Prowess, Piety, and Public Order in Medieval Society

Richard Kaeuper’s career has examined three salient concerns of medieval society - knightly prowess and violence, lay and religious piety, and public order and government - most directly in three of his monographs: 'War, Justice, and Public Order' (Oxford, 1988), 'Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe' (Oxford, 1999), and 'Holy Warriors' (Penn, 2009). Kaeuper approaches historical questions with an eye towards illuminating the inherent complexities in human ideas and ideals, and he has worked to untangle the various threads holding together cultural constructs such as chivalry, licit violence, and lay piety. The present festschrift in his honor brings together scholars from across disciplines to engage with those same concerns in medieval society from a variety of perspectives.