( Public Domain ) An Attempt to Stop Violence 1255-1265 illustration to the Summa Vitiorum or "Treatise on the Vices" by William Peraldus. Īn allegorical knight preparing to battle the seven deadly sins with the "Scutum Fidei" diagram of the Trinity as his shield. Many of these virtues are echoes of the chivalric values contained in the Song of Roland.
These twelve virtues are as follows: Faith, Charity, Justice, Sagacity, Prudence, Temperance, Resolution, Truth, Liberality, Diligence, Hope, and Valor. ( Public Domain )Īnother example of the code of chivalry is seen in the 12 chivalric virtues defined by Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy, for the Order of the Golden Fleece, which he had instituted during the 15th century. These include ‘At all times to speak the truth’, ‘To protect the weak and defenseless’, and ‘To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun’.Įight stages of ‘The Song of Roland’ in one picture. Others outline the proper relationship between a knight and his liege, such as ‘To serve the liege lord in valor and faith’, and ‘To obey those placed in authority’.Īdditionally, there are many more instructions as to the way a knight ought to behave in his everyday life. One of these pertains to God and the Christian faith, such as ‘To fear God and maintain His Church’. In the Song of Roland, as many as 17 injunctions in the code of chivalry have been identified. One version of a code of chivalry is found in the Song of Roland, the mid-11th / early 12th century epic poem based on the Battle of Roncevaux Pass and regarded to be the oldest major extant works of French literature. ( Public Domain )Īs a matter of fact, there is no consensus as to what a code of chivalry consisted of, and this varied according to the authors who wrote about them. Grand master Pierre d’Aubusson & senior Knights Hospitaller. It is reckoned to have reached its pinnacle during the 12th and 13th centuries, following the Crusades, one of the products of which was the establishment of the Hospitallers and Templars, two of the best-known Medieval chivalric orders. These provide a functional definition to the word ‘chivalry’ but as a code of conduct, chivalry developed over the course of the Middle Ages. The word ‘chivalry’ is derived indirectly from the Medieval Latin and Latin words caballarius and caballus, which translate to mean ‘horseman’ and ‘nag, pack-horse’ respectively. ( Public Domain ) There Was No Consensus on Chivalry Konrad von Limpurg as a knight being armed by his lady in the Codex Manesse (early 14th century). The Nine Worthies: Are These the Most Chivalrous Men in History?.Women Without Virtue Need Not Apply! The Medieval Nine Worthy Women.France and England Didn’t Own Chivalry: Have You Heard of the Polish Knight Zawisza Czarny?.Moreover, there is no unanimous agreement as to what this code of conduct consisted of. Despite being often referred to as a ‘code’, chivalry was not codified during the Middle Ages. In essence, this ‘code’ dictates the manner in which a knight ought to conduct himself. One definition of a Medieval knight is that he was “a man who served his sovereign or lord as a mounted soldier in armor”.Ĭlosely associated with this functional definition of a knight is the so-called ‘code of chivalry’. The knight is probably the first character most people call to mind when they think about the Middle Ages. And those codes? Well, they differed too. They didn’t even agree it was necessary to be chivalrous. But wait, not all knights were chivalrous, nor did they have a universally agreed upon idea of what chivalry meant. The chivalry of a Medieval knight is indisputable, right? I mean, they had a Code of Chivalry and everything.
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