The game of chess as we know it in Western society today is vastly different from the game as it was used and valued in Medieval European culture. Today chess is ultimately reflected in two principal ways; 1] a simple form of leisure, a game that can be utilized to distract oneself from the mundane tasks and labors of everyday life, and 2] a way of challenging the the mind, ones’ logic and skill through competition with others. In Medieval society however, chess was an embodiment of Medieval culture. British historian Nicholas Orme describes the integration of chess within Medieval society perfectly. He describes how chess had a high status in comparison with other games; “its’ pieces were seen as emblematic of society: king, queen, knights, judges, rooks, and common folk, all being effective when working together.”(O’Sullivan 27.) The nature and structure of the game made it heavily integrated within European society, for it’s nature reflected to the whole of Medieval society. Each piece of the the chessboard, the King, The Queen, the Knight, the Rook, the Castle, and the Pawns carried with them the ability to reflect and symbolize Medieval society in various ways. The chess board could be used as an allegory for war, courtly life, religious symbolism, love, lust, and even education. The metaphorical integration of chess within Medieval society is best reflected through literature created during the Middle Ages. Much of the literary work created throughout the Middle Ages uses chess allegorically to reflect on the nature of war, display aspects of courtly culture, tales of lust and love, and the education of young boys on logical strategy and their role within Medieval society.

It is easy to see how chess can be analogous to war in the Middle Ages. The nature of the game itself is warlike in its’ construction.. The board representing a battlefield, each piece of the game with their particular strengths and weaknesses representing different types of military infantry, and the King and the Queen as the leaders of the game. What is the victory condition in chess? Like that of war it is to force the King into submission. Warfare is reflected in the pastimes of the societies that engage in it, and in medieval society chess was reflective of war and the overarching culture.. There are numerous literary works written in the Middle Ages, that speak to the dynamics within of medieval war. One such example appears in the middle Welsh prose tale The Dream of Rhonabwy dated around the 12th century. The story is set during the reign of Madog ap Maredudd who was the prince of the Welsh Kingdom of Pawys until his death in 1160 (Wikipedia.) The story centers around the main character Rhonabwy who experiences a dream in which he travels back in time and visits the legendary King Arthur in his time, 6th century Britain. At one point in the story, Rhawbony’s guide Iddawig tells him that Arthur’s army is assembled and ready to meet the Saxon army at the Battle of Mount Badon –a famous battle in British history thought to have occurred in the 6th century. As Iddawig is describing the nature of Arthur’s army to Rhonabwy, Arthur becomes preoccupied with a game of chess and ignores the battle.

“Owain,” said Arthur, “wilt thou play chess?” “I will, Lord,” said Owain. And the red youth brought the chess for Arthur and Owain; golden pieces and a board of silver. And they began to play […] That game did they finish, and another they began” (The Dream of Rhonabwy.)

While Arthur and Owain are playing chess, messengers begin to arrive and tell Arthur that Owain’s squires have attacked his ravens.

“Lord, is it with thy leave that the young pages and attendants of the Emperor harass and torment and worry thy Ravens? And if it be not with thy leave, cause the Emperor to forbid them.” (The Dream of Rhonabwy.)

To which Owain responds not to worry about the ravens, and asks to be let be to continue playing the game.

Then said the youth unto Owain, “Lord, is it with thy leave that the young pages and attendants of the Emperor harass and torment and worry thy Ravens? And if it be not with thy leave, cause the Emperor to forbid them.” “Lord,” said Owain, “thou hearest what the youth says; if it seem good to thee, forbid them from my Ravens.” “Play thy game,” said he.” (The Dream of Rhonabwy.)

Later the messenger returns to tell Owain now, that the Ravens are attacking his squires.
And the youth saluted Arthur, and told him that the Ravens of Owain were slaying his young men and attendants. And Arthur looked at Owain and said, “Forbid thy Ravens.” “Lord,” answered Owain, “play thy game.” (The Dream of Rhonabwy.)

By the end of the story, a Knight comes to tell Arthur that his army is being slain by the ravens. Arthur becomes enraged and crushes the chess board into dust. After destroying the chessboard, Arthur declares a peace between his forces and the Saxon army.

This story is a perfect example of chess integrated within warfare. Arthur and Owain continue to play and battle at their game of chess, and as they do Arthur’s army slowly begins to lose the battle until finally, after Arthur crushes the board and the game stops, he declared a peace with Saxony. The integration of the chess game between Owain and Arthur is in a way allegorical to the battle that is occurring.

But the story does not cease to garner insights there. It is not just a relationship between chess and warfare made apparent, but it is also a powerful critique on the nature of warfare, particularly, the actions of kings. The “gold and silver” pieces seem to reflect a kind of decadence. This decadence is set in stark contrast to the actual battlefield experience of war, which at the time would have meant close contact, scant armor, and iron weapons. The sense here is that while the soldiers are doing the brunt of the life-changing labor, kings are, perhaps unfairly, given the luxury of controlling the battlefield from afar. The chessboard in this tale is not only a game, reflecting how kings can “play” at something as serious and fatal as warfare, but also, it is a literal battle map. The use of chess in this respect becomes integral to the meaning of the story, where the game itself reflects, what the author must have imagined as an inappropriate wielding of power — game-like when it should be deadly serious.

