The Chivalric Turn: Conduct and

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OX F O R D S T U D I E S I N
M E D I E VA L E U RO P E A N H I S TO RY

General Editors
john h. arnold patrick j. geary
and
john watts
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

The Chivalric Turn

Conduct and Hegemony in
Europe before 1300

D AV I D C RO U C H

1
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

1
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of
Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries
© David Crouch 2019
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
First Edition published in 2019
Impression: 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
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You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
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ISBN 978–0–19–878294–0
Printed and bound by
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 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

Preface

This is a book about the medieval obsession with defining and practising superior
conduct and the consequences that followed from it. It is also a book about how
historians since the seventeenth century have understood medieval conduct,
because in many ways we still see it through the eyes of the writers of the
Enlightenment. This is nowhere more so in its defining of superior conduct on the
figure of the knight, and categorizing it as Chivalry. There will be several nouns in
this book—such as Chivalry—which will begin with capitals in a quite eighteenth-
century way; others are Nobility and Courtliness. When I do this, it is not to
annoy you, the reader, but to signal the word is being used in its classic socio-­
historical sense.
Now, what follows will not suggest the Enlightenment scholars got it wrong, in
fact far from it. As a pan-European intellectual society, the Enlightenment was
just as fixated on defining its elites through superior conduct as had been the
Middle Ages, though in less military and more cultural ways. Indeed, in the inter-
change between the French aristocratic scholars Jean-Baptiste de la Curne de
Sainte-Palaye and Anne-Claude de Tubières, Count of Caylus, the ancient dichot-
omy between virtue and blood in Nobility was still being debated, as between
representatives of the noblesse de robe and noblesse d’épée.1 Many scholars, both
clerical and lay, had struggled and argued in the Middle Ages to define the pre-
cious quality of Nobility principally as a property of mind and morality, though
they were never able to persuade the generality of society, which persisted in
defining it genetically, on blood.
Charles II of England is credited with the observation that sums up the failure
of this medieval project to define Nobility and moral superiority on the knight:
that as king he could make a knight, but could not make a gentleman. The
Enlightenment mind largely succeeded where the Middle Ages failed, and its
development of the ‘gentleman’ (rather than the knight) as the representative
­superior male is some evidence of this.2 The Enlightenment scholars I will be citing
here therefore had an innate sensitivity to the sort of society they were examining,
in ways that we of the twenty-first century do not. Like medieval scholars they also
looked at things on a European and not a local scale, though of course within the
continuing cultural predominance of the French language and on the basis of a
universal classical Latin education, which is something the twentieth century lost.
The Enlightenment writers on Chivalry had their differences but they all were
convinced that it was principally a moral, not a military, code. Some of them,

1 A. C. Montoya, ‘Bourgeois versus Aristocratic Models of Scholarship: Medieval Studies at the

Académie des Inscriptions, 1701-1751’, in The Making of the Humanities 2, From Early Modern to
Modern Disciplines, ed. R. Bod, J. Maat, and T. Weststeijn (Amsterdam, 2012), 303–20.
2 L. R. N. Ashley, ‘Spenser and the Ideal of the Gentleman,’ Bibliothèque d’Humanisme et Renaissance,
27 (1965), 108–32.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

vi Preface

notably the influential figure of La Curne de Sainte-Palaye, thought that Chivalry

may have had a long history but that it reached its full bloom in a particular part
of what we call the Middle Ages, partly defined by the rise of the courtly romance
in the time of Chrétien de Troyes and his imitators, and La Curne called this the
‘âge d’or’ of Chivalry. This book will not be differing much from him on the subject
of chronology. What it will be doing is to examine Chivalry jointly with another
vexed subject, that of Nobility, and it will find that the two are by no means unre-
lated. The eighteenth century had its blinkers too. This book benefits from being
written in an era where the complications of gender and the significance of women
in society have long been accommodated within social history, a perspective to
which the Middle Ages was largely blind, and the Enlightenment only marginally
less so. It turns out to have been important, as we will see, for in the end this is a
book about social hegemony and (in Hegel’s notorious dialectic) what can masters
be without slaves, and slaves without masters?
In my treatment of the subject of conduct I have taken advantage, as a social
historian, of social theory—curiously, much less used by historians of medieval
society than it is by scholars who deal with medieval literature, at least in the anglo-
phone sphere. In the field of conduct the theories of Pierre Bourdieu have much to
offer this study and, in my view, they are applicable to past societies even as remote
as the Middle Ages. Medieval historians firmly of the British empirical tradition
would therefore be advised to skip Chapter 1, as indeed should future scholars who
encounter this book, no doubt at a time when the social thought incorporated in
this book becomes dated, as it inevitably will.
The research and writing of this book were only possible through the magnificent
boon of a Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship held between 2013 and
2016 at the University of Hull, and the additional benefit of a term’s membership
at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, in 2015, assisted by an Elizabeth and
J. Richardson Dilworth fellowship. For these substantial gifts and the interchange
with scholars it enabled there and at the Pirenne Institute in the University of Ghent
I am deeply grateful. I wish to particularly acknowledge by name the interest,
friendship and tolerance of Martin Aurell, Xavier Baecke, Dominique Barthélemy,
Keith Busby, Frederik Buylaert, Martha Carlin, Christopher Davies, Jeroen
Deploige, Patrick J. Geary, Stephen Jaeger, Richard W. Kaeuper, Sara McDougall,
Jean-François Nieus, Nicholas Paul, Jörg Peltzer, Liesbeth van Houts, Colin Veach,
Louise Wilkinson and Claudia Wittig. Particular thanks to Martin, Keith, Martha,
Patrick and Colin, who were kind enough to read and comment upon drafts. I am
also more than happy to ­acknowledge the positive and helpful comments of Oxford
University Press’s anonymous reader. And finally I should thank Patrick Geary in
particular for his interest in the project and his offer to give it a home in this series,
and the officers of the Press itself for accepting and publishing it. Neil Morris as
manuscript editor was in the best tradition of the thoughtful questioning of way-
ward authors.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

Contents

List of Abbreviations xi

PA RT I . I N T RO D U C T I O N
1. Conduct, Habitus and Practice 3
A French Sociologist in King Arthur’s Court 6
First in the Field 9
The Medieval Lay Elite and Education 12

2. The Field of Study 18

The Problem of Latin Sources 25
The Problem of Vernacular Sources 30
The Chivalric Turn 35

