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132-595: By the middle of the 15th century, artillery pieces had become powerful enough to make the traditional medieval round tower and curtain wall obsolete. This was exemplified by the campaigns of Charles VII of France who reduced the towns and castles held by the English during the latter stages of the Hundred Years War , and by the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to the large cannon of the Turkish army. During

264-609: A dynastic conflict , the war inspired French and English nationalism. The broader introduction of weapons and tactics supplanted the feudal armies where heavy cavalry had dominated, and artillery became important. The war precipitated the creation of the first standing armies in Western Europe since the Western Roman Empire and helped change their role in warfare . Civil wars, deadly epidemics, famines, and bandit free-companies of mercenaries reduced

396-607: A vassal of the King of France . As a result, the crown of England was held by a succession of nobles who already owned lands in France, which put them among the most influential subjects of the French king, as they could now draw upon the economic power of England to enforce their interests in the mainland. To the kings of France, this threatened their royal authority, and so they would constantly try to undermine English rule in France, while

528-579: A civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages . It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy of Aquitaine and was triggered by a claim to the French throne made by Edward III of England . The war grew into a broader military, economic, and political struggle involving factions from across Western Europe , fuelled by emerging nationalism on both sides. The periodisation of the war typically charts it as taking place over 116 years. However, it

660-465: A ditch in front, the opposite side of which would be built up above the natural level then slope away gradually. This glacis shielded most of the bastion from the attacker's cannon while the distance from the base of the ditch to the top of the bastion meant it was still difficult to scale. In contrast to typical late medieval towers, bastions (apart from early examples) were flat sided rather than curved. This eliminated dead ground making it possible for

792-510: A flanking movement with his horsemen, cutting off the French retreat and successfully capturing King John and many of his nobles. With John held hostage, his son the Dauphin (later to become Charles V ) assumed the powers of the king as regent . After the Battle of Poitiers, many French nobles and mercenaries rampaged, and chaos ruled. A contemporary report recounted: ... all went ill with

924-455: A greater thickness of hard-packed earth or rubble behind. The top of the bastion was exposed to enemy fire, and normally would not be faced with masonry as cannonballs hitting the surface would scatter lethal stone shards among the defenders. If a bastion was successfully stormed, it could provide the attackers with a stronghold from which to launch further attacks. Some bastion designs attempted to minimise this problem. This could be achieved by

1056-663: A large naval fleet off Marseilles as part of an ambitious plan for a crusade to the Holy Land . However, the plan was abandoned and the fleet, including elements of the Scottish navy, moved to the English Channel off Normandy in 1336, threatening England. To deal with this crisis, Edward proposed that the English raise two armies, one to deal with the Scots "at a suitable time" and the other to proceed at once to Gascony. At

1188-485: A long lapse of time, adorning the very same ages with the most splendid fictions of grace, virtue, and loyalty. The romance writers of the twelfth century placed the age of chivalry in the time of Charlemagne. The period when these writers existed, is the time pointed out by Francis I . At the present day [about 1810], we imagine we can still see chivalry flourishing in the persons of Du Guesclin and Bayard , under Charles V and Francis I. But when we come to examine either

1320-401: A man of blood, and frequently puts men to death without incurring the name or guilt of homicide. From the 12th century onward, chivalry came to be understood as a moral, religious, and social code of knightly conduct. The particulars of the code varied, but codes would emphasise the virtues of courage, honour, and service. Chivalry also came to refer to an idealisation of the life and manners of

1452-405: A more "ordered and peaceful society". The tripartite conception of medieval European society (those who pray, those who fight, and those who work) along with other linked subcategories of monarchy and aristocracy, worked in congruence with knighthood to reform the institution in an effort "to secure public order in a society just coming into its mature formation." Kaeuper says that knighthood and

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1584-658: A new military ethos based on nationalism rather than "defending the faith against the infidel". Social commentators of the Victorian era advocated for a revival of chivalry in order to remedy the ill effects of the Industrial Revolution . Thomas Carlyle 's " Captains of Industry " were to lead a "Chivalry of Labour", a beneficent form of governance that is hierarchical yet fraternal in nature, rather than materialistic. John Ruskin 's "Ideal Commonwealth" took chivalry as one of its basic characteristics. From

1716-693: A part in the foundation of the Scouting movement. The Brownsea Island Scout camp , formed in 1907, began as a boys' camping event on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour , southern England, organised by British Army Lieutenant-General Robert Baden-Powell to test his ideas for the book Scouting for Boys . Boy scouts from different social backgrounds in the U.K. participated from 1 to 8 August 1907 in activities around camping , observation , woodcraft , chivalry, lifesaving , and patriotism . According to William Manchester , General Douglas MacArthur

1848-410: A perceived codified law. The chivalric ideals are based on those of the early medieval warrior class, and martial exercise and military virtue remain integral parts of chivalry until the end of the medieval period, as the reality on the battlefield changed with the development of Early Modern warfare , and increasingly restricted it to the tournament ground and duelling culture. The joust remained

1980-545: A revival and elaboration of chivalric ceremonial and rules of etiquette in the 14th century that was examined by Johan Huizinga in The Waning of the Middle Ages , which dedicates a chapter to "The idea of chivalry". In contrasting the literary standards of chivalry with the actual warfare of the age, the historian finds the imitation of an ideal past illusory; in an aristocratic culture such as Burgundy and France at

2112-497: A social, not a military phenomenon, with its key features: generosity, fidelity, liberality, and courtesy. Chivalry was dynamic; it adjusted in response to local situations, and this probably led to its demise. There were many chivalric groups in England as imagined by Sir Thomas Malory when he wrote Le Morte d'Arthur in the late 15th century; perhaps each group created its own chivalric ideology. Malory's perspective reflects

2244-572: A treaty was signed between France and Scotland during the reign of Philip the Fair , known as the Auld Alliance. Charles IV formally renewed the treaty in 1326, promising Scotland that France would support the Scots if England invaded their country. Similarly, France would have Scotland's support if its own kingdom were attacked. Edward could not succeed in his plans for Scotland if the Scots could count on French support. Philip VI had assembled

