An examination of the ways in which the fluid concept of "chivalry" has
been used and appropriated after the Middle Ages.
One of the most difficult and complex ethical and cultural codes to
define, chivalry has proved a flexible, ever-changing phenomenon,
constantly adapted in the hands of medieval knights, Renaissance
princes, early modern antiquarians, Enlightenment scholars, modern civic
authorities, authors, historians and re-enactors. This book explores the
rich variations in how the Middle Ages were conceptualised and
historicised to illuminate the plurality of uses of the past. Using
chivalry as a lens through which to examine concepts and uses of the
medieval, it provides a critical assessment of the ways in which
medieval chivalry became a shorthand to express contemporary ideals,
powerfully demonstrating the ways in which history could be
appropriated. The chapters combine attention to documentary evidence
with what material culture can tell us, in particular using the built
environment and the landscape as sources to understand how the medieval
past was renegotiated. With contributions spanning diverse geographic
regions and periods, it redraws current chronological boundaries by
considering medievalism from the late Middle Ages to the present.
Katie Stevenson is Senior Lecturer in Late Mediaeval History and
Director of the Institute of Scottish Historical Research at the
University of St Andrews; Barbara Gribling is a Junior Research Fellow
in the Department of History at Durham University.
Contributors: David W. Allan, Stefan Goebel, Barbara Gribling, Steven C.
Hughes, Peter N. Lindfield, Antti Matikkala, Rosemary Mitchell, Paul
Pickering, Katie Stevenson
