Customer Reviews

Chivalry

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This solid volume is one of the best works on the complex institutions of chivalry and knighthood that I at least have ever seen. It is a very erudite work crammed with interesting information and written in an intelligent but readable style. Mr. Keen presents an argument for the reality of chivalric values that seems very convincing and well- researched. If you are at all interested in knighthood or European history, buy this book!

Noted Oxford historian Maurice Keen's "Chivalry" is probably the best place to start and finish on the subject of chivalry. Accessible for both students and those that would continue their studies more leisurely, Prof. Keen's work is an intersting read, very knowledgable, and wideranging. Simply put, it is a must if you are interested in the real history of the subject and not the doggerel that Hollywood shovels our way.

When most of us think of chivalry, an image of an errant knight off to rescue a damsel in distress is usually the first thing that comes to mind. This is a romanticized image, of course, and, though not wholly inaccurate, does represent at least a part of the concept of chivalry. But there is so much more to it. In essence (according to Keen), chivalry was an entire value system that governed the lives of the whole noble class in medieval Europe. It focused around three main facets of life: war, noble standing, and religion.
Keen does a wonderful job in this book of analyzing chivalry based on first-hand accounts--poems, literature, and chivalric handbooks from the high and late Middle Ages. His explanation of chivalry is detailed and thorough, and presents a number of arguments that most people would not consider when thinking about the chivalric code. The most obvious elements are treated--the tournament, the crusades, heraldry, etc--and many not so obvious subjects are given attention as well.

Overall, this book is pretty well-written. It serves as a very valuable resource for any student of the Middle Ages, or as a good introduction to the practice of chivalry to the casual student.

Like all of Maurice Keen's books, this one is insightful, well-written, and based on thorough scholarship. This is the place to start a study of the subject.

Keen does an outstanding job of exploring the concept of "chivalry" in the middle ages. To a degree, this book is essential for a well rounded understanding of the era (it is included on Cantor's Canon of 150 books about the middle ages that every student should read). On the other hand, I'm not convinced that this book doesn't overlap, to a significant degree, with volume two of Marc Bloch's "Feudal Society". Nor, for that matter, was I particularly impressed with the writing style. In fact, I would call this book a snoozer, and I'm not using that term lightly.

Keen's basic analysis revolves around three interrelated aspects/facets of chivalry: social, military and ecclesiastical. So, if someone asks you "What's Chivalry?" you can feel pretty save by answering, "it was a value held by segments of the land owning classes in europe during the middle ages. it had different aspects that had various degrees of importance over the time period in question. These aspects include social, military and ecclesiastical."

Anything more then that and you'll actually have to read the book. One fact that suprised me was the lengths to which the church went to to discourage tournaments.

This book delivers a very thorough description of chivalry, beginning with a very good explanation how and when chivalry started. It also delivers a superb definition about what chivalry reaaly is, or what it was supposed to be. Alas, the only thing missing is more pictures - then it would be the definite book about chivalry. As it is now, it is "only" the best introduction to the matter you can possibly get.

Far from knights errant in shining armour, Keen shows the reality of the life of a medieval nobleman in the Middle Ages. His scholarship is first-rate as he explains the origins, purpose, pagentry and mythology surrounding the medieval social ideal. Very interesting and highly recommended.

At first the book is dry. But that only takes a page or two to get beyond and discover that most, if not all, of the questions that a person could ask related to the subject are covered in this brilliantly written resource. If you are a student of Chivalry, or have even a passing fancy, pick this up... it is indispensable.

This book had some interesting points, but assumed a lot of prior knowledge in the topics. He often quoted other authors I haven't read up on, doing his own book a disservice. I had to buy it for a class, and we spent most of the time trying to expand upon the fairly dense topics that weren't properly fleshed out in the book.