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

These were not individual symbols in the way that heraldry was, but rather emblems
denoting membership of a group - a household, retinue or town militia — or, from the
point of view ot a lord, ownership and power over that group. Although some derived
trom the heraldic arms this did not have to be the case. Charles IV of France selected
the device of a winged hart for his expedition to Flanders in 1382 following a dream in
which he was carried to the counly on the back of such a beast. Edward IV of England's
adoption of the sun in splendour followed after his victory at Mortimer's Cross in 1461
during the Wars of the Roses which was preceded by the miraculous sight of a
parhelion - seemingly three suns in the sky at once. Others may have begun as field
signs, ad hoc symbols selected on the day of battle to identify friend from foe. A number
of badges might be used by any particular lord or group; they were not hereditary.
As such there was far greater opportunity tor confusion than with heraldry. At another
engagement of the Wars of the Roses, the battle of Barnet in 1471, which was fought
in a mist, troops belonging to the Earl of Warwick attacked their allies under the Earl
of Oxford because the latter's emblem of a star with streamers was so similar to the
sun with streamers badge of King Edward IV their mutual enemy.
THE LIMITATIONS OF CHIVALRY
If Froissart's sources were right in saying that the disagreement between Chandos and
Clermont led to the latter s death on the field of Poitiers, then it serves as a reminder
that no matter how much the chivalric code might appear to have limited the violence
ot knightly combat, it could also be a spur to violent behaviour. The acquisition of
status and personal honour could only be achieved through acts of martial prowess.
Maintenance of the code required fierce protection of it against all challenges and
threats; hence Chandos and Scrope's responses to the perceived loss of their identity,
and the need for the Fechtbiicber and fight-masters to train men for judicial combat and
duels in the 15th and 16th centuries. The rash, almost suicidal behaviour of the Earl
of Gloucester at Bannockburn and the Count of Artois and the Templars at Mansourah
reflects the competitive nature of the chivalric ethos. The tables of honour set up in the
chapters of secular orders, and the prizes awarded at the end of tournaments for those
agreed to have shown the greatest ability, encouraged knights to try to outdo each
other, vying to be the most highly regarded warrior. The romance tales both reflected
and encouraged this attitude. They are full of challenges and insults repaid in combat,
the defence ot honour and its acquisition through martial victory. Chivalry was a code
predicated on acts of violence and its use was accepted and lauded, provided the knight
did not derive too much pleasure from its brutality.
CHIVALRY: THE KNIGHTLY CODE -