Knight life

A dramatization of feudal lords, ladies, minstrels, fools, and acrobats in a banquet hall illustrates points about medieval life in this program. Dr. Sidney Painter, professor of history at The Johns Hopkins University, discusses chivalry, from the French "chevalier", or knight, referring to the ideals of the knightly class. He summarizes the events of the Middle Ages and notes that warfare and women were the guiding influences of that period. The knights, originally barbarous in desires and actions, listened to "chansons de geste", poems of war, but they became more civilized as troubadours changed their tunes. "The Story of Roland", for example, suggests that knights were to protect the church and punish criminals. Courtly poems laid the foundation for "preux", a term denoting prowess and all the virtues of chivalry. Women such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and her daughter Marie further influenced men's behavior by supporting such troubadours as Chretien De Troyes, who wrote "Erec et Enide".