Knighthood and Chivalry

An index to the issues of Knight Life, our series about the daily life of the medieval knight.

An accurate picture of the medieval knight is not easy to draw. Here are books that succeed in separating fact from fantasy and in providing a fairly clear look at the historical knight of the Middle Ages.

Ewart Oakeshott wrote five concise books covering various aspects of the medieval knight. Though aimed at younger readers, adults will find them useful, too.

Your Guide's review of this attractive and informative book.

A brief review by your guide of The Knight in History, an excellent introduction to medieval knighthood by Frances Gies.

From your About.com Guide, an open-ended series of articles on the daily life, origins and history of the medieval knight.

A brief introduction by your Guide to the origins of the Courtly Love movement, which spawned the concept of chivalry in literature and, to some extent, in medieval life.

General introduction to the history of knighthood by François Velde also includes information on chivalric terminology, knightly orders and heraldry.

Overview of the development of knighthood in history by Dr. E.L. Knox at his History of Western Civilization site.

Article by Ch. Moeller at the Catholic Encyclopedia examines the military, social and religious aspects of knighthood and divides its history into four periods.

Huge, extensively-hyperlinked glossary of chivalric terms used throughout the history of knighthood, plus entries for significant places, battles, literary works, and people. Some SCA-info also included but clearly noted.

An examination of the significance and effectiveness of the mounted knight in medieval combat, by James G. Patterson at the ORB.

Some intriguing information provided by François Velde explores female knightly orders, women in military orders, and women knights of medieval times.

Helpfully hyperlinked modern translation of a fifteenth-century account of a joust à plaisance, translated by Brian Price and accompanied by the original Middle English version, at the Chronique Library.