Riddereer en riddermoed. Ontwikkelingen van de aanvalslust in de late middeleeuwen

Samenvatting

An essential assumption of Norbert Elias's theory of civilization (Uber den Prozess der Zivilisation. Soziogenetische und Psychogenetische Untersuchungen [On the Process of Civilization: Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Research], 2 Vols, Bern & Munchen: Francke, 1969) is that state formation processes are accompanied by a decrease in the level of aggressiveness. Review of primary sources for the Middle Ages shows that the manifestations of aggressiveness increased from the eleventh century to the fourteenth, concurrently with the dramatic strengthening of central monopolies of violence. For the nobles of ca 1050, war was primarily a means of maintaining & increasing their possessions. For the knights of three centuries later it was the means to legitimize their privileged positions: they were obligated to give evidence of their supposedly innate honor & courage. Modified HA.