The Knight in History - Frances Gies

A magisterial history of the origins, reality, and legend of the knight A carefully researched, concise, readable, and entertaining account of an institution that remains a part of the Western imagination. -- Los Angeles Times Born out of the chaos of the early Middle Ages, the armored and highly mobile knight revolutionized warfare and quickly became a mythic figure in history. From the Knights Templars and English knighthood to the crusades and chivalry, The Knight in History , by acclaimed medievalist Frances Gies, bestselling coauthor of Life in a Medieval Castle , paints a remarkable true picture of knighthood--exploring the knight's earliest appearance as an agent of lawless violence, his reemergence as a dynamic social entity, his eventual disappearance from the European stage, and his transformation into Western culture's most iconic hero.