PA RT I I . T H E S O C I A L F I E L D
3. The Origins of Cortesia 39
The Social Views of Garin lo Brun 39
The Courtliness of Gilbert of Surrey and Geoffrey Gaimar 42
The Prehistory of Courtliness: Dhuoda of Septimania and Brun of Cologne 45
The Literary Courtliness of Walther and Ruodlieb 51
The Courtly Century 53

4. The Preudomme 56
The Life of the Preudomme 58
Essays on Preudommie 62
Defining Preudommie 67
I Sound Judgement (Sens) and Dependability (Leauté )68
II Rationality (Raison)71
III Restraint and Self-Control (Mesure)72
IV Fortitude (Hardiesce)75
V Generosity (Largesce)76
Masculinity and the Preudomme 78

5. The Preudefemme 83
Tracts on the Ideal Woman 84
Defining the Preudefemme 86
I Reticence 88
II Personal Space and Poise 89
III Modesty and Grooming 91
IV Gift-Giving 92
V Social Address 93
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

viii Contents
The Piety of the Preudefemme 94
Femininity and the Preudefemme 96

6. Villeins, Villains and Vilonie 99

Vilonie as Conduct 99
The Origins of Vilonie 103
The Stinking Peasant 106
The Transgressive Merchant 113

7. The Courtly Habitus 116

The Limits of Cortoisie 116
The Courtly Margins 119
The Courtly Centre 122
Avatars of Cortoisie 128
I Thomas of London 129
II Gawain 132
Alienation from the Court 136
The Failure of Courtliness 142

PA RT I I I . S T R E S S I N C O U RT LY S O C I E T Y
8. The Insurgent Woman 149
Constraint and Resistance 150
Male Self-Delusion 156
Insurgency 160
The Armoury of Female Resistance 166

9. The Table 175

Dining and Civilization 175
Educating the Diner 178
The Universal Dinner 181
The Anxious Host 183
The Insecure Guest 188
I Deference 190
II Bodily Processes 192
III Posture 193
IV Intoxication 194
V Performance 196
The Living Hell of Medieval Dining 198

10. The Enemy 201

Oneself 201
Restraint 203
Failure of Control 206
The Secret Enemy: the Losenger 208
The Mortal Enemy 211
Blood Vengeance and Civilization 217
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

Contents ix

PA RT I V. H E G E M O N Y
11. The Conspiracy of Deference 225
Nobility of Blood 227
Nobility in Society 234
The Great Debate on Nobility 238
The Origin Myth of Nobility 245
Nobilizing the Knight 248

12. The Disruptive Knight 252

The Rise (or not) of the Knight 252
I The British Tradition 253
II The German Tradition 255
III The French Tradition 257
Questioning Knights as a Social Group 261
Knights and Status 266
The Problem of Adoubement 267

13. The Noble Knight 273

Knights and Moral Eminence 273
The Sacralization of Arms 282
The First Chivalric Tracts 289
Chivalry and Social Hegemony 297

14. The Chivalric Virus 301

Appendix: Analytical Index of Sources on Conduct before 1300 307

Bibliography 315
Index 339
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

List of Abbreviations
Abril issia
Acts and Letters
Aragon, De Nobilitate
Armëure
Aspremont
Aurell, Lettered Knight
Baldwin, Aristocratic Life
Banquets et manières
Barthélemy, Chevalerie
Bertran
La Bible
BL
Bloch, Feudal Society
Bloch, Medieval Misogyny
BnF
Brut
Bumke, Courtly Culture
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi
Raimon Vidal, Abril issi’ e Mays intrava, in Nouvelles
occitanes du moyen age, ed. J-Ch. Huchet (Paris, 1992).
The Acts and Letters of the Marshal Family, Marshals of
England and Earls of Pembroke, 1145–1248, ed. D. Crouch
(Camden Society, 5th ser., 47, 2015).
William of Aragon, De Nobilitate Animi, ed. and trans.
W. D. Paden Jr and M. Trovato (Harvard Studies in
Medieval Latin, 2, Cambridge MA, 2012).
Guiot de Provins, Armëure de Chevalier, in Les Oeuvres de
Guiot de Provins, ed. J. Orr (Manchester, 1915).
La Chanson d’Aspremont, ed. L. Brandin (2 vols, Paris,
1923–4).
M. Aurell, Le chevalier lettré: savoir et conduite de
l’aristocratie aux xii e et xiii e siècles (Paris, 2006), trans. as
The Lettered Knight: Knowledge and aristocratic behaviour in
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, trans. J. C. Khalifa and
J. Price (Budapest, 2017).
J. W. Baldwin, Aristocratic Life in Medieval France. The
Romances of Jean Renart and Gerbert de Montreuil,
1190–1230 (Baltimore, 2000).
Banquets et manières de table au moyen âge, ed. M. Bertrand
and C. Hory (Provence, 1996).
D. Barthélemy, La chevalerie: de la Germanie antique à la
France du xii e siècle (Paris, 2007).
The Poems of the Troubadour Bertran de Born, ed. and trans.
W. D. Paden Jr, T. Sankovich, and P. H. Stäblein (Berkeley,
1986).
Guiot de Provins, La Bible, in Les Oeuvres de Guiot de
Provins, ed. J. Orr (Manchester, 1915).
British Library.
M. Bloch, La Société Féodale (2 vols, Paris, 1949), trans. as
Feudal Society, trans. L. Manyon (2nd edn, 2 vols, London,
1962).
R. H. Bloch, Medieval Misogyny and the Invention of
Western Romantic Love (Chicago, 1991).
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Brut y Tywysogyon: the Red Book of Hergest Version, ed.
T. Jones (Cardiff, 1955).
J. Bumke, Höfische Kultur: Literatur und Gesellschaft im
hohen Mittelalter (Munich, 1986), trans. as Courtly Culture:
Literature and Society in the High Middle Ages, trans.
T. Dunlap (Berkeley, CA, 1991); refs are to the trans.
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

