he Knight in History is a must
for all medieval enthusiasts. It is filled with accurate information on all
aspects of knighthood, starting from the 9th century and passing through
the heyday of the institution into its decline in the 15th century. Frances
Gies tells the story of knighthood in an eloquent tone, yet she never falls
for the romanticized image of knighthood. The chronological approach allows
for considerable width of narration, and Gies truly packs her book with material
from all around Europe.
ies takes us from the first knights
to the First Crusade via the romantic troubadours, and then continues on
to highlighting Knights Templars and three knights, namely William Marshal,
Bertrand du Guesclin, and Sir John Fastolf. With these three knights she
is able to illuminate all aspects of knighthood - the status, the wealth,
the dangers and the political questions. Finally, there is a treatise on
the evensong of knighthood and its passing into the realm of legends.
n Templars, one could hardly wish
for a better concise history of the Order. Gies devotes a chapter to the
Templars and charts the whole career of the Order in it. Since Gies is writing
as a historian, there is none of the speculation that sometimes disturbs
the reader in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.
Gies links the success of the Templars with the strong promotion they got
from the Church and secondly, on their extensive commerce between Europe
and the Near East. In Gies's view the Templars welded the spiritual benefits
of a monastic lifestyle with the pleasures of travel, adventure, and warfare,
and contributed significantly to the image of knighthood we still have in
the Western world.
n short, Gies's book is a book hard
to put away, but rather makes one read it throught at once, since her style
and wit makes the book very pleasant indeed.
