chivalry - what is it really?

Chivalry, some of us think it is holding the door open for women and that is all. We'd be wrong, then. Chivalry code has to do with integrity as a knight, love, and battle. Yes, it does say treating women well is good, but it also has the guidelines to a fair fight.

Chivalry is the honor code of a knight. In Medieval times this was understood by all. It was a part of their society.  A knight was aggressive in battle, but honorable at home. There was etiquette when it came to women. Think King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and you have the romanticized example.

The Code

According to The Song of Roland, this was the code knights adhered to. 

1. serve God/maintain Church  2. serve Liege Lord in valour/faith  3. protect the weak/defenseless

4. give aid (succour) to widows/orphans  5. refrain from offending  6. live by honor for glory 

7. despise being paid for reward  8. fight for welfare of all  9. obey authority  

10. guard fellow knights' honor 11. avoid unfairness/meanness/deceit  12. keep faith 

 13. speak truth  14. persevere to the end/finish tasks  15. respect/honor women  

The romanticized Chivalry

16. never refuse challenge from an equal   17. never turn back to foe

As you can see, only one of these is honor to women and the rest have to do with faith, public duty, and battle. Saving the damsel in distress does fall into the code as number three, protecting the weak and defenseless, but is also number fifteen. Knights were honorable people, if they followed this code. There were plenty that didn't.

Why it was created

The rise of knights meant a lot of hired thugs were around wearing armor and riding horses, while also wearing swords. They were prone to violence and sometimes rewarded with someone's blessing to plunder the land, raping, looting, and burning along the way. The code was a way to protect the elite's reputation, as well as protect the people below them, supposedly. 

The code was not always followed, and the fourth crusade, where the Pope told them not to sack Constantinople, and they did, was one of those times. The noble class got most of the respect, in the case of this code, because knights were into women of status and the code was to cover the elite's hind ends. The poor were not so lucky, in that way. Ordinary women weren't as respected. Only a few texts that referenced chivalry warned against burning towns and raping women, so the reality of chivalry was not as romantic as King Arthur led us to believe.

Chivalry today

Today our idea of Chivalry came from the romantic stories of knights romancing women. I'd say it can be summed up in one word; integrity and putting women on a pedestal. That is one code I can live with. 

After what I just learned about actual knights, I'd say that Knight's Tale is actually more accurate when it comes to the code and how knights actually acted. Is it overly accurate? Probably not, but my point is this; the way those knights acted was far more real than the romantic stories written about them. The character of Count Adhemar was an elite and treated William like dirt, and he went after only noble women, which is a better example of how it actually worked back then. 

Count Adhemar beside Jocelyn

Pictures:
pinterest
reddit
vulture


sources:
http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-knights/code-of-chivalry.htm
https://www.history.com/news/chivalry-knights-middle-ages