2376-488: Is associated with the medieval Christian institution of knighthood , with knights being members of various chivalric orders , and with knights' and gentlemen's behaviours which were governed by chivalrous social codes. The ideals of chivalry were popularized in medieval literature , particularly the literary cycles known as the Matter of France , relating to the legendary companions of Charlemagne and his men-at-arms ,

2508-401: Is impossible to distinguish the countries in which it is said to have prevailed. It is always represented as distant from us both in time and place, and whilst the contemporary historians give us a clear, detailed, and complete account of the vices of the court and the great, of the ferocity or corruption of the nobles, and of the servility of the people, we are astonished to find the poets, after

2640-472: Is searched for, it is always further in the past, even back to the Roman Empire . From Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi : We must not confound chivalry with the feudal system . The feudal system may be called the real life of the period of which we are treating, possessing its advantages and inconveniences, its virtues and its vices. Chivalry, on the contrary, is the ideal world, such as it existed in

2772-473: Is thus a product of the Late Middle Ages , evolving after the end of the crusades partly from an idealization of the historical knights fighting in the Holy Land and from ideals of courtly love. Pioneering French literary historian Léon Gautier compiled what he called the medieval Ten Commandments of chivalry in his book La Chevalerie (1884): In fact, there is no such medieval list. Gautier's effort

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2904-480: The trace italienne forts by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban , that remained in use during the Napoleonic Wars . Bastions differ from medieval towers in a number of respects. Bastions are lower than towers and are normally of similar height to the adjacent curtain wall. The height of towers, although making them difficult to scale, also made them easy for artillery to destroy. A bastion would normally have

3036-534: The Anglo-Irish Order of St. Patrick (1783), and numerous dynastic orders of knighthood remain active in countries that retain a tradition of monarchy. At the same time, with the change of courtly ideas during the Baroque period , the ideals of chivalry began to be seen as dated, or "medieval". Don Quixote , published in 1605–15, burlesqued the medieval chivalric novel or romance by ridiculing

3168-470: The De Re Militari of Ralph Niger (c. 1187) was written by the young man's former chaplain, in part as a moral defence of the knightly lifestyle. Crouch suggests another reason why chivalry coalesced as a noble code in the late 12th century in his analysis of conduct literature. He suggests that the courtly habitus underwent a crisis as its moral failure became obvious to writers, particularly in

3300-628: The Duchy of Brittany set off the War of the Breton Succession , in which Edward backed John of Montfort and Philip backed Charles of Blois. Action for the next few years focused on a back-and-forth struggle in Brittany. The city of Vannes in Brittany changed hands several times, while further campaigns in Gascony met with mixed success for both sides. The English-backed Montfort finally took

3432-792: The Edwardian War (1337–1360), the Caroline War (1369–1389), and the Lancastrian War (1415–1453). Each side drew many allies into the conflict, with English forces initially prevailing; however, the French forces under the House of Valois ultimately retained control over the Kingdom of France. The French and English monarchies thereafter remained separate, despite the monarchs of England (later Britain ) styling themselves as sovereigns of France until 1802 . The root causes of

3564-501: The Eighty Years War (1568–1648) Dutch military engineers developed the concepts further by lengthening the faces and shortening the curtain walls of the bastions. The resulting construction was called a bolwerk . To augment this change they placed v-shaped outworks known as ravelins in front of the bastions and curtain walls to protect them from direct artillery fire. These ideas were further developed and incorporated into

3696-528: The English monarchs would struggle to protect and expand their lands. This clash of interests was the root cause of much of the conflict between the French and English monarchies throughout the medieval era. The Anglo-Norman dynasty that had ruled England since the Norman conquest of 1066 was brought to an end when Henry , the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Empress Matilda , and great-grandson of William

3828-484: The High Middle Ages . Christianity had a modifying influence on the classical concept of heroism and virtue, nowadays identified with the virtues of chivalry. The Peace and Truce of God in the 10th century was one such example, which placed limits on knights to protect and honour the weaker members of society and also help the church maintain peace. At the same time the church became more tolerant of war in

3960-478: The Low Countries . His supporters could claim that they were loyal to the "true" King of France and did not rebel against Philip. In February 1340, Edward returned to England to try to raise more funds and also deal with political difficulties. Relations with Flanders were also tied to the English wool trade since Flanders' principal cities relied heavily on textile production, and England supplied much of

4092-527: The Middle Ages , the plural chevalerie (transformed in English into the word "chivalry") originally denoted the body of heavy cavalry upon formation in the field. In English, the term appears from 1292 (note that cavalry is from the Italian form of the same word). The meaning of the term evolved over time into a broader sense, because in the Middle Ages the meaning of chevalier changed from

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4224-492: The Teutonic Knights , who honored her as their patroness. The medieval development of chivalry, with the concept of the honour of a lady and the ensuing knightly devotion to it, not only derived from the thinking about Mary, but also contributed to it. Although women were at times viewed as the source of evil, it was Mary who as mediator to God was a source of refuge for man. The development of medieval Mariology and

4356-689: The University of Paris assemblies decided that males who derive their right to inheritance through their mother should be excluded from consideration. Therefore, excluding Edward, the nearest heir through the male line was Charles IV's first cousin, Philip, Count of Valois , and it was decided that he should take the throne. He was crowned Philip VI in 1328. In 1340, the Avignon papacy confirmed that, under Salic law , males would not be able to inherit through their mothers. Eventually, Edward III reluctantly recognized Philip VI and paid him homage for

4488-423: The War of Saint-Sardos (1324), the English king's holdings on the continent, as Duke of Aquitaine , were limited roughly to provinces in Gascony. The dispute over Guyenne is even more important than the dynastic question in explaining the outbreak of the war. Guyenne posed a significant problem to the kings of France and England: Edward III was a vassal of Philip VI of France because of his French possessions and

