Richard Abels
I am a medieval historian whose areas of specialization are Anglo-Saxon England and medieval military history. Currently, I am the host of a podcast, "'Tis But A Scratch: Fact & Fiction About the Middle Ages." My long term project is a study of the influence of culture on the representation and practice of medieval warfare. Currently, I am finishing revisions for a new edition of my biography of King Alfred the Great. I am a professor emeritus of the United States Naval Academy, where I taught history for thirty five years.
Phone: 410 271-0897
Address: 617 Edwards Rd
Annapolis, MD 21409
Phone: 410 271-0897
Address: 617 Edwards Rd
Annapolis, MD 21409
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Books by Richard Abels
Raoul I is a tale of vengeance, vendetta, and betrayal, arising from a dispute over the inheritance of a county, in which the basic bonds of society--feudal loyalty, family, and friendship--come into conflict. The central dilemma in the poem has to do with loyalty. Bernier, the illegitimate son of Count Ybert of Ribemont, is the best household knight and closest friend of Raoul of Cambrai. He had been brought up as a foster son in the household of Lady Alice, Raoul's mother, and had been knighted by his lord Raoul. By the mores of the day, he owes his lord Raoul both love and loyalty. But Bernier's sense of obligation toward Raoul is tested when Raoul accepts King Louis's grant of the county of Vermandois, a fief that had once been held by Bernier's grandfather and which now belonged to his father and uncles. Compelled by his oath of fealty, Bernier reluctanty accompanies his lord in his invasion of Vermandois. Only after Raoul burns Bernier's mother to death during a brutal sack of the city of Origny and adds insult to injury by striking Bernier in public, does Bernier formally renounce his allegiance to Raoul and join his kinsmen against his former lord. In the ensuing battle Bernier slays Raoul. The remainder of the poem tells how Raoul's uncle Guerri the Red and his nephew Gautier pursue vengeance against Bernier, and how, in the end, the warring parties reconciled and forged an alliance against King Louis.
The poet poses key questions for the feudal society to which he belongs: which is the higher duty, loyalty to a lord or obligation to one's family? how far may a lord push his vassal before that vassal may legitimately renounce his oath of loyalty? what powers and authority do kings legitimately possess? is nobility a matter of birth or of character? is bravery sufficient to make a knight chivalrous? The result is a moral puzzle which neither the poet or his heroes/anti-heroes, Raoul, Bernier, Guerri, and Gautier can fully resolve.
Though the world of Raoul is violent and brutal, the ethos of chivalry and courtliness (courtoise) still informs the poem. Chivalry was a contested ethos in the late twelfth century, and the poet’s attitude toward that ethos is ambivalent and complex. He simultaneously celebrates the cult of prowess and honor and criticizes the violence that it generates. As Richard Kaeuper observes, the poet preaches mesure in knights and restraint in warfare. But although he criticizes warfare fought merely out of pride, he does not condemn warfare itself, and lavishes attention on the courage and prowess of knights in combat. The importance to the poet of courtliness as a check upon the violence inherent in chivalry is underscored by the failure of the poem's main characters to adhere to its strictures. Raoul of Cambrai is presented as a brave and resourceful knight. Though we mainly see him breaking heads on the battlefield, we catch glimpses of another Raoul, Raoul the royal courtier who plays chess masterfully, who dresses elegantly, who is generous to his household knights, and who has earned the love of a beautiful lady. But Raoul is a hero with a fatal flaw--his lack of moderation. As in a Greek tragedy, the horrors of the poem are the result of overweening pride and lack of moderation. The poem, in essence, is a meditation upon the fragility of chivalric society and the necessity of restraint.
Alfred the Great: War, Kingship and Culture in Anglo-Saxon England strips away the varnish of later interpretations to recover the historical Alfred, pragmatic, generous, brutal, pious, scholarly, within the context of his own age.
