Hawks and knights
(De)constructing knightly identity through animals in French chivalric literature (12th–13th century)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9338352 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Antonella Sciancalepore (0000-0002-4097-2360, Institut de civilisations, arts et lettres (UCL), corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Pages | 120-141 |
| Publication date | 2017-12-31 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Reinardus Yearbook of the International Reynard Society (BOOK_SERIES) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0925-4757 • E-ISSN: 1569-9951 |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1075/rein.00004.sci |
| OpenAlex | W2772358954 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
This article explores the role of hunting birds in the definition of the knight in twelfth- and thirteenth-century French chivalric literature. After some introductory remarks on the identity-shaping role of hawks in the hunting practices of medieval aristocracy, the article focuses on the multi-faceted identity correlation between knights and hawks across romance and chansons de geste. The analysis of episodes drawn from various texts provides evidence of three levels of this human/animal relationship: the use of hawks as aristocratic and chivalric badges ( Octavian, Enfances Vivien, Guillaume d’Angleterre ); the use of hawks as visual doubles of knights ( Anseÿs de Metz , Erec et Enide, Lai de Yonec ); the representation of the link between knight and hawk as a flow of actions and values going in both directions of the human/animal divide (Jean Renart’s L’Escoufle ). Through this analysis, the study demonstrates that chivalric literature established between knights and hawks a multi-layered and two-fold identity shift, which contributed to convey the ambiguities of the chivalric ethical model
Aesthetics · Aristocracy (class · Art · Identity (music · Knight · Literature · Politics · Representation (politics · Romance · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law · Medieval Literature and History
| Citations per year | 0.67 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2023 - 2026 (4) |
| Highly cited | No |