THE AGE OF WESTERN CHIVALRY: THE INFLUENCE OF MUSLIM CHIVALROUS SARACENS IN SHAPING WESTERN CIVILIZATION

This paper presents that the age of Western chivalry constitutes a critical and formative time in the European history but the development of Western civilisation cannot be attributed to Western chivalry alone. The Western civilisation was also the result of a long struggle between the Western chivalry and Muslim chivalrous Saracens. This paper attempts to show if the age of Western chivalry is a legitimate title for the period of European history, how the chivalric paradigm has become a perspective to view the development of Western civilisation, and the influence of Muslim chivalrous Saracens into Western chivalry. The encounter between the West and the Muslim world was made possible by Western chivalry during the Crusades. The appearance of Muslim Saracens who were portrayed as chivalrous warriors in medieval literature such as L'Ordene de Chevalerie and La Chanson d’Aspremont indicates that the Western chivalry was to some extent shaped by the Muslim chivalrous Saracens