Papers by Richard Abels
Raoul I is a tale of vengeance, vendetta, and betrayal, arising from a dispute over the inheritance of a county, in which the basic bonds of society--feudal loyalty, family, and friendship--come into conflict. The central dilemma in the poem has to do with loyalty. Bernier, the illegitimate son of Count Ybert of Ribemont, is the best household knight and closest friend of Raoul of Cambrai. He had been brought up as a foster son in the household of Lady Alice, Raoul's mother, and had been knighted by his lord Raoul. By the mores of the day, he owes his lord Raoul both love and loyalty. But Bernier's sense of obligation toward Raoul is tested when Raoul accepts King Louis's grant of the county of Vermandois, a fief that had once been held by Bernier's grandfather and which now belonged to his father and uncles. Compelled by his oath of fealty, Bernier reluctanty accompanies his lord in his invasion of Vermandois. Only after Raoul burns Bernier's mother to death during a brutal sack of the city of Origny and adds insult to injury by striking Bernier in public, does Bernier formally renounce his allegiance to Raoul and join his kinsmen against his former lord. In the ensuing battle Bernier slays Raoul. The remainder of the poem tells how Raoul's uncle Guerri the Red and his nephew Gautier pursue vengeance against Bernier, and how, in the end, the warring parties reconciled and forged an alliance against King Louis.
The poet poses key questions for the feudal society to which he belongs: which is the higher duty, loyalty to a lord or obligation to one's family? how far may a lord push his vassal before that vassal may legitimately renounce his oath of loyalty? what powers and authority do kings legitimately possess? is nobility a matter of birth or of character? is bravery sufficient to make a knight chivalrous? The result is a moral puzzle which neither the poet or his heroes/anti-heroes, Raoul, Bernier, Guerri, and Gautier can fully resolve.
Though the world of Raoul is violent and brutal, the ethos of chivalry and courtliness (courtoise) still informs the poem. Chivalry was a contested ethos in the late twelfth century, and the poet’s attitude toward that ethos is ambivalent and complex. He simultaneously celebrates the cult of prowess and honor and criticizes the violence that it generates. As Richard Kaeuper observes, the poet preaches mesure in knights and restraint in warfare. But although he criticizes warfare fought merely out of pride, he does not condemn warfare itself, and lavishes attention on the courage and prowess of knights in combat. The importance to the poet of courtliness as a check upon the violence inherent in chivalry is underscored by the failure of the poem's main characters to adhere to its strictures. Raoul of Cambrai is presented as a brave and resourceful knight. Though we mainly see him breaking heads on the battlefield, we catch glimpses of another Raoul, Raoul the royal courtier who plays chess masterfully, who dresses elegantly, who is generous to his household knights, and who has earned the love of a beautiful lady. But Raoul is a hero with a fatal flaw--his lack of moderation. As in a Greek tragedy, the horrors of the poem are the result of overweening pride and lack of moderation. The poem, in essence, is a meditation upon the fragility of chivalric society and the necessity of restraint.
Alfred the Great: War, Kingship and Culture in Anglo-Saxon England strips away the varnish of later interpretations to recover the historical Alfred, pragmatic, generous, brutal, pious, scholarly, within the context of his own age.
Sept. 15: What Is a Crusade?
The evolution of Christian ideas about war and violence from the church fathers to Pope Urban II and the Council of Clermont; four main schools of crusading historians (traditionalists, pluralists, generalists, and popularists).
Sept. 22: The First Crusade
From the Council of Clermont and the origins of Pope Urban II's call for crusade in 1095 to the "Crusade of the Faint-Hearted" of 1101; pogroms against the Jews.
Sept. 29: Crusading in the 12th Century
The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Latin Principalities in the East; Arabic and Turkish responses to the First Crusade; the disastrous Second Crusade; the rise of Saladin and the retaking of Jerusalem; the Third Crusade, which pitted Richard the Lionheart against Saladin.
Oct. 6: Early Crusaders and the Military Orders
Intentions and motivations of those who took the cross in the first century of crusading: Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights.
Oct. 20: Crusades in Europe
Transformation of the Spanish "reconquest" into a crusade; crusades against pagans in the Baltic; the brutal Albigensian Crusade against heretics in Southern France; and political crusades against enemies of the papacy.
Oct. 27: The Later Crusades and the Legacy of Crusading
The unsuccessful crusades of Louis IX; the last crusade; the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588; the fall of the Latin Crusader states; the fall of Acre in 1291; crusading in the late 14th and 15th centuries; the afterlife of the Crusades in the West and the Muslim world.