Everything About Chivalry in the Medieval Times

What was chivalry in Medieval Times? What did it have to do with courtly love?

Chivalry was a medieval code of conduct to protect the innocents of the land. However, it changed all the time. Different people had different opinions of what made a good knight, so various codes abounded. There are a few similar ideas, but nothing was set in stone. Stories spoke of pious, chivalrous knights which started creating a new behavior among real knights. Courtly love, a kind of false, adulterous love, actually promoted chivalry and gentlemanly conduct, along with the respect of women.

What did chivalry mean? Were there different kinds of chivalry?

What Did Chivalry Mean in the Medieval Times?

In modern times we think of chivalry as a code of courtesy and conduct that all knights followed. However, it wasn’t always that way. The word chivalry came from the French word Cheval, which means horse. At first, it simply declared that knights had to be good horsemen, which had nothing to do with courtesy.

Besides, even after chivalry came to mean good, knightly behavior, not all knights followed it anyway. Why do something that restricts their ability to pillage? Don’t get me wrong, many knights did try to live up to the ideals of chivalry, but not all. Chivalry was, after all, informal. However, it separated the classes.

Chivalry and Courtesy in the Medieval Times

So when did chivalry become synonymous with courtesy and proper behavior? Chivalry in medieval times came to mean civility when authors started taking liberties and wrote about the ideals of a knight in notable fictional works. The church loved the new code of ethics set out in these fictional works because, previous to them, knights were bullies and hired thugs with a lot of money.

Knights by Max Miller

They pillaged, killed, and fought with each other. Knights were generally terrible men, and the church’s attempts to fix their behavior had been in vain for the most part. Therefore, the fictional works that portrayed knights as pious and created a real push toward courtesy made them pretty happy.

The other ways they dealt with troublesome knights were by sending them on the crusades and inventing a dangerous sport called the tournament.

What did the Fictional Works do to Promote Chivalry?

The civilizing of the knight was helped along by fictional works about love and noble ideals. In fact, many good parts of chivalry may be fictional stories in the first place. The Arthurian Legends were especially popular. Courtly love between Lancelot and Guinevere was recognized.

Medieval Depiction of Lancelot and Guinevere

Even though it ended in tragedy, people sought to emulate it as they believed death was the only good end to love. Another thing from the Arthurian legends was the quest for the Holy Grail.

Indianan Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana with the Hoy Grail

The Holy Grail was the last cup that Jesus Christ drank from before he died, and it has long been a quest for the noble of heart. In the Arthurian legends, it was said that only those both respectable and steadfast could find the Holy Grail.

What did Chivalry Have to do with Courtly Love

God Speed by E. Blair Leighton

What did chivalry have to do with courtly love (see my post about courtly love here)? The simple reason was that by pursuing a lady’s love and pride, a knight would improve himself far beyond what he could be if he didn’t love an unattainable woman.

Medieval Chivalry, explained by The Generalist Papers

It also improved their opinion of women. If a woman was hard to get, you had to treat her with the utmost respect and admiration. The code of chivalry generally suggested that a man aid a damsel in distress. That came from literature and later brought a lot of honor to those who assisted women.

Chivalry by Frank Bernard Dicksee

Every part of a knight’s life ought to bring prestige to his lady (see my post about wealthy women here). Unfortunately, this ideal didn’t really stretch to peasants, so they could still be cruel and dishonorable to poorer-class women (see my post about poor women here).

What Were Some Chivalric Ideals?

As I mentioned earlier, the idea of what made a knight chivalrous was different for different people. There were some basic separations. The first part was warrior chivalry, which was on the battlefield. Warrior chivalry covered things like hiding and sneak attacks.

Cowardice was very unchivalrous and could get a knight into serious trouble, including loss of knighthood and coat of arms (see my post on coats of arms and heraldry here). The next was religious chivalry. Religious chivalry meant that a knight was a good Christian, defended the church, and went on crusades.

Crusaders

They also had to be chivalrous in court. They had to be courteous, understand and sometimes perform music and poetry, and be able to participate in courtly love if they so chose.

Banquet given be Charles the 5th

Manners were essential in a feast, particularly with higher-class people (see my post about the food at banquets here). Devotion was considered crucial in a nobleman’s life. Other prized qualities included honesty, generosity, loyalty to one’s liege lord and the church, courage, and justice. He also had to be devoted to his lady and act honorably.

A Sample Code of Conduct

There were a lot of expectations in chivalry in medieval times that had to be met. Knights eventually became safer to be around because of chivalry. Before chivalry, they could be pretty brutal, caring little for those around them. Is there a basic code of conduct we can use today composed of chivalrous ideals? Let me know in the comments what you think.