Chivalry was a major quality that people wanted to live up to between the twelfth and fifteenth century. Chivalry meant that a person had to be brave, courteous, generous, gallant, show respect for women, and have excellent manners on a daily basis. Chivalry was a hard quality for people to accept and be able to perform on a daily basest, but it was still a quality that many people had a lot of respect for, and wanted to have. People even started writing short stories about chivalry, and the different warriors in there fancy armor.
Authors started to write stories about chivalry due to the fact that there was so much respect for chivalrous people and it was such a hard quality for a person to have. Most of he stories that were written were mainly about a select group of honor able knights and a King;the king was King Arthur and the knights were the different Knights of the Round Table. One popular example of a character in a story that showed there chivalrousness is Sir Gawain in the story "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight."
In the short story "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", Sir Gawain showed his chivalrous qualities by doing good deeds throughout the short story. Some of these chivalrous qualities included remaining loyal to his King, respecting another man's wife, and living up to his word even though it might of lead to his death.
At the start of the short story there was a "New Year's Eve feast going on at King Arthur's Court in Camelot. (pg. 96)" The festivities were just about to begin, but before the festivities could get started they were "interrupted by an immense green knight who suddenly... appeared at the hall door. (pg. 96)" The knight came to the party riding "a green horse and... armed with a gigantic ax. (pg. 96)" The knight came to the festivities not to have a good time, but to challenge "The captain of... [the] crowd: (pg. 96 line 5)" Better known as King Arthur of Camelot. The Green Knight wanted to challenge anyone to a contest that was in the house. The contest involved any person in the house standing up and giving a blow to this mysterious knight and allowing the knight to return the blow twelve months later. Sir Gawain showed a lot of courage when he agreed to take the give the blow to this mysterious man in the name of camelot.
This code of chivalry all came from King Arthur. It all began with Arthur’s father, Uther. Uther gets a sword from the Lady of the Lake and this sword is named Excalibur. Later on in the battle among England, Merlin (the magician) grants Uther his wish in return for whatever he asked for. As for this wish, Uther slept with Egrain’s wife as he asked and impregnated her with his soon to be son, Arthur. When Arthur was born Merlin came for what he was promised, and took Arthur away with him, raising him. What Merlin did know was that Uther’s son was soon to be the new King of England. This soon to be king, Arthur, must become a knight and granted the right to be king. However; there are three examples of chivalry from the two texts, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and "Morte d’Arthur" are courage, honor and to protect the queen and all women.
When the Green Knight arrives at Camelot, he challenges Arthur’s court, mocking the knights for being afraid of mere words, and suggesting that words and appearances hold too much power with them. Although the Green Knight basically tricks Gawain, by not telling him about his supernatural capabilities before asking him to agree to his terms, Gawain refuses to withdraw of their agreement. He stands by his commitments, even though it means putting his own life in jeopardy. The poem habitually restates Sir Gawain’s deep fears and apprehensions, but Gawain desires to maintain his own individual integrity at all costs which allows him to master his fears in his quest to seek the Green Chapel. After Gawain arrives at Bertilak’s castle, it is quite obvious that h...
Chivalry stresses fighting ability, faithfulness, honesty, generosity, service to one’s lord, service to one’s lady and loyalty to other warriors. The first part of chivalry, which stressed fighting ability and service to one’s lord, is taken directly from comitatus. Chivalry was not always followed in Le Morte D’Arthur much alike comitatus in Beowulf. The biggest withdrawal from chivalry is done by Lancelot. Lancelot broke this social system by taking part in an affair with Guinevere, by doing this he shatters the law of service to one’s lord. It is this decision that results in other characters in the story to stride away from the rules of chivalry, and in the end bring down the society. His decision caused warriors to conspire to catch Lancelot with Guinevere, which in the end leads to Lancelot killing several knights to escape. A pattern forms where a character breaks one part of the code of chivalry in the goal of keeping another code of chivalry intact. Eventually, this results in the demise of the Arthurian society. Because of Lancelot’s failure to follow the code of chivalry, he and Arthur create a long war. A lot of confusion in the warriors results from this, much like when Arthur’s men are ordered to have Guinevere burned, yet it was a violation of chivalry to not be loyal to your lady, and also a violation not to follow an order of the king.
Today chivalry is mostly referred to in regards to how a man treats a woman. Many of this generation believe chivalry to be a synonym for courtesy. This is because the true definition has been lost over time as it was first used in the medieval times. Chivalry is the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak. So not only does it include courtesy, as we understand it today, but includes other honorable qualities. As chivalry is in reference to an ideal knight, it makes sense that we can identify this quality throughout The Green Knight and Morte D’Arthur. These texts are set in medieval times during the rule of King Arthur. Throughout The Green Knight and Morte D’Arthur chivalry is demonstrated, depicting what it
Dissimilar to King Arthur’s opulent and boyish description, the Green Knight appears earthly, like an overgrown lumberjack in a debutante ball. His very entrance to the narrative aims to shatter Camelot’s superficial relationship with earthly trials. While Arthur seeks pleasure in hearing tales “of some fair feat” (92), the Green Knight undermines all formality known to be chivalrous challenging the king to a life risking game. With a “broad neck to buttocks” (137), (opposed to Arthur’s’ court depicted in the ever regal color red,) the Knight is clothed in green, the color of nature. He appears with no armor other then his faith, merely a utilitarian woodsman’s ax. While Green Knight is described like an animal who is said to have “wagged his beard” (306) yet understands the cyclical nature of life and truth of mans futility, it is only after Sir Gawain proclaims his lack of strength (though he says it at that point as a matter of chivalry) that he is able to ...
