Transcript 13.3 The Age of Chivalry

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Monday: 1-6, A&W day
Tuesday: 1-3-5
Wednesday: 2-4-6
Thursday: 1-3-5
Friday:2-4-6- go to regular class room
Highlighted in red- my classes go to CCA; will
have sign on the door to remind you
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What is your definition of “chivalry”?
How do you show someone that you like/love
them?
What are two of your favorite love songs?
The code of chivalry for knights glorified both combat
and romantic love.
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Understand why the code of chivalry for
knights glorified combat and romantic love
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Why it matters now: Chivalry has shaped
modern ideas of Romance in Western
Cultures
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The Technology of Warfare
Changes
 Leather saddle and stirrups
enable knights to handle
heavy weapons
 Kept human mounted on
horse
 Allowed them to use stirdier
weapons
 In 700s, mounted knights
become most important part
of an army
Plate Armour
Chainmail
Gambeson, a padded jacket worn alone
or in combination with chainmail
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By 1000s, western
Europe is a battleground
of warring nobles
Feudal lords raise private
armies of knights
Knights rewarded with
land; provides income
for needed weapons
Knights other activities
Ightham Mote, a 14th-century
help train them for
moated manor house in Kent,
combat
England
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Serve in battle
Lord demanded 40
days of mounted
combat/ year
Knights pastimes
revolved around
training for war
Wrestling and hunting
helped them prepare
for battle
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The Code of Chivalry
 By 1100s knights obey a
code of chivalry—a set
of ideals on how to act
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Protect three things:
 They are to protect
weak and poor; serve
feudal lord, God,
chosen lady
Ideal Knight: Loyal, brave, courteous
Most never lived up to these standards;
treated lower classes brutally
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Boys begin to train for
knighthood at age 7;
usually knighted at 21
Knights gain
experience in local
wars and
tournaments—mock
battles
Charging of each
other- fierce and
bloddy
People watched them
like gladiator games
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Brutal Reality of Warfare
 Castles are huge fortresses where lords live
 Attacking armies use wide range of strategies and
weapons
 Gory sight of siege:
▪ Defenders of castle poured hot boiling water, oil or
molten lead on enemy soldiers
▪ Expert archers
▪ Fired deadly bolts that could pierce armor
Siege
Warfare
Medieval
mangonel, a
type of
catapult
Replica battering ram
at Château des Baux,
France
Medieval
moveable
siege tower
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Themes: downplayed
brutality of knighthood
and warfare, idealized
castle life, glorified
knighthood and chivalry
Epic Poetry
 Epic poems recount a
hero’s deeds and
adventures
 Song of Roland- famous
Knights’ duties to
ladies are as important
as those to their lords
 Troubadours—
traveling poetmusicians—write and
sing short verses
 Wrote love songs
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 Disappointments
 Lovesick knights
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“Love of a far-off land/for you my heart is
aching/And I can find no relief”
False image of knights
Artificial view of women
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Modern day love songs?
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Status of Women
 According to the Church and
feudal society, women were
inferior to men
 Roles limited to home and
convent
 Endless labor, bearing children,
taking care of families
 Women’s role declined in
feudalism
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Noblewomen
 Can inherit land, defend
castle, send knights to war
on lord’s request
 Played key role in defending
castles: hurled rocks, fired
arrows
 Usually confined to
activities of the home or
convent
 Passed down land to sons,
not daughters