4620-410: The early modern period , the term gallantry (from galant , the Baroque ideal of refined elegance) rather than chivalry became used for the proper behaviour of upper-class men towards upper-class women. In the 19th century, there were attempts to revive chivalry for the purposes of the gentleman of that time. Kenelm Henry Digby wrote his The Broad-Stone of Honour for this purpose, offering

4752-439: The knight 's character and the chivalric ethos were novel elements: revised social status, innovative military tactics, and fresh literary themes. Chivalric codes encompassed regulations such as pledging loyalty to the overlord and upholding warfare rules. These rules dictated refraining from attacking a defenseless opponent and prioritizing the capture of fellow nobles for later ransom instead of immediate harm, akin to adhering to

4884-799: The paladins , and the Matter of Britain , informed by Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae , written in the 1130s, which popularized the legend of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table . The code of chivalry that developed in medieval Europe had its roots in earlier centuries. It arose in the Carolingian Empire from the idealisation of the cavalryman —involving military bravery, individual training, and service to others—especially in Francia , among horse soldiers in Charlemagne 's cavalry. Over time,

5016-515: The "sword against the enemy". In the 11th century the concept of a "knight of Christ" ( miles Christi ) gained currency in France, Spain, and Italy. These concepts of "religious chivalry" were further elaborated in the era of the Crusades , with the Crusades themselves often seen as a chivalrous enterprise. The military orders of the crusades which developed in this period came to be seen as

5148-625: The 15th century Christine de Pizan combined themes from Vegetius, Bonet, and Frontinus in Livre des faits d'armes et de chevalerie . In the 14th century Jean Froissart wrote his Chronicles which captured much of the Hundred Years' War , including the Battle of Crécy and later the Battle of Poitiers both of which saw the defeat of the French nobility by armies made up largely of common men using longbows . The chivalric tactic employed by

5280-588: The Arabs as antecedents to the depiction of courtly love in medieval European literature. In the works of the Cordoban author Ibn Hazm , for example, "lovers develop passions for slave boys as well as girls, interchangeably, and the slave is recognized as now the master of his beloved." Ibn Hazm's The Ring of the Dove is a noteworthy depiction of a lover's extreme submissiveness. Medieval courtly literature glorifies

5412-708: The Burgundians and her subsequent execution (1431), a series of crushing French victories concluded the siege, favoring the Valois dynasty. Notably, Patay (1429), Formigny (1450), and Castillon (1453) proved decisive in ending the war. England permanently lost most of its continental possessions, with only the Pale of Calais remaining under its control on the continent until the Siege of Calais (1558). Local conflicts in neighbouring areas, which were contemporarily related to

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5544-502: The Burgundians raised the prospects of an ultimate English triumph and persuaded the English to continue the war over many decades. A variety of factors prevented this, however. Notable influences include the deaths of both Henry and Charles in 1422, the emergence of Joan of Arc (which boosted French morale), and the loss of Burgundy as an ally (concluding the French civil war). The Siege of Orléans (1429) made English aspirations for conquest all but infeasible. Despite Joan's capture by

5676-635: The Conqueror , became the first of the Angevin kings of England in 1154 as Henry II. The Angevin kings ruled over what was later known as the Angevin Empire , which included more French territory than that under the kings of France . The Angevins still owed homage to the French king for these territories. From the 11th century, the Angevins had autonomy within their French domains, neutralizing

5808-529: The French armoured nobility, namely bravely charging the opposition in the face of a hail of arrows, failed repeatedly. Froissart noted the subsequent attacks by common English and Welsh archers upon the fallen French knights. Chronicles also captured a series of uprisings by common people against the nobility, such as the Jacquerie and The Peasant's Revolt and the rise of the common man to leadership ranks within armies. Many of these men were promoted during

5940-587: The French delayed the return of the lands, which helped Philip VI. On 6 June 1329, Edward III finally paid homage to the King of France. However, at the ceremony, Philip VI had it recorded that the homage was not due to the fiefs detached from the duchy of Guyenne by Charles IV (especially Agen). For Edward, the homage did not imply the renunciation of his claim to the extorted lands. In the 11th century, Gascony in southwest France had been incorporated into Aquitaine (also known as Guyenne or Guienne ) and formed with it

6072-490: The French throne was raised after the death of Louis X in 1316. Louis left behind a young daughter, Joan II of Navarre , and a son, John I of France , although he only lived for five days. However, Joan's paternity was in question, as her mother, Margaret of Burgundy , was accused of being an adulterer in the Tour de Nesle affair . Given the situation, Philip, Count of Poitiers and brother of Louis X, positioned himself to take

6204-907: The French. A conference was held at Brétigny that resulted in the Treaty of Brétigny (8 May 1360). The treaty was ratified at Calais in October. In return for increased lands in Aquitaine, Edward renounced Normandy, Touraine, Anjou and Maine and consented to reduce King John's ransom by a million crowns. Edward also abandoned his claim to the crown of France. The French king, John II , was held captive in England for four years. The Treaty of Brétigny set his ransom at 3 million crowns and allowed for hostages to be held in lieu of John. The hostages included two of his sons, several princes and nobles, four inhabitants of Paris, and two citizens from each of

6336-575: The Good), who had outflanked him near Poitiers but refused to surrender himself as the price of their acceptance. This led to the Battle of Poitiers (19 September 1356) where the Black Prince's army routed the French. During the battle, the Gascon noble Jean de Grailly , captal de Buch led a mounted unit that was concealed in a forest. The French advance was contained, at which point de Grailly led

6468-528: The Hundred Years' War but were later left in France when the English nobles returned home, and became mercenaries in the Free Companies , for example John Hawkwood , the mercenary leader of The White Company . The rise of effective, paid soldiery replaced noble soldiery during this period, leading to a new class of military leader without any adherence to the chivalric code. Chivalry underwent

6600-419: The King's hands because Edward III was in breach of his obligations as a vassal and had sheltered the King's "mortal enemy" Robert d'Artois . Edward responded to the confiscation of Aquitaine by challenging Philip's right to the French throne. When Charles IV died, Edward claimed the succession of the French throne through the right of his mother, Isabella (Charles IV's sister), daughter of Philip IV. His claim

