Chivalry and knighthood were also important during the Middle Ages. From this group of men, we learned that people from this era had a tremendous amount of respect for honor and military duty. Other characteristics we associate with knights are generosity and loyalty. The Middle Ages also offered up wonderful literary achievements including Geoffrey Chaucer, who authored The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer said the fourteenth century included a "wealth if romances, lives of saints, contes, fabliaux, drama, history, biography, all of great interest and importance" (Chaucer qtd. In Barzun 232). Another great writer during this era was Dante Alighieri. While there are many reason to think the Middle Ages were dark, history proves that they were not as backwards as some might think.

Works Cited

Barzun, Jacques. From Dawn to Decadence. New York: Harper Collins Publications. 2000.

Duiker, William, et al. The Essential World History. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth. 2008.

Noble, Thomas,...
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