The term “museum curator” might give you an image of someone who fits the stereotype of an academic – quiet, retiring, and bookish. But in the world of medieval studies, there are plenty of interpreters, docents, and curators at castles and armor collections that break that mold quite handily – and right at the top of that list is Dr. Tobias Capwell.

By day, Dr. Capwell is the curator of arms and armor at London’s Wallace Collection, an art museum that has, since it was established in 1897, housed one of the finest displays of medieval and Renaissance armor in England (with more than 2500 pieces in its vaults) as well as plenty of other outstanding paintings, sculptures, and other pieces of art. Recently, Dr. Capwell has been involved in a very high-profile project: The excavation of the remains of King Richard III (which were unearthed just last year) and the efforts to reproduce a set of armor that would have functioned properly for the malformed medieval king, based on his detailed understanding 15th century fashion in both clothing and armor.

Dr. Capwell’s expertise on this topic has been recently brought to the public eye in a television documentary “Resurrecting Richard III,” which airs on PBS this month as part of the “Secrets of the Dead” series. Dr. Capwell will also be in San Diego in October for the annual Tournament of the Phoenix jousting competition, and Chivalry Today has been honored to help coordinate a series of lectures throughout Southern California while he’s here – one of which, presented through San Diego’s Oasis Learning Center, will give a “behind the scenes” look at the process of crafting an accurate replica of King Richard’s armor through Dr. Capwell’s extensive study of the uniquely English style of knightly habiliments.

Dr. Capwell joins Scott Farrell for a conversation about fashions of English armor, the life and death of King Richard III, and what we can learn from both of these things about knights – and chivalry – in medieval England.

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Learn More

Watch Resurrecting Richard III, an episode of the PBS series “Secrets of the Dead,” featuring Dr. Tobias Capwell on-line at the PBS Video website.

Also: Watch Dr. Tobias Capwell’s lecture on the remains of Richard III and his armor for the Richard III Society at the University of Leicester, shortly after the discovery of King Richard’s remains.

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What, exactly, do we know about Richard III? Much of our modern perception of King Richard – an acclaimed warrior, and the last English king to die on the battlefield – has been shaped by Shakespeare, as a deformed, malicious, gleeful villain. This performance by Sir Laurence Olivier has, for decades, been the defining image of Richard III.

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Movies, books, paintings, and even video games can – in their own ways – help to transport us back in time, and allow us to imagine what life in the age of chivalry might have looked like, as well as how the ideals of chivalry might – or might not – have influenced the men and women who went about their daily lives in the social and political landscape of medieval Europe.

But no matter how much research a modern author or Hollywood technical advisor may have done, no 21st century depiction can match the real images we have of life in the middle ages – depictions that come from the many rich, beautiful illustrations found on the pages of medieval manuscripts. Far from presenting a world that was drab, dull, and grim, these elaborate illustrations show us a culture full of color, activity, and elaborate customs – and many of those customs are rooted in the rituals and lore of chivalry.

As you might expect, chivalric characters and scenes can be found in illustrated manuscripts of tales of King Arthur’s knights, and the adventures of Robin Hood. But perhaps a bit more surprising are images that show the ideals of chivalry playing out in real life on the pages of manuals of hunting and feasting etiquette, rolls of legal and financial disputes, and strategy guides for popular games like chess. Even in the Middle Ages, it seems, chivalry’s effect was felt in many aspects of everyday life, not just events involving jousting and sword fighting.

Anyone wanting to get a look into the ideals and practices of chivalry in medieval manuscript illustrations will certainly want to consider a trip this summer or fall to the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, to check out their new exhibit, Chivalry in the Middle Ages opening July 8, and running through November. The exhibition features a variety of wonderful pieces of medieval artwork that you can view up close – but also an ongoing series of engaging presentations and activities that will get you imagining, talking about, and taking part in the culture of chivalry – since part of the purpose of this exhibition is to bring the notion of chivalry out of the Middle Ages, and right into the modern world.

