Chivalry

Resumen del libro

Chivalry-with its pageants, heraldry, and knights in shining armor-was a social ideal that had a profound influence on the history of early modern Europe. In this eloquent and richly detailed book, a leading medieval historian discusses the complex reality of chivalry: its secular foundations, the effects of the Crusades, the literature of knighthood, and its ethos of the social and moral obligations of nobility. "This is a rich book, making effective use of all sorts of documents and illustrations.

Keen moves easily across Europe in search of the international spirit of chivalry. . .

. The pageantry he presents is colorful and his conclusions uplifting."-David Herlihy, New York Times Book Review"An elegantly written, important book."-Carolly Erickson, Los Angeles Times Book Review"Splendid. .

. . Keen is exemplary in the use he makes of many kinds of medieval literature, epic and lyric poetry, family and military histories, didactic treatises, translations into the vernacular of books of the Bible and of works from ancient Rome."-R.C.

Smail, New York Review of Books "Original and beguiling."-Fiona MacCarthy, Times (London) "A most readable and comprehensive survey: stimulating, informative, a splendid creation of context."-Nicholas Orme, Times Higher Education Supplement"All historians of Western society . . .

will do well to refer to this book."-Georges Duby, Times Literary Supplement

Biografía del autor

Maurice Keen nacido en 1933, es uno de los más prestigiosos medievalistas británicos. Profesor emérito del Balliol College de Oxford, donde enseñó Historia Medieval entre 1961 y 2000, es autor de, entre otros títulos, The Pelican History of Medieval Europe, The Outlaws of Medieval Legend, England in the Late Middle Ages e Historia de la guerra en la Edad Media. La caballería, galardonado con el Premio Wolfson de Historia, es su libro más importante.