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Influence of the catholic church during the medieval times
Chivalry and code of chivalry
Influence of the catholic church during the medieval times
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Mrs. Herald
World Cultures
Period 5/6
David Thornberry
Medieval Code of Chivalry
During 500-1500 AD, there was a time period called the “Dark Ages.” People back then were not as civilized as they were today, therefore, Knights invented a set of moral rules called “The Medieval code of Chivalry.” Believe it or not, it is still in use today. People who use is are often called: polite, gentlemen, or even chivalrous. According to “Medieval Life and Times” It brought up qualities idealized by the Medieval knights such as bravery, courtesy, honor and great gallantry toward women.
“The medieval period was also known for violence and death, thus it was also called the Dark Ages. Knights were expected to have the strength and skills to face combat but they must also know how to temper their aggressive side with chivalrous acts.” - Medieval Chronicles. While undergoing knighthood, they took chivalrous oaths and vows, which helped emphasize the code: Fear God and
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his church, Serve the liege lord in valor and faith, Protect the weak and defenseless, live by honor and for glory, and Respect the honor of women. The Medieval Code of Chivalry has been translated by many people, Most notably by the Duke of Burgandy. He says that Knights should have these qualities: Liberality, Charity, Temperance, Justice, Faith, Sagacity, Diligence, Valor, Hope, Truth, Prudence, and Resolution. Liberality means “to be open to new ideas,” Charity means “to give,” Temperance means “abstinence from alcoholic drink,” Justices means “Just behavior or treat mean,” Faith means “A strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion,” Sagacity means “having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment,” Diligence means “careful and persistent work or effort,” Valor means “great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle,” Hope means “A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen,” Truth means “the quality or state of being true,” Prudence means “Acting with or showing care and thought for the future,” and lastly, Resolution means “a firm decision to do or not to do something,” Most people would agree that these are noble feats to have, which is why some people think of King Arthur.
A lot of these beliefs were based on the Arthurian figure and the Knights of the Round Table. “The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom; to serve all, but love only one.” - Honoré de Balzac. This quote is quite self-explanatory. Serve all, but love only one. There is also proof that the code is based on Christian beliefs, which sounds very likely.
Knights are servants to their liege, and to God, that the quote by Honoré de Balzac says just that. Most knights were, in fact, Christian, which is why many of Christian morals are still around today. If Chivalry were to stick around for one thousand years, their beliefs would too. As stated previously; Chivalry has been around for a long time. Has someone ever held the door for you? That is a sign of chivalry. That is why men show gallantry towards women at this time of day. It’s because it’s chivalrous, and being chivalrous is a goal of
knights.
... has changed drastically. During the Middle Ages, chivalry was a code of brave and courteous conduct for knights. During the Middle Ages, the people who lived during this time use chivalry as a code of conduct .There are some forms of Chivalry today but to a smaller degree than in the Middle Ages. Some examples of chivalry today are helping the elderly, family, and friends with some activities. It’s not possible to be as chivalrous as the knights in the Middle Ages were because our lifestyles have changed. Since the beginning of the Middle Ages, chivalry has been an important part of life. Society had high expectations for knights. Knights strictly followed by these rules and were punished both physically and socially if they broke them. They had many responsibilities such as protect the church, serve their lord, protect the weak and practice courtly love(Chivalry).
Life during the Middle Ages was full of social change, division, and classism. This feudal society of Britain was divided into three estates. (social classes) Within the second estate was the the knight who was a soldier for the king who fought in many battles. Even though the knight is expected to have the strength and the skills to fight in battle, all knights during the Medieval period additionally had a chivalrous aspect to them. Chivalry was the honor code of a knight which included bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women. Within the stories of the “Wife of Bath’s Tale” and “Le Morte d’Arthur”, the code of chivalry was broken by knights which show the corruption of England’s feudal society.
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.
