battlefield in local wars and in more distant lands where knights pursued the crusading ideals, but also on aristocratic displays in tournaments, ceremonies, (extravagant) banquets and acts of devotion. This module is also a journey into gender identity (virility) and the social order dominated by the image of the preudhomme ('worthy man'). To carry out this investigation, we will use a wide variety of sources and media such as treatises on chivalry, chronicles, Arthurian novels, biographies, legal proceedings, statutes of the orders of chivalry, contracts of brotherhood in arms, books of tournaments and, of course, a Round Table.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Cognitive Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Structure your ideas and research findings into written assignments (essays and commentaries)
- Analyse critically these primary sources: extract relevant information from them and comment upon this information perceptively (using secondary sources)
- Identify nature, aims and composition of contemporary sources both textual and iconographic
- Engage with historical debates.
- Use technical vocabulary relating to chivalry: chivalry, vassal, lord, nobility, feudalism, tournaments, jousts, indentures, brotherhood-in-arms, round tables, Arthurian romances, orders of chivalry, etc.
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Develop sound and well supported arguments
- Select relevant information and provide a critical analysis of it
- Select and analyse critically relevant information for the study of a particular topic
- Analyse a (historical) concept in all its complexity
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- The aristocratic culture in the late Middle Ages
- Order and Hierarchy in Medieval Society
- Medieval legacy to western societies: A system of values based on honour
- Key primary sources for the study of the chivalry
- The social, political, technologic and economic changes in the late Middle Ages
- The multiple facets of chivalry, as an order of knights, an ethos, a status and a concept
Syllabus
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
What is a knight?
The perfect knight or the ideals of knighthood
A military ethos: Honour and courage
Chivalry, mercy and ransoms
Arthurian Romances
Heralds and heraldry
Tourneys: Tournaments, Jousts and Pas d’armes
Brotherhood-in-arms and chivalric orders
Vows, crusades and crusading Ideals
Chivalric kings and national chivalry
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
- Weekly one-hour lecture and one-hour seminar
- An additional session on Essay Writing
- Field trip to Winchester
- Individual tutorials (preparation for essay and feedback)
This module aims at giving you an in-depth knowledge and understanding of chivalry and the chivalric culture in the Late Middle Ages. The approach is thematic. Each week a new theme will be examined. A lecture will set the framework (question, sources, state of current knowledge) while the appending seminar will be focused on one or two primary sources linked with the weekly theme. It is therefore essential that you attend both lectures and seminars.
The trip to Winchester may include a visit to the cathedral, the Westgate, Sally Port and the Great Hall to see the round table. Visits to these buildings will help you think about the spaces and places associated with knights, chivalry and the aristocratic culture. Participation on this trip is not a formal requirement of the module, although you are strongly encouraged to do so.
This module, like all of the 15 credit History modules offered to second year students, will be research led and it will focus heavily on primary sources. You will study an individual source in depth each week. As such, this module will provide you with a sound preparation for the source- based work undertaken in year 3 during the Special Subject and the dissertation.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 11 |
| Revision | 18 |
| Completion of assessment task | 16 |
| Follow-up work | 45 |
| External visits | 4 |
| Preparation for scheduled sessions | 45 |
| Seminar | 11 |
| Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
Coss, P (1998). The Lady in Medieval England, 1000-1500. Trowbridge.
Saul, N. (2011). For Honour and Fame. Chivalry in England, 106-1500. London.
Keen, M (1996). Nobles, knights, and men-at-arms in the Middle Ages. London.
Stevenson, K (2006). Chivalry and knighthood in Scotland, 1424-1513. Woodbridge.
Loomis, R.S., ed (1959). Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages. Oxford.
Vale, M.G.A (1981). War and chivalry: warfare and aristocratic culture in England, France and Burgundy at the end of the Middle Ages. London.
Keen, M (1984). Chivalry. New Haven and London.
Kaeuper, R. W (1999). Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe. Oxford.
Guard, T (2013). Chivalry, Kingship and Crusade: The English Experience in the fourteenth Century. Woodbridge.
Barber, R. and Barker, J.R.V (1989). Tournaments, jousts, chivalry and pageants in the Middle Ages. Woodbridge.
Keen, M., (2002). Origins of the English gentleman: heraldry, chivalry and gentility in medieval England , c.1300-c.1500. Stroud.
Trim, D.J.B., ed (2003). The Chivalric Ethos and the Development of Military Professionalism. Leiden.
Assessment
Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
PresentationSummative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Commentary | 50% |
| Essay | 50% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Resubmit assessments | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Assessed written tasks | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External