Knights Of The Middle Ages

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.

Knights were usually vassals who decided to fight for higher lords in exchange for protection. They were considered to be in the nobility class. They were usually just military officers. Knights were noblemen who rode on horseback and they followed the strict military code of chivalry, the code demanded that a knight was to obey his lord, to help people, be brave, show respect to women, and honor the church. Many of the good manners today come from the code of Chivalry.

Chivalry is defined as “the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code” (Oxford). During medieval times, those who received an immense amount of recognition were the ones who abided by the code of chivalry. These were the people who earned respect from other by giving it themselves. For example, when jousting, or fighting another knight, men were still to uphold a respect in regards to social status towards their opponent. If one were to lose this fight, they would bow down to the other, accepting the fact that they had been bested. On the other hand, if they proved successful in

After being dubbed, a knight would be expected to practice the code of chivalry. The Code of Chivalry was a moral system to which a knight's life was bound. The Code of Chivalry was meant to temper the aggressive nature of knights. In the name of chivalry knights were required to support their church and their lord at all times. In medieval Europe, knights were below lords and bishops, chivalry further defined their position. Knights were also supposed to fight for the welfare of all, especially the defenseless. Knights were specifically told to protect widows and orphans. Knights were supposed to defend people, chivalry compelled knights to do so. Chivalry also prompted knights to keep from giving offence and to live by honor and glory. Knights would defend the honour of other knights, to improve the solidarity of the knight class. When knights lived by honor, they stayed away from deceit and unfairness. The solidarity and character of knights was improved through chivalry Chivalry motivated knights to never run away from the field of battle and to persevere through any challenges in life. Chivalry shaped knights into better fighters, which meant the people of Europe were better protected. What other tasks were part of a knight's

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”.

The Code of Chivalry was 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 Codes of chivalry also incorporated the notion of courtly love. The Code of Chivalry was the honor code of the knight and was an important part of the society and lives of people who lived during the Medieval times. The world of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is governed by these well-defined codes of behavior. The code of chivalry, in particular, molds the values and actions of Sir Gawain and other characters in the poem.

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.

Some of these virtues were mercy, humility, honour, sacrifice, fear of god, faithfulness, courage, graciousness and courtesy to women. These virtues were encouraged and idealized more as time went on. A knight would compete in tournaments, protect his castle and accompany his lord in times of war. They were expected to know how to fight and would serve their lord according to the Code of Chivalry.

In The Green Knight and Morte D’Arthur we are taught what chivalry means and how it is put to use. Chivalry is a code of the knights you have to have courage, honor, respect and most of all you have to protect your king. We define knights this way because they are strong warriors that fight until the death for their kingdom. In every action that they make it either breaks the code of the warriors or it makes them a better knight. There are many actions in The Green Knight and Morte D’Arthur that show us the chivalry in action.

What does it mean to be chivalrous? Chivalry is the ideal qualities of a knight. “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, Linda, 2014) According to the knights in the Medieval times, The Code of Chivalry was law; you must obey, no questions about it. To be a knight you must have courage to fight the battles places in front of you. You must have honor and be afraid to lose it, because once it is gone you can never fully recover it, keep it sacred. You must be loyal to whomever is in the rank above you, and if

Knights have certain morals that set them up to be able to become successful in what they do. Kings hire knights to protect or fight for their kingdom, like soldiers do for America. Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia says, “The term chivalry came to mean the gallantry and honor expected of knights.” This basically says that knight have things that are accepted of them to be a knight, they have to follow these or they are not a true knight. There are six text that show chivalry within them: King Arthur, Perceval, Green Knight, Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Beowulf and the song of Roland.

Chivalry was the “code” that knights practiced daily. This “code” knights lived by, consisted of religious, moral, and social protocols. The religious protocol is exemplified by always keeping faith in themselves and their peers. Another way that religion was exemplified by their “code,” was to worship God and keep his church in check, and to not sin. They were also required to always hold forth the truth. Some ways that exemplified their morality, were by living for fame and glory. Knights had the obligation to be social, to respect their elders and to take orders from those who had more power than they did as a knight. The knight would take on the challenges of bravely fighting to defend their lords. There were many things made at tournaments, one of which was respect and reputation. Being respected as a

The Code of Chivalry, though never truly being set in stone or truly documented, played a large role in shaping medieval society and literature. Though the basis of this code seems to be rooted more so in fantasy and fiction of the age, we need to take a glance and consider just how much sway the code held in the medieval era. The code of chivalry has its roots in feudalism, the common theme of the feudalistic era, as quoted by many a historian is the idea of “those who work, those who fight, and those who pray” as the main element of that era. The fighting class, or rather vassals and knights, developed a code of conduct that became the essence of good behavior or how one should act in respect to not only their lords, but everyone in society.

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