Chasing chivalry: Revival and reinvention of chivalric knights throughout twentieth and twenty-first century America

Chivalric knights campaigned across the regions of Europe throughout the medieval period until their decadence as the late Middle Ages gave way for the dawn of the Renaissance. This research examines the ways in which chivalry and chivalric knights have maintained relevance across the twentieth and twenty-first century through consistent revivals and reinventions. Focusing on the four main avenues of historical scholarship, military commercials, cinema, and live performance, this study demonstrates the tensile nature of chivalry as it has been stretched and molded to fit the zeitgeist of the day. Chivalry’s place in historical scholarship experienced a steady evolution throughout the twentieth century from histories primarily based on literary sources, to the inclusion of new methodologies ushered in with New Social History, and later wider attention alongside the growing popularity of fantasy media. At the same time, the United States Marine Corps produced three commercials from 1985 to 1990 utilizing the imagery of chivalric knights to redefine their waning public image following the Vietnam War. Chivalric knights and their actions at tournaments have also experienced continuous reinvention across popular movies and television shows. A Knight’s Tale, Galavant, Game of Thrones, and House of the Dragon demonstrate the complexities of revisiting the past through medievalism and how genre impacts the portrayal of chivalric knights. Chivalric knights have also experienced an evolving physical resurrection sparked by the Gothic Revival. Since the first joust held on American soil in 1778, tournaments have continued in practice into the twenty-first century, with an expansion of the practice in the 1980s. Despite this multi-century history, little scholarship has covered the phenomenon of knights of the Old World riding along the tilts of the New. Five oral history interviews were conducted with members of the greater jousting community, as well as one of theatrical jousting’s founders to begin closing the gaps in scholarship. This study ultimately demonstrates the ways in which chivalric knights have been revived and reinvented within the lens of four main avenues across twentieth and twenty-first century America.