xii List of Abbreviations

CCM Cahiers de Civilization Médiévale
Chastoiement des dames J. H. Fox, Robert de Blois, son oeuvre didactique et narrative.
Étude linguistique et littéraire suivie d’une édition critique
avec commentaire et glossaire de l’“Enseignement des princes”
et du “Chastoiement des dames” (Paris, 1950).
Chastoiement d’un père Le Chastoiement d’un père à son fils, ed. E. D. Montgomery
Jr (Chapel Hill, 2017).
Chevalerie et Grivoiserie Chevalerie et Grivoiserie: Fabliaux de Chevalerie, ed. and
trans. J-L. Leclanche (Paris, 2003).
Chronica Chronica magistri Rogeri de Houedene, ed. W. Stubbs
(4 vols, Rolls Series, 1868–71).
Condé Dits et contes de Baudouin de Condé et de son fils Jean de
Condé, ed. A. Scheler (3 vols, Brussels, 1866–7).
Conte de Graal Chrétien de Troyes, Le Conte de Graal, ed. F. Lecoy (Paris,
1984).
Courtiers’ Trifles De Nugis Curialium or Courtiers’ Trifles, ed. and trans.
M. R. James, rev. C. N. L. Brooke and R. A. B. Mynors
(Oxford, 1983).
Coutumes de Beauvaisis Coutumes de Beauvaisis, ed. A. Salmon (2 vols, Paris,
1899–1900), trans. as The Coutumes de Beauvaisis of
Philippe de Beaumanoir, trans. F. R. P. Akehurst
(Philadelphia, 1992).
Crouch, Aristocracy D. Crouch, The English Aristocracy, 1070–1272. A Social
Transformation (New Haven, 2011).
Crouch, Image D. Crouch, The Image of Aristocracy in Britain, 1000–1300
(London, 1992).
Crouch, Marshal D. Crouch, William Marshal (3rd edn, London, 2016).
Crouch, Nobility D. Crouch, The Birth of Nobility: Constructing Aristocracy
in England and France, 900–1300 (Harlow, 2005).
De Amore Andreas Capellanus on Love, ed. and trans. P. G. Walsh
(London, 1982).
De Nugis Curialium Walter Map, De Nugis Curialium or Courtiers’ Trifles, ed.
C. N. L. Brooke and R. A. B. Mynors, trans. M. R. James
(Oxford, 1983).
De Re Militari De re militari et triplici via peregrinationis Ierosolomitane,
ed. L. Schmugge (Beiträge zur Geschichte und
Quellenkunde des Mittelalters, 6, Berlin, 1977).
Disciplina Clericalis The Disciplina clericalis of Petrus Alfonsi, ed. E. Hermes and
trans. P. R. Quarrie (Berkeley, CA, 1977).
Doctrinal Doctrinal Sauvage: publié d’après tous les manuscrits, ed.
A. Sakari (Jyväskylä, 1967).
Doctrine Ramon Llull, Doctrine d’Enfant, ed. A. Llinares (Paris, 1969).
EHR English Historical Review
E∙l termini d’estiu Garin lo Brun, E∙l termini d’estiu, pub. as Ensegnamen alla
Dama, ed. and trans. (It.) L. R. Bruno (Filologia
Occitanica Studi e Testi, 1, Rome, 1996).
Enseignement des Princes J. H. Fox, Robert de Blois, son oeuvre didactique et narrative.
Étude linguistique et littéraire suivie d’une édition critique
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

List of Abbreviations xiii

avec commentaire et glossaire de l’“Enseignement des princes”
et du “Chastoiement des dames” (Paris, 1950).
Enseignements Trebor Les Enseignements de Robert de Ho: dits Enseignements
Trebor, ed. M. V. Young (Paris, 1901).
Essenhamen de la Donzela Amanieu de Sescás, Essenhamen de la Donzela, ed, and
trans. M. D. Johnston, in ‘The Occitan Enssenhamen de
l’Escudier and Essenhamen de la Donzela’, in Medieval
Conduct Literature: an Anthology of Vernacular Guides to
Behaviour for Youths, ed. M. D. Johnston (Toronto, 2009).
Ensenhamens d’Onor Sordello da Goito, Le Poesie. Nuova edizione critica, ed. and
trans (It.) M. Boni (Bologna, 1954).
Estoire Geoffrey Gaimar, Estoire des Engleis, ed. and trans. I. Short
(Oxford, 2009).
Établissements Les Établissements de Saint Louis, ed. P. Viollet (4 vols,
Paris, 1881–6).
Facetus L. Zatočil, Cato a Facetus. (Spisy Masarykovy University v
Brně, Filosofická Fakulta/Opera Universitatis
Masarykianae Brunensis, Facultas Philosophica,
48, 1952).
Feudal Society M. Bloch, La Société Féodale (2 vols, Paris, 1949), trans.
L. A. Manyon as Feudal Society (2 vols, 2nd edn, London,
1962). Refs are to the French edn.
Frauenbuch Ulrich von Liechtenstein, Das Frauenbuch ,ed. and trans.
(Ger.) C. Young (Stuttgart, 2003).
Freedman, Images P. Freedman, Images of the Medieval Peasant (Stanford, CA,
1999).
Garin le Loherenc Garin le Loherenc, ed. A. Iker-Gittleman (3 vols, Paris,
1996–7).
GCO Giraldi Cambrensis Opera, ed. J. S. Brewer, J. F. Dimock,
and G. F. Warner (8 vols, Rolls Series, 1861–91).
Gille de Chyn Walter de Tournai, L’Histoire de Gille de Chyn, ed.
E. B. Place (New York, 1941).
Gui de Warewic Gui de Warewic: roman du xiiie siècle, ed. A. Ewert (2 vols,
Paris, 1933).
Histoire L’Histoire des ducs de Normandie et des rois d’Angleterre, ed.
F. Michel (Paris, 1840).
History of William Marshal History of William Marshal, ed. A. J. Holden and
D. Crouch, trans. S. Gregory (3 vols, Anglo-Norman Text
Society, Occasional Publications Series, 4–6, 2002–7).
Hofzucht Der Dichter Tannhäuser, ed. J. Siebert (Halle, 1834),
195–203.
Ille et Galeron Ille et Galeron, ed. and trans. P. Eley (King’s College
London, Medieval Studies, 13, 1996).
Jaeger, Courtliness C. S. Jaeger, The Origins of Courtliness: Civilising Trends
and the Formation of Courtly Ideals, 939–1210
(Philadelphia, 1985).
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

