The Age of Chivalry

In class, we were given an article titled “Let’s Give Chivalry Another Chance”, and it was written by Emily Esfahani Smith. This article discussed chivalry and it debated if it was rightfully categorized as sexist. Deftly, the writer informed the audience of the controversy surrounding chivalry. At the same time, she was able to subtly add her feelings on the subject, as well as somewhat persuade the audience to feel the same way. Our goal was to read through the article and analyze the various elements the writer included in her writing.

The significance of religious leaders during this era is evident by the fact that the writer of this poem places the bishop at the beginning of the table. Due to the fact that the “medieval society was a religious society” and that these religious leaders held a special relationship with God, it is no surprise that these individuals held the second highest social class position in the medieval time period (Feudalism and the Three Orders (Overview) 2).

Imagen living in a harsh place with Kings, and knights and wars, well that was the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages was a time period in Europe that lasted from 500-1500 AD(OI). There were many social,economic, and political lives during the middle ages. This is what the Middle Ages were like.

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.

Elements of the medieval romance are evident in the movie First Knight. As such Chivalry is clearly evident through the action of Lancelot in the First Knight. This is shown when he goes out to rescue Lady Guinevere from the ambush in the forest and from Malagant castle where she is being held captive after being kidnaped in Camelot, Therefore, this is a clear depiction of chivalry in where the knight goes out to save the damsel in distress from danger. Another act of chivalry is when Lancelot embarks into the gauntlet which is a contraption that test one’s courage, bravery, and skill to be able to pass. Therefore, Lancelot goes through the gauntlet without any protection to display his skill and bravery to impress Guinevere. Consequently,

The era of knights, lances, and chivalry, medieval times, cannot compare to the modern conveniences there are in modern day. From transportation to weapons, even ordinary indulgences, the conveniences of present day are superior to that of medieval times.

The Middle ages was a time darkness and catastrophe. This period of time had no advancement of technology or thoughts. The church controlled the minds and actions of the people. Even though the people of Europe did not think much of the outside world, merchants from Europe traded on the silk road. The silk road extended from China to Europe.

Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary defines chivalry as "the system, spirit, or customs of medieval knighthood." As Leon Gautier, author of Chivalry, defines this "system" and "spirit" of knighthood by identifying rules of chivalry, two of which are well illustrated in Lanval, "TheWife of Bath's Tale," and "The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnel:" "Thou shalt never lie, and shall remain faithful to thy pledged word," and "Thou shalt be generous, and give largess to everyone"(qtd. in Chivalry). All three stories seem to suggest the predominant theme of a knight living up to his word. This is shown by the fact that, in each story, the knight's oath is taken very seriously, is treated as a contract, and is

Chivalry can be considered the code of the medieval warrior, that was based on a set of rules that include honor, valor, courtesy, and, at the center of it all, loyalty. Throughout Njal’s Saga, Njal and his wife are consistently showing chivalry especially when Njal helps Gunnar at the Althing, when he warns Gunnar about the Halberd, and when Bergthora says she will die in the fire with Njal. Similarly to the Nilsson, another character, from Beowulf, who is both a king and warrior consistently shows his chivalry throughout his poem; this warrior is called Beowulf. He shows his chivalry in different ways than that of Njal and his family; he shows his chivalry when he makes an oath to the king, affirms his promise my killing Grendel, and when he protects his men from Grendel. Njal, Bergthora, and Beowulf are both examples of chivalry, and they prove it through their actions that take place in their books.

“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

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.

The power of The Church, in The Middle Ages, was enormous. It touched almost everyone's life in many important ways. The Church baptized a person at birth, performed the wedding ceremony at people' marriages, and

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

The Middle Ages was the period of European history from the 5th to the 15th century during the fall of the Western Roman empire. During the central Middle Ages, social, economic, and political structures were rediscovered and organized. Although Europe suffered disasters of famine and war in the 14th century the main social, economic, and political structures remained the same. Europe began to experience its revival between the 15th and 16th century. The Middle Ages ended with the Renaissance period. While Christians stressed the importance of individuality and human equality, secularism and individualism continued to rise and mark the Renaissance society. The middle classes and peasant populations both believed it was possible to change their standard of living. They no longer subjected to inflexible social position as they began to improve their social class and lifestyle through new ideas and hard work.

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.