The massive Schwinger model may be analysed by a perturbation expansion in the fermion mass. However, the results of this mass perturbation theory are sensible only for sufficiently small fermion mass. By performing a renormal-ordering, we arrive at a chiral perturbation expansion where the expansion parameter remains small even for large fermion mass. We use this renormal-ordered chiral perturbation theory for a computation of the Schwinger mass and compare our results with lattice computations.