Looking For a Book About..: development of "knighthood"

[Bob]

I am looking for books about the development of the concept of knighthood and knights

[Sanne]

hi Bob! I'm super excited to see someone else who's interested in this subject. I'm a bit of a knighthood nerd.

I'm not sure whether you're looking for a more general non-fiction, or for a more thorough/academic kind. So here are two suggestions to get you started:

The best book (in my humble opinion) is Chivalry by Maurice Keen, as it is a standard work. It takes you through the development of the knightly class as well as the concept of knighthood and touches on a wide range of aspects that come with the knightly life (tournaments, orders of knighthood, knighthood in medieval literature (read: the king Arthur mythology), how knighthood ties into religion and the ideas about nobility, etc.). It is an academic book and does presume some background knowledge (or googling skills).

A book better suited for the general reader is The Reign of Chivalry by Richard Barber. It touches on the same important topics as Keen's Chivalry and it is also illustrated and takes you beyond the Middle Ages to see how knights and knighthood are transformed in later periods (fascinating too!).

I hope one of these is what you are looking for. If not, don't be shy to drop me line. I'm happy to help :)

[Bob]

Thanks

I have read Chivalry by Maurice Keen; however, its focus appeared to be once knighthood was “established”. My concern is earlier.
I ordered The Reign of Chivalry by Richard Barber in the hopes it will help my research.
I have also read extensively about feudalism especially those books and articles after Susan Reynold’s book
any further suggestions will be appreciated
thanks again
Bob

[Sanne]

Thanks for clarifying what you´re looking for! Now that you write you want to go earlier, I doubt that Barber´s book will give you more insight than Keen. Most general works on chivalry hardly ever linger on the origins, but tend to focus on the 12th-14th century, when the concept was in its most stable form.

Do you want to go as early as possible? You'd probably end up reading up on 9th century Carolingian nobility and their noble ethos. Janet Nelson's article in particular makes a case for tracing knighthood back to this warrior class. To my knowledge, there isn't a complete book on this subject. However, it's not my main field of interest, so I might have overlooked some works.

A major primary source for Carolingian knighthood are Nithard's Histories and most scholars who've written about the subject turn to this text. There's a modern English translation under the title Carolingian Chronicles: Royal Frankish Annals and Nithard's Histories.

The articles I read:
- Janet Nelson. “Ninth-Century Knighthood: the Evidence of Nithard”. The Frankish World, 750-900 pp. 75 – pp. 88

- Thomas Noble. “Secular sanctity: forging an ethos for the Carolingian nobility ”. Lay Intellectuals In The Carolingian World pp. 8-36

- Stuart Airlie. "The World, the text and the Carolingian: royal, aristocratic and masculine identities in Nithard's Histories". Lay Intellectuals In The Carolingian World pp. 51-76

These scholars have also written plenty of other articles and books on the subject of the Carolingian nobility. While I'm unable to recommend you more particular articles dealing with knighthood specifically, do check out their other works to see if there's something of interest (if you're not yet familiar, a big database of academic works on the Middle Ages is RI OPAC where you can easily find other articles and books by these authors). Another more general book on early medieval nobility is Nobles and Nobility in Medieval Europe: Concepts, Origins, Transformations, which contains a lot of essays on the matter.

[Bob]

thank you once again
I reviewed these sources
the Carolingian world is a bit early...none of the sources I have found show the word "knight", more likely is milites or mounted warrior...other sources state that The institution of knights were already well-established by the 10th century....I ma searching for that transition between the end of the Carolingian era and the beginnings of European feudalism...

[Sara]

Bob wrote: "I reviewed these sources
the Carolingian world is a bit early...none of the sources I have found show the word "knight", more likely is milites or mounted warrior..."

I'm not sure if it's helpful, but Portuguese documents (written in Latin) of the 11th and 12th century used the word 'milites' as equivalent to 'cavaleiro' (knight) although it could also refer to other military functions.

[Bob]

thanks

[Deborah]

L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal in translation is a good contribution - slightly later than your period but direct from the time.

the position of 'knight' more properly belongs in the 12th century. The rules of the game are documented in The Song of Roland

[Bob]

thank you...historically later than my focus: 1000 to 1066

[Deborah]

yes....the problem is, 12th century is when knighthood took off so you will have trouble researching it before then. That is why I gave you the most accurate accounts from the time knighthood relates to. Before that they were just retainers or 'followers', pretty much.

[Bob]

thanks

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Hi Bob, had to delete your thread in the Middle Ages thread. As outlined in the group rules, those folders can only be posted in by Moderators and threads in those folders are for time periods or major events in history. Not for requests by members trying to find one particular book.
Please note also, we are a historical fiction group and your posts have been only related to non fiction.

This is the post Bob made, if someone can help him find this book that would be great.

Medieval Warfare 1000–1300 by John France

"I am looking for a PDF version of this book or failing that some kind person who may have a copy and be willing to loan me it for two weeks - Failing that finding a source for buying it at a reasonable price
thanks in advance for any help
bob "

[Paul]

I just finished a book series set in 396-407 BCE where Roman patricians and wealthy plebeians who provided their own horses and armor were identified as 'knights' by a writer who had done careful research on the Rome vs Etruscan wars in a three-book series of historical fiction. Elisabeth Storrs. But I am not a scholar of old Rome, just a reader of historical fiction.