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Courtly love in Elizabethan times
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In the 13th century, knights were held to a high standard in society; not only because of their military skills and fighting abilities, but because of their gentlemanly behavior and activities in the community. The church created a code of manners (according to Barbara W. Tuchman) that helped put the knights in favor in the church as well as put the knight's prowess with a blade to use. In the excerpt of Barbara W. Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror", she goes in depth about the code of manners and behaviors that the knights of the 13th century had to follow to be held honorable at that time. Knights in the 1300's were given a code of manners that they went by to be the best of a Gentleman, Lovers, Fighters, and to be a great man in total. The Code of Manners that was blanketed over all knights (which made them theoretical brothers) covered almost every aspect of …show more content…
Honor was the points that fueled a knights status and how one was viewed by all. Relating to honor, Tournaments back in that day were huge festivals of honor and prowess. When knights weren’t out fighting battles, courting with maidens, or doing the bidding of their lords, they were pretty bored. Tournaments offered gains in prowess, honor, and “brownie points” for their image in the society without actually using strategy or tactics like in real battles. Tuchman writes on how tournaments were like fantasylands for romantic love, true love, physical love, honor, and amazing feats of skill and strength. Tournaments were great opportunities for knights to show their skills for their lords, the general audience, and especially the ladies (according to Tuchman). The courtly love that Tuchman writes about (that was produced a lot at tournaments) was considered good by men because it gave them a responsibility in their lives to be better men, preserve their honor, never let dishonor touch him, and all for the lady he was in love
Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’arthur, T.H. White’s Once and Future King, and George Romero’s Knightriders encompass the evolution of the Arthurian tale from Malory’s time to the 1980s. Through this time many things have changed and these changes can be seen within the differences between each work. While there are many prominent differences chivalry or the knightly code is one of the main forces that tie these tales together. Malory reworks many of his sources to bring attention to the grand fellowship of Arthur’s Round Table and the chivalry that holds the knights together. Malory idealizes the power of chivalry and gives a great importance to it throughout his text. Unlike Malory, White does not idealize chivalry, but he does see the good and honorable aspects of chivalry. From Sprague Kurth’s article, “Conclusion,” it is clear to see that White gives his text an anti-war stance and shows chivalry and the controlling moral compass of Arthur’s knights. Chivalry is once again idealized in George Romero’s Knightriders the situations within the film are modernized but the emotions and illusions remain the same. T.H. White is directly referenced within the film and Malory’s idealization of the glory of chivalry can once again be seen. In my essay, I will show how chivalry is used in all the texts above as a bonding agent between all Arthurian knights. As Arthur’s knights honor and respect chivalry they remain as one cohesive group, but once they begin to abandon chivalry the Round Table begins to crumble and chaos ensues.
Unlike any other character that Chaucer has spoken of the knight is the only one that seems to actually be living up to his role in society. This question me on how truth full, every description is of each and every character. A knight code of conduct is to be polite to others, even those who are lower in ranking than he is. The knight is suppose to serve the king, fight for what he believes in, and be honorable.
with special emphasis on courtly manners toward women. Thirteenth century stories that showed the ways a warrior should behave in romance became popular . Churchmen liked the idea of high standards and made the knighting ceremony a religious occasion with a church vigil and purifying bath. Books on the subject soon began to appear.
The main elements of the European chivalry was that a knight should defend the Christian church, offer loyalty to his lord, be courageous in battle, and also be generous to the feeble. Knights also often championed a lady by protecting her and defending her
Respect for women and courtesy were two major characteristics that knights longed to develop, and King Arthur was able to demonstrate them in two specific instances. Arthur showed great respect for the Lady of the Lake. Merlin, the magician who guided Arthur as he grew to be a legendary knight advised him to “address her courteously, and do as she directed” (page 75). Arthur spoke very politely and she gave him the famous sword, Excaliber. In his respect for the lady, he also promised to give heany gift she wants because she presented him with the sword. Respectfulness to women was one quality knights strove for, but less specifically, a knight was expected to be courteous towards everyone. King Arthur demonstrated this characteristic while dealing with the Roman ambassadors. They asked for a tribute, and Arthur responded, “we shall no...