xiv List of Abbreviations

Jaeger, Ennobling Love C. S. Jaeger, Ennobling Love: In Search of a Lost Sensibility
(Philadelphia, 1999).
Jaeger, Envy of Angels C. S. Jaeger, The Envy of Angels: Cathedral Schools and Social
Ideals in Medieval Europe, 950–1200 (Philadelphia, 1994).
Kaeuper, Chivalry R. W. Kaeuper, Medieval Chivalry (Cambridge, 2016).
Kaeuper, Holy Warriors R. W. Kaeuper, Holy Warriors: the Religious Ideology of
Chivalry (Philadelphia, 2009).
Karras, Boys to Men R. M. Karras, From Boys to Men: Formations of Masculinity
in Late Medieval Europe (Philadelphia, 2003).
Karras, Sexuality R. M. Karras, Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing unto
Others (London, 2005).
Keen, Chivalry M. Keen, Chivalry (New Haven, 1984).
Lambert of Ardres Lamberti Ardensis historia comitum Ghisnensium, ed.
J. Heller, in MGH Scriptores, xxiv, trans. as The History of
the Counts of Guines and Lords of Ardres, trans. L. Shopkow
(Philadelphia, 2001). Refs are to the Latin text unless
otherwise stated.
Lancelot Lancelot: roman en prose du xiiie siècle, ed. A. Micha (9 vols,
Geneva, 1978–83).
Lancelot do Lac Lancelot do Lac: the Non-Cyclic Old French Prose Romance,
ed. E. Kennedy (2 vols, Oxford, 1980).
Lett, Hommes et femmes D. Lett, Hommes et femmes au moyen âge: histoire du genre,
xii e–xv e siècle (Paris, 2013).
Liber Urbani Urbanus Magnus Danielis Becclesiensis, ed. J. G. Smyly
(Dublin, 1939).
Livre des manières Stephen de Fougères, Le Livre des Manières, ed. and trans.
(Fr.) J. T. E. Thomas (Leuven, 2013).
Llibre de l’Orde Llibre de l’Orde de Cavalleria, ed. A. Soler i Llopart
(Barcelona, 1988), trans. as The Book of the Order of
Chivalry, trans. N. Fallows (Woodbridge, 2013).
Llibre dels Fets King James I of Aragon, Llibre dels Fets, ed. J. M. Pujol
(Barcelona, 1991), trans. as The Book of Deeds of
James I of Aragon, trans. D. J. Smith and H. Buffery
(Farnham, 2003).
Lorris, Rose Roman de la Rose, ed. and trans.(Fr.) A. Strubel (Paris, 1992).
Lost Letters Lost Letters of Medieval Life: English Society, 1200–1250, ed.
and trans. M. Carlin and D. Crouch (Philadelphia, 2013).
Malmesbury, GRA William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum, ed.
R. A. B. Mynors, R. M. Thomson, and M. Winterbottom
(2 vols, Oxford, 1998–9).
Malmesbury, HN William of Malmesbury, Historia Novella, ed. E. King and
trans. K. R. Potter (Oxford, 1998).
Marcabru Marcabru: a critical edition, ed. S. Gaunt, R. Harvey, and
L. Paterson (Cambridge, 2000).
Materials Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of
Canterbury, ed. J. C. Robertson and J. B. Sheppard (8 vols,
Rolls Series, 1875–85).
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

List of Abbreviations xv
Meung, Rose Roman de la Rose, ed. and trans. (Fr.) A. Strubel (Paris, 1992).
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica.
MHG Middle High German.
Mons, Chronique La Chronique de Gislebert de Mons, ed. L. Vanderkindere
(Recueil de textes pour servir à l’étude de l’histoire de
Belgique, 1904).
Morale Scolarium Morale Scolarium of John of Garland, ed. and trans.
L. J. Paetow (Memoirs of the University of California, 1,
no. 2, Berkeley, 1927).
Moribus et Vita A. Morel-Fatio, ‘Mélanges de littérature catalane’,
Romania, 15 (1886), 224–35.
ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Ordene Raoul de Hodenc, Le Roman des Eles. The Anonymous
Ordene de Chevalerie, ed. and trans. K. Busby (Utrecht
Publications in General and Comparative Literature,
Amsterdam, 17, 1983).
Orderic Orderic Vitalis, The Ecclesiastical History, ed. M. Chibnall
(6 vols, Oxford, 1969–81).
Paterson, Occitan Society L. M. Paterson, The World of the Troubadours: Medieval
Occitan Society, c.1100–c.1300 (Cambridge, 1993).
Peire The Songs of Peire Vidal, ed. and trans. V. M. Fraser
(New York, 2006).
Phagifacetus M. Reineri Alemanici Phagifacetus, ed. F. Jacob (Lübeck,
1838).
PL Patrologiae cursus completus: series Latina, ed. J-P. Migne
(221 vols, Paris, 1847–67).
Poeti del Duecento Poeti del Duecento, ed. G. Contini (2 vols, Milan, 1960).
Proverbe au Vilain Li Proverbe au Vilain: die Sprichwörter des gemeinen Mannes:
altfranzösische Dichtung, ed. A. Tobler (Leipzig, 1895).
Proverbes français Proverbes français antérieurs au xve siècle, ed. J. Morawski
(Paris, 1925).
Quatre Tenz Les quatre âges de l’homme, traité moral de Philippe de
Navarre publié pour la première fois d’après les manuscrits de
Paris, de Londres et de Metz, ed. M. de Fréville (Paris,
Société des anciens textes français, 1888).
Qui comte vol apendre J. De Cauna, L’Ensenhamen ou code du parfait chevalier
(Mounenh en Biarn, 2007), 64–95.
Raimbaut The Poems of the Troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, ed.
J. Linskill (The Hague, 1964).
Rasos es e Mesura M. Eusebi, ‘L’ensenhamen di Arnaut de Mareuil’,
Romania, 90 (1969), 14–30 (with Italian trans.).
RHF Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France, ed.
M. Bouquet et al. (24 vols, Paris, 1864–1904).
Roman des Eles Le Roman des Eles, ed. and trans. K. Busby (Utrecht
Publications in General and Comparative Literature,
Amsterdam, 17, 1983).
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 10/05/19, SPi

