Chivalry: A System Of Ethical Ideals During The Middle Ages

The bases of feudalism is best described as a social system in Europe throughout the Middle Ages where individuals worked and battled for upper class who gave them protection and the use of the land in return for their services (Merriam-Webster). “Feudalism” is not a medieval term and not even a translation of a medieval concept (Abels 2010; Brown 2010; Bouchard 1998). In our day and time Feudalism would be difficult and baffling in several ways, but some may feel that we would benefit from it.

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.”

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.

Chivalry first appeared around 10 AD in France. Chivalry comes from the french word “chevalier,” or knight. It was a code of conduct for knights of the church to follow. Chivalry commands knights to fight for the church, never lie, and respect all weakness. Chaucer uses the knight as an example of chivalry in the Canterbury Tales. The knight is a well valued man who has participated in many battles throughout his life. When the knight tells his tale, chivalry is one of the main themes. Interestingly enough, it is believed that “The Knight’s Tale” is actually used to poke fun at the ideas of chivalry and courtly love. In “The Knight’s Tale” Chaucer satirizes the code of chivalry and courtly love through exaggeration and violation of the codes.

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.

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.

Feudalism was a political, economic and social system that exchanged land and loyalty in return for protection. It was a commerce of protection and goods, as seen in the feudal system diagram, there are different types of social classes that have arrows describing what they are trading and to whom they are trading (Document 4). In the late ninth century, peasants gave food and service to the knights in exchange for protection. The knights gave military service in exchange for shelter and defense. The lords gave military aid while the king gives them fief and peasants etc.

A social structure prevalent in Western Europe, in which landlords held power over large estates that serfs or laborers worked on. The landlords in return provided protection of the people working on the land.

Feudalism was a contrasting system dealing with political and military relationships existing among members of the higher social class, Kings, Lords and other owners of large lands in Western Europe during the Middle Ages. The Feudal system started by the granting of fiefs, chiefly in the form of land and labor, in return the lord would receive political and

During the Middle Age period, romance was not based on how modern day societies view love as. Instead of being desires, it was a combination of the Code of Chivalry and the art of Chivalry that impacted how love should be expressed within the community. The biggest organization that truly influenced these roles was the church and the practices that were established through the involvement of Christianity and Catholic aspects.

The act of “chivalry” has changed dramatically since the middle ages and since The Canterbury Tales was written. In “The Knight’s Tale”, Chaucer writes about the quest for love between two men who are in love with the same woman. This quest ends in death for one man and love for the other man. Chivalry in the middle ages included Knights that were expected to be warriors and attendants to the King. Knights were expected to fight to the death for love and then represent the kingdom because of their good deeds.

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

Feudalism was the political system during the Middle Ages that used a complex web of lord and vassal relationships to operate. “The sense of the word feudalism may be regarded as a body of institutions creating and regulating the obligations of obedience and service, mainly military service, on the part of a free man (the vassal) towards another free man (the lord), and the obligations of protection and maintenance on the part of the lord with regard to his vassal” (Ganshof).

Feudalism is a system that was used in Europe during the medieval time period. This system says that the nobility held lands from the Crown. The feudal society could be related to a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid was the king (or lord), who ruled everyone. Beneath him were the landowners who received fiefs (land) from the king.