6732-515: The War of Saint-Sardos, Charles of Valois , father of Philip VI, invaded Aquitaine on behalf of Charles IV and conquered the duchy after a local insurrection, which the French believed had been incited by Edward II of England . Charles IV grudgingly agreed to return this territory in 1325. Edward II had to compromise to recover his duchy: he sent his son, the future Edward III , to pay homage. The King of France agreed to restore Guyenne, minus Agen , but

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6864-535: The Wise and the leadership of Bertrand du Guesclin , the French had reconquered most of the lands ceded to King Edward in the Treaty of Brétigny (signed in 1360), leaving the English with only a few cities on the continent. In the following decades, the weakening of royal authority, combined with the devastation caused by the Black Death of 1347–1351 (which killed nearly half of France and 20–33% of England ) and

6996-463: The anonymous poem Ordene de chevalerie , which tells the story of how Hugh II of Tiberias was captured and released upon his agreement to show Saladin (1138–1193) the ritual of Christian knighthood ; the Libre del ordre de cavayleria , written by Ramon Llull (1232–1315), from Majorca , whose subject is knighthood; and the Livre de Chevalerie of Geoffroi de Charny (1300–1356), which examines

7128-499: The arena of professional infantrymen, with less opportunity for knights to show chivalry. It was the beginning of the demise of the knight. The rank of knight never faded, but Queen Elizabeth I ended the tradition that any knight could create another, making this exclusively the preserve of the monarch. Christopher Wilkins contends that Sir Edward Woodville , who rode from battle to battle across Europe and died in 1488 in Brittany ,

7260-662: The best protection in her lance and her sword. The chivalric ideal persisted into the early modern and modern period. The custom of founding chivalric orders by Europe's monarchs and high nobility peaked in the late medieval period, but it persisted during the Renaissance and well into the Baroque and early modern period, with e.g. the Tuscan Order of Saint Stephen (1561), the French Order of Saint Louis (1693) or

7392-490: The bourgeoisie were educated at aristocratic courts, where they were trained in the manners of the knightly class. This was a democratisation of chivalry, leading to a new genre called the courtesy book , which were guides to the behaviour of "gentlemen". Thus, the post-medieval gentlemanly code of the value of a man's honour, respect for women, and a concern for those less fortunate, is directly derived from earlier ideals of chivalry and historical forces that created it. Japan

7524-413: The changing attitudes towards women paralleled each other. The works of Roman poets like Ovid and Cicero bore some similarities to the typical depiction of romance in chivalric literature during the Middle Ages. In Ovid's works, lovers "became sleepless, grew pale, and lost their appetite," while Cicero's works celebrated the "ennobling power of love". Some scholars also point to the romantic poetry of

7656-409: The city for five weeks, but the defences held and there was no coronation. Edward moved on to Paris, but retreated after a few skirmishes in the suburbs. Next was the town of Chartres . Disaster struck in a freak hailstorm on the encamped army, causing over 1,000 English deaths – the so-called Black Monday at Easter 1360. This devastated Edward's army and forced him to negotiate when approached by

7788-472: The close of the Middle Ages, "to be representative of true culture means to produce by conduct, by customs, by manners, by costume, by deportment, the illusion of a heroic being, full of dignity and honour, of wisdom, and, at all events, of courtesy.... The dream of past perfection ennobles life and its forms, fills them with beauty and fashions them anew as forms of art". In the later Middle Ages, wealthy merchants strove to adopt chivalric attitudes. The sons of

7920-411: The codified medieval noble conduct we call chivalry, which he sees as beginning between 1170 and 1220. The pre-chivalric noble habitus as discovered by Mills and Gautier and elaborated by Stephen Jaeger and David Crouch are as follows: The [warrior-]prince accordingly is the minister of the common interest and the bond-servant of equity, and he bears the public person in the sense that he punishes

8052-557: The condition of 15th-century chivalry. When Le Morte d'Arthur was printed, William Caxton urged knights to read the romance with an expectation that reading about chivalry could unite a community of knights already divided by the Wars of the Roses . During the early Tudor rule in England , some knights still fought according to that ethos. Fewer knights were engaged in active warfare because battlefields during this century were generally

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8184-456: The conflict can be traced to the crisis of 14th-century Europe . The outbreak of war was motivated by a gradual rise in tension between the kings of France and England over territory; the official pretext was the interruption of the direct male line of the Capetian dynasty . Tensions between the French and English crowns had gone back centuries to the origins of the English royal family, which

8316-508: The conflict, subsequently declined. Stronger national identities took root in both kingdoms, which became more centralized and gradually emerged as global powers . The term "Hundred Years' War" was adopted by later historians as a historiographical periodisation to encompass dynastically related conflicts, constructing the longest military conflict in European history . The war is commonly divided into three phases separated by truces:

8448-581: The crossings destroyed. He moved further south, worryingly close to Paris until he found the crossing at Poissy. This had only been partially destroyed, so the carpenters within his army were able to fix it. He then continued to Flanders until he reached the river Somme. The army crossed at a tidal ford at Blanchetaque, stranding Philip's army. Edward, assisted by this head start, continued on his way to Flanders once more until, finding himself unable to outmaneuver Philip, Edward positioned his forces for battle, and Philip's army attacked. The Battle of Crécy of 1346

8580-452: The crown, advancing the stance that women should be ineligible to succeed to the French throne. He won over his adversaries through his political sagacity and succeeded to the French throne as Philip V . When he died in 1322, leaving only daughters behind, the crown passed to his younger brother, Charles IV . Charles IV died in 1328, leaving behind his young daughter and pregnant wife, Joan of Évreux . He decreed that he would become king if

8712-442: The decline of the military ideals of duelling culture and of European aristocracies in general following the catastrophe of World War I , the ideals of chivalry became widely seen as outmoded by the mid-20th century. As a material reflection of this process, the dress sword lost its position as an indispensable part of a gentleman's wardrobe, a development described as an "archaeological terminus" by Ewart Oakeshott , as it concluded

