Code Of Chivalry Essay

In two stories there is a code that knights follow. Chivalry is the code that they follow. The code says that a knight should be a brave warrior, a good christian, and selflessly fighting for justice. The knights are supposed to fight for their king and queen. In the stories Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and from Morte d’Arthur they show the idea about chivalry.

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.

     An act of chivalry is described as the qualifications or character of the ideal knight. Knights were expected to uphold this code of conduct. In the English literature Le Morte d?Arthur, French for ?The Death of Arthur?, by Sir Thomas Malory, the characters display acts of chivalry from beginning to end. Though the code of chivalry contains many qualities or acts, nevertheless bravery, loyalty, and courtly love are demonstrated more throughout this literature.

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.

My personal code of chivalry is to stand up for those who can not stand up for themselves. Those who are less fortunate, mentally challenged, and or physically disabled. I was raised in a house where you respect and stand up for anyone in need. Being a bully was not tolerated in my house, being a friend to all was expected by my parents. My mom told me at a young age “everyone understands a smile”, whether they speak the same language, have a handicap, or are considered an outcast. A smile can go a long way, and make anyone feel included.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a classic example of the behaviors of a medieval knight and how the code of chivalry works within the courts and towards women. When Sir Gawain visits Bertiak’s castle, he respectfully treats the elderly woman and Bertiak’s beautiful young wife with the same level of dignity. “To the elder in homage he humbly bows; the lovelier he salutes with a light embrace. They welcome him warmly, and straightaway he asks to be received as their servant, if they so desire” (lines 973-976). The treatment of women is an essential part of the code of chivalry. If Sir Gawain had only given attention to the pretty young woman, then he would not have been abiding by the knight’s code of honor. He also keeps the code of chivalry intact when he says “Lover have I none, nor will have, yet awhile” (line 1790). Sir Gawain says this to Bertiak’s attractive wife, when she tries seducing him in the bedroom, which proved Sir Gawain’s loyalty to Bertiak, upholding his chivalric code. Honorable Sir Gawain demonstrates the knightly code of chivalry throughout the poem.

Honor. Honor, known as the chivalric code initially from the Catholic military rankings of the Crusades, corresponding with medieval notions of morals of chivalry. This concept is the main theme in the novel Le’Morte de Arthur by Thomas Malory. In Le’Morte de Arthur, King Arthur discovers the betrayal of his wife Guinevere, and his best knight Sir Lancelot. However, although King Arthur is married to Guinevere he feels the most betrayal by his best knight Sir Lancelot and is pained over his dishonor. This loss of chivalry honor ultimately is the downfall for both Sir Lancelot and King Arthur. Honor and loyalty is seen as the main code that the knights follow before any. The twelve knights take upon themselves to uphold their knighthood

Two conflicting disciplines are prevalent throughout Arthurian Legend; that of chivalry and that of courtly love. The ideal of each clash throughout the medieval tales, and it is impossible to interfuse the two models for society. Chivalry is a masculine code, an aggressive discipline, whereas courtly love is based upon women - their needs, wants, and desires. The consistent problem if Lancelot and Guinevere’s adulterous relationship in different tellings of the affair relates back to the differences presented in chivalric code and courtly love ideals.

By analyzing Sir Gawain’s attempts of following the Code of Chivalry and the fundamental thoughts and actions of human nature helps to further analyze Gawain’s character. The definition of Chivalry is the “set of values and code of conduct for the medieval knightly class” (Shatz) examining Gawain’s attempts to achieve his goal of being the perfect chivalric knight, the nature of his obstacles has to be determined, and the development of his character has to be analyze. In trying to live up to perfection, Gawain discovers that he is not perfect just like society today.

In years of King Arthur and the round table, the knights lived by a code. This code was called the Code of Chivalry. Knights abided by these rules and were punished both physically but socially if they broke one. Today, this code can be translated into modern day unspoken rules.

Just as she lands her perfect beam routine and wins the gold medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics she reflects back on her dedication to get there, “I had to face a lot coming through this journey, a lot of sacrifices, difficulties, challenges, and injuries.” Although, she is known to be a perfect gymnast Gabby Douglas is not the first to achieve perfection. Sir Gawain, a knight from King Arthur's court Camelot, is proclaimed a perfect knight. In the well-known Sir Gawain and the Green Knight this acclaimed knight’s was tested his commitment to following the Code of Chivalry for a whole year. Remarkably, Sir Gawain proves himself to be a perfect knight through his loyalty to the Code of Chivalry.

I have learned a lot of interesting facts that I didn’t know about the medieval times, especially the era of King Arthur. Honor in the era of Arthur is essentially the same as it is in today’s generation. The only difference is that the knights had a code that they were supposed to follow to be a knight with chivalry. Chivalry was the

Throughout history, there have been different codes of ethics that are often more important to a society that the governing laws of the land. While laws are written standards that people are compelled to abide by for fear of punishment, these codes serve as guideline for how people should live their lives. Two such codes are comitatus as demonstrated in Beowulf and chivalry as depicted in Morte D’Arthur. When the characters in these stories live by the constructs of these social systems, the society flourishes. When characters stray from each social code, however, the entire society falls victim.

At this point in history the men who fought the wars were lead by their leaders with a code of chivalry. Chivalry can be explained as “the Anglo-Saxon code on steroids.” (McGee) Which is, explained further, a moral system for a good way to conduct fighting. The knights in Arthurian time went even further with that code to say that it was a way to conduct oneself not only in battle, but at all times. Knights, by being chivalrous, were kind to all people, fought well and true, kept faith and believed in the Christian God, and fought for their kings. Chivalry can be found across the Arthurian texts, The Song of Roland is one of the texts that has multiple examples of chivalry.

Chivalry was considered to be the code of behavior expected of a knight. It was the conduct, ideas, and ideals of the knightly class of the Middle Ages. It became standardized and referred to as chivalry, a term derived from the French word chevalier, meaning knight. The code urged the knight to be brave, courageous, honorable, true to his word, and loyal to his feudal overlord, and to defend his Church. A knight was truthful, honest, capable, educated, physically fit, noble, sincere, and subservient to the king. A serious violation of these vows could result in a knight being classed as an undignified knight, which was the ultimate insult because of all the hard work that was put into becoming a knight. It made it seem as if all of work