Patriotism and the Lord of the Rings

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Actually a scene where the king, once, attempts to communicate with Katherine in astoundingly *bad* French, which is the point:

Of course Will is taking licence: the real Henry spoke perfectly good French..

Nevertheless, as I've noted, it wasn't until Harry's reign in the 15th century that English became the official language of England.

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Moving back in time, though: I doubt that even the fyrd at Hastings was devoid of patriotism, or at least a recognition that their freedom was under threat from a foreign culture and political system (as it was).

Was it patriotism to England or loyalty to Harold? Heck, Harold's own brother, Tostig, sold out, and there was dissent in the north in favor of Harald Hardrada. It was not a unified 'England' that William the Bastard invaded.

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

Sure, the Free Companies were hyenas- but they preyed on French (including nominal English subjects when they could get away with it). The rise of patriotism runs in parallel with the rise of nation-states of a more-or-less ethno-linguistic character. While mercenaries were employed in most wars from the medieval period right down to the modern age, the two conflicts characterized by armies composed almost entirely of mercenaries were the arenas in which national formation had been arrested: Renaissance Italy and the Thirty Years' War.

If you look at the dynamics of France in the 14th century, it was basically a crazy-quilt of conflicting Duchies: Berry, Anjou, Burgundy, Brittany, Normandy, and even the petty kingdom of Navarre. There was very little impetus for unification because the monarchy was weak; whereas, England had a series of strong kings (or at least strong ones alternating with weak ones). It would seem that centralization played a part in patriotism in the late Middle-ages.