Die Welt der Ritter - Für Ruhm und Ehre

SYNOPSIS

The crusades, preached by popes since Urban in 1095, allowing non-noble born warriors to rise socially and earn direct entry to paradise, forged knighthood into "milites christiani", 'soldiers of God', sanctified by Holy War and instilled with Catholic values. They adopted courtly love -an endless game, like jousting, subject of minstrel poetry- for the women who sometimes played a 'lordly' role during their long absences. Logistics -with new Italian 'cavalry cargo' ships- and the Muslim enemies complicated matters, the Holy Land was repeatedly won (Staufian Holy Roman emperor Friedrich II achieved a negotiated peaceful entry into Jerusalem) and -ultimately- lost again. But the introduction of fire arms and new tactics heralded the military decline of cavalry, hence knighthood, which was to survive in a romanticized 'theatrical' form.