IMC 2008: Sessions
Session 213: Beastly Behaviour: Knighthood and the Natural World
Monday 7 July 2008, 14.15-15.45
| Sponsor: | Nottingham Trent University |
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| Organiser: | Natasha Ruth Hodgson, Department of History, Heritage & Geography, Nottingham Trent University |
| Moderator/Chair: | David Green, Centre for British Studies, Harlaxton College, University of Evansville |
| Paper 213-a | Beating One's Chest: The Importance of Peer Approval in 12th-Century Narrative (Language: English) Index terms: Historiography - Medieval, Military History, Social History |
| Paper 213-b | Encounters with Animals and Bestial Imagery in Crusade Narratives (Language: English) Index terms: Crusades, Historiography - Medieval, Military History, Social History |
| Paper 213-c | Knights, Lizards, and Orchids: The Biological Roots of Medieval Military Display (Language: English) Index terms: Anthropology, Heraldry, Military History, Social History |
| Abstract | This session has been organised in order to examine the use of the natural world and social order in relation to constructions of knighthood and chivalry. It aims to demonstrate how contemporaries interpreted inherent discrepancies between moral expectations and the reality of social interaction amongst the knightly class, and used Nature to elucidate ideas about proper and improper behaviour. Animals and their imagery in narratives which employed the chinoiserie of the exotic will also be considered: from knightly encounters with wild beasts, to the dehumanisation of the enemy by emphasising their bestial qualities. To conclude, the session will look at the anthropological and biological basis for knightly display on the battlefield. |