Riquer, in the Path to Chivalry

Abstract

This is an analysis of the contribution of Martín de Riquer to the study of chivalry. This analysis spans from May 1965, when he uttered his entry speech at the Real Academia Española, to 2003 when he republished the last of his books in which he deals with this topic. This period is divided into two sub-periods; in the first one he draws up his central thesis about the figure of the knights-errant and the distinction between chivalry novels and chivalry books, as well as the necessity of analysing military weaponry; in the second one he argues his contribution to the study of chivalry on the basis of an autobiographical study and the assessment of some unequalled works on this topic.