xvi List of Abbreviations

Roman des Franceis D. Crouch, ‘The Roman des Franceis of Andrew de
Coutances: Significance, Text and Translation’, in
Normandy and its Neighbours, c.900–1250: Essays for David
Bates, ed. D. Crouch and K. Thompson (Turnhout, 2011).
Rules The Rules of Robert Grosseste, in Walter of Henley and other
Treatises on Estate Management and Accounting, ed. and
trans. D. Oschinsky (Oxford, 1971), 388–406.
Ruodlieb The Ruodlieb, ed. and trans. C. W. Grocock (Warminster,
1985).
Schulze-Busacker, Didactique E. Schulze-Busacker, La didactique profane au moyen âge
(Paris, 2012).
Siete Partidas Las Siete Partidas del Rey Don Alfonso el Sabio, ed. anon.
(3 vols, Madrid, 1807), trans. as Las Siete Partidas ii,
Medieval Government, trans. S. P. Scott and ed.
R. I. Burns (Philadelphia, 1996).
Song Song of Roland: An Analytical Edition: Introduction and
Commentary, ed. and trans. G. J. Brault (2 vols, University
Park, PA, 1978).
Speculum Duorum Gerald of Wales, Speculum Duorum, ed. Y. Lefèvre and
R. B. C. Huygens, and trans. B. Dawson (Cardiff, 1974),
Tesoretto Brunetto Latini, Il Tesoretto, in Poeti del Duocento, 2:
175–277, trans. as Le Petit Trésor, ed. and trans. (Fr).
B. Levergois (Aubenas, 1997).
TNA: PRO The National Archives (Public Record Office).
Urbain le Courtois H. Rosamond Parsons, ‘Anglo-Norman books of courtesy
and nurture’, PMLA, 44 (1929), 383–455.
Usatges The Usatges of Barcelona: Fundamental Law of Catalonia,
trans. D. J. Kagay (Philadelphia, 1994).
Welsche Gast Thomasin of Zirclaria, Der Wälsche Gast, ed. H. Rückert
(Quedlingen, 1852), trans. as Der Welsche Gast, trans.
M. Gibbs and W. McConnell (Kalamazoo, 2009).
Whelan, Making of Manners F. Whelan, The Making of Manners and Morals in
Twelfth-Century England: The Book of the Civilised Man
(Abingdon, 2017).
Winsbecke Der Winsbecke, ed. and trans. A. M. Rasmussen and
O. Trokhimenko, in Medieval Conduct Literature: An
Anthology of Vernacular Guides to Behaviour for Youths, ed.
M. D. Johnston (Toronto, 2009).
Winsbeckin Winsbeckin, ed. and trans. A. M. Rasmussen and
O. Trokhimenko, in Medieval Conduct Literature: An
Anthology of Vernacular Guides to Behaviour for Youths, ed.
M. D. Johnston (Toronto, 2009).
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 09/05/19, SPi

PA RT I
I N T RO D U C T I O N
OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 09/05/19, SPi
 OUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 09/05/19, SPi

1
Conduct, Habitus and Practice

Individual humans acquire from the societies in which they are born ideas of social
conduct appropriate to their time and place. Having acquired these, some people
feel moved to explain them to—and sometimes impose them on—others, as desir-
able norms. The lay elite of the European High Middle Ages generated its own
norms of conduct, as would any human society, and since it was a predominantly
literate one (as is argued below), it did not just impose them on its members, it also
left writings as evidence of them which we can examine. As a result historians have
a chance to discover what sort of conduct the medieval mind thought acceptable
and superior, how it changed and even why it changed over several centuries. It
may also be said that medieval European conduct is not entirely disengaged from
present Western society, the way medieval Japanese society would be. The society
of the European High Middle Ages has left a social legacy which is still current in
present attitudes centuries later, sometimes in quite surprising ways. So the medi-
eval thought-world has a connection with present Western society in ways that
other former societies do not. Medieval social norms have some relevance to
explaining current attitudes, or at least attitudes which were current until relatively
recently. So if it is possible to conduct an exercise in palaeo-sociology such as I am
suggesting here, we can learn something about our own attitudes and society as
well as reconstruct theirs.
So how can we do this? One of the great sociological advances of the twentieth
century was to recognize that much (though not all) ‘conduct’ (a word rooted in
the process of guidance and education) is simply absorbed by the observing mind
rather than acquired through conscious teaching.1 This sort of learning is conveyed
through the ‘habitus’, a Latin word with Aristotelian resonances, and a long history
in Western moral philosophy going back to the Middle Ages and indeed in use in
a technical sense at the time of Abelard.2 It was a word recruited by the French

