Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

THE MODERN USE OF THE WORD CHIVALRY IS A PALE REFLECTION
of what the term once meant. Today it is used to give a sense
of fair play, politeness towards women, a genteel old-
fashioned quality. In the middle ages and in its broadest use it meant
the body of knights themselves, and anything concerning them and
their role in society. More precisely, it was a complex and seemingly
contradictory code of behaviour to which the knight adhered, and the
criteria by which they measured themselves. Although principally
militaristic, chivalry presented ideals of behaviour both on and off the
battlefield, and became an ideology that was to encompass all aspects
of its adherents lives.
As with all ideologies, getting a firm understanding of chivalry as an outsider at nearly
a millennium's remove can be difficult. This is particularly true of its early years.
Chivalry was not codified until the 14th century, and even then books on chivalry,
such as those of Geoffrey de Charny, Honore Bonet or Christine de Pisan, are not
expositions of the concept but seek to answer specific questions of practice and
behaviour. The chronicles and narrative histories can prove instructive in that the
actions they praise and the behaviour they criticize can be equated to chivalric (or non-
chivalric) behaviour. However, the ecclesiastical background of the majority of
chroniclers means that their idea of what is praiseworthy need not coincide with what
the knight considered so. The fictional sources are generally considered to offer the
greatest insight into the chivalric thought-world. The epic and romance literature, as we
shall see, both led and reflected the chivalric culture of which they were a part. Still,
they also offer a distorted vision, warped by fantastical exaggerations and the drive to
tell a captivating story. However, chivalry is so pervasive, so much a part of the world
of the knight, that we have a huge amount of material from which to build our picture.
THE ORIGINS AND INFLUENCES
OF CHIVALRY
There were three distinct influences on the development of chivalry, each bringing in
a different set of values. The first strand was what might be called the warrior ethic.