Knights In Arms

The literature of chivalry and of courtly love has left an indelible impression on western ideas. What is less clear is how far the contemporary warrior aristocracy took this literature to heart and how far its ideals had influence in practice, especially in war. These are questions that Maurice Keen is uniquely qualified to answer. This book is a collection of Maurice Keen's articles and deals with both the ideas of chivalry and the reality of warfare. He discusses brotherhood-in-arms, courtly love, crusades, heraldry, knighthood, the law of arms, tournaments and the nature of nobility, as well as describing the actual brutality of medieval warfare and the lure of plunder. While the standards set by chivalric codes undoubtedly had a real, if intangible, influence on the behaviour of contemporaries, chivalry's idealisation of the knight errant also enhanced the attraction of war, endorsing its horrors with a veneer of acceptability.

An illustrated survey of knights, their weapons, their battles and wars, and tournaments. Includes glossary of terms and an appendix detailing construction of armor.

The ancient warrior code which persisted in medieval Christian Europe dictated that a man's greatest virtues were physical strength, skill at arms, bravery, daring, loyalty to the chieftain and solidarity within the tribe. The primitive Church had been diametrically opposed to such ideals, however by the early 8th century the Church had grown wealthy, and the Saracen invasions of Spain and France posed a threat to that wealth. The Roman Church began to support war in defence of the faith, and by channelling the martial spirit into the service of God, the brutal warrior of the past was transformed into a guardian of society.

An illustrated survey of knights, their weapons, their battles and wars, and tournaments. Includes glossary of terms and an appendix detailing construction of armor.

More than two hundred illustrations trace the development of medieval arms from their crude beginnings to the beautiful ceremonial armor of the Renaissance