Medieval society used chess as a tool of education, particularly education of young boys and men because the nature of the game placed importance on wisdom, logic, cleverness, and reason. As it was seen in the Middle Ages, the education of young boys placed importance on these traits, as well as on education of warfare, swordplay, and battle simulation. Chess also reflected the male role as the protector of women. War strategy it was thought could be taught to young boys through teaching them chess, and developing a strategic, logical mind (O’Sullivan 112.) One of the best literary examples of this integration of chess within education of boys can be seen in chapter three of Didot Perceval, “The Adventure of the Chessboard Castle.” In the story, Percival –one of King Arthur’s knights of the round table– is searching for somewhere to stay after traveling, and comes across a tower. He enters the tower and sees that there are no people in it, only a chessboard. He realizes that the chessboard is magical, and he begins to play.

“And when he had looked at them for a time he took the pieces and handled them, and then he pushed one forward, and a piece moved back against him.” (Didot Perceval.)

After losing to the chessboard several times, Percival becomes angry and states,

“By the faith that I owe to Our Lord, I see a marvelous thing, for I thought I knew so much of this game and it has mated me three times. And may I have ill fortune but never me nor any other knight will it mate or shame again.” (Didot Perceval.)

Losing to the chessboard symbolizes a loss of Percival’s masculinity in a way. The fact that he lost shows that he is not good enough at using his reason and logic like men are supposed to be capable of. Percival then proceeds to gather the chessboard and pieces to throw them out of the tower window into a river below. Immediately he hears a woman cry above him in the tower who tells him not to throw the chessboard out, for it would be villainous and wrong. He argues with the woman instructing her to come down from the tower to where he is, or he will throw the chessboard out, and she does. Percival –who has fallen in love with the woman– proceeds to attempt to woo the woman and asks her to accept his love. The woman then asks Percival if he would do a task for her and if he did she would make him the lord of the castle and love him. She states,

“If you can take for me the white stag that dwells in this forest and bear me his head, know that always henceforth I shall be your love.” (Didot Perceval.)

Percival accepts the task and journey’s into the forest and kills the stag. The task appointed to Percival by the woman is in a way a test for him to regain some of his masculinity. By killing the stag and bringing her it’s head, he is making an attempt to prove himself a man to the woman who saw his anger after losing the chess games to the board. After killing the stag, an old woman approaches him and takes his brach. She then tells Percival that she will give it back if he does a task for her.
“Farther along this road you will find a tomb and upon it a knight is painted. And you must go before it and say that false was he who painted him there. And then when you have done this, you may come to me and I will give you your brach.” (Didot Perceval.)
Percival does this and a Knight in black armor comes up behind him on a horse, and steals both his bratch and the head of the stag. Percival then continues on his journey with the hope of finding the Knight, and getting the stag and brach back, which he eventually does and returns to the woman. The entire story of Percival centers around the courtly duties of Knights and men to display logic, reason, the ability to engage in battle, and protecting women. The integration of the chess game within the story adds to this idea that men should be good at chess, because it is a test of a man’s masculinity and logic.
One of the greatest allegorical integrations of chess within Medieval literature is in stories depicting situations of love and lust. Chess was seen as a ritual of courtship in the middle ages. It was also seen as a metaphor for wooing, eroticism, and love making. This can be seen in Heinrich von Neustadt’s poem Apollonius von Tyrland. The poem describes a chess game between a man and a woman, and shows aspects of teasing and wooing in relation to the moves of the game in relation to the nature of male and female roles in the process of flirtatious behaviour,

“They had much entertainment.
They played chess with each other:
The man made a bold move,
he moved one of his pawns
with which he said ‘check’ to the queen.
What damage did this cause? Good advice was then needed:
In a short while in turn
the beautiful maid responded
with ‘check’ and checkmate’
more than four times afterwords.”(O’Sullivan 39.)

Chess literally becomes a metaphor for love making in this poem. Another example of how chess became used as a metaphor for love, is in 15th century Catalan poem, Sachs d’Amor. The poem describes a game of chess played between Venus and Mars, and is believed to be the earliest recorded chess game under the modern rules we use today (Sachs d’Amor.) The poem is structured like a chess game in itself, and is made up of 64 stanzas –the same number of squares that are on a chessboard. The first move in the game described is by Mars,

“The great warrior, with his red standard,
Decided to move as soon as required
Taking Love as the name for the battle” (Sachs d’Amor.)

Mars moves his first pawn and right away the idea that love relates to the chess battle is integrated into the poem. The next move played by Venus displays the same rhetoric,

“Her Pawn, courteous, well-tempered
Moves up, because Beauty opens,
In the game of love, the first step.” (Sachs d’Amor.)

The first two moves bring the pawns to the center of the board, and an allegory to the the fact that love can be both captivating and detrimental is made when Mars takes Venus’s pawn.

“It falls to reason: for a lover’s thoughts
Having chosen, cannot freedom afford
Or doubt, but take full submission.” (Sachs d’Amor.)

Chess becomes a symbol of “the game of love” throughout the poem. In the end Mars wins the game and takes Venus’s King, which symbolizes masculinity and male power over a woman in Medieval culture.
Chess as portrayed in medieval literature is not only analogous to Medieval society and culture, but also Medieval moral values. In a way it is allegorical to all medieval thought and culture, which is why it became so infused as a literary device for portraying so many different aspects of values in the Middle Ages. The nature of the game makes it applicable in understanding medieval warfare, education, courtly traditions and moral values, as well as the act of courting and displaying love and eroticism.

Sources:
O’Sullivan, Daniel, Chess in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, Walter de Gruyter, 2012.
The Dream of Rhonabwy .
The Dream of Rhonabwy, The Mabinogion, tr. by Lady Charlotte Guest, 1877, .
Didot Perceval, or, The Romance of Perceval in Prose. ed. and trans. Dell Skeels. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1966 .
Scachs d’Amor, .