Chivalry

Rating:
Summary: Excellent analysis of "real" (historical) chivalry
Review: Like all of Maurice Keen's books, this one is insightful, well-written, and based on thorough scholarship. This is the place to start a study of the subject.

Rating:
Summary: The best introduction into Chivalry you can get
Review: This book delivers a very thorough description of chivalry, beginning with a very good explanation how and when chivalry started. It also delivers a superb definition about what chivalry reaaly is, or what it was supposed to be. Alas, the only thing missing is more pictures - then it would be the definite book about chivalry. As it is now, it is "only" the best introduction to the matter you can possibly get.

Rating:
Summary: A MAGNIFICENT BOOK!
Review: This solid volume is one of the best works on the complex institutions of chivalry and knighthood that I at least have ever seen. It is a very erudite work crammed with interesting information and written in an intelligent but readable style. Mr. Keen presents an argument for the reality of chivalric values that seems very convincing and well- researched. If you are at all interested in knighthood or European history, buy this book!

Rating:
Summary: A MAGNIFICENT BOOK!
Review: This solid volume is one of the best works on the complex institutions of chivalry and knighthood that I at least have ever seen. It is a very erudite work crammed with interesting information and written in an intelligent but readable style. Mr. Keen presents an argument for the reality of chivalric values that seems very convincing and well- researched. If you are at all interested in knighthood or European history, buy this book!

Rating:
Summary: A great definition of chivalry
Review: When most of us think of chivalry, an image of an errant knight off to rescue a damsel in distress is usually the first thing that comes to mind. This is a romanticized image, of course, and, though not wholly inaccurate, does represent at least a part of the concept of chivalry. But there is so much more to it. In essence (according to Keen), chivalry was an entire value system that governed the lives of the whole noble class in medieval Europe. It focused around three main facets of life: war, noble standing, and religion.
Keen does a wonderful job in this book of analyzing chivalry based on first-hand accounts--poems, literature, and chivalric handbooks from the high and late Middle Ages. His explanation of chivalry is detailed and thorough, and presents a number of arguments that most people would not consider when thinking about the chivalric code. The most obvious elements are treated--the tournament, the crusades, heraldry, etc--and many not so obvious subjects are given attention as well.

Overall, this book is pretty well-written. It serves as a very valuable resource for any student of the Middle Ages, or as a good introduction to the practice of chivalry to the casual student.

Rating:
Summary: A great definition of chivalry
Review: When most of us think of chivalry, an image of an errant knight off to rescue a damsel in distress is usually the first thing that comes to mind. This is a romanticized image, of course, and, though not wholly inaccurate, does represent at least a part of the concept of chivalry. But there is so much more to it. In essence (according to Keen), chivalry was an entire value system that governed the lives of the whole noble class in medieval Europe. It focused around three main facets of life: war, noble standing, and religion.
Keen does a wonderful job in this book of analyzing chivalry based on first-hand accounts--poems, literature, and chivalric handbooks from the high and late Middle Ages. His explanation of chivalry is detailed and thorough, and presents a number of arguments that most people would not consider when thinking about the chivalric code. The most obvious elements are treated--the tournament, the crusades, heraldry, etc--and many not so obvious subjects are given attention as well.

Overall, this book is pretty well-written. It serves as a very valuable resource for any student of the Middle Ages, or as a good introduction to the practice of chivalry to the casual student.