8844-514: The defence of faith, espousing theories of the just war ; and liturgies were introduced which blessed a knight's sword, and a bath of chivalric purification . In the Grail romances and Chevalier au Cygne , it was the ethos of the Christian knighthood that its way of life was to please God, and chivalry was an order of God. Chivalry as a Christian vocation combined Teutonic heroic values with

8976-410: The defenders to fire upon any point directly in front of the bastion. Bastions also cover a larger area than most towers. This allows more cannons to be mounted and provided enough space for the crews to operate them. Surviving examples of bastions are usually faced with masonry. Unlike the wall of a tower this was just a retaining wall; cannonballs were expected to pass through this and be absorbed by

9108-408: The definition: "Chivalry is only a name for that general spirit or state of mind which disposes men to heroic actions, and keeps them conversant with all that is beautiful and sublime in the intellectual and moral world." The pronouncedly masculine virtues of chivalry came under attack on the parts of the upper-class suffragettes campaigning for gender equality in the early 20th century, and with

9240-530: The duchy but not until 1364. In July 1346, Edward mounted a major invasion across the channel, landing on Normandy's Cotentin Peninsula at St Vaast . The English army captured the city of Caen in just one day, surprising the French. Philip mustered a large army to oppose Edward, who chose to march northward toward the Low Countries, pillaging as he went. He reached the river Seine to find most of

9372-404: The duchy free of French suzerainty . The French rejected this argument, so in 1329, the 17-year-old Edward III paid homage to Philip VI. Tradition demanded that vassals approach their liege unarmed, with heads bare. Edward protested by attending the ceremony wearing his crown and sword. Even after this pledge of homage, the French continued to pressure the English administration. Gascony was not

9504-517: The duchy of Aquitaine and Gascony in 1329. He made concessions in Guyenne but reserved the right to reclaim territories arbitrarily confiscated. After that, he expected to be left undisturbed while he made war on Scotland . Tensions between the French and English monarchies can be traced back to the 1066 Norman Conquest of England, in which the English throne was seized by the Duke of Normandy ,

9636-473: The earliest flowering of chivalry, and some of their opponents like Saladin were likewise depicted as chivalrous adversaries. It remains unclear to what extent the notable military figures of this period—such as Saladin, Godfrey of Bouillon , William Marshal , or Bertrand du Guesclin —actually did set new standards of knightly behaviour, or to what extent they merely behaved according to existing models of conduct which came in retrospect to be interpreted along

9768-529: The growth of English power, stripping away lands as the opportunity arose, mainly whenever England was at war with Scotland , an ally of France . English holdings in France had varied in size, at some points dwarfing even the French royal domain ; by 1337, however, only Guyenne and Gascony were English. In 1328, Charles IV of France died without any sons or brothers, and a new principle, Salic law , disallowed female succession. Charles's closest male relative

9900-436: The imaginations of the romance writers. Its essential character is devotion to woman and to honour. Sismondi alludes to the fictitious Arthurian romances about the imaginary Court of King Arthur when taken as factual presentations of a historical age of chivalry. He continues: The more closely we look into history, the more clearly shall we perceive that the system of chivalry is an invention almost entirely poetical. It

10032-516: The issue. King John of England inherited the Angevin domains from his brother Richard I . However, Philip II of France acted decisively to exploit the weaknesses of John, both legally and militarily, and by 1204 had succeeded in taking control of much of the Angevin continental possessions . Following John's reign, the Battle of Bouvines (1214), the Saintonge War (1242), and finally

10164-402: The itinerant playboy lifestyle of his son to distract him from meddling in his realms, and also to stake a claim to the cultural high ground over the other European princes of the day. Young Henry was nonetheless heavily criticised for his wasteful and hedonistic life, and Crouch finds it significant that the first known work which used the knight as a moral exemplar and as a definitive nobleman,

10296-492: The kingdom and the State was undone. Thieves and robbers rose up everywhere in the land. The Nobles despised and hated all others and took no thought for usefulness and profit of lord and men. They subjected and despoiled the peasants and the men of the villages. In no wise did they defend their country from its enemies; rather did they trample it underfoot, robbing and pillaging the peasants' goods ... Edward invaded France, for

10428-438: The knight at home in his castle and with his court. The code of chivalry, as it was known during the late Medieval age, developed between 1170 and 1220. Courtliness remained a recognised form of superior conduct in medieval European society throughout the middle ages. Courtly behaviour was expected of all aristocrats and its norms were integrated into chivalric literature. But as Crouch demonstrated courtliness (unlike chivalry)

10560-554: The lines of the "chivalry" ideal of the Late Middle Ages. Nevertheless, chivalry and crusades were not the same thing. While the crusading ideology had largely influenced the ethic of chivalry during its formative times, chivalry itself was related to a whole range of martial activities and aristocratic values which had no necessary linkage with crusading. The Virgin Mary was venerated by multiple chivalric orders, including

10692-758: The long period during which the sword had been a visible attribute of the free man, beginning as early as three millennia ago with the Bronze Age sword . During the 20th century, the chivalrous ideal of protecting women came to be seen as a trope of melodrama (" damsel in distress "). The term chivalry retains a certain currency in sociology, in reference to the general tendency of men, and of society in general, to lend more attention offering protection from harm to women than to men, or in noting gender gaps in life expectancy , health , etc., also expressed in media bias giving significantly more attention to female than to male victims. The promotion of chivalry played

10824-428: The loss of their continental landholdings, as well as the general shock at losing a war in which investment had been so significant, helped lead to the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). The economic consequences of the Hundred Years' War not only produced a decline in trade but also led to a high collection of taxes from both countries, which played a significant role in civil disorder. The question of female succession to

10956-645: The materialism that motivated courtly society. Crouch sees the Roman des Eles of the poet-knight Raoul de Houdenc , as a critique of courtliness and its failures. Raoul's solution is to focus moral eminence on the figure of the knight, who is to be the avatar of a new moral nobility, set above all other males. A knight was to eschew materialism ( envie ) and to embrace noble generosity ( largesce ). In medieval literature , chivalry can be classified into three overlapping areas: Different weight given to different areas produced different strands of chivalry: Emerging with

