- #Chivalry code of knowledge code#
- #Chivalry code of knowledge professional#
- #Chivalry code of knowledge series#
Just as toxic masculinity and aggressive misogyny persist, so does the original chivalric ideal of the warrior defending human life and freedom against tyranny and its thugs. “We have come together as, if you will, knights at the Round Table, and our King Arthur is justice,” said a young protester in Fort Worth, Texas, after the police killing of George Floyd. Suffragists in the 19th and early 20th centuries – as well as Black Lives Matter protesters today – have identified with medieval knights destroying evil customs.
#Chivalry code of knowledge series#
Their inspiration has fired up a long series of activists who carry chivalric ideals of social justice into the present day. One of the most famous, the peasant girl Joan of Arc, was 18 when she led her countrymen against the English and saved French independence. Spencer Platt/Getty Images Chivalry todayĪs in ancient times, chivalrous medieval women themselves led armies and defended castles. Western chivalry rapidly became a liberating force for both men and women as knights intervened to protect civilians.Ĭhivalric ideals of social justice continue to inspire activists today. In Malory’s version of the story, King Arthur’s knights take an oath that decries brutality toward women and demands they both aid women and “ strengthen them in their rights.” In their most famous works, “ The Canterbury Tales” and “ Le Morte d'Arthur,” respectively, they wrote about women sentencing rapist knights to death or reeducation.
#Chivalry code of knowledge code#
Such popular tales of chivalry pressured aristocrats to adopt the chivalric code – to some extent.īy the later 14th and mid-15th centuries, English writers like Geoffrey Chaucer and Sir Thomas Malory depict the court of King Arthur as a bastion of justice for women, well beyond the norms of that day. A few decades later, the French poet Chrétien de Troyes portrays Sir Lancelot casting aside reputation, glory and treasured warhorses to save the kidnapped Queen Guinevere. In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s “ History of the Kings of Britain” of 1138, King Arthur kills the rapist giant of Mont-Saint-Michel.
#Chivalry code of knowledge professional#
Their adoption of chivalry as a professional code of honor allowed some of them to achieve respect as gentlemen.Įuropean literature soon featured knights and kings as protectors of women. Deborah even reproaches Sisera’s mother for raising her son to plunder and enslave women as “spoils of war.” The Middle AgesĮarly medieval knights were essentially hired thugs of low social status. In her visionary song she praises Jael, the lone woman who assassinates a predatory enemy general on the run. The prophetess Deborah, for example, accompanies an army into battle. The Bible also features warrior women who emerge as chivalric figures. It inspired the international law that nations are governed by today. that require protections for captive women, peace overtures to enemies and prohibitions against destroying fruit trees.
Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the the Hebrew Bible, outlined laws of war around the 7th century B.C. Jewish laws also influenced the chivalric customs of medieval leaders. Enkidu defeats Gilgamesh in hand-to-hand combat to end his custom of sleeping with every bride in his city on her wedding night, and wins that king’s friendship. In it, the wild man Enkidu, civilized by a woman, confronts the sexually abusive king Gilgamesh. in “Gilgamesh,” perhaps the oldest surviving epic poem. The earliest chivalric incident I teach appears around 2100 B.C. Across many cultures it arises to protect society’s most vulnerable.
Rather than fostering misogynistic attitudes or overprotective behaviors that insult women, chivalry has been a liberating force from ancient times onward. Others see it as necessary and desirable to protect groups under attack.Īs a historian of literature who studies chivalry, I stand with the latter group.
Some see it as the mindset of elite warriors, glorifying violence and demeaning women. Chivalry originally referred to the medieval knight’s code of honor but today references a range of – usually male – behaviors, from courtesy to overprotectiveness. Modern society is in dispute over the value of chivalry.
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