NATS 1760 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Stirrup, Courtly Love, Omnivore
3 Dec 2018
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Document Summary
The introduction of the stirrup from central asia to europe made possible the mounted armored knight. Without the stirrup the charging warrior was knocked from his horse by the impact of his lance hitting an opponent. The support of the knight (devoting his time to military practice), the horse, the more and more elaborate armor for both, and the knight"s retainers, was expensive. The feudal system of peasants providing part of their agricultural produce in exchange for protection supported the expense of the horse and armor of the knights. The feudal knights further developed the ethic of chivalry and courtly love. The whole system, military, economic and cultural, is claimed by to have collapsed because of the later introduction of another asian technology, gunpowder from china. The armored knight fell to the shots of guns and the castle became prey to bombardment by the cannon.
