The Chivalry Reading List, Part I
I always enjoy opening my DMs to find a request for books on chivalry. Where should a man begin his study of the code? The question seemed like a good one to address in this initial issue of my newsletter. So I put together Part I of a list of readings—a mix of manuals, songs, romances, modern histories/biographies, and more—to point a man in the right direction.
“The Necessity of Chivalry” by CS Lewis
Lewis provides the clearest and most compelling explanation of chivalry I’ve yet encountered. What makes it unique, he argues, is the “double demand” chivalry places on human nature. The chivalrous man is a paradox: a man of ferocity and gentleness. He is not a middle ground or golden mean between the two, but both extremes in the same man, a dangerous brawler in fight and a perfectly courteous guest at dinner.
I’ll add that I read Lewis’ short essay just after finishing Bronze Age Mindset, and the two make a surprisingly good pairing. Whereas BAP diagnoses our political, spiritual, and physical decay with an unforgettable combination of comedy and poignancy, his prescriptions might leave some readers unconvinced. Lewis supplies a crucial missing element—the best code that humans have ever devised. A revival of chivalry doesn’t exactly solve our problems, but it must be a major component of any hopeful future.
This essay is available in print in a collection called Present Concerns or on audio on Youtube.
A Knight’s Own Book of Chivalry by Geoffroi de Charny
To delve deeper, we ought to turn to a knight of the Middle Ages. Different eras have adapted chivalry for their own purposes—with some unfortunate results—so we need to go back to the source. Geoffroi de Charny is, according to one historian, “as close to the genuine voice of knighthood as we are likely to get.”
He was a famous and ferocious warrior, twice chosen by Jean II to bear the Oriflamme, the sacred banner of the King of France, dying with it at Poitiers in 1356. Charny wrote his manual because the knights of France had grown soft and lost their way. His mission was to call his fellows back to prowess, and thus revive the fate of his country.
That’s worth emphasizing, because it seems as true of Charny’s time as of our own: a return to chivalry starts with a return to prowess.
The Concise History of the Crusades by Thomas Madden
The Crusades—the campaigns of armed pilgrims to take back the Holy Lands during the Middle Ages—were some of the greatest adventures of all time. Rarely in human history has so much been invested in an undertaking. Even if they included some unsavory characters and ultimately failed, they nevertheless are worthy of study as the epitome of a grand project requiring levels of energy, confidence, and commitment that we can little dream of today. The medievals were not dull or lifeless as our propaganda likes to paint them, but people of immense vitality. (And our stereotype seems more like projection.)
If you’re anything like me, you weren’t taught about the Crusades in your formal schooling, other than that the Crusaders were very mean to the poor peaceful Muslims. Madden’s book gives a fuller context, and ultimately explodes that simplistic narrative. The Crusades, he argues, were conceived as a defensive effort.
A good companion to this book is Real Crusades History, an excellent channel on Youtube which goes into greater depth than Madden’s concise history allows.
The Song of Roland
The Song of Roland is the most famous chanson de geste—song of great deeds—from the Middle Ages. It tells the story of the Saracen attack that wiped out the rearguard of Charlemagne’s army at Roncesvalles. Though this epic is pretty loose with the historical facts, like all good literature it aims at something deeper than facts.
If you get the chance, listen to The Song of Roland on audiobook. A great reader can bring to life the energy of the oral tradition, while also showing how unironic and unembarrassed the song is about the heroes and ideals depicted therein. Roland and company are constantly described with lofty, unapologetic epithets: noble, valiant, gallant, etc. After having been raised on stories of “problematic” anti-heroes, I find these warriors refreshingly grand.
The Song of the Cid
As the less famous sibling of the Crusades, the Reconquista is sadly overlooked. I love the Crusades and the knights who partook in them, but the Reconquista seems the more important and dire effort. While the Crusades could ultimately fail but live on as a glorious dream, the fight against the Moors on the Iberian Peninsula had to succeed, or else Christendom was gravely endangered.
The Song of the Cid is the great Spanish national epic, the story of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, also known as El Cid, one of the greatest Christian warriors and an absolute terror to the Saracens. He was, and is, “man born at just the right time.”
The Idylls of the King by Alfred Lord Tennyson
The student of chivalry must spend time with King Arthur and the Knights of Round Table, though some believe that Arthurian romance is chivalry in decline (see: Leon Gautier, Christopher Dawson). In the 15th century, Sir Thomas Malory wrote the most famous Arthurian text, Le Morte d’Arthur, and one should read that book eventually. But I’d suggest starting with Tennyson’s 19th century series of tales on the consequences of Guinevere and Lancelot’s love. Tennyson is probably more approachable than Malory and every bit as memorable. Another reason to read Idylls is to see what the Victorians did with chivalry, the way they shifted the emphasis to romance and courtliness. I’ll have more to say about this in subsequent issues.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
This 14th century Arthurian romance tells the wild story of a “game” at a Christmas feast at Camelot involving a giant green intruder and an axe—and the consequences that followed. Ever the true knight, Sir Gawain must go on a quest to fulfill a promise he made as part of that game; essentially this means keeping an appointment with death. What makes the story so fascinating is how Gawain both succeeds and fails on his mission to keep covenant. It features perhaps the most personally haunting and challenging ending of any great epic. Again, if you get the chance, this is another one to listen to on audiobook.
Chivalry by Leon Gautier
Leon Gautier presents chivalry through the lens of the chansons de geste like The Song of Roland. He is a literary historian, attempting to piece together from the songs what a knight’s life was actually like. Vivid lines proliferate throughout this book: “Chivalry is the Christian form of the military profession: the knight is the Christian soldier” and “‘Fight, God is with you.’ Such, in a few words, was the whole formula of Christian courage.” Gautier also compiles a Ten Commandments of the Code of Chivalry, with highlights like “VIII. Thou shalt never lie, and shalt remain faithful to thy pledged sword” and “X. Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.” Few authors have ever loved their subject as much as Gautier.
Chivalry by Maurice Keen
But Gautier might be overly literary or romantic for some. Those looking for a more straightforward study of the development of chivalry cannot do better than Maurice Keen’s book of the same name. (He also loves chivalry.) Keen examines heraldry, the contest between the Church and secular nobility over knighthood, the knighting ceremony, and more. His chapter on tournaments is particularly edifying and thrilling. As I was turning through the pages just now I came across this line:
“The medieval view of lineage and nobility is thus one which focuses not simply on birth as determinant of caste so much as on family traditions of honor and privileged positions founded on past achievement, and offering an example to future generations.”
It’s a beautiful corrective to our modern dismissal of privilege as nothing but an excuse for indulgence and bad behavior. I’m going to reread this one soon myself.
Richard the Lionheart by John Gillingham
Of the great heroes of Christendom—Charlemagne, El Cid, Godfrey, etc—Richard the Lionheart owns a special place in my heart. I remember being a boy and learning that 800 years ago there was a king called The Lionheart; that name was so perfect, history’s greatest epithet, and I was instantly enamored.
Finding a good modern biography of Richard proved surprisingly difficult. Finally, at the recommendation of Real Crusades History, I bought this one, and it did not disappoint. Richard’s story is as epic as any of the songs: his upbringing as the child of parents who literally went to war against each other, his rise as a young duke with a growing reputation for martial brilliance, his ascension to the throne after the death of his father and older brother, his glorious Crusade, his betrayal by his younger brother and others, his imprisonment, his campaign to take back what the traitors took while he was away, and his death at forty-one from the bolt of a crossbow. At almost every turn Richard, though flawed, proves to be everything I wanted him to be.
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