The Chivalric Turn examines the medieval obsession with defining and practising superior conduct, and the social consequences that followed from it. Historians since the seventeenth century have tended to understand medieval conduct through the eyes of the writers of the Enlightenment, viewing superior conduct as 'knightly' behaviour, and categorising it as chivalry. Using, for the first time, the full range of the considerable twelfth- and thirteenth-century literature on conduct in the European vernaculars and in Latin, The Chivalric Turn describes and defines what superior lay conduct was in European society before chivalry, and maps how and why chivalry emerged and redefined superior conduct in the last generation of the twelfth century. The emergence of chivalry was only one part of a major social change, because it changed how people understood the concept of nobility, which had consequences for the medieval understanding of gender, social class, violence, and the limits of law.
Author(s): David Crouch
Series: Oxford Studies in Medieval European History
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 368
Cover
The Chivalric Turn: Conduct and Hegemony in Europe before 1300
Copyright
Preface
Contents
List of Abbreviations
PART I: INTRODUCTION
1: Conduct, Habitus and Practice
A FRENCH SOCIOLOGIST IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT
FIRST IN THE FIELD
THE MEDIEVAL LAY ELITE AND EDUCATION
2: The Field of Study
THE PROBLEM OF LATIN SOURCES
THE PROBLEM OF VERNACULAR SOURCES
THE CHIVALRIC TURN
PART II: THE SOCIAL FIELD
3: The Origins of Cortesia
THE SOCIAL VIEWS OF GARIN LO BRUN
THE COURTLINESS OF GILBERT OF SURREY AND GEOFFREY GAIMAR
THE PREHISTORY OF COURTLINESS: DHUODA OF SEPTIMANIA AND BRUN OF COLOGNE
THE LITERARY COURTLINESS OF WALTHER AND RUODLIEB
THE COURTLY CENTURY
4: The Preudomme
THE LIFE OF THE PREUDOMME
ESSAYS ON PREUDOMMIE
DEFINING PREUDOMMIE
I Sound Judgement (Sens) and Dependability (Leauté )
II Rationality (Raison)
III Restraint and Self-Control (Mesure)
IV Fortitude (Hardiesce)
V Generosity (Largesce)
MASCULINITY AND THE PREUDOMME
5: The Preudefemme
TRACTS ON THE IDEAL WOMAN
DEFINING THE PREUDEFEMME
I Reticence
II Personal Space and Poise
III Modesty and Grooming
IV Gift-Giving
V Social Address
THE PIETY OF THE PREUDEFEMME
FEMININITY AND THE PREUDEFEMME
6: Villeins, Villains and Vilonie
VILONIE AS CONDUCT
THE ORIGINS OF VILONIE
THE STINKING PEASANT
THE TRANSGRESSIVE MERCHANT
7: The Courtly Habitus
THE LIMITS OF CORTOISIE
THE COURTLY MARGINS
THE COURTLY CENTRE
AVATARS OF CORTOISIE
I Thomas of London
II Gawain
ALIENATION FROM THE COURT
THE FAILURE OF COURTLINESS
PART III: STRESS IN COURTLY SOCIETY
8: The Insurgent Woman
CONSTRAINT AND RESISTANCE
MALE SELF-DELUSION
INSURGENCY
THE ARMOURY OF FEMALE RESISTANCE
9: The Table
DINING AND CIVILIZATION
EDUCATING THE DINER
THE UNIVERSAL DINNER
THE ANXIOUS HOST
THE INSECURE GUEST
I Deference
II Bodily Processes
III Posture
IV Intoxication
V Performance
THE LIVING HELL OF MEDIEVAL DINING
10: The Enemy
ONESELF
RESTRAINT
FAILURE OF CONTROL
THE SECRET ENEMY: THE LOSENGER
THE MORTAL ENEMY
BLOOD VENGEANCE AND CIVILIZATION
PART IV: HEGEMONY
11: The Conspiracy of Deference
NOBILITY OF BLOOD
NOBILITY IN SOCIETY
THE GREAT DEBATE ON NOBILITY
THE ORIGIN MYTH OF NOBILITY
NOBILIZING THE KNIGHT
12: The Disruptive Knight
THE RISE (OR NOT) OF THE KNIGHT
I The British Tradition
II The German Tradition
III The French Tradition
QUESTIONING KNIGHTS AS A SOCIAL GROUP
KNIGHTS AND STATUS
THE PROBLEM OF ADOUBEMENT
13: The Noble Knight
KNIGHTS AND MORAL EMINENCE
THE SACRALIZATION OF ARMS
THE FIRST CHIVALRIC TRACTS
CHIVALRY AND SOCIAL HEGEMONY
14: The Chivalric Virus
APPENDIX: Analytical Index of Sourceson Conduct before 1300
ABRIL ISSI’ E MAYS INTRAVA
L’ARMËURE DU CHEVALIER
CHASTOIEMENT DES DAMES
LE CHASTOIEMENT D’UN PÈRE À SON FILS
LI CONTES DE GENTILLECHE
LI CONTES DOU PREUDOME
DE RE MILITARI
DISCIPLINA CLERICALIS
DOCTRINAL DE COURTOISIE (ALIAS DOCTRINAL SAUVAGE)
DOCTRINA PUERIL
LE DONEI DES AMANTS
E∙L TERMINI D’ESTIU
ENSEIGNEMENTS TREBOR
ENSENHAMENS D’ONOR
ENSOIGNEMENT DES PRINCES
HISTORY OF WILLIAM MARSHAL
HOFZUCHT
DIE KLAGE
LIBER URBANI (ALIAS URBANUS MAGNUS)
LIVRE DES MANIÈRES
LLIBRE DE L’ORDE DE CAVALLERIA
ORDENE DE CHEVALERIE
LE PETIT PLET
PHAGIFACETUS
LI PROVERBE AU VILAIN
LES QUATRE TENZ (ALIAS LES QUATRE ÂGES DE L’HOMME)
QUI COMTE VOL APENDRE
DE QUINQUAGINTA CURIALITATIBUS AD MENSAM
QUISQUIS ES IN MENSA
RASOS ES E MESURA
ROMAN DES ELES
LE ROMAN DES FRANCEIS
RUODLIEB
IL TESORETTO
URBAIN LE CORTOIS
DER WELSCHE GAST
WINSBECKE
WINSBECKIN
Bibliography
MANUSCRIPT SOURCES
PRINTED PRIMARY SOURCES
SECONDARY WORKS
Index
