Medieval Chivalry Essay

Literature of the Middle Ages can not be discussed without acknowledging the undeniable importance of chivalry. Chivalry in relation to the middle ages is defined as “the code of conduct adhered to by Medieval knights with gallant knightly values including honor, bravery, courteousness and honesty.” This key characteristic is essential in defining an ideal knight as well as his expectations. A knight must live by a chivalric code in which he becomes indebted to the people, his fellow knights, and most importantly, his lord. No other knight displayed more of a devotion to upholding the code then Lanval of Marie de France’s lai “Lanval.” Lanval demonstrates his chivalric nature in essential every action from maintaining comitatus amongst the

When you think of a knight what do you picture? Do you picture a fragile, cowardly, dishonorable man? Of course not, you picture a strong man who is willing to give up his life for the kingdom. In “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” retold by Susan Thompson, a legend is told of, Sir Gawain on his quest to protect his king and fellow knights’ honor. After the Green Knight had challenged them and embarrassed King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Sir Gawain took up the challenge in an act of true chivalry. In this legend about a battle of knighthood between Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Gawain is the better knight. He is a true romantic hero and follows the Knight’s Code of Chivalry, by serving the liege lord, King Arthur, in valor

Whats a good medieval romance without chivalry? The combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak. “The world of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is governed by well-defined codes of behavior. ... The ideals of Christian morality and knightly chivalry are brought together in Gawain's symbolic shield. The pentangle represents the five virtues of knights: friendship, generosity, chastity, courtesy, and piety.”

The first thing that is portrayed in the stories is courage. Knights did a lot of fighting so they had to have courage. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Gawain tells King Arthur that he will take his place and take part in the Green Knight’s game. It shows courage to take someone else’s place and let someone swing an axe

There are many misunderstandings with the word chivalry, one of them being that the knight never actually swore an oath of chivalry until later in the middle ages. Chivalry was a word that was created by French-speaking English nobility, during the medieval period. The word originates from the French word cheval meaning horse, and the French word Knecht meant knight, by putting the two words together, we get the word chevalier which meant horseman. During the early medieval ages, a knight was known as a chevalerie which meant horseman. Then the lords, who ruled over the

     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.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a knight’s bravery correlates with their ethical code of honor. After the mockery of King Arthur’s court when the Green Knight notes, “Where is now your arrogance and your awesome deeds, your valor and your victories and your vaunting words,” (lines 311-312) one of the many knights in attendance is obligated to come forward to keep their pride and to save the name of King Arthur’s court. Following this encounter, Sir Gawain steps up to fight the Green Knight, which allowed King Arthur to not have to fight the Green Knight. The code of chivalry helps explain that one of the knights has to step up to keep his honor and protect the King and his court. “And the loss of my life would be least of any; and it is I that have asked it, it ought to be mine, and if my claim be not comely let all this court judge. And all councel all unite to give Gawain the game and release the king outright” (lines 355-365). The bravery to come forward and risk one’s life is another of the traits in the code of chivalry of the knights.

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, the author encapsulates chivalrous characteristics in his telling of a battle for love. In its fundamental form, chivalry idealizes a knight’s conduct, both on and off the battlefield (Gregory-Abbott). Chaucer employs this “heroic code [of] bravery, loyalty, and service to one's lord” to illustrate the idillic knight throughout the narrative (Rossignol). Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, exhibits the ideals of chivalry in the form of two knights, desperately in love with the same woman, and a wise Duke who embodies the voice of reason. Each knight upholds honor through compassion, troths, and heroism on the battlefield, despite their afflictions with each other.

A common belief is that a big part in the code of chivalry is courtly love. This is false. The documentary says the code of chivalry bound the aristocratic fighting class and protected the aristocracy families. This doesn’t have and didn’t have much to do with romance. Courtly love is more of the term to use for the code the knights followed in regards to romance. Chivalry was mostly a knights’ duties, roles, and behaviors he was to follow in order to remain honorable. It relates to the knights’ relationship with one another. Courtly love focused on how a knight treated his women. In The Knight’s Tale these two codes are at war with one another.

The Virtuous code of chivalry is shown when the bodies of the women husbands were slain and dragged out into the plain by the the Lord of Thebes King Creon. The Duke showing his code of chivalry promising he would take vengeance “swore on his oath that he was a true knight he would take vengeance on this tyrant King” (29). The Duke

The epic poem Beowulf comments on the unsustainability of chivalry, a social system based off building one’s own honor, strength, and reputation. Similarly, the engraving Knight, Death, and the Devil acts as a visual representation of the inherent flaws of chivalry as a social system. Beowulf, the protagonist of Beowulf, is written as the most powerful man in the world, capable of besting anyone in physical competence—the seeming embodiment of chivalry. This same definition of chivalry is depicted in Durer’s engraving: a lone knight in shining armor. Despite whether or not they were pushed into solitude, the protagonists of these two texts similarly show how chivalry can be undermined when its heroes are solitary figures who do not develop a network of allies. To defend this argument, I will first discuss why the two heroes have been pushed into solitude. Second, I will analyze the warnings given to each protagonist about their respective solitude. Third, I will explore the results following the neglect of the warning, and fourth, I will talk about how each hero’s misguided faith leads to the demise of chivalry. Lastly, I will introduce a counterclaim and analyze its strengths and weaknesses against the thesis.

Chivalry was relevant in many ways in the Middle Ages. High expectations of virtuous and noble behavior on behalf of God, the church, and those the church marked as worthy of protection were the Christianized form of chivalry (Gregory-Abbott). “The ideal chivalric knight was brave, loyal, and determined as well as compassionate, just,

Ideas that have been taught in many societies since the first civilizations of Mesopotamia to the world now are duty, loyalty and bravery. No period relied on these ideas more than the Middle Ages time of Europe. The European societies were based on the nature of feudalism. Feudalism worked if everyone in the society did their duty and gave loyalty to everyone above the on the social latter. The knight was the backbone of the feudal society. He was the protector of the heavenly Lord, their lady and the earthly lord. The roles and duties of the knight are quotes as, “the most noble knight under Christ, And the loveliest lades that lived on earth ever, and he the comeliest king, that the court holds.” (P. 26) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight gives a perspective to view life from the courtly aspect of the European feudal

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.

Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary defines chivalry as "the system, spirit, or customs of medieval knighthood." As Leon Gautier, author of Chivalry, defines this "system" and "spirit" of knighthood by identifying rules of chivalry, two of which are well illustrated in Lanval, "TheWife of Bath's Tale," and "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnel:" "Thou shalt never lie, and shall remain faithful to thy pledged word," and "Thou shalt be generous, and give largess to everyone"(qtd. in Chivalry). All three stories seem to suggest the predominant theme of a knight living up to his word. This is shown by the fact that, in each story, the knight's oath is taken very seriously, is treated as a contract, and is