The 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.

     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.

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.

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.

The origin of the word chivalry is from the French term “chevalrie”, literally used to describe the characteristics of armed knights on horseback.1 It did not originally include the moral aspects which it had become later known for. Into the later times in the Middle Ages, chivalry began to be a more concrete code of conduct which was followed by the high class and knights.1

Each different aspect of the code of chivalry held a separate role in society. Whether it be religious or barbaric, chivalry tended to hold a moral guideline among those who followed it. This moral guideline held them true to their duties to man, God, and women (Sex, Society, and Medieval Women). All of which are reflected in the three themes of Chivalry: Warrior chivalry, religious chivalry, and courtly love chivalry (Sex, Society, and Medieval Women). These three hold their individual roles, all stimulating a different part of the mind and creating a code held by all areas of life in those who hold it. The underlying question posed in this intense pledge is whether those who took the oath lived it out accordingly. To live out Chivalry is

In the days of knights, kings, and jousts, there existed the knightly code of chivalry. This code is seen throughout medieval texts and is described as,“a moral system which went beyond rules of combat and introduced the concept of Chivalrous conduct - qualities idealized by the Medieval knights such as bravery, courtesy, honor and great gallantry toward women...The Code of Chivalry was the honor code of the knight. The Code of Chivalry was an important part of the society and lives of people who lived during the Medieval times and was understood by all.”(Alchin). The respected knight not only followed these rules, but also lived to serve a king. In the two tales of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Morte D’Arthur, three of the chivalrous rules are clear to see. In these two tales, the three rules of the nights that are prevalent in the stories are, courage, honesty, and strength.

Chivalric code was like the federal system in the medieval times. Some of the chivalry codes were loyalty, courage, and honour, these were some of the ideal qualities expected in a knight. knights had to respect their religion , respect women and their king. Some of these codes were portrayed in “ monty python”.

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

The main elements of European chivalry include courage in battle, loyalty to the lord, generosity to the feeble, defending the church, and championing a lady. The chivalry code did not emphasize education, but it was important that the knight was loyal and defended the Christian church. Being generous and courageous

Chivalry is a concept that has baffled countless medieval historians throughout the years. Chivalry was supposedly a code that knights and nobles lived their lives by, however, like other social structures of the past historians have debated over the extent to which people lived according to chivalric principles. Sir Walter Scott believed that chivalry was meant as a code which knights could aspire, but not one that was carried out in reality. His description seems accurate. Chivalric principles could not be borne out in real life. Froissart painted a romantic image of The Hundred Years War and of the aristocracy at the time. Froissart is constantly full of praise for the chivalric lifestyle many of them are