“The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom to serve all, but love only one” (Balzac 1). During the Medieval Age, there once existed a moral system that introduced a set of conducts such as, virtues, honor, and courtly love. This was known as the Code of Chivalry. These codes where available and practiced in knight's daily life. The idea of chivalry is extremely valuable to the people, that even everything a knight wore symbolized something valuable or unique. In other words, chivalry was no game. Authors during the chivalric period were influenced by the concept of chivalry and romance that the authors wrote about it in their work. During the Medieval Age and the Renaissance period chivalry, courtly love, and romance played a dramatic role in literature and in society along with the influence of Chaucer, Malory, and Shakespeare's work.
Chivalry and romance are two words and ideas that are used in literature quite often. They are important to understand and to be aware of which leads to the question. What is chivalry? An exact definition of chivalry form the dictionary quotes, "the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms" (dictionary). Meaning chivalry is a way to behave in the most ideal and formal way with certain qualifications such as: respect, generosity, courage, and skill. Although the term chivalry has numerous amount of similar definitions; to an extent this definition by far is most precise, yet there is more to it.
The term chivalry has its own historical context. The word chivalry was not automatically chosen or made up, but it was taken from other words. To begin with, chivalry came from France. It comes from the French word "chevalier" which mea...
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...ery knight needed to show their leadership because they were the ideal example of how people should act. When knights went to battle or wars they had a token or insignia that identified the knight (). Those knights who held banners during the war represented faith in their lord and land (). Their shields resembles the knights objective which is to protect his people and be a leader (). The plate legs that knights wore did not only protect their feet, but most certainly it represented that the knight will face hardship in his journey (). A knight was give a piece of land as a reward from their lord (). A hauberk that the knights wore resembles a castle or fortress (). The spear represented the truth that came before falseness and the tip signified strength (). Knights were very idealized and had high values which is the reason why people back then looked up to them.
This code of chivalry all came from King Arthur. It all began with Arthur’s father, Uther. Uther gets a sword from the Lady of the Lake and this sword is named Excalibur. Later on in the battle among England, Merlin (the magician) grants Uther his wish in return for whatever he asked for. As for this wish, Uther slept with Egrain’s wife as he asked and impregnated her with his soon to be son, Arthur. When Arthur was born Merlin came for what he was promised, and took Arthur away with him, raising him. What Merlin did know was that Uther’s son was soon to be the new King of England. This soon to be king, Arthur, must become a knight and granted the right to be king. However; there are three examples of chivalry from the two texts, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "Morte d’Arthur" are courage, honor and to protect the queen and all women.
Chivalry stresses fighting ability, faithfulness, honesty, generosity, service to one’s lord, service to one’s lady and loyalty to other warriors. The first part of chivalry, which stressed fighting ability and service to one’s lord, is taken directly from comitatus. Chivalry was not always followed in Le Morte D’Arthur much alike comitatus in Beowulf. The biggest withdrawal from chivalry is done by Lancelot. Lancelot broke this social system by taking part in an affair with Guinevere, by doing this he shatters the law of service to one’s lord. It is this decision that results in other characters in the story to stride away from the rules of chivalry, and in the end bring down the society. His decision caused warriors to conspire to catch Lancelot with Guinevere, which in the end leads to Lancelot killing several knights to escape. A pattern forms where a character breaks one part of the code of chivalry in the goal of keeping another code of chivalry intact. Eventually, this results in the demise of the Arthurian society. Because of Lancelot’s failure to follow the code of chivalry, he and Arthur create a long war. A lot of confusion in the warriors results from this, much like when Arthur’s men are ordered to have Guinevere burned, yet it was a violation of chivalry to not be loyal to your lady, and also a violation not to follow an order of the king.
When Maurice Keen set out to write a book on the components and development of chivalry, he did not know it would be “the last word on a seductive subject,” as stated by one Washington Post reviewer. Instead, Keen was merely satisfying a curiosity that derived from a childhood fascination of stories filled with “knights in shining armour.” This juvenile captivation was then transformed into a serious scholarly interest by Keen’s teachers, the product of which is a work based upon literary, artifactual, and academic evidence. Keen’s Chivalry strives to prove that chivalry existed not as a fantastical distraction, as erroneously portrayed by romances, but instead as an integral and functional feature of medieval politics, religion, and society. The thirteen chapters use an exposition format to quietly champion Keen’s opinion of chivalry as being an element of an essentially secular code of “honour” derived from military practices.
Today chivalry is mostly referred to in regards to how a man treats a woman. Many of this generation believe chivalry to be a synonym for courtesy. This is because the true definition has been lost over time as it was first used in the medieval times. Chivalry is the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak. So not only does it include courtesy, as we understand it today, but includes other honorable qualities. As chivalry is in reference to an ideal knight, it makes sense that we can identify this quality throughout The Green Knight and Morte D’Arthur. These texts are set in medieval times during the rule of King Arthur. Throughout The Green Knight and Morte D’Arthur chivalry is demonstrated, depicting what it
Many forms of chivalrous code can be found today, from The Cowboy’s Code to the Rules of Courtly Love. These codes are stated with the hope that people will try and follow them to some degree; yet only the perfect could adhere to them all. Considering the fact that such perfection is impossible, the authors merely set out a guideline for honorable behavior. In the context of medieval times, a knight was expected to have faith in his beliefs; for faith was considered to give hope against the despair that human failings create.