Just how does a collection of 500 year old drawings bring us a greater understanding of chivalry’s role in the medieval world, as well as in the 21st century? Dr. Elizabeth Morrison, curator of manuscripts at the Getty Museum, joins host Scott Farrell for a conversation about that age-old question.

Related Links and Posts

* Learn more about Chivalry in the Middle Ages at the Getty Museum;

* Make a reservation to hear Dr. Tobias Capwell (curator of arms and armor at London’s Wallace Collection) talk about “When Ages Collide – Classical and Contemporary Warriors in Medieval Manuscript Illuminations“;

* Plan a visit to the Getty Museum;

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Heather Dale (pictured above, performing in the greenwood with Ben Deschamps and the rest of her band) is something of a modern-day troubadour, and the fans among her “tribe” have heard her musical performances in a wide variety of venues – from sci-fi and fantasy conventions, to “Living History” faires, New Age spiritual events and gatherings, and folk music festivals. With more than 10 albums produced by her own Canadian record label, Amphis Music, Heather’s songs tap into world legends, medieval and Renaissance History, and the realms of fantasy.

Heather’s been part of Conversations With Chivalry Today before to talk about her own musical approach to the legends of King Arthur on her albums like Avalon and The Green Knight – but now she’s taking things up a notch. Earlier this year, Heather announced a new project called Celtic Avalon – a full-scale traveling stage show, through which she intends to bring a musical version of the legends of the Knights of the Round Table to a new generation of audiences.

Heather recently joined Scott for a conversation about her idealistic and ambitious quest to bring the mythos of King Arthur’s knights – and the code of chivalry they followed – to life on stage through song and music.

Get Involved: Visit the Celtic Avalon Crowd-Funding Page at Indiegogo to help make this project a reality. You can see all the details – including the levels of supporter rewards, from $5 up to $3,000!

Conversation with Christian Cameron, author of “The Ill-Made Knight”

To write a good historical novel, an author needs to know more than just the material details of a time in history – he or she needs to have a sense of what the people in that time thought of themselves and the world they were living in – their joys and fears, their concerns and goals, and the ideals that framed their world. For a novelist working in the medieval world, that means you’d better have a strong sense of the concept of chivalry – not just the ivory-tower, Camelot version of the knightly code, but a realistic, pragmatic notion of how chivalry was (and was not) put into practice by real medieval knights in all of their military endeavors. An author who really understands the notion of chivalry can, through the eyes and words of their fictional characters, give us a depiction of how chivalry might’ve been applied in the medieval world, and (even more importantly) can also paint a picture of how the same ideals still speak to us today.

One new novel on the shelves does an outstanding job of avoiding both fairy-tale idealism, and the dark, amorality that seems to pervade so many works of historical fiction these days – it is called The Ill Made Knight, which has just been released in both print and e-book format by Orion Publishing. It is the first work of medieval fiction by up-and-coming author Christian Cameron (depicted above, wearing 14th century armor). History buffs may know Mr. Cameron more for his works of fiction set in the world of ancient Greece, such as the Tyrant and the Long War series, and his novel Washington and Caesar set during the American Revolutionary war.

Through this new novel, and its protagonist, William Gold, Christian Cameron gives us a complex, nuanced, and extremely realistic view of both the profession, and the philosophy of a young knight of the 14th century. If his description of either historical detail or military life seems particularly realistic, it maybe because he is a military veteran himself, or because he studied history under the renowned Prof. Richard Kaeuper (whose been a guest on a past episode of our podcast), or because part of his research involves dressing himself in realistic armor and taking part in reenactments of the sorts of “deeds of arms” he describes in the book.

Christian Cameron joins us now on the podcast to talk about The Ill Made Knight, his own experiences in reenacting a knight’s life in the bloody and glorious time of the Hundred Years War, and his perspective on the code of chivalry – then and now.

Also …

* Visit Christian Cameron’s author website Hippeis, where you can find more of his writing, including several downloadable short stories;

* Follow Christian Cameron on his Facebook fan page.

