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First session September 16, 2025
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Course includes a video instructor presentation and reading resources
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Weekly live discussion sessions with the instructor from 2:00 to 3:00pm Eastern U.S. time
Session 1
From Warriors to Knights
The first session introduces the course by defining knights and Chivalry through key virtues like prowess, piety, and honor. It explores the transformation from warrior bands to a codified knightly class, shaped by Christianization, feudalism, and efforts to regulate violence across medieval Europe.
Session 2
The First Crusade as an Outlet and Crucible
This session explores the First Crusade as both a political tool and a crucible for Chivalry. It examines failed peace efforts, class exclusion through the Peasants’ Crusade, cultural clashes noted by Anna Komnene, and the rise of knightly orders, highlighting how contact with the Muslim world—primarily through Saladin and furūsiyya—shaped the evolving ideals of Christian knighthood.
Session 3
Tournaments and the Economics of Chivalry
This session examines the economics of Chivalry, where feudalism restricted warfare to elites and wealth funded knightly status. Tournaments emerged as both training and spectacle, with figures like William Marshal rising through their ranks. Costly equipment, ransoms, and Church opposition highlight how Chivalry balanced violent utility with social control and moral restraint.
Session 4
Chivalry in Medieval Literature and the Influence of Arthurian Legends
Explore how medieval literature shaped and romanticized Chivalry. From The Song of Roland to Arthurian legends by Chrétien de Troyes and Mallory, stories idealized knightly virtues and courtly love. Texts by Chaucer and Capellanus reflected contemporary views, while elite orders like the Garter reinforced chivalric ideals, blurring the line between lived practice and literary aspiration.
Session 5
The 100 Years’ War: A Conflict that Changed Everything
This time we analyze the Hundred Years’ War as a turning point for Chivalry. Rather than nation-states, it was a clash of knightly fraternities shaped by figures like Edward the Black Prince and Geoffroi de Charny. Competing chivalric orders and ideals emerged, yet the brutality of the war revealed the growing gap between Chivalry’s lofty codes and its grim reality.
Session 6
Mercenaries, Guns, and National Identity: The Sunset of Chivalry
In our final session, we trace the decline of Chivalry amid the rise of national identity, professional armies, and gunpowder warfare. Battles like Crécy and Agincourt, Joan of Arc’s symbolism, and the fall of Constantinople marked its end. As elites withdrew from combat, Chivalry faded, though echoes persisted in later romantic revivals, especially during the Napoleonic era and 19th-century nationalism.
Meet Your Instructor
C.J. Adrien
C.J. Adrien is a history teacher and award-winning author of historical fiction, currently based in France. His academic and literary work focuses primarily on the Viking Age. His interest in Vikings developed out of an earlier and continued fascination with chivalry and the evolution of the knightly class, themes that continue to inform his research and writing. His novels, grounded in historical sources, aim to bridge the gap between scholarly insight and accessible narrative. In addition to his fiction, he has contributed to public history through lectures, courses, conferences, and as co-host of the podcast Vikingology: The Art and Science of the Viking Age.