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.”
It is about bravery, sacrifice, temperament, loyalty, honor and piety. These tenants had no doubt inspired both murder and mercy, the ruinous and the robust: Richard the Lionheart and Joan of Arc could be cited as examples of this honor and good nature in action (more the latter than the former.) Like any code of ethics, while speaking for the collective, it does fall to the wisdom of an individual’s interpretive skills when calling into question it’s effectiveness. How often living knights adhered to these rules is debatable, yet it cannot be excluded that there may well have been that happy few, who forewent physicality and saw the good that could be done if only someone would look past their eyes and give a
Charles Kingsley says, “Some say that the age of chivalry is past, that the spirit of romance is dead. The age of chivalry is never past, so long as there is a wrong left undressed on earth.” Around the 1200’s, the tale of King Arthur and Merlin started to emerge and show the way of how knights lived in their days. When we think of King Arthur, we think of knights, swords, jousting, and the roundtable, but there was a code in which all of these were influenced by. If you were to be a knight, you were to live under a code called chivalry, which is kind of like the Anglo-Saxon code to the Anglo-Saxon warriors. Although, the Anglo-Saxon code and chivalry are two different things, but they are kind of similar in a way: they are both are guidance manuals. In the story,
Knights were an essential group during the medieval time period because they provided protection to all people during times of war. Men who wanted to become a Knight lived a challenging life before they had stability and enough money to begin training. The job of a Knight needed to be taken very seriously because of the many tough training levels men were required to complete. Knights wore several layers of hard armor and carried advanced weapons to provide them with protection during a battle. To ensure all Knights lived up to the same standards, a code of conduct was enforced to keep everyone in their place. A Knight's job was quite difficult so much courage and perseverance was needed to perform the tasks
The period of the Middle Ages was a point in time when the values of an individual were extremely significant, especially to the wealthy and heroic nobles known as knights. The mighty knights are vastly recognized as soldiers that traveled on the backs of horses in suits of weighty armour that fought in battle for lords who in turn fought for the king. The task of being a knight could not be performed by an ordinary citizen. Knights were of the wealthiest and noblest men that fought in battlefields. They were respected greatly, but along with the glory came a set of values that were required by knights to abide by, this code is called chivalry. The values of chivalry consisted of a variety of qualities such as courtesy, loyalty, honor, courage keeping promises and truthfulness.
Chivalry is the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak. In the 12th and 13th century, chivalry was normal to every knight ever known. They wouldn’t think twice when it came to helping the elderly, less fortunate, or women. In
In the days of our forefathers knights if you will. Chivalry was very much alive despite
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...
This knight would be polite, especially to women, loyal to his lord, a devout and humble Christian, and a powerful and strong-willed fighter. While no man could live up to these expectations, an ideal chivalrous knight would demonstrate all of these qualities. Chivalry would begin to fade in the 15th century following the unrealistic disposition of courtly love. From the beginning of the Crusades to this point however, chivalry was not only an important part of the cultural world of the upper classes it would come to define it. Indeed, many of the major parts of life in the Middle Ages, including warfare, religion, ceremonies and romance, were significantly affected by chivalry.
There are two ways you could be a knight in the medieval period you were either born into it or you showed bravery and prowess on the battlefield. If you were born into power you would be sent off to learn how to be a page at the age of 8. Then by the age of 13 were called a squire they were taught how to be a better knight. Knights had a lot of tournaments all the time they jousted, shot bow and arrows, and had hand to hand combat. Knights even had a code of conduct which was also called the code of chivalry. The code of conduct or chivalry told you what your goal and what you had to do to be a good knight. Knights were expected to do a lot around the castles and what not. A knight was expected to protect those less or lesser rank than himself and to hold to the highest standards of combat and knowledge in religion, writing, music, and leadership. A knight was very closely related to their horse. They had a lot training in them horses and hours working with them. A knight had to have years and year of training before they called be called a knight. Their armor was very expensive to produce. They had to be brave and fearless in battle to be able to be a knight. Knights also did some hunting and they had to put some hour into everything they honestly did. Being a knight meant you have a job and you better go get or done or you were severely punished. A knight didn't just stand for having power it meant you