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Conversation with Prof. Steven Muhlberger – Chivalry and Formal Combat in the 14th Century

Tournaments, jousts, duels, and knightly games are without a doubt some of the most colorful elements of medieval history – we all know that these were the sorts of places where knights went to demonstrate their honor and chivalry; and where ladies were revered for their inspiration and beauty.

All of that sounds delightful, but not terribly practical. In a world marked by ferocious politics, economic change, warfare and violence, social upheaval, and religious schism, how, exactly did chivalrous knights and their sword fighting games and jousting activities fit into the scheme of everyday life? Beyond the storybook image of a jousting tournament as a showcase for heroic behavior, just what did it mean to take part in a “formal combat” in the Middle Ages? Did things like duels, tournaments, jousts and deeds of arms have meaning and repercussions outside of knightly society – in the realms of politics, economics and cultural values? Can we learn anything about the ideals of chivalry in the Middle Ages – and perhaps our understanding of it today – by taking a more pragmatic and down-to-earth look at formal combats and the people who attended, supported, criticized, and participated in them?

Prof. Steven Muhlberger teaches ancient and medieval history at Nipissing University in Ontario Canada, and has published many articles and books on medieval knights, tournaments, and the practices of chivalry, including Jousts and Tournaments, published in 2003, and Deeds of Arms, published in 2005.

Apart from studying and writing about chivalric combat, Prof. Muhlberger is a practitioner as well. He studies historical European sword combat himself, and he regularly participates in “living history” events that seek to recreate the sort of knightly deeds that he researches in his work. It’s safe to say that he knows what the view is like from inside a suit of armor!

Prof. Muhlberger’s latest book is Formal Combats in the 14th Century, which has just been released by Witan Publishing, and is available in both Kindle and Nook format.

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Conversations With Chivalry Today #3: Folksinger Heather Dale

In the Middle Ages bards, poets, and troubadours traveled all over the Kingdoms of Europe collecting, recounting, and elaborating on the legends of King Arthur and his Knights. These tales – often part history, part morality fable, and part action-adventure – had one unifying element: they all addressed the importance, the challenge, and sometimes the hypocrisy of living by the code of chivalry.

Well if there is a modern counterpart of those medieval traveling storytellers today, it might just be Heather Dale. Heather is an independent Canadian folk musician who spends much of her time on the road performing live concerts of updated medieval and Renaissance folk music – as well as her own original compositions – for audiences of medieval reenactors, Renaissance Faire enthusiasts, and science fiction/fantasy convention-goers.

One of the threads running through Heather’s musical repertoire  is a variety of pieces dealing with the legends of the Middle Ages – not just King Arthur, but also Robin Hood, the Norse gods, and Joan of Arc. But the tales of the Round Table continue to be one of her main focuses, and in 2010 she released an album called Avalon, which compiles 19 of her Arthurian songs into a single musical overview of these well-known tales of chivalry, love, and adventure, from the sword in the stone to King Arthur’s final battle.

Heather’s singing, accompanied by her partner and musician Ben Deschamps, infuses New Age/Celtic styling with just a hint of blues, country, and even Cajun jazz, which gives these Arthurian tales both a timeless, classic quality, as well as a lively sense of contemporary popularity – making it sound like chivalry, honor, and the legends of the Round Table are topics that you’re as likely to hear discussed around a nightclub table over drinks as in a university classroom or lecture hall.

Like the medieval tales of romance and chivalry, Heather’s songs are not about helpless princesses and romantic “happily ever after” endings. These are Arthurian tales that are complex, thought provoking, sometimes dark, and rarely do they provide any sort of easy answers for the characters who struggle to live up to conflicting ideals of chivalry – and in that way, these songs seem particularly relevant today, in a world that seems ever more at odds with itself and its own conflicting ideals. Heather’s music really reminds us that, in the original tellings, the legends of chivalry were rarely harmonious.

Heather Dale joins show host Scott Farrell to share some of her music, talk about her love of the legends of Arthur and his Knights, and explore the code of chivalry they follow.