1 Bourdieu himself attributed his ambition to find universals in social structures ultimately to Jean-
Paul Sartre, but it was prefigured in the work of Durkheim and Max Weber. His key observation was:
‘L’habitus est une sorte de sens pratique de ce qui est à faire dans une situation donnée.’ P. Bourdieu,
Raisons pratiques: sur la théorie de l’action (Paris, 1994), 45.
2 According to the understanding of the later thirteenth-century Aristotelian William of Aragon,
the ‘habitus’ was what the soul acquired by pursuing its potential, which then informed its conduct.
To William, Nobility was therefore a habitus, a state which had to be striven for and was manifested
in good and decent public acts; Aragon, De Nobilitate, 20 and n. (cf. ‘[N]obilitas est habitus qui movet
ad talia opera faciendum que in bonitate communiter cognoscuntur, secundum quod pertinet ad eorum
naturam’, ibid. 60). For the use of ‘habitus’ and the indirect penetration of Aristotelian ideas into the
early twelfth-century schools see, C. J. Nederman, ‘Nature, Ethics, and the Doctrine of “Habitus”:
Aristotelian Moral Psychology in the Twelfth Century’, Traditio, 45 (1989–90), 87–110.
Another random document with
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 His Excellency, Viscount S. Aoki, Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary, Japanese Embassy, Washington, D. C.
That, after the great expense incurred by the late war and the
need of relief at home on a large scale for the famine stricken
provinces, so generous an expression of sympathy for the sufferers
in California was made by the people of Japan, is most deeply
appreciated by the American National Red Cross and the American
people.
Up to the date of going to press the Red Cross has received from
the State Branches and from other sources $2,275,489.56. Four
hundred thousand dollars of this amount has been transmitted to Mr.
James Phelan, as Chairman of the Finance Committee of the
consolidated Relief Committee and Red Cross, and the remainder is
subject to the call of this committee, any sum being at its request
immediately forwarded by telegraph to San Francisco through the U.
S. Sub-Treasuries, and placed to Mr. Phelan’s credit.
As the general principle of the Red Cross is that money is most
wisely expended as far as possible, near the scene of disaster so as
to stimulate the somewhat paralyzed business-life, and expended by
those, who—taking part in the actual relief work, best understand the
needs, the Red Cross Executive Committee made no purchases
save one carload of condensed milk and ten thousand blankets. In
both cases these purchases were made with the kindly assistance of
Army Officers who pronounced on the prices and inspected the
articles before they were shipped, transportation having been given.
The Commissary officers of the U. S. Army throughout the West
kindly consented to act as Purchasing Agents for the Red Cross, and
Dr. Devine who with Mr. Pollok of the Relief Committee was
appointed on a purchasing committee, was notified of their names
and addresses.
On April 26th the following telegram was received from Judge
Morrow, President of the California Branch:
Hon. W. H. Taft, President Red Cross, Washington, D. C.
Have arranged for full historical record of all matters connected with
disaster for Red Cross purposes.
 WM. W. MORROW, President.
The distinguished historian, Professor H. Morse Stephens, is on
this historical committee and associated with him are some of the
most capable young men who were intimately connected with the
relief work from the first.
This record will be published later and will not only prove of
historical interest, but of great value in any future relief work of a like
nature.
The importance of having the accounts of the expenditures of Red
Cross money contributions so kept as to render auditing by the War
Department possible, as required by law, was fully realized, and
General A. E. Bates, Retired Paymaster-General of the U. S. Army,
kindly volunteered his services to proceed to San Francisco and
arrange some simple plan for the keeping of these accounts. His
offer was accepted, and at the request of the President of the Red
Cross he left for San Francisco, and on May 9th the following
telegram was received by the President of the Red Cross:
The Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.:
Arrived Monday evening and yesterday had an interview with the
Finance Committee by whom I was most pleasantly received. Examined
their system of auditing which I approve. Suggest an addition to their
system by which the Red Cross funds will be treated like an appropriation
for a specific purpose and accounted for to you by vouchers and
accounts similar to money of Army appropriation. My suggestion
approved and adopted by Committee and Dr. Devine with thanks. Relief
work here is perfectly organized and organization apparently working
effectively and smoothly. Expenses being reduced daily. This morning I
appeared by request before the full Committee and explained my position
here. Shall remain here until system is working and one set of accounts is
forwarded.
A. E. BATES, Major-General, retired.
The following communication was received by the Secretary of the
Red Cross from Judge Morrow, enclosing the literature referred to:
California Branch, San Francisco, Cal., May 12, 1906.
Mr. Charles L. Magee, Secretary, American Red Cross:
 Dear Sir:
The distribution of food to the nearly three hundred thousand sufferers
in San Francisco has been a difficult problem for solution, but we think a
system has been adopted that will make the distribution as nearly perfect
as possible, and as the subject may be of some interest to the National
Society, I enclose herewith the plan of registering of persons desiring
food, the directions for registering applicants at relief stations; also a
registration card and a food card.
You may, perhaps, find it interesting, and I would suggest that you
show it to Mr. President Taft. The plan was devised by Professor C. C.
Plehn of our State University, and we think it would be well to have it
made a matter of record for future reference. The plan goes into effect
immediately.
Very truly yours,
WM. W. MORROW,
President, State Branch Society.
A reproduction of the registration and food cards are given and it is
especially interesting to note that in the Japanese Famine Relief
work, as seen by Baron Ozawa’s report contained in the Bulletin,
that the Japanese Red Cross also used a system of registration.

NATIONAL RED CROSS

General Register of Applicants for Relief, San Francisco, 1906
Food Station No. ....

Surname and Total number of Food Date of this

given names of persons for whom Card registration:
head of family: rations are asked: .... No.
Men .... Children .....
Aged,
Women ....
etc. ....
Present location: Former home, or address on April 17:
Trade or
Former
occupation of Age: Nationality: Union:
employer:
head of family:

References, or other memoranda relating to employment:

Membership in (1) fraternal orders; (2) churches; (3) clubs:

Address of friends to be communicated with:

Present Is it Is applicant owner of real estate?

employment: steady? If so, where?

Plans for future:

Relief supplied (other than rations, including transportation):

Remarks:
 Food Card Issued.
No. Date.

Data as to adult bread winners in family or party (not the

applicant named on face of card).
m. f. m. f. m. f. m. f.
Name and sex
Age and nationality
Trade or occupation
Union
Former employer
References
Present employment
Future plans
Remarks:

1 NATIONAL RED CROSS. (See

2 Food Card. other
3 side.)
R. S. No.
4 C. No. .........
..............
5
 6
7 This card is issued on.....................................(date)
8
It will be good for 10 days ending..........................
9 31
(date)
10 30
.........................................(Signature of Issuing
11 29
Officer.)
12 28
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