“Chivalry based its rules first on the knight's duty to defend the people he had promised to defend. To run away or give up was unacceptable; knights fought to the death or until they were captured and disarmed.” (Knights) These knights because of their bold and courageous acts were valued by everyone in the kingdom including, monks, woman, children, and the very old and sick who were unable to fight. “Chivalry also required a knight to be loyal to his lord and to his fellow knights.” (Knights) Explaining the duties of knights and how they helped out their fellow people and the town also how fearless and brave they were thus making us believe that all knights back then where honorable, compassionate, brave men. Knights were also extremely valued because they risked their lives for the people and their king. "Although knights were trained horsemen, they did not always go into battle as cavalrymen. On many occasions it was thought better for a large part of an army to dismount and form a solid body, often supported by archers and groups of cavalry." (“Into Battle”) Like our army and troops now, knights did not always fight ...
In the Medieval Period, knights dedicated their lives to following the code of chivalry. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, a number of characters performed chivalrous acts to achieve the status of an ideal knight. Their characteristics of respect for women and courtesy for all, helpfulness to the weak, honor, and skill in battle made the characters King Arthur, King Pellinore, and Sir Gryfflette examples of a what knights strove to be like in Medieval society. Because of the examples ofchivalry, Le Morte d’Arthur showed what a knight desired to be, so he could improve theworld in which he lived.
Chivalry is the code of conduct on which someone, in particularly the Knights, acts on honor, courage, and to protect the Queen and all women. I’m sure that we all know someone who acts on this basis and strives to make it so he gets it to where everyone else does. In today’s world we don’t call it chivalry, instead its called rules and laws, laws that keep us in line so we don’t get out of control and accidentally do something that we shouldn’t have done. I know in wrestling and every other sport we have these special rules that go for everyone on the team, we can’t do anything that will become an issue with our training. It’s kind of like in every where that we have regulations, no smoking, no drugs, no this or that, but sometimes those are hard rules to follow and when they are broken there are consequences. In the two stories Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Morte D'Arthur we see knights actually following the code of “Chivalry.”
Closely associated to the romance tradition are two idealized standards of behavior, especially for knights: courage and chivalry. The protagonist within many medieval romances proved their worth by going on quests, as many a knights went in those times, thus returning with great tales of their travels and deeds. Many modern people think of chivalry as referring to a man's gallant treatment of women, and although that sense is derived from the medieval chivalric ideal, chivalry could be seen as more than that. Knights were expected to be brave, loyal, and honorable-sent to protect the weak, be noble to...
Chivalry is the type of thing that would be great to have in our society but I don’t believe that it exists too much anymore in the world today. Let me break down here some of the chivalry rules compared with the actions of the people of the current world.
Romance can be defined as a medieval form of narrative which relates tales of chivalry and courtly love. Its heroes, usually knights, are idealized and the plot often contains miraculous or superatural elements. According to Tony Davenport the central medieval sense of romance is ' of narratives of chivalry, in which knights fight for honour and love.' The term amour coutois ( courtly love) was coined by the French critic Gaston Paris in 1883 to categorise what medieval French lyricists or troubadours referred to as ' fin armors'. Romances and lyrics began to develop in the late fourteenth century England, author like Chaucer or Hoccleve produced some of the first english medieval narratives. But how does medieval literature present the expericence of romantic love. In order to answer this question this essay will focus on two tales from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: the Knight's Tales and the Franklin's Tales. It will show that medieval romance can be used as a vehicle to promote chivalric behaviour as well as exploring a range of philosophical, political, and literary question.
The code of Chivalry can be described as a brave, loyal, courteous, distinguished courage or ability that is admired for their brave and noble qualities. Chivalry is a system of ethical ideals that arose from feudalism and had its highest development in the 12th and 13th centenry.(Columbia ElectronicEncyclopedia).Respect is an essential part of chivalry. The code of chivalry is a set of rules followed by the knights during the middle ages. The evolution of heroic and chivalry code has changed over time beginning from the Middle ages to now. The three stories Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Lanval and Beowulf illustrate what it takes to be considered a chivalrous knight.
Chivalry was a big part of this fourteenth century and it was embodied throughout the men of king Arthurs round table. In General, Chivalry was a set of religious values and moral goals that medieval knights
In the Knight’s Tale of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, chivalry plays a primary role in the characters and storyline. Through the character of the Knight and the other characters that appear in the Knight’s story, Chaucer exhibits chivalry, and those who love and embody it. However, throughout the tale, there is the question as to whether chivalry is as honorable as it sounds, or if Chaucer is mocking those who strive towards it.
A chivalrous knight was a very different sort of man from the proud, unruly, land-grabbing, brutal warriors who seemed to have been only too common in the Middle Ages. Warriors could or could not turn into chivalrous knights. Chivalry was a game of make-believe, a fashionable game that the ruling classes played when they were not busy quarrelling and scheming for more land, following their lords to war, or trying to squeeze more out of the peasants and merchants who lived on their land. These people were either "bold bad barons" or they were "very perfect gentle knights." They were probably a mixture of both. In this essay it will prove that chivalry did exist and played a part in a knight's training.