During the Medieval Times, knights hold high status and are seen as sovereign, yet their actions are contradicting. Knights stand for loyalty, justice, and chivalry; however, most are liars, cheaters, and foolish. Throughout medieval literature, authors create characters that contain both attributes and utilize literary elements to highlight this medieval crisis. Many Knights maintain a loyal and noble character because chivalry outlasts hypocrisy.
Chivalry began in the 12th century in the form of a knightly code of conduct,
In the Medieval Period, knights dedicated their lives to following the code of chivalry. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, a number of characters performed chivalrous acts to achieve the status of an ideal knight. Their characteristics of respect for women and courtesy for all, helpfulness to the weak, honor, and skill in battle made the characters King Arthur, King Pellinore, and Sir Gryfflette examples of a what knights strove to be like in Medieval society. Because of the examples ofchivalry, Le Morte d’Arthur showed what a knight desired to be, so he could improve theworld in which he lived.
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
The epic poem, “The Lay of the Nibelungs” (1200’s), set to practice the major pillars in the code of chivalry that the Duke of Burgundy in the 14th century eventually condensed and ascribed to the Burgundian Knights: Faith, Charity, Justice, Sagacity, Prudence, Temperance, Resolution, Truth, Liberality, Diligence, Hope, and Valor. Though values bear merit, “The Lay of the Nibelungs” teaches that true worth and longevity comes from assessing the situation and applying intellect to the code, from submitting to God, and from not cheating the system (the laws and cultural norms of the time that be).
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...
In the tale, The Knight’s Tale, Chaucer made sure not to deviate away from what he saw during his time because some qualities emerged as prominent figures. The Knight’s Tale made sure to exemplify the idea of courtly love and what it truly means to be a knight who follows the code of chivalry. Some of the qualities of being chivalrous is being generous, honest, courageous, and supporting the notion of justice, which the readers can see that Chaucer understood the significance of the noble behavior and how that affected people at that time. Furthermore, the article, “The Canterbury Tales for Poetry of Students” highlighted how the noble life of the chivalry was a momentous part of the tale since the tale was “a comment on the possibilities
Code of Conduct (An Analysis of Chivalry in The Green Knight and Arthur) Have you ever felt the need to do something in order to keep your honor? Have you ever followed something morally or religiously? Chivalry is the moral and religious code of all knights. It is found many times in several pieces of framer literature.
Chivalry dealt with loyalty honor, and service to women on and off the battle field’ (“The Medieval Period: 1066-1485” 76). The Knight in The Canterbury Tales is the perfect example of someone who follows the code of chivalry. Chaucer describes him with much admiration as “a most distinguishable man, who from the day on which he first began to ride abroad had followed chivalry, truth, honor generousness and courtesy” (Chaucer, "The Prologue." 117). While Chaucer praises the knight for ... ... middle of paper ... ...
This was the code of conduct that the knights had to uphold in the tale. When Sir Lancelot is in danger of being killed, he says to Queen Guinevere that “I will save you from all manner adventurous dangers” (301). Here, Lancelot is obeying the Chivalric code because he is promising to protect Guinevere. However, Lancelot is also seen breaking the Chivalric Code. This is seen when he kills Sir Colgrevance of Gore.
INTRODUCTION Code of Chivalry was a "moral, religious and social code of knightly conduct," that shows "courage, honor and service" which developed between 1170 and 1220. It points out bravery, military skill, generosity in victory, loyalty, kindness and respect to women. Chivalry stems from the French chevalier, meaning knight. Origins in the word virtus is followed back to a Latin word vir, “man”. A list of alike words associated 2 with the word virtues are from masculine strength.
During medieval times, knights had to follow a social code dubbed chivalry. Chivalry was the way knights would act around their lover and around other knights. Knights were expected to devote themselves completely to their lover and to their troop. Andreas Cappellanus wrote up a set of rules for knights to follow in their love life that followed the code of chivalry. Many people today think that chivalry is dead, but could plainly see that is not the case just by looking at today’s pop culture. Examples of Cappellanus’ rules can be seen in Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Twilight, and How I Met Your Mother.