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Quicklinks – Use the links below to find the on-line resources mentioned in this podcast:

* Download Heather Dale’s album Avalon from Amazon.com;

* See a calendar of Heather’s upcoming live shows all over North America;

* Listen to the Heather Dale Music Podcast on line;

* Download Heather Dale’s (appropriately named) album Perpetual Gift – for FREE!

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Below: Watch Heather Dale on TED Talks discussing &#...

Conversations With Chivalry Today #2: Oplomachia trainer Gemini Asonte

If you want evidence that chivalry isn’t dead in today’s world, all you need to do is visit a quiet suburban neighborhood in the Calif. town of Turlock, just east of San Jose, where you’ll find a school called the Knight’s Quest Academy of Chivalry. There, on pretty much any afternoon or evening, you’ll see the school’s founder Gemini Asonte, teaching students of all ages – from 5 up to 50 and beyond – his particular brand of combat with swords and other medieval weaponry, which he calls oplomachia.

Gemini himself has more than 30 years of experience in martial arts of all sorts, and, as you might expect with such a background, his method incorporates a variety of foundational techniques in a very systematic approach to learning the medieval sword-fighting skills. Beyond his considerable talents in sword combat however, Gemini’s program also involves teaching medieval arts and sciences, and exploring the values and ideals of the code of chivalry. In that way, Gemini’s medieval combat school creates truly Renaissance men and women.

Fortunately you don’t have to make a pilgrimage to the Knight’s Quest Academy in order to begin your study of oplomachia – Gemini’s teaching can be seen on his video podcast The Modern Medieval, which you can find on YouTube, as well as on his first instructional DVD, Oplomachia: Basic Sword and Shield, which has just been released by Knight’s Quest.

Gemini Asonte joins show host Scott Farrell (the two are pictured here together at a recent medieval reenactment festival and martial arts tournament) for a conversation about his style of medieval combat, and how he goes about the task of teaching his students to – as he puts it – be safe, train hard, and be knightly … by following the code of chivalry.

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Quicklinks – Use the links below to find the on-line resources mentioned in this podcast:

* Purchase a copy of Oplomachia: Basic Sword And Shield at Amazon.com;

* Watch Gemini’s training videos on the Modern Medieval YouTube channel;

* Learn more about the programs offered, and find a calendar of Gemini’s upcoming teaching seminars and other appearances, on the Knight’s Quest Academy Facebook Page.

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Below – Watch Gemini’s training video on how to wield a spear in medieval knightly fashion:

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Conversations With Chivalry Today #1: Matt Hiltman

Anyone who can be considered a professional jouster today is part of a fairly exclusive club – and if you’re one of the fans of the The History Channel’s recent television show Full Metal Jousting, you’ll know that Matt Hiltman, one of the show’s 16 participants, has definitely earned his membership.

Now Matt didn’t just pick up a lance for the first time on the set of Full Metal Jousting – he was selected as a participant, like all of the other jousters, because he brought a unique and intriguing mix of experiences with him. Matt is a long-time jouster at the well-known Medieval Times restaurant chain, where diners get to watch a display of equestrian skill, sword combat, and jousting stunt-riding along with their meal.

But, most intriguingly, if you were watching the riders’ stats flash by on the screen in between bouts of jousting on Full Metal Jousting, you might have noticed that Matt also had the distinction of being labeled a “philosophy student.” He is, in fact, currently majoring in philosophy at Georgia State University.

Well, as one of the top-placed jousters on the first American national sport jousting competition, who has a university-level background in philosophy, we knew we wanted to have him on the show to talk about the practice, ideals, and philosophy of chivalry – and that’s exactly why we invited him to have a conversation with Chivalry Today.

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Below – The History Channel provides a video lesson on the rigors and dangers of real competitive jousting.

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Also, watch the final episode of Full Metal Jousting (link no longer available) to see how Matt fares against fellow finalist, Josh Knowles.

In the podcast’s final episode, Prof. Paul Sturtevant, founder of the Society for the Public Understanding of the Middle Ages, joins Scott to talk about the organization and how modern understanding of chivalry is built, colored, and reflected by real historical studies, as well as video games, movies, Renaissance faires, and the historical reenactors who work in the heritage industry. Also: A farewell to the Chivalry Today podcast as we announce our final episode — with thanks to the people who’ve made the show possible, and some final thoughts and reflections.

