Section+13-3+The+Age+of+Chivalry

Section 13-3: The Age of Chivalry


 * Bold:**
 * chivalry**- a complex set of ideals.
 * tournament**- a mock battle that combined recreation with combat training.
 * troubadour**- were traveling poct-musicians at the castles and courts of Europe.

- Lord had to protect their estates, seize new territories and increase their wealth. Eventually a code of behavior arose.
 * Setting the Stage:**

- Armored horseman were very valuable in warfare.
 * Knights: Warriors on Horseback:**

- Leather saddles and stirrups change warfare. - The saddle kept the rider firmly rested on the horse. Stirrups supported the horseman and without them the rider may have fallen off his horse. These horseman became very vital in wars.
 * The Technology of Warfare Changes:**

- knights were used to defend estates. The knights were rewarded with fiefs. Wealth from the fiefs let the knights put all their focus on war. The knights could also buy, weapons, horses and armor. - knights obligation was to serve in war. A lord usually demanded 40 days of combat from his knights.
 * The Warrior's Role in Feudal Society:**

- Knights were expected to show courage in battle and loyalty to their lords. a set of rules were made that demanded that all knights fight bravely in battle of three masters. They devoted themselves to his earthly feudal lord. The chivalrous knight also protect the weak and poor. the ideal knight was loyal brave and courageous. Most knights failed to meet those standards.
 * Knighthood and the Code of Chivalry:**

- Sons of nobles started to train to be knights at a young age. They learned the code of chivalry. At age 7 a boy was sent off to the castle of another lods. Once there he began to practice fighting skills. At age 14 he reached the rank of squire. A squire was a servant of a knight. At age 21 a squire became a knight. - After becoming a knight the men would travel for a year or two. They gained experience by fighting in local wars. Some took part in tournaments. The winners often demanded large ransoms from defeated knights.
 * A Knight's Training:**

- Tournaments were nearly as bad as actually battles especially the ones at castles. Castles were surrounded by by large walls and guard towers. lord and lady, their family, knights and other man of arms, and servants lived in the castles. the castles were also designed for defense. - Enemies attacking a castle used a variety of strategies to have the people withint he castle to surrender. Defenders of the castle would pour boiling water, hot oil and molten lead on the attackers. Also trained archers were station on the roof of the castle.
 * Brutal Reality of Warfare:**

- Medieval literature had a lot to do with knighthood and feudal warfare. Many also talked about castle life. They talked about glorified knighthood and chivalry.
 * The Literature of Chivalry:**

- lords and their ladys enjoyed epic poems. They were about heros deeds and adventures. Many told about earlier heros like King Arthur and Charlemagne. - One of the most famous poems was //The Song of Roland.// It was about French soldiers who died under Charlemagne's reign. The poem transfers the event in a struggle.
 * Epic Poetry:**

-Under the code of chivalry a knights duty on his lady was as important as that of his lords. In many poems this was a conflict in ones obligations. - Troubadours composed short verses and songs about joys and sorrow of romantic life. Sometimes troubadours sang these in the castle of their lady. - A troubadour might sing about love's disappointments. - Others were about love sick knights. The code of chivalry made knights seem more romantic than brutal. - The most celebrated women of age was Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was queen of england and mother of two kings.
 * Love Poems and Songs:**

- Most women were powerless like most men were. But women were thought to be inferior to men. They played important roles in noble and peasant life.
 * Women's Role in Feudal Society:**

- Noble women could inherit the estate from their husband, under the lords requests she could send knights to war, where her husband was off fighting the noble women might act like a commander and warrior. While the castle was under attack noble women would hurl rocks and shot arrows. - Most noblewomen were confined to stay inside and do work at home. Women had little land because fiefs were passed down to sons not daughters.
 * Noblewomen:**

- Most peasant women remained unchanged for many years. They had to work at home and in the fields, bore children and take care of their families. Young peasant girls learned to do house chores. They were poor and powerless. Though they were important to thy survival of a peasant household.
 * Peasant Women:**