TAKE NOTICE.
This card must be presented whenever rations are drawn. When
drawing rations keep it always in plain sight.
This card is not transferable, and will be honored only when
presented by the person to whom it is issued, or by some member of
his family or party.
Good only for 10 days.
Renewable after 10 days at the discretion of the registration
officer.
Good only at the Relief Station of issue.
If any fraudulent use of this card is attempted it will be taken up
and no rations will be issued to the offenders.
 “AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS
“Instructions for Registering Applicants at Relief Stations
“The primary purpose of this registration is to provide a record that
will show how many persons are applying for relief from the National
Red Cross. Since relief is granted through a large number of sub-
stations, it is necessary not only that each station should keep a
register of its own applicants, but also that the headquarters should
have complete records for all stations.
“When any one applies for relief, therefore, a Registration Card
should be at once made out showing so far as pertinent and
ascertainable the information asked for concerning the applicant.
When rations are issued to a family or party both the Food Card and
the Registration Card should be made out at the same time.
Registration may—and in many cases will—be done by the
canvassers who visit each family. These canvassers may be: (1)
officers of the Relief Station; (2) workers of the Associated Charities;
(3) representatives of the Central Registration Bureau. The utmost
care should be exercised to see that the persons registered for relief
are within the district assigned to the station issuing relief. If any
question as to boundaries arises refer the same to the Central
Registration Bureau.”
Among the directions for making out the Registration Card are the
following:
“(1) Surname and initial of applicant.
“Write legibly the name of the head of the family or party applying
for relief.
“(5) Present location.
“Give the best possible indication of where applicant can be found
on visit or by letter.
“(6) Former address or home on April 17th.
“What is wanted is the address that will be most useful in tracing
the applicant or his family in case inquiry is made by distant friends
or others.
 “(7) Trade or occupation.
“In case the applicant has a recognized trade enter it; otherwise
give best indication possible of how he made his living.
“(13) Address of friends to be communicated with.
“Enter here any names and addresses of people to whom
applicant desires the National Red Cross to write in his behalf.
“(17) Plans for future.
“State any plans applicant says he has for future work, for leaving
town, etc., and any fact which may help in putting him on his own
feet again.
“Treat all applicants with the utmost consideration. The relief
afforded is not a charity and is needed most by respected and
honorable citizens. More than nine out of every ten of the applicants
will be self-supporting in a few weeks. The few lazy imposters will be
speedily detected and dealt with separately. Assume every one to be
entitled to relief until clearly proven unworthy.”
Under the directions for the issue of Food Cards the purposes for
which Food Cards are issued are stated to be:
“(1) To make sure that every one entitled to draw rations secures
an amount proportionate to the size of his family or party.
“(2) To prevent imposters from drawing more than their
proportionate share of rations.
“(3) To furnish a record of the number of persons being fed at the
several relief stations, for the use of stations, and of the central
distributing authorities.”
In connection with the Food Cards the following cards have been
issued to provide for the giving out of other supplies:
FOOD CARD No. ......... DATE ..................
To Supply Station:
Give bearer the number of Articles punched out below.
 FOR MEN.
Hats 1 2 3 4 5 6
Shoes 1 2 3 4 5 6
Shirts 1 2 3 4 5 6
Undershirts 1 2 3 4 5 6
Drawers 1 2 3 4 5 6
Socks 1 2 3 4 5 6
Stockings 1 2 3 4 5 6
FOR WOMEN.
Waists 1 2 3 4 5 6
Skirts 1 2 3 4 5 6
Under Skirts 1 2 3 4 5 6
Under Vests 1 2 3 4 5 6
Diapers 1 2 3 4 5 6
Drawers 1 2 3 4 5 6
HOUSEHOLD ARTICLES.
Tents 1 2 3 4 5 6
Cots 1 2 3 4 5 6
Mattresses 1 2 3 4 5 6
Blankets 1 2 3 4 5 6
Towels 1 2 3 4 5 6
Wash Basins 1 2 3 4 5 6
Stoves 1 2 3 4 5 6
Buckets 1 2 3 4 5 6
Pots and Pans 1 2 3 4 5 6
Knives and Forks 1 2 3 4 5 6
Spoons 1 2 3 4 5 6
Plates 1 2 3 4 5 6
Cups 1 2 3 4 5 6
Lanterns 1 2 3 4 5 6
Chairs 1 2 3 4 5 6
Soap 1 2 3 4 5 6
 The issuing of these cards has reduced the number of repeaters
and has been of great assistance in the systematizing of the relief
work.
General Bates in his report to the President of the American
National Red Cross states later that a further economic and salutary
measure has been adopted in the establishment at the different
camps and relief stations of large kitchens and dining halls or sheds
where a contractor buying the supplies from the relief committee
furnishes three cooked meals a day, and in case of all persons,
excepting those who are entirely destitute, these meals are sold at
ten or fifteen cents each. It is the opinion of the officers in charge of
this work, which is just inaugurated, that within a few days, the
greater majority of the people getting relief from the Committee in
this manner will pay for it. General Bates also says, “I think it would
be quite impossible for any one, without having been on the ground
or having had a similar experience in some other place, to
appreciate the enormous difficulties that these people have had to
contend with. In the first place their three days’ battle with the fire
was as horrible, excepting as to loss of life, as any of the critical
battles of the world. During that time, with the water cut off from the
city, the impossibility to arrest fire by means of dynamiting and
blowing up districts so that the fire should have nothing to feed upon,
the suffering and horror of turning two hundred thousand or more
people from their homes into the streets, with nothing to eat and
nothing to drink was simply appalling and notwithstanding the
gigantic task that lay before them, I think from what I learn, that it is
safe to say that no one has suffered from hunger or neglect.”
This is only a brief and partial report of the beginning and progress
of the relief in California, but it conveys some idea of the methods
adopted in the accomplishing of this great work.
Up to the date of going to press the various State Branches have
contributed the following amounts:
Connecticut $119,094.74
Delaware 18,900.00
District of Columbia 58,911.01
Georgia 200.00
Illinois 144,818.55
Indiana 34.032.16
Maine 5,607.02
Maryland 100,000.00
Massachusetts 64,877.25
Michigan 27,500.00
Missouri 143,000.00
New York 510,000.00
Ohio 62,967.45
Pennsylvania 129,600.00
Rhode Island 87,000.00
South Carolina 1,000.00
Wyoming 1,694.60
 THE EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL
CONGRESS OF THE RED CROSS
SOCIETIES
To the Presidents and Members of the Central Committees of the
Red Cross:
Geneva, March 20, 1906.
Gentlemen:
In accordance with an established tradition, duly confirmed by the
last Congress held in St. Petersburg, it is the duty of the International
Committee to concern itself in due time with the reunion of the
International Meetings, which periodically bring together the
delegates of all the National Societies of the Red Cross.
The British Society not having heretofore been called upon to
entertain the sister organizations of other countries, we addressed
ourselves to the London Committee: We have the pleasure of
announcing to our honorable correspondents that this Committee
accepted the mandate which we proposed it should assume.
The next International Congress of the Red Cross Societies will
therefore convene in London, 1907, during the week beginning June
10th.
You will unite with us Gentlemen, will you not, in addressing
publicly to the British Society, the expression of our sincere gratitude
for the invitation extended to us, assuring it at the same time of the
zeal with which we will favorably respond.
It is important that these periodical occasions, the only ones which
afford to our Societies the opportunity to strengthen the bands which
unite them, by personal and instructive intercourse, should be as
largely attended as possible and that no Society, however modest it
be, should fail to have itself represented.
 The British Society which has so recently been called upon to reap
such a rich harvest in the field of Volunteer Aid, will doubtless have
important communications to make to its guests; moreover its
organization and peculiar workings, will offer an ample subject of
study to delegates assembled to perfect their knowledge in the line
of aid to wounded soldiers.
It seems of interest to us, to trace in a few lines, the origin of this
Society, thereby learning to know it in advance, because few
countries have shown as much zeal and expended as much money
in succoring wounded soldiers, as Great Britain. This Society owes
its existence to the Members of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem,
who conceived the idea in April, 1869. It was regularly incorporated
August 4, 1870. Its operations were confined at the outset, in time of
peace, to the training of nurses, but in time of war, it played an
important and beneficent part in sending aid in money, or in kind, by
furnishing detachments of nurses, not only for the wars in which
England participated, but also for those in which she was not
engaged.
In 1899 a British Central Committee of the Red Cross was
created, uniting the delegates of the National Society for Aid to the
Wounded, the Ambulance of St. John and the Reserve Corps of
Army Nurses, to serve as a bond between these three institutions
and for the purpose of distributing in time of war, all voluntary relief
contributions, whether made in personal service, in materials or in
funds. It was destined to enlarge the sphere of action and of
influence of the British Red Cross, and to neutralize the efforts of all
the Relief Societies of the country. The Chairman of the National
Society, Lord Wantage, was placed at the head of this Central
Committee, and the new combination proved efficacious and useful
in the Anglo-Boer War, where the Volunteer Sanitary Service played
such an important part.
Finally in 1905 a new transformation became operative. Lord
Wantage, deceased in 1901, was succeeded by Lord Rothschild. A
committee presided over by the latter, under the auspices of the
Queen and in response to an appeal made by her, was charged with
the work of rendering more effective the concentration of all British
Societies concerned with Relief Work amongst the sick and
wounded in the Army. The efforts of this committee of organization
have resulted in an association which assures to the Red Cross in
Great Britain, the position it should occupy. Lord Rothschild is
Chairman of the Executive Committee. We will undoubtedly be able
in the next issue of the “Bulletin” to give more complete details
concerning this entirely recent institution.
The Headquarters of the British Red Cross Society are at 9
Victoria St., London, S. W.
The program of each Congress is as you know, finally arranged by
the Committee of the Country acting as host, according to the
subjects suggested by the other National Societies and also by those
which it desires itself to discuss. We therefore request you to inform
the British Society directly and at your earliest convenience, of the
questions you would wish to see appear on the program for
deliberation. The British Society in transmitting to you the final
program, will give full, practical and necessary directions.
In accordance with resolutions passed at St. Petersburg, an
exhibition will be held in connection with the next Congress, with the
object of showing the technical progress made in relief methods.
Moreover the prize founded by the Empress Marie-Feodorovna, will
be awarded for the first time, to the authors of the best inventions for
alleviating the sufferings of sick and wounded soldiers.[1] The
inventions to be shown at the aforesaid exhibition. The jury charged
with awarding the prize is composed of eight members, of which two
are named by right, one by the Russian Central Committee, the
other by the International Committee; besides these, the Central
Committees charged with designating in 1907, each a member of the
jury, are those of Germany, Austria, Great Britain, France, Italy and
Holland.
Finally, and in conformity with a decision of the last Congress, we
invite those of the Red Cross Societies which have not yet informed
us of how far they have been able to carry out the wishes and the
resolutions adopted in St. Petersburg, to do so at once, or at least to
notify the London Committee in time to enable them to present a
report on the matter to the Eighth Congress.
Having given ourselves the pleasure of announcing the gracious
invitation which the British Red Cross Society intends addressing to
you, with the special communications which it will send to you
directly, we beg to renew to that Society the expression of our
gratitude and to present to you, Gentlemen, the assurance of our
most distinguished sentiments.
For the International Committee of the Red Cross:
G. MOYNIER, President.
E. ODIER, Secretary.
GUSTAVE ADOR, Vice-President.
[1] Article 2 of the regulations of the Empress’ Fund. See Bulletin
of the International Red Cross Committee, xxxiii, p. 143.
 THE ABUSE OF THE RED CROSS
INSIGNIA

