MICROCOSM OF CHIVALRY: THE SKIRMISH BETWEEN HAINAULT KNIGHTS AND ENGLISH ARCHERS IN YORK AS THE SUMMATION OF FROISSART’S CHIVALRIC IDEOLOGY
MICROCOSM OF CHIVALRY: THE SKIRMISH BETWEEN HAINAULT KNIGHTS AND ENGLISH ARCHERS IN YORK AS THE SUMMATION OF FROISSART’S CHIVALRIC IDEOLOGY

Summary/Abstract: In this paper we will try to demonstrate that Jean Froissart wanted to use the episode in his Chronicles detailing a skirmish which occurred in York in 1327 between English archers and knights from Hainault as a summation of his entire chivalric ideology. We will lay out several arguments for this, starting with the narrative flow of the episode and the representation of the virtues demonstrated during the description of events. We will then move on to the relationship between Froissart’s account and the original material of Jean le Bel, from which Froissart drew extensively. Next we will tackle the way Froissart changed the details of the episode in the Rome MS of the Chronicles, as well as the choice and representation of the protagonists and antagonists of the episode. The final part of the argument will present an overview of scholarly opinions on Froissart’s literary skill, techniques and innovation, which confirm that Froissart was fully capable of coming up with the solution we propose

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