11088-567: The meaning of chivalry in Europe has been refined to emphasize more general social and moral virtues. The code of chivalry, as it stood by the Late Middle Ages , was a moral system which combined a warrior ethos , knightly piety , and courtly manners , all combining to establish a notion of honour and nobility . The term "chivalry" derives from the Old French term chevalerie , which can be translated as " horse soldiery ". Originally,

11220-449: The militant tradition of Old Testament . The first noted support for chivalric vocation, or the establishment of a knightly class to ensure the sanctity and legitimacy of Christianity, was written in 930 by Odo , abbot of Cluny , in the Vita of St. Gerald of Aurillac , which argued that the sanctity of Christ and Christian doctrine can be demonstrated through the legitimate unsheathing of

11352-545: The nineteen principal towns of France. While these hostages were held, John returned to France to try to raise funds to pay the ransom. In 1362, John's son Louis of Anjou , a hostage in English-held Calais, escaped captivity. With his stand-in hostage gone, John felt honour-bound to return to captivity in England. Chivalry Chivalry , or the chivalric language , is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It

11484-428: The noble habitus —is a term for the environment of behavioural and material expectations generated by all societies and classes. As a modern idea, it was pioneered by the French philosopher/sociologists Pierre Bourdieu and Maurice Merleau-Ponty , even though a precedent exists for the concept as far back as the works of Aristotle. Crouch in 2019 argued that the habitus on which "the superstructure of chivalry"

11616-438: The one period or the other, although we find in each some heroic spirits, we are forced to confess that it is necessary to antedate the age of chivalry, at least three or four centuries before any period of authentic history. Prior to codified chivalry, there was the uncodified code of noble conduct that focused on the preudomme , which can be translated as a wise, honest, and sensible man. This uncodified code—referred to as

11748-520: The only part of Aquitaine that remained in his hands was the Duchy of Gascony. The term Gascony came to be used for the territory held by the Angevin ( Plantagenet ) kings of England in southwest France, although they still used the title Duke of Aquitaine. For the first 10 years of Edward III's reign, Gascony had been a significant friction point. The English argued that, as Charles IV had not acted properly towards his tenant, Edward should be able to hold

11880-487: The only sore point. One of Edward's influential advisers was Robert III of Artois . Robert was an exile from the French court, having fallen out with Philip VI over an inheritance claim. He urged Edward to start a war to reclaim France, and was able to provide extensive intelligence on the French court. France was an ally of the Kingdom of Scotland as English kings had tried to subjugate the country for some time. In 1295,

12012-434: The original concrete military meaning "status or fee associated with a military follower owning a war horse " or "a group of mounted knights" to the ideal of the Christian warrior ethos propagated in the romance genre, which was becoming popular during the 12th century, and the ideal of courtly love propagated in the contemporary Minnesang and related genres. The ideas of chivalry are summarized in three medieval works:

12144-588: The plague had passed and England was able to recover financially, King Edward's son and namesake, the Prince of Wales , later known as the Black Prince , led a Chevauchée from Gascony into France, during which he pillaged Avignonet , Castelnaudary , Carcassonne , and Narbonne . The next year during another Chevauchée he ravaged Auvergne , Limousin , and Berry but failed to take Bourges . He offered terms of peace to King John II of France (known as John

12276-424: The population drastically in France. But at the end of the war, the French had the upper hand due to their better supply, such as small hand-held cannons, weapons, etc. In England, political forces over time came to oppose the costly venture. After the war, England was left insolvent, leaving the conquering French in complete control of all of France except Calais. The dissatisfaction of English nobles , resulting from

12408-525: The primary example of knightly display of martial skill throughout the Renaissance (the last Elizabethan Accession Day tilt was held in 1602). The martial skills of the knight carried over to the practice of the hunt , and hunting expertise became an important aspect of courtly life in the later medieval period (see terms of venery ). Related to chivalry was the practice of heraldry and its elaborate rules of displaying coats of arms as it emerged in

12540-441: The professional horse warrior, the knight. Retained knights were a prominent feature of the households of barons, counts and princes, and were thought to be proper associates of their lords. As such knights adopted the fashions and behaviours of their lords. In many cases knights were often drawn from the younger sons of noble families so they would regard themselves as being noble too, if less noble than their lords. Crouch locates

12672-419: The protection of the weak, and one which wards off powerfully the darts of the wicked from the innocent. Those who derive the greatest advantage from his performance of the duties of his office are those who can do least for themselves, and his power is chiefly exercised against those who desire to do harm. Therefore not without reason he bears a sword, wherewith he sheds blood blamelessly, without becoming thereby

12804-440: The province of Guyenne and Gascony (French: Guyenne-et-Gascogne ). The Angevin kings of England became dukes of Aquitaine after Henry II married the former Queen of France, Eleanor of Aquitaine , in 1152, from which point the lands were held in vassalage to the French crown. By the 13th century the terms Aquitaine , Guyenne and Gascony were virtually synonymous. At the beginning of Edward III's reign on 1 February 1327,

12936-407: The qualities of knighthood, emphasizing prowess . None of the authors of these three texts knew the other two texts, and the three combine to depict a general concept of chivalry which is not precisely in harmony with any of them. To different degrees and with different details, they speak of chivalry as a way of life in which the military, the nobility, and religion combine. The "code of chivalry"

13068-520: The raw material they needed. Edward III had commanded that his chancellor sit on the woolsack in council as a symbol of the pre-eminence of the wool trade. At the time there were about 110,000 sheep in Sussex alone. The great medieval English monasteries produced large wool surpluses sold to mainland Europe. Successive governments were able to make large amounts of money by taxing it. France's sea power led to economic disruptions for England, shrinking

