Chivalry In The Song Of Roland

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.

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.

In??Sir Gawain and The Green Knight?,?the author portrays the nature and code of chivalry as well as the humanistic features of the knights. Knights were but an extension of the king. They were not allowed to do inappropriate things as they were considered the representatives of Arthur. They were meant to treat women appropriately. Chivalry was their main feature.

The historian Richard Kaeuper notes that prowess being crucial to honor may have contributed as much to the ‘problem of violence as it provided a solution’. Therefore, this appears to convey why the concept of chivalry began to be associated with violence and warfare as knights, in the pursuit of honor, became reliant on violence and battle to prove their aptitude. This idea is supported by a medieval knight Sir John Chandos, who stated that men brought up for martial calling ‘cannot live without war and do not know how to’. Maurice Keen argues that ‘chivalry was quintessentially bellicose’ as it presented those who fought has having a ‘pinnacle of honor’. As a result, the use of force by knights as a way of denoting their gallantry led to the belief that violence was intrinsic to the notion of chivalry.

When asked to think of the word “chivalry” and the chivalric code, what is the first thing which comes to mind? Many would visualize the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Most people overlook that chivalry was a code of conduct, designed specifically for the hierarchical order of society and difficult lifestyle during medieval times. The code of conduct included many ideals such as courage, honor, and protecting the weak and was followed by the knights; it also helped control the warrior class by imposing such strict expectations, ensuring they won’t violently turn on those they are assigned to protect. Chivalry played a very important role in the medieval time period.

This also brings with it the idea of being willing to give one’s life for another’s; whether he would be giving his life for a poor man or his lord. Under a better name, it is warrior chivalry. This is thought to be the most achieved duty of chivalry. A knight is not always portrayed as lady killer, but more popularly as a noble warrior. Were knights really as noble as they seemed? The logical of a human really doesn’t allow that to happen. Why would someone want to risk their own life for lives of others? The human mind doesn’t function like that. Knights still fight however, but this is based purely on the fact that there is no way around it. If a knight chose not to fight, treason was the only price. Knights did not have a willing attitude. To appeal to the human mind, why would one desire to throw his body out to a sure death? A man in his sane mind would not do so. This is clearly reflected in the medieval narrative Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The example begins with the knights of the round table all meeting in their hall during evening festivities. A mysterious green knight enters the hall and possesses a challenge. The challenge is that one knight of Arthur’s gets a unresponsive attack at the neck of this giant green knight with his own axe. The only loophole is that in one year and a day

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

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.

During the Middle Ages, chivalry was shaped by Christian moral values and virtues. In Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, Chivalry and plays a key role in the poem’s plot shown by Sir Gawain’s shield whose has a pentangle painted in pure gold on it. Each point of the pentangle represents Gawain being faithful in five ways five times over, the virtues being: faithful, friendship, generosity, piety, and politeness. As well, Arthur’s court is described as having only the most chivalrous and courteous knights known to Christendom with Arthur at the head being the best among the best. But the Green Knight who rides into King Arthur’s court, mocks this idea when the knights fail to stand up and accept his challenge, suggesting that the knights are cowards and only adhere to the pretty aspects of chivalry of: only being beautiful, courteous, and fair-spoken.

Based in the Medieval time period it was very well recognized that this was the time of knights in shining armor, adventure, and planned battles. In the readings “Le Morte d’Arthur” and “Sir Launcelot du Lake” written by Sir Thomas Malory, you are introduced to all of the great things of the Medieval time period. The major key concept that you are exposed to is the code of chivalry, which is a conduct code that all knights must follow. This conduct code can be summed up as the following: being brave, honest, loyal, modest, and courteous; Otherwise if not followed then the penalty would be death. As you begin to read these passages, you witness Sir Launcelot going on different journeys, and enduring different hardships proving himself to be loyal and the knight who falls all aspects of the code of chivalry to its full extent.

The code of chivalry is a great thing that kept the knights in check and made people want to aspire to be them. The best evidence of this being performed is in the Song of Roland which is over the code of chivalry. Yet this was not the first sign of chivalry existing, it originally dated back to ancient times but The Song of Roland made it more well known. The song was composed between 1098-1100 and describes a great inspiring story. This very song is what kicked off the idea of chivalry and what its rules and following are. The song is over 8th century knights and how they performed these heroic acts while being very chivalrous. Roland in this song is a loyal defender of his lord and while telling the story the song describes the code of chivalry and its code of conduct. Thanks to this song it was an easy way to spread the code of chivalry in a way that everybody understood it and would want to follow it.

In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer tells “The Knight’s Tale”, a story of the two knights Palamon and Arcite who fall deeply in love with Princess Emily, a member of Theseus’ kingdom. Even though both knights are imprisoned within a tower, each finds a way to escape jail and try to win Emily. Ultimately, this leads to a duel between the two knights for which the prize is the hand of Emily. Chaucer uses the knights to reflect the very male-oriented time period through the strong chivalry and courtly love displayed towards Emily, when in reality, he was trying to expose the flaws of the chivalric code, which led to the deadly feud between two fellow knights. Essentially, Chaucer is holding up a magnifying glass to what people of the

And every year were they sworn at the high feast of Pentecost” (Malory, IV, 117). Even though Malory does not cover many of his quests, Gawain still manages to help establish a new order in England under the rule of King Arthur, the chivalric code. The word chivalry comes from the French word "chevalerie", which roughly translated means “skills to handle a horse”. Having the ability to handle a horse, particularly during combat is a skill necessary to be a knight in the Medieval Ages. It is a noble act, and when paired with the proper behavior a knight (for example Sir Lancelot) can easily rise to the top of King Arthur’s