HST 136 WARRIOR CULTURE IN THE MIDDLE AGES

This introductory course on medieval culture is primarily focused on the figure of the knight. The members of the military aristocracy and their followers who took up arms to kill in the Middle Ages were at the center of the era’s networks of power and prestige. Through primary and secondary source readings, we will examine the culture of pre-modern warfare from 1000 to 1400, with special consideration given to the self-understanding of knightly elites, and the broader values reflected in the choices warriors made about how, whom, and when to fight.