In this segment, Professor Bellitto discusses:
• Resources to help students understand what chivalry is, and consider how it was used in medieval society in both an idealistic and a practical sense.
• Different methods of exploring the ideals of chivalry and knighthood, including oral presentations, debates and an introduction to selected primary source material.

Perhaps the best way to get at the comprehensive nature of the Middle Ages without taking too much time from the rest of a longer course would be to focus on one of the most captivating aspects of the medieval period for students: chivalry. The teacher should begin with the excellent volume, The Study of Chivalry: Resources and Approaches, edited by Howell Chickering and Thomas H. Seiler (4). This text is geared for teaching and contains an historiographical review of the modern study of chivalry, surveys of courses that treat chivalry, bibliographies of primary and secondary sources, and a particularly valuable section on medieval visual imagery. Teachers should also become acquainted with the publications of TEAMS (the Consortium for the Teaching of the Middle Ages) which provide highly useful and lively introductions, guides, references and curricular materials for teachers interested in bringing medieval history, literature and related subjects to their students (5). The student’s starting point, however, should without question be Trevor Cairns’ well-illustrated Medieval Knights, a slim, inexpensive volume of discrete, easy-to-understand chapters on essential aspects of knighthood (6).

Chivalry can be approached from a variety of angles, depending on a teacher’s goals on student proclivities and on classroom resources. A unit on chivalry could begin with a few students going to the library to look up key ideas or people for a five-minute oral presentation; if possible, students should be directed to Bradford Broughton’s two-volume Dictionary of Medieval Knighthood and Chivalry. (7) A pair of studies by Maurice Keen and Richard Barber are good sources of research for teachers or selected readings for students (8). Because historians disagree on what chivalry meant and who precisely knights were, the unit could continue with issues for discussion which introduce students to historical debate and conflicting evidence. One of the main questions students may wish to debate is the role the Church played in forming knights into a distinct layer of medieval society (“those who fought”), especially with respect to the frequently sacramental rituals of “dubbing.” (9) Students should also be encouraged to read primary sources. Selections from medieval manuals by Ramon Llull and Christine de Pisan give a flavor of the period while mixing the military and spiritual sides of knighthood (10).

Continue to "Part III: Ethics, Tactics and Literature"

© 2003 Christopher Bellitto, Ph.D.