Abstract

As the basis of the knights’ domination, chivalry played an important role in the Medieval history of Western Europe. This thesis aims to study how the vicissitudes of romance and chivalry were linked with the development of western society by analyzing the rise, the prevalence and the decline of romance and chivalry. We can thereby get to know romance and chivalry better and understand the connotation and significance of errantry.

Key words: romance; chivalry; rise; prevalence; decline; errantry

摘 要

骑士制度是骑士阶层作为统治阶层的根基，在西欧中世纪历史上占据着重要的位置。本文通过分析和研究骑士文学与骑士制度的兴起、盛行和衰落，旨在探索骑士文学与骑士制度的兴衰和西方社会的发展变迁之间的关系，使得我们能够更好地了解骑士制度与骑士文学，更好地理解骑士精神的内涵与意义。

关键词：骑士文学；骑士制度；兴起；盛行；衰败；骑士精神

1.    Introduction
    It was the Franks who came to dominate western and central Europe after the fall of Rome. Their armies were composed of large masses of infantry. And among them, there was a kind of infantry elite, who often rode to battle on horseback rather than march on foot. Riding on horses to battles had two key advantages. First, it saved warriors’ stamina, particularly when the elite soldiers wore armor. Second, it made the soldiers more mobile to react to the raids of enemies.
    When it came to Carolingian Frankish kingdom of Charlemagne, the Franks were generally on attack. Large numbers of warriors rode their horses with their emperor in his wide-ranging campaigns of conquest. At about that time, the Franks increasingly remained on horseback to fight in battles as true cavalrymen rather than as mounted infantry.
    These mobile mounted warriors made Charlemagne’s far-flung conquests possible. And to secure these warriors’ service, Charlemagne rewarded them with grants of land called benefices. These were given to the lords directly by the Emperor to reward their efforts in the conquests, and they in return were to grant benefices to their warrior contingents, who were a mixture of free and unfree men. In the century or so following Charlemagne’s death, this warrior class grew stronger. And the third son of Charlemagne, Charles the Bald, declared their fiefs to be hereditary.