Consequently, Chivalry (originating from the French word “cheval”) was initially used when referring to horse-riding soldiers. Now you may want to fully understand this by looking up the fact that, “cheval” is a word in French which refers to “a horse”. In the same way, “chivalry” came from an old-fashioned French word “chevalerie” which literally means “horse-riding soldiers”. Cavalry takes it roots from the French word “cavalerie”. At that time, cavalrymen was a branch of the military that used horses to fight. The earlier known usage of the chivalry codes arose from the Holy Roman Empire in Europe.
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Before we delve into the chivalric codes and the modern era concept of chivalry, let’s look at its origin. If the Middle Age generation had a second chance to come and hear us define chivalry today, they are most likely going to disagree with us. It’s important to realize that the “meaning of chivalry” has greatly evolved with time. To further elaborate this, chivalric codes were just some accepted moral standards which viewed an ideal knight as one who exhibits nobility in the battlefield and also presents himself well to other people (especially the weaker ones). It’s very far from a formality: the interesting thing about chivalry is that, it was an informal social norm which was popular during the 11th and 12th centuries.
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What then is chivalry? And what are some of the codes of chivalry? The Meaning of Chivalry That being said, it should not trick you into thinking that chivalry was a formal law written down for knights to observe. In other words, chivalry was a specified code of conduct which spelled out the virtues of real warriors. But we have courageous firefighters, brave policemen and many other men who take part in chivalry and usually do not even expect appreciation for what they’ve done.Chivalry was a medieval era ethical concept which summarized the ideal behavior expected of Middle Age warriors (knights). Today, we do not have knights with formidable weapons and chivalric tournaments, where they present their strength, skills and courage. People’s self-interest and materialism eliminated the knightly code of honor and the spiritual capability of chivalry of old times has been replaced by conventional social etiquette, which includes the act of showing regard for others, good manners and politeness. The medieval tradition of chivalry did not survive because of the political situation in Europe following the Renaissance. Our modern notion of knights is very much based on the ideas of chivalry, and we have to blame medieval romantic literature for presenting knights as the chivalrous ideal. Unfortunately, the well-intended and beautiful “chivalric code”, rarely affected most knights, who plundered, slaughtered, and looted often when given the chance.
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However, unlike medieval knights, who usually acted on their own, the nobles had a tendency to form knightly orders and brotherhoods supported by the ruling government. He had to be neither brutal nor cowardly, and in battle, he must only fight man to man, never two against one. It was the knight’s duty to protect the weak and defenseless, women, widows, the poor, and orphans. He had to behave in a noble and moderate manner, not curse or swear as soldiers usually did he had to master chess-playing and poetry, which was not difficult because many knights were often accomplished, poets.īravery was not enough in order to be a good knight. However, to please the ladies a knight had to do much more than shine at feats of arms. These knightly games were closely linked to the flourishing culture of chivalry and knighthood, which had found expression in the rise of courtly romantic literature. The lady of the castle presented the winner with a prize – usually a garland of flowers.
#KNIGHTS CHIVALRY CODE JOUSTING RULES FULL#
Dressed in full armor they galloped towards one another at full tilt, trying to unhorse the other with his powerful lance. Knights from many countries gathered to test their strength at these war games.