In this portion, Professor Bellitto presents suggestions on how to achieve the following goals in the classroom:
• Extending students’ understanding of chivalry through discussions of ethics, greed, honor and the concept of “just war.”
• Understanding the applications of chivalry as a military doctrine by examining battles, castles and tournaments.
• Introducing the personal ideals of chivalry through selected readings of Arthurian legends from the Middle Ages to the modern day.

Another question for discussion is the decline of chivalry (11). The actual codes of conduct can be gathered from an important study by Keen (12). How practice inevitably fell short of myths and ideals can be raised, leading to some interesting exchanges on ethics and honor (13). These can be combined with the notion of a just war related to the Crusades and, in an attempt to make links with the modern world, with the rise of fundamentalist Islamic jihads in the Mideast today (14). Also, a good debate may be engendered by raising the matters of honor and conduct that existed between a knight held captive by a fellow knight for the greedy motive of ransom. This could be addressed specifically as it related to the slaughter of French knights ordered by the supposed paragon of English chivalry, Henry V, during the 1415 battle of Agincourt. (15)

The military aspects of chivalry also interest students. Cavalry charges, armor, the crossbow and the longbow’s triumph at Agincourt can be studied in museums and art books (16). Malcolm Vale has addressed how artillery and siege engines changed medieval warfare; students can discuss specifically the manner in which long-range battle, as opposed to face-to-face contact, affected chivalrous conduct (17). Those interested in castles may trace how artillery affected architecture and could be encouraged to produce models or drawings as a research project (18). The use of tournaments as pomp as well as training can also lead to interdisciplinary research projects, especially among students interested in technology, art, costumes and heraldry (19). In addition, two films of Shakespeare’s Henry V could illuminate and inform a comprehensive debate on honor, tactics and just war through a comparison of Laurence Olivier’s World War II-era version and the more recent interpretation by Kenneth Branagh. The value of literature as an historical source can at the same time be addressed.

Chivalry comes to life in literature as well, of course, offering the history teacher another ideal opportunity to break down the walls which too often separate these fields of the humanities in faculty curricula and student minds. Students can assess the gap between the ideals of chivalry in literature and what history shows about human failing (20). One way to do this would be to turn the unit on chivalry into, in part, a seminar on honor that combines history, literature and ethics using a variety of sources. The failure of honor in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Quest of the Holy Grail (both available in Penguin paperback editions) can be tested against other, more optimistic Arthurian stories. The description of the Knight in the “Prologue” to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales can be used as one more case study for the ideals and realities of chivalry. For a more visual, thoughtful treatment of honor, the class may view the film Becket (Richard Burton as Becket, Peter O’Toole as Henry II), which has the added attractions of portraying the Church/state conflicts so central to the study of the Middle Ages and showing scenes which attempt to depict the daily life of the medieval rich and poor (21).

An excellent resource for the use of literature in a unit on chivalry in history courses is provided by the medieval installments in the Modern Language Association’s series, Approaches to Teaching World Literature. The volumes gather long lists of primary and secondary readings, articles on diverse teaching methods and a catalogue of films and recordings. A recent collection in the series on Arthurian romances contains brief sections on the literary, historical and archaeological contexts; treatment of specific works, including those by Tennyson, Malory and T.H. White; and suggestions for tailoring Arthurian texts to various student and teacher audiences (22).

As this survey attempted to demonstrate, the very comprehensive nature of the Middle Ages is what makes studying the period so rewarding and challenging for both teacher and student. Simply put, we ignore the medieval chapters in European history upon peril of wasting a prime opportunity to turn our students onto history.

Christopher M. Bellitto, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of History at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, and the Academic Editor at Large of Paulist Press. He is a church historian, teacher, and lecturer whose work is both academic and popular. His most recent books are Ten Ways the Church Has Changed (Pauline Books and Media, 2006), The General Councils: A History of the Twenty-One Church Councils from Nicaea to Vatican II (Mahwah NJ: Paulist Press, 2002) and Renewing Christianity: A History of Church Reform from Day One to Vatican II (Mahwah NJ: Paulist Press, 2001). “Chivalry: A Door to Teaching the Middle Ages” originally appeared in the August 1995 edition of The History Teacher magazine.