Quicklinks: Use the links below to learn more about the books, programs, and products mentioned in this episode of the podcast:

* Visit the website of the Society for Public Understanding of the Middle Ages.

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How Do We Understand the Code of Chivalry?

From movies (Lord of the Rings) and television shows (Games of Thrones), to Renaissance Faires, political speeches, and social movements, our view of what is truly “medieval” is constantly being affected and re-formed by images of “medieval-ism” we see all around us – including the historical interpretative events and demonstrations put on by Chivalry Today. (The image above shows just such a thing occurring as demonstrators in the Occupy Wall Street movement protest supposed corporate greed by donning costumes of the medieval outlaw-hero Robin Hood.)

What does our perception of the Age Of Chivalry tell us about who we are, and who we want to be as individuals, and as a society? And how do our own cultural and social assumptions frame, color, and distort our view of medieval history and the code of chivalry? Is it even possible to have such a thing as an “unbiased view of history,” or does our cultural baggage always travel with us as we venture into studies of the world of the past?

Scott’s guest in this episode of the podcast is Prof. Paul Sturtevant, visiting lecturer at the University of Leeds and Leeds Trinity College, and founder of the Society for the Public Understanding of the Middle Ages (PUMA). In this final episode of the podcast, Prof. Sturtevant provides some interesting thoughts on how we see ourselves reflected in studies and depictions of medieval history and the code of chivalry.

 

Prof. Ken Mondschein joins Scott Farrell to talk about his new book The Knightly Art Of Battle, which explores both the military skills, and the detailed artwork found in the late medieval fighting manuscript Flos Duellatorum, written by the fencing master Fiore dei Liberi, which is in the collection at the J. Paul Getty Art Museum in Los Angeles, California. They discuss the fighting arts of the 14th and 15th centuries, and how the illustrations and verse of this book provide a glimpse into the ideals of its author, and the code of honor that prevailed in the world of medieval Italian knights of the time.

Quicklinks: Use the links below to learn more about the books, programs, and products mentioned in this episode of the podcast:

* Buy a copy of The Knightly Art Of Battle by Prof. Ken Mondschein;

* Learn more about the work of the Higgins Sword Guild;

* Arrange a visit to the J. Paul Getty Museum.

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The fighting manuals of the late Middle Ages are intriguing windows into the skills that knights and men-at-arms trained in in preparation for battles, duels and tournaments. But these books – highly illustrated and many written in verse – are also works of art and literature. The drawings in them show us the fashions of the times, and the text, whether enigmatic poetry or detailed technical description, gives us the author’s voice and their outlook on the world around them. If you doubt that a book on sword-fighting can honestly be considered art … well then, you might be surprised to learn that a copy of the fighting manual called The Flower of Battle, written by Italian fencing master Fiore dei Libre, is held in the art collection at the J Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California.

So, does examining a manuscript, like Fiore’s fighting manual, from an artist’s perspective give us new insight into the life and training of a medieval knight? As we explore themes in the text or styles in the form and execution of the illustrations, does a more refined understanding of the knightly sense of honor and chivalry emerge – or do we simply see violence and cruelty cloaked behind flowery language and pretty pictures?

Scott is joined by Prof. Ken Mondschein, research fellow and historical fencing instructor at the Higgins Armory Museum in Worster, Mass., visiting fellow at the Center for Renaissance Studies at the Univ. of Mass., Amherst, and author of several books on medieval and Renaissance fighting techniques, including Fencing: A Renaissance Treatise, which is a translation of the 1553 fencing manual of Camillo Agrippa, and The Art Of The Two-Handed Sword, a translation of Francesco Alfieri’s Lo Spadone with a Guide to Modern Practice. His most recent book is The Knightly Art Of Battle, published in 2011 by Getty Publications, to talk about Fiore’s work and its artistic depiction of the skills of chivalry.

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