What a chaotic time to be alive! Knights & squires ride in search of fortune, fame & adventure, tournaments are attended by ladies fair & warrior kings & princes leading great armies, courts & retenues, courtly love, arts, architecture, technology, literature & society are all advancing at a rate which suggests that the end of the world is nigh. It is a time of indulgence & urgency, wrought with dangers of physical, psychological & spirtual natures. Sir Justyn loves it. If you have a question about the 14th century, contact me at

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The 14th Century in the Time of Sir Justyn

The 14th century was a dynamic century. The years between 1300-1400 were wild and turbulent with great heroes and deeds and that is exactly why Sir Justyn loves them. They were also a time of pestilence and sickness, famine and war. The world of the knight was changing rapidly and significantly. Changes and advancements in armour and battlefield tactics, along with the slow decline of the feudal system as it had been known in the centuries before were changing the way society operated.

In England it was the century of the Plantagenet Kings, Edward, Edward 11, Edward III and Richard II, with Edward III ruling for 50 years. It was also the time of Edward of Woodstock, the crown prince of England, today famously known as the Black Prince. The 14th century saw the commencement of the 100 Years War in 1337, an Anglo French conflict regarding contention over lands in France and their rightful ruler which led to King Edward III making a claim on the French throne.

Across the channel in France the Valois were the ruling royal family following the Capet dynasty early in the century. From 1328 the Valois kings were Phillipe VI, Jean II, Charles V and Charles VI with Phillipe IV, Jean II and Charles V dominant during the reign of Edward III in England.

It was the age of the English archer, the Pestilence known today as the Black Death, the chevauchee or mounted raid and an age when a man could find wealth and prestige in war and tournament as swiftly and as whimsically as he could find destitution, dishonour or death. It was also an age of chivalry, which was a governing ideal both on and off the battlefield and dictated the actions of squires and knights across Christendom.

In stark contrast to war was the popularity of refined cultural skills in the courts. The arts flourished, fashion flourished, as did music, storytelling, literature and poetry. Courtly love developed a cult following and became an art form and chivalric reform and it’s ideals were discussed at every opportunity. Ladies were venerated and held in high esteem by chivalric gentlemen and many bold deeds were performed in their honour.

Pilgrims and bandits frequented the roads, knights jousted and tourneyed in fields and at crossroads or shrines of saints, traveling minstrels and monks were a common sight and travel was by horse, by foot and by ship on the sea and often dangerous by any form when on roads less traveled.

More to come...

In Alta Tendo

Gloria Ut Fortis