![]() ![]() 9 During the night of the 22 December 1439, the English army boldly relieved Avranches, putting the French garrison to flight. For example, he reported the story of Wauflars de la Crois who shamefully abandoned Sir William Balliol and their men, and fled into a marsh where he was discovered by his enemies who killed him, refusing to ransom such a coward. 8 Jean Froissart was deeply scornful of those who fled from the battlefield. In Lancelot do Lac, the Lady of the Lake declared that knights should be more afraid of suffering shame than of dying, and Lancelot agreed that the only thing preventing a man from being valorous was indolence, because courage came from the heart alone. v, p. 332-4.ģChivalric writers were unequivocal about the shame of cowardice. 10 Journal d’un Bourgeois de Paris, 1405 à 1449, publié d’après les manuscrits de Rome et de Paris, é (.).Luce, Paris, Société de l’Histoire de France, (.) 8 Lancelot do Lac : the Non-Cyclic Old French Prose Romance, ed.4 Not long afterwards, the Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin ( c.1380) reported that the Constable of France had earned more honour than any “chevaliers puis le temps de Rolant” and repeatedly compared Bertrand with his illustrious predecessor. In Les Vœux du héron ( c. 1346), Jean de Hainault, count of Beaumont, accused his fellow knights of believing that they were the equals of Oliver and Roland. 3 The bravery and self-sacrifice of Roland and Olivier became one of the touchstones of chivalry. Though his refusal to act led to the death of both himself and his men, the Christians ultimately won the battle and Roland himself was carried to heaven by Saint Gabriel. Moreover Roland was true to his own advice, even refusing to blow his horn to summon aid when the tide of the battle turned. ![]() 2 In La Chanson de Roland, the eponymous hero called upon his men to fight bravely in the battle of Roncesvalles so that no one would sing a shameful song about them afterwards. 1 The central importance of courage and bravery often suggested that losing a battle or even one’s life was preferable to the shame of cowardice. i, Toulouse, É (.)ġMedieval chivalric literature celebrated courage and bravery as defining characteristics of the worthy knight. 5 Jean Cuvelier, La Chanson de Bertrand du Guesclin de Cuvelier, éd.4 The Vows of the Heron (Les vœux du héron) : a Middle French Vowing Poem, ed.Brault, University Park, The Pennsylvania State University Press, (.) Delumeau, La Peur en Occident, xiv e - xviii e siècles : une cité assiégée, Paris, Fayard, 1978 (.) 1 I explore late medieval French debates about the martial, chivalric qualities and values of honour (.). ![]()
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