The Age of Chivalry

 The code of chivalry for knights glorified combat and romantic love  Chivalry has shaped modern ideas of romance in Western cultures

Terms to know  chivalry  tournament  troubadour

Where you’ve heard these terms Cavalier and chivalry both come from the French chevalier which means knight The final four is the nickname of the NCAA basketball tournament

Knights become an important part of battle  Charles Martel organized the Frankish army into troops of armored horsemen, knights.  The development of the saddle and stirrups made it easier to fight on horseback. The knight is still seen as a symbol of war and battle 1000 years later

Feudal lords raise private armies  Knights were given fiefs (plots of land) in order to protect feudal lords from other nobles trying to take their land  By granting the knights fiefs, the knights were able to use the wealth of the land to buy weapons, armor and warhorses  A knight typically served in 40 days of battle per year

Chivalry  Chivalry is a complex set of ideas which demanded that a knight fight bravely in defense of three masters His earthly feudal lord His heavenly lord His chosen lady

Chivalry  The chivalrous knight also protected the weak and the poor  The ideal knight was loyal, brave and courteous  Reality: brutal to lower classes..  Many knights failed to live to these standards

Literature of Chivalry EPIC POETRY LOVE POEMS AND SONGS  King Arthur  Charlemagne  Troubadours – traveling poet-musicians at the castles and courts of Europe  They composed short songs about the joys and sorrows of romantic love Troubadours then and now.

Epic Poetry The Song of Roland is one of the most famous medieval poems It praises a band of French soldiers who dies in a battle under Charlemagne

Shifting Role of Women  Church viewed women as inferior to men  Feudalism develops  Women status declined Roles limited to home and convent Endless labor, bearing children, family care

Women Power  Women Power Feudal system allowed women to inherit land Send knights to war upon lord’s request Acted as military commander/warrior Dressed/fought as knights  Did NOT receive fiefs as rewards for fighting  Lords passed down land to sons, NOT daughters…

Primary Sources: Noble Women 1. Contrast the daily life of a noblewoman to the daily life of a peasant woman in the Early Middle Ages (p. 368). 2. Identify at least TWO things that noblewoman and peasant women had in common (p. 368). 3. Under what circumstance could a noblewoman become ‘lord of the manor’ and assume the duties that come along with that title? (p. 369).

Tournaments  Sons of nobles began training for knighthood at a young age  After a year or two of training, they entered mock battles called tournaments Trumpets blared and lords and ladies cheered. Tournament winners could demand large ransoms from defeated knights.

Bloody Battles  Unlike tournaments, actual battles were quite violent and bloody  Castle battles are among the most bloody The home of the lord and lady, a castle under siege was a gory sight. Defenders poured boiling water, hot oil or molten lead while archers on the roof fired arrows and bolts at attackers.

Castle Weapons A Siege Tower had a platform on top that lowered like a drawbridge It could support soldiers and weapons A Battering Ram was made of heavy timber with a sharp metal tip It swung like a pendulum to crack castle walls or knock down a drawbridge

Trebuchet  A Trebuchet worked like a giant slingshot  It propelled objects up to a distance of 980 feet (More than 3 football fields) A Trebuchet was used to launch pots of burning lime boulders severed human heads captured soldiers diseased cows dead horses

Castle and Siege Weapons A tortoise moved slowly on wheels and sheltered soldiers from falling arrows. A mangonel flung huge rocks that crashed into castle walls. It propelled objects up to 1300 feet.