The Chivalry: The Importance Of Chivalry

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Code of Chivalry from Medieval times is very relevant to the modern world. We still have the same virtues such as honesty, loyalty, courage, and faith. Though these virtues were practiced more commonly in the medieval times, modern people still have a sense of what is right and wrong because of these

“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

The legends and tales of the knights of King Arthur’s Round Table have resounded for ages—vivid stories of courageous and gallant knights usurping evil while simultaneously maintaining an upstanding reputation. Through the Arthurian tales, one has the opportunity to experience heroic narratives of exemplary models of knights who clearly illustrate the chivalry and honorability one should aspire to possess. No more evidently is this theme displayed than in the 14th century epic poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight—a narrative of Sir Gawain, nephew of the legendary King Arthur, and his heroic journey against a mysterious green knight. In this heroic journey, the inherent charisma Gawain possesses and is continually praised for affirms the

The origin of the word chivalry is from the French term “chevalrie”, literally used to describe the characteristics of armed knights on horseback.1 It did not originally include the moral aspects which it had become later known for. Into the later times in the Middle Ages, chivalry began to be a more concrete code of conduct which was followed by the high class and knights.1

Each different aspect of the code of chivalry held a separate role in society. Whether it be religious or barbaric, chivalry tended to hold a moral guideline among those who followed it. This moral guideline held them true to their duties to man, God, and women (Sex, Society, and Medieval Women). All of which are reflected in the three themes of Chivalry: Warrior chivalry, religious chivalry, and courtly love chivalry (Sex, Society, and Medieval Women). These three hold their individual roles, all stimulating a different part of the mind and creating a code held by all areas of life in those who hold it. The underlying question posed in this intense pledge is whether those who took the oath lived it out accordingly. To live out Chivalry is

Literally, chivalry means, “The sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms (Random). Chivalry is most known from the middle ages; the time of the knights and kings. There was even something known as the knight’s code of chivalry. All knights were to sympathize with the elderly and the orphans, never accept a reward, always fight to help others, always obey authority, protect their fellow knights’ honor, compete against unfairness, always keep faith, never lie or deceive anyone, respect women, and never refuse a challenge (Knights). The knights of the middle ages lived by 12 points which were faith, charity, justice, sagacity, prudence, temperance, resolution, truth,

Back in the middle ages when King Arthur ruled the throne, people lived by The Code of Chivalry. The Code of Chivalry lists the rules on how a knight should live his life with honor. This code was very important to the society during this time period. This was the code that they all lived by. When reading the code, it says “To live one’s life so that it is worthy of respect and honor by Fair Play, Nobility, Valor, Honor, Courtesy, and Loyalty. Next to each word, there are actions a knight must follow to uphold the code. Knights were expected to uphold the code by living with honor and respect and if they did not do so, they would be violating the code. An important part to the chivalric code is to respect. They had to respect host, women, sovereign, god, and the code itself. To uphold the code, knights had to be fair by avoiding things such as cheating and torture. They had to live life with honor by always keeping one’s word and respecting life. Knights who followed the code were recognized as honorable nights. Knights were expected to know that they must live by The Code of Chivalry. The chivalric code was like a “Constitution” for the middle ages.

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

One of the most marvelous types of relationships that anyone can have is Friendship. A majority of people today can say that they have many friendships, however not many know the meaning of true friendship. A true friendship is a relationship among people who will be there for each other in times of need, are usually the best company to be around, and provide the best advice in a certain situation.

Friendship is not simply a "relationship", knowing someone, conversing with that person, or dealing with that person in business, school, or in casual acquaintance. True friendship is not just a "relationship", but self-sacrificing love. A friend is also one who supports, sympathizes, and is a person in whom you can confide. There are unique qualities that a person must have to be considered a friend.

What was the middle ages in Europe like? Well, a man named Charles T. Wood wrote about it in a book called The Quest for Eternity: Manners and Morals in the Age of Chivalry. In this book, it is divided into four sections: The formation of Medieval Europe, The Age of Expansion, The Apogee and Hard Times and the Chivalric Afterglow. This book contains the living conditions of peasants, the church and the aristocrats. It also includes agricultural revolution such as the invention of the heavy plow and it looks over the fall of the Romans, the Crusades and lastly a time before the Renaissance. The following review of The Quest for Eternity: Manners and Morals in the Age of Chivalry by Charles T. Wood will include a summary of the book and a review.