The rapidly increasing prominence and importance of the Red

Cross will still further tend to the abuse of its insignia. Unfortunately
in the United States the use of this insignia, created for the special
purpose of identifying and protecting in time of war those caring for
the sick and wounded, ambulances, hospitals and hospital
equipments, has never been properly safeguarded as has been
done in most other countries which are signatory powers of the
treaty of Geneva, and which recognize the necessity for the
protection of this insignia.
A number of manufactured articles bear as a trademark this
insignia, their manufacturers having obtained from the Patent Office,
previous to the reincorporation of the Red Cross, a legal right to such
use. Others using that mark claim a right to use it because they had
used it previous to the granting of the charter. In a number of cases
their attention being called to the clause of the charter intending to
prevent as far as possible this use of the Red Cross for purposes of
trade, manufacturers and others have kindly and promptly
abandoned their use of it. In other cases the request to desist from
its use—it might be called its abuse—was refused.
In two cases that have been brought to the notice of the Executive
Committee so-called training schools for nurses that provide, in one
case a course of a few weeks with no hospital experience, and in
another a training by correspondence only, called their nurses Red
Cross nurses. As it is the object of the National Red Cross to enroll
among its nurses only such as have had a regular two or three
years’ course with hospital training, and whose efficiency and
character have been thoroughly vouched for so that our American
National Red Cross nurses will rank as highly as do the Red Cross
nurses in many of the other countries, this use of the Red Cross by
such institutions as those mentioned above must act as a strong
detriment to the National Red Cross and prove especially injurious to
its efforts to secure the enrollment of the highest class of trained
nurses.
Red Cross nurses are enrolled for service in time of war or of great
calamity as provided in the charter and a false impression is
conveyed when nurses not enrolled by the National Red Cross make
use of this name of Red Cross nurse. There can be in each country
but one Red Cross Society as recognized by the International Red
Cross Committee of Geneva upon proof that the Society has
received official recognition from the Government of its own country
and only its nurses are really Red Cross nurses, so that all others
using this name convey to the public a false impression that they are
nurses of the Red Cross.
Public opinion should most strongly oppose the abuse of the Red
Cross insignia, and its use, save for the purposes for which it was
created, earnestly discountenanced. The members of the Red Cross
are requested to report to the Executive Committee all such use of
the Red Cross, not connected with the National Society, that may
come within their cognizance. The Society has a list of those
manufacturers who obtained the Red Cross as a trademark previous
to its reincorporation under the present charter in January, 1905. It
should be the duty of every American to see to it that in our country
this Red Cross insignia, created for so beneficient a purpose, is
protected as far as possible from the degradation of becoming a
mere advertisement for money making designs.