Sir Thomas Malory 's ' Excalibur '

“The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom to serve all, but love only one” (Balzac 1). During the Medieval Age, there once existed a moral system that introduced a set of conducts such as, virtues, honor, and courtly love. This was known as the Code of Chivalry. These codes where available and practiced in knight's daily life. The idea of chivalry is extremely valuable to the people, that even everything a knight wore symbolized something valuable or unique. In other words, chivalry was no game. Authors during the chivalric period were influenced by the concept of chivalry and romance that the authors wrote about it in their work. During the Medieval Age and the Renaissance period chivalry, courtly love, and romance played a

(An analysis of the treatment of chivalry in “Song of Roland”, “Percival”, “Arthur”, and “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”)

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines chivalry as the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code. Sir Gawain, a knight for King Arthur in Pearl Poet’s famous work Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, demonstrates certain standards of chivalry according to the reader. Sir Gawain first portrays these qualities when he remains loyal to King Arthur and accepts The Green Knight’s challenge. Next, Sir Gawain remains honorable to Sir Bertilak by refusing to sleep with his wife, Lady Bertilak, and turning down her request to marry her. Finally, Sir Gawain acts courageously by reporting to The Green Knight a year and a day after accepting his challenge while understanding that The Green Knight will chop off his head. In Sir Gawain and the Green Night, Sir Gawain fulfills the chivalric standards of loyalty, honor, and courage throughout the challenges he faces throughout the story.

(An analysis of the Code of Chivalry and its antecedents using the Arthur stories, the Greek triad, Beowulf, and Song of Roland.)

Each the exemplary of moral fortitude and self-control, these stories thrilled the young and the old for over a thousand years, eventually reaching into such media as Merlin, Relic Hunter, and Arthur. Another of the examples of chivalry that must be talked about in an essay on this subject is the fact that was constituted chivalry and subsequent knighthood in the past is not necessarily what constitutes it now. Whereas the title of knight was mostly reserved for military personnel in the past, the honor of knighthood can be bestowed upon anyone, mainly those who seek the betterment of the UK, as well as artists, scientists, and others who contribute to the overall well-being of not only UK citizenry, but for the betterment of all humankind. Yet another example of chivalry that cannot be overlooked is the fact that knighthood took on many societies and fraternal organization in order to spread its doctrine and protect not only its interests, but also the interests of those around them in most

The story of Arthur and excalibur is a great one, this story shows chivalry extremely well. On page 186 second paragraph, “All these ladies for whom I have foughten for.” This quote shows that men would fight for women. That is the epitome of chivalry in the olden days. To fight for someone, man or woman, is to care for and respect them.

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 Medieval Europe, in order for a knight to be considered honorable, he had to conduct himself by the code of chivalry. The Knights Code of Chivalry was part of the culture of the Middle Ages and was understood by all. Chivalry was a system of ethical ideals developed among the knights of medieval Europe. Arising out of feudalism, it combined military virtues with those of Christianity, as characterized by the Arthurian legend in England and the “chansons de geste” of medieval France. The word chivalry is derived from the French chevalier, meaning horseman or knight (Chivalry. (n.d.). Retrieved June 8, 2015, from http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-knights/chivalry.htm) . Chivalry was the code of conduct by which knights were

Chivalry is the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code. In which both stories Sir Gwain and the Green Knight and Morte de’ Arthur have chivalry in them. In Sir Gwain and the Green Knight is mostly about chivalry because it helps the story progress shows many characteristics of trickery. In Morte de ’Arthur there is tons of chivalry. Also in today’s society more and more people are thinking that chivalry is dead but some people think otherwise.

Chivalry is defined as the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak (Dictionary.com). While the time of the knights has departed, the qualities they stood for are still around and have evolved as the times have changed. Whether it be in stories and culture or in actual lives, traces of chivalry can be found. These qualities are desired enough to still exist today as well as be present throughout history. The reason is because chivalry is beneficial to mankind in numerous ways.

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.

Where oh where has the chivalrous gone? This is something that was important in the medieval era. Basically being a chivalrous man is having courage, honor, loyalty, and minding your manners. The real definition is the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak. This was something that you look for in your fairy tales and men actually lived like this. Their views were a lot different from what they are now. In these poems and stories there are a lot of different kinds of chivalrous acts going on. When a person is chivalry that person is most likely going to be a heroic person in the story. “When one thinks of heroic one should think of Gilgamesh, the ancient Sumerian hero quest or The Iliad and The Odyssey, the great Greek poems by Homer, as well as The Aeneid by Virgil,

The definition of chivalry on dictionary.com is the sum of the ideal qualification of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms.In chivalry men and women are supposed to follow every law and rule to make their family and other families safe. Knights had many duties that they had to follow so that they can become a higher rank knight and have more power. One of the tremendous parts of our society today is chivalry because it keeps the government in order and helps everyone live his or her best life. Chivalry is still needed today to function and to keep order.

Sir Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur” tells the tale of King Arthur and his knights of the round table. Each tale of a character contained a lesson to be learned regarding the proper way in which one conducts themselves. Some lessons within Malory’s tales are more straight forward compared to others. Some lessons appear to be basic and straight forward, but after critical thinking, the lesson appears to become more complicated. Malory or a character within the tale will state something to be taken as fact, but through later actions of the character, they demonstrate that the lesson is indeed more complicated. An example of a lesson being more complicated then it initially appears to be is the Pentecostal Oath. The Pentecostal Oath is the

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