Chivalry was the code of conduct for knights in medieval Europe. Chivalry came from the French word “chevalier” meaning, “knight.” This code of conduct for knights originated from feudalism, the social-political system that governed medieval Europe. Nobility mostly made up the chivalric order, but not all (Dickerman, 611-12).
Chivalry began in the 12th century in the form of a knightly code of conduct,
This was a time of enjoyment for the noble lords, but the mood of the room quickly changed once a mysterious green figure appeared. This mysterious knight was green all over and challenged a person in the room to take part in a beheading game. The game was played by a person in the room giving an initial blow to the green knight, who will then give a returning blow a year and a day later from the time of the initial blow. At first nobody accepts the knight 's challenge, but King Arthur had to do something to maintain his status and prestige. King Arthur ultimately accepts the request, but his nephew Sir Gawain, a great and chivalrous knight who is known to hold these qualities, willingly takes his uncle 's place. Sir Gawain stated “I have a request for you, my lord, let this adventure be mine” (4). This quote shows Sir Gawain maintaining those high expectations of being the perfect knight, risking his life in place of his lord. Once Sir Gawain delivers the blow decapitating the Green Knight 's head, the Green Knight 's body picks up his head and speaks to Sir Gawain telling him where to go to receive the returning blow a year and a day later. This also indicates that the Green Knight is supernatural able to still be alive after receiving such a brutal blow. Sir Gawain has now unofficially
The ideals of chivalry are inextricably linked with the medieval period, and even today it is an ideal we still pay lip service to. Many historians however have questioned whether the knights and nobility of the time actually took it any more seriously than we do. Johan Huizinga described it as “a cloak for a whole world of violence and self-interest” , an “illusion of society [that] clashed with the reality of things” , and in our rather cynical age, this is probably the predominant view of the middle ages. Nonetheless, it is not a view that has gone unchallenged by more recent historians, and even Huizinga concedes that for the nobility, chivalry constituted “an amazing self-deception” , an ideal that resonated with many young nobles who wanted to believe in it, for all its impracticalities.
The legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table molded chivalrous conduct. The Knights of the Round Table possessed many aspects of chivalry, but each of them had flaws. Sir Lancelot, for example, wasn’t entirely loyal to King Arthur because of his desire for Guenevere. He remedied the situation by fighting for his king in the battle against Sir Modred. While the chivalry of the Middle Ages is thought by most to have been reserved for royalty, this was not the case. Common folk also exhibited chivalrous conduct, though in less glamorous ways.
Closely associated to the romance tradition are two idealized standards of behavior, especially for knights: courage and chivalry. The protagonist within many medieval romances proved their worth by going on quests, as many a knights went in those times, thus returning with great tales of their travels and deeds. Many modern people think of chivalry as referring to a man's gallant treatment of women, and although that sense is derived from the medieval chivalric ideal, chivalry could be seen as more than that. Knights were expected to be brave, loyal, and honorable-sent to protect the weak, be noble to...
The poem, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, is a chivalric romance of the late Middle- ages. The poem is set in Britain’s midlands and begins with a story about Christmas in Camelot. A brief summary of “Sir Gawain and the Green knight” begins with King Arthur and his court that had been celebrating for fifteen days when suddenly
The code of Chivalry can be described as a brave, loyal, courteous, distinguished courage or ability that is admired for their brave and noble qualities. Chivalry is a system of ethical ideals that arose from feudalism and had its highest development in the 12th and 13th centenry.(Columbia ElectronicEncyclopedia).Respect is an essential part of chivalry. The code of chivalry is a set of rules followed by the knights during the middle ages. The evolution of heroic and chivalry code has changed over time beginning from the Middle ages to now. The three stories Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Lanval and Beowulf illustrate what it takes to be considered a chivalrous knight.
Chivalry was a big part of this fourteenth century and it was embodied throughout the men of king Arthurs round table. In General, Chivalry was a set of religious values and moral goals that medieval knights
Many tales of courtly love are also tales of chivalry. Chivalry began to develop in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and since then, chivalric literature has existed as one of the main sites of human rights and social criticism (Wollock 266). In chivalric theory, an honorable knight gives respect to others in all matters of action and of speech (267). Chaucer describes the knight in The Canterbury Tales by saying, “He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde / in al his lyf unto no maner wight. / He was verray, parfit gentil knyght” (Chaucer 70-72). While Chaucer’s knight is not a true example of courtly love, for Chaucer assigns the Squire that trait, he does possess the qualities of chivalry, which allow him to present a story of courtly love in his tale.