13200-554: The same time, ambassadors were to be sent to France with a proposed treaty for the French king. At the end of April 1337, Philip of France was invited to meet the delegation from England but refused. The arrière-ban , a call to arms, was proclaimed throughout France starting on 30 April 1337. Then, in May 1337, Philip met with his Great Council in Paris. It was agreed that the Duchy of Aquitaine, effectively Gascony, should be taken back into

13332-462: The significant economic crisis that followed, led to a period of civil unrest in both countries. These crises were resolved in England earlier than in France. The newly crowned Henry V of England seized the opportunity presented by the mental illness of Charles VI of France and the French civil war between Armagnacs and Burgundians to revive the conflict. Overwhelming victories at Agincourt (1415) and Verneuil (1424), as well as an alliance with

13464-401: The sister of the dead Charles IV, but the question arose whether she could transmit a right to inherit that she did not possess. Moreover, the French nobility balked at the prospect of being ruled by an Englishman, especially one whose mother, Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer , were widely suspected of having murdered the previous English king, Edward II . The French barons, prelates, and

13596-591: The stubborn adherence to the chivalric code in the face of the modern world as anachronistic, giving rise to the term Quixotism . Conversely, elements of Romanticism sought to revive such "medieval" ideals or aesthetics in the late 18th and early 19th century. The behavioural code of military officers down to the Napoleonic era , the American Civil War (especially as idealised in the " Lost Cause " mythology), and to some extent even to World War I ,

13728-446: The term referred only to horse-mounted men, from the French word for horse, cheval , but later it became associated with knightly ideals. The French word chevalier originally meant "a man of aristocratic standing, and probably of noble ancestry, who is capable, if called upon, of equipping himself with a war horse and the arms of heavy cavalryman and who has been through certain rituals that make him what he is." Therefore, during

13860-434: The third and last time, hoping to capitalise on the discontent and seize the throne. The Dauphin's strategy was that of non-engagement with the English army in the field. However, Edward wanted the crown and chose the cathedral city of Reims for his coronation (Reims was the traditional coronation city). However, the citizens of Reims built and reinforced the city's defences before Edward and his army arrived. Edward besieged

13992-564: The threat from Scotland. In France, Edward proceeded north unopposed and besieged the city of Calais on the English Channel, capturing it in 1347. This became an important strategic asset for the English, allowing them to keep troops safely in northern France. Calais would remain under English control, even after the end of the Hundred Years' War, until the successful French siege in 1558 . The Black Death , which had just arrived in Paris in 1348, ravaged Europe. In 1355, after

14124-513: The tipping point of the nobilising of the knight as in the households of the sons of King Henry II of England, and in particular his eldest son, the Henry the Young King (died 1183). Young Henry lived a lavish lifestyle of unprecedented expense focussed on the great northern French tourneying society of the 1170s and 1180s. Since Young Henry had no domains to rule, his father was willing to fund

14256-418: The unborn child were male. If not, Charles left the choice of his successor to the nobles. Joan gave birth to a girl, Blanche of France (later Duchess of Orleans). With Charles IV's death and Blanche's birth, the main male line of the House of Capet was rendered extinct. By proximity of blood , the nearest male relative of Charles IV was his nephew, Edward III of England . Edward was the son of Isabella ,

14388-421: The use of retrenchments in which a trench was dug across the rear (gorge) of the bastion, isolating it from the main rampart. Various kinds of bastions have been used throughout history: Attribution: Hundred Years War#Fall of Gascony Kingdom of England The Hundred Years' War ( French : Guerre de Cent Ans ; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of England and France and

14520-412: The valour, tactics, and ideals of both Moors and ancient Romans. For example, the ancient handbook of warfare written by Vegetius called De re militari was translated into French in the 13th century as L'Art de chevalerie by Jean de Meun . Later writers also drew from Vegetius, such as Honoré Bonet, who wrote the 14th century L'Arbes des batailles , which discussed the morals and laws of war. In

14652-688: The war, including the War of the Breton Succession (1341–1364), the Castilian Civil War (1366–1369), the War of the Two Peters (1356–1369) in Aragon , and the 1383–1385 crisis in Portugal , were used by the parties to advance their agendas. By the war's end, feudal armies had mainly been replaced by professional troops, and aristocratic dominance had yielded to a democratization of the manpower and weapons of armies. Although primarily

14784-486: The wool trade to Flanders and the wine trade from Gascony. On 22 June 1340, Edward and his fleet sailed from England and arrived off the Zwin estuary the next day. The French fleet assumed a defensive formation off the port of Sluis . The English fleet deceived the French into believing they were withdrawing. When the wind turned in the late afternoon, the English attacked with the wind and sun behind them. The French fleet

14916-443: The worldview of "those who fight" was pre-Christian in many ways and outside the purview of the church, at least initially. The church saw it as a duty to reform and guide knights in a way that weathered the disorderly, martial, and chauvinistic elements of chivalry. Royalty also clashed with knighthood over the conduct of warfare and personal disputes between knights and other knights (and even between knights and aristocracy). While

15048-685: The worldview of "those who work" (the burgeoning merchant class and bourgeoisie) was still in incubation, Kaeuper states that the social and economic class that would end up defining modernity was fundamentally at odds with knights, and those with chivalrous valor saw the values of commerce as beneath them. Those who engaged in commerce and derived their value system from it could be confronted with violence by knights. According to British historian David Crouch , many early writers on medieval chivalry cannot be trusted as accurate sources, because they sometimes have "polemical purpose which colours their prose". As for Kenelm Henry Digby and Léon Gautier, chivalry

15180-462: The wrongs and injuries of all, and all crimes, with even-handed equity. His rod and staff also, administered with wise moderation, restore irregularities and false departures to the straight path of equity, so that deservedly may the Spirit congratulate the power of the prince with the words, 'Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.' [ Psalm 23:4 ] His shield, too, is strong, but it is a shield for

15312-460: Was French ( Norman , and later, Angevin ) in origin through William the Conqueror , the Norman duke who became King of England in 1066. English monarchs had, therefore, historically held titles and lands within France , which made them vassals to the kings of France. The status of the English king's French fiefs was a significant source of conflict between the two monarchies throughout the Middle Ages. French monarchs systematically sought to check

