Knyghthode and Bataile

Knyghthode and Bataile is a fifteenth-century verse paraphrase by John Neele[1] of Vegetius Renatus' treatise De Re Militari. Influenced by the years of English occupation of France, and completed circa November 1459 to June 1460, it has been called 'one of the most brilliant military poems of the fifteenth century.'[2] It was published in a modern edition by the Early English Text Society in 1935 [3] and more recently in 2021 by Medieval Institute Publications.[4]

The language and verse of the poem appear to be modelled on Chaucer.[5] Many details which are irrelevant to Medieval warfare were omitted, such as technical information about the Roman Legions, while references to contemporary events and gunpowder were added. [6] According to Christopher Allmand, the author appropriated Vegetius to argue against the traditional view that knights were superior to commoners, attempting to "advance the esteem in which the latter should be held".[7]

Notes

  1. ^ Wakelin, 2004, p.73
  2. ^ Nall, p. 114
  3. ^ Neele. 1935
  4. ^ Neele, 2021
  5. ^ Neele 1935, p.xxxix
  6. ^ Whetham 2009, p.157-158.
  7. ^ Allmand 2011, p.192

References

  • Allmand, Christopher (2011). The De Re Militari of Vegetius: The Reception, Transmission and Legacy of a Roman Text in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press.
  • Nall, Catherine (2012). Reading and War in Fifteenth-Century England From Lydgate to Malory. Woodbridge.
  • Neele, John (1935). Knyghthode and Bataile: A XVth Century Verse Paraphrase of Flavius Vegetius Renatus' Treatise 'De Re Militari'. Edited by Roman Dyboski; Zygfryd Marjan Arend. Early English Text Society. ISBN 978-0859916943.
  • Neele, John (2021). Of Knyghthode and Bataile. Edited by Trevor Russell Smith; Michael Livingston. Medieval Institute Publications. ISBN 978-1580444767. Available online at: https://metseditions.org/texts/xVqAMy4UvYPrI4pwmIjpXwhjYAg99zAM
  • Wakelin, Daniel (2004). "The Occasion, Author, and Readers of Knyghthode and Bataile." Medium Aevum 73: 260-272.
  • Whetham, David (2009). Just Wars and Moral Victories: Surprise, Deception and the Normative Framework of European War in the Later Middle Ages. Brill.


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