Jordan Hamilton

The Book Of The Order Of Chivalry Jordan Hamilton

This book begins in a narrow territory, strictly Western, and extends with the passage of time to include the poetry, plays, novels, and works of speculation of the great authors of the past and present, from Russia to Mexico.


In this fast-paced gallop through 3000 years of Western literature, the origins and development of chivalry are presented as cultural attempts to restrain and control the most violent aspects of male behavior. The literary chivalric knight served as an ideal model for society to bring the swords of its warriors under the aegis of the legitimate authority of Church and State. And along the way, the rough warrior is fashioned into a gentleman. Inside, you will discover the spectacular story of the code of chivalry from the walls of ancient Troy to the legions of Rome, from the knights of King Arthur's Round Table to the Renaissance adventures of Don Quixote. Follow the contest between the imagination of the chivalric mind and the cold rationality of the modern mind right up to the twilight of chivalric values in the malaise of post-modernism.