Chivalry /

The history (roughly from 1100 to 1500) of a potent cultural ideal: a dryly written but broad, deep, and learned study. Keen is a fellow of Balliol whose lumbering style (he will use ""is"" three times in the same line) almost obscures his headlong enthusiasm for this many-sided subject. Keen sees chivalry as a fundamentally secular ""code of honour"" of a warlike aristocracy. Its roots can be traced back to the increased military importance of cavalry after the year 1000, and beyond that to the old pagan Teutonic warrior ethic. It acquired a Christian coloration from the fact that it arose in medieval Christendom, as well as from the impetus of the Crusades (the Church attempted, with mixed success, both to condemn knightly violence, e.g., by the Peace of God, and to redirect it against Saracens, Albigensians, Lithuanians, and other infidels.) Centuries of political turbulence helped to nourish this martial cult, while weak and decentralized governments created a natural setting for the chivalric myth of the self-reliant hero. Keen looks into the ceremony of dubbing (the Germanic custom of ""delivery of arms"" slightly Christianized); the spread of tournaments (which were not just lavish spectacles but a practical--and often lethal--form of military training); the glorification of chivalry in the chansons de geste, Arthurian romances, and other medieval literature (interesting allusions to the use of Old Testament figures like Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabaeus as chivalric role-models); the institution of heraldry (blending expertise in reading coats of arms with promotion of ""chivalrous ideology""); the shift in emphasis from knighthood (nonhereditary) to nobility; the secular orders of chivalry (Order of the Garter, etc.); and chivalry's well-documented pride, pomp, and circumstance. Finally, Keen examines the complex causes of the decline of chivalry (the enlargement of the infantry, the growth of professional armies, the expansion of royal economic and political power, among others) and quietly argues that some of its legacy (defending the defenseless) is as valuable now as ever. Keen has no radically new insights to offer, but his command of primary sources is exceptional and his judgment is sound. A first-rate general treatment for scholars and advanced students. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.