15444-543: Was a chivalric warrior who fought a war with the intention to conquer the enemy, eliminating their ability to strike back, then treated them with the understanding and kindness due their honour and courage. One prominent model of his chivalrous conduct was in World War II and his treatment of the Japanese at the end of the war. MacArthur's model provides a way to win a war with as few casualties as possible and how to get

15576-435: Was a complete disaster for the French, largely credited to the English longbowmen and the French king, who allowed his army to attack before it was ready. Philip appealed to his Scottish allies to help with a diversionary attack on England. King David II of Scotland responded by invading northern England, but his army was defeated, and he was captured at the Battle of Neville's Cross on 17 October 1346. This greatly reduced

15708-575: Was a means to transform their corrupt and secular worlds. Gautier also emphasized that chivalry originated from the Teutonic forests and was brought up into civilization by the Catholic Church. Charles Mills used chivalry "to demonstrate that the Regency gentleman was the ethical heir of a great moral estate, and to provide an inventory of its treasure". Mills also stated that chivalry was

15840-485: Was a series of moral bullet points he abstracted from his broad reading of 12th and 13th century romances. Supporters of chivalry have assumed since the late medieval period that there was a time in the past when chivalry was a living institution, when men acted chivalrously, the imitation of which period would much improve the present. However, with the birth of modern historical and literary research, scholars have found that however far back in time "The Age of Chivalry"

15972-424: Was agreed that Gascony should be taken back into Philip's hands, which prompted Edward to renew his claim for the French throne, this time by force of arms. In the early years of the war, the English, led by their king and his son Edward, the Black Prince , saw resounding successes, notably at Crécy (1346) and at Poitiers (1356), where King John II of France was taken prisoner. By 1378, under King Charles V

16104-473: Was almost destroyed in what became known as the Battle of Sluys . England dominated the English Channel for the rest of the war, preventing French invasions . At this point, Edward's funds ran out and the war probably would have ended were it not for the death of the Duke of Brittany in 1341 precipitating a succession dispute between the duke's half-brother John of Montfort and Charles of Blois , nephew of Philip VI. In 1341, this inheritance dispute over

16236-631: Was an intermittent conflict which was frequently interrupted by external factors, such as the Black Death , and several years of truces . The Hundred Years' War was a significant conflict in the Middle Ages . During the war, five generations of kings from two rival dynasties fought for the throne of France, which was then the dominant kingdom in Western Europe. The war had a lasting effect on European history: both sides produced innovations in military technology and tactics, including professional standing armies and artillery, that permanently changed European warfare. Chivalry , which reached its height during

16368-462: Was built and the preudomme was a part, were recognised by contemporaries as components of courtoisie (from Latin curialitas ) which was defined as superior conduct appropriate to the aristocratic hall ( court or curia ). He saw it as being taught within the confines of the hall by its senior figures to youths confided to the lord and his household for their social upbringing. Crouch suggested courtliness had existed long before 1100 and preceded

16500-540: Was considered invalidated by Edward's homage to Philip VI in 1329. Edward revived his claim and in 1340 formally assumed the title "King of France and the French Royal Arms". On 26 January 1340, Edward III formally received homage from Guy, half-brother of the Count of Flanders . The civic authorities of Ghent , Ypres , and Bruges proclaimed Edward King of France. Edward aimed to strengthen his alliances with

16632-683: Was his nephew Edward III of England , whose mother, Isabella , was Charles's sister. Isabella claimed the throne of France for her son by the rule of proximity of blood , but the French nobility rejected this, maintaining that Isabella could not transmit a right she did not possess . An assembly of French barons decided that a native Frenchman should receive the crown, rather than Edward. The throne passed to Charles's patrilineal cousin instead, Philip , Count of Valois . Edward protested but ultimately submitted and did homage for Gascony. Further French disagreements with Edward induced Philip, during May 1337, to meet with his Great Council in Paris. It

16764-401: Was not confined to noble society. There are examples of servants, merchants, clergy and free peasants being commended for their 'courtly' behaviour in medieval literature. His explanation for the appearance of chivalry as a recognisable and prescriptive code of behaviour is tied into the more exclusive definition of nobility that appears in the late 12th century. This had a particular impact on

16896-492: Was required to recognize the suzerainty of the King of France over them. In practical terms, a judgment in Guyenne might be subject to an appeal to the French royal court. The King of France had the power to revoke all legal decisions made by the King of England in Aquitaine, which was unacceptable to the English. Therefore, sovereignty over Guyenne was a latent conflict between the two monarchies for several generations. During

17028-571: Was still strongly modelled on the historical ideals, resulting in a pronounced duelling culture, which in some parts of Europe also held sway over the civilian life of the upper classes. With the decline of the Ottoman Empire , however, the military threat from the "infidel" disappeared. The European wars of religion spanned much of the early modern period and consisted of infighting between factions of various Christian denominations. This process of confessionalization ultimately gave rise to

17160-463: Was the last knight errant who witnessed the fall of the Age of Chivalry and the rise of modern European warfare. By the time the Middle Ages came to an end, the code of chivalry was gone. Chivalry!—why, maiden, she is the nurse of pure and high affection—the stay of the oppressed, the redresser of grievances, the curb of the power of the tyrant—Nobility were but an empty name without her, and liberty finds

17292-486: Was the only country that banned the use of firearms completely to maintain ideals of chivalry and acceptable form of combat. In 1543 Japan established a government monopoly on firearms. The Japanese government destroyed firearms and enforced a preference for traditional Japanese weapons. Medieval historian Richard W. Kaeuper saw chivalry as a central focus in the study of the European Middle Ages that

17424-449: Was too often presented as a civilizing and stabilizing influence in the turbulent Middle Ages. On the contrary, Kaueper argues "that in the problem of public order the knights themselves played an ambivalent, problematic role and that the guides to their conduct that chivalry provided were in themselves complex and problematic." Many of the codes and ideals of chivalry were contradictory: when knights did live up to them, they did not lead to

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