Editing Chivalry (section)

==History==
{{Further|Knight|Orders of knighthood}}

=== Europe before 1170: Courtliness and the noble ''habitus'' ===
Prior to codified chivalry, there was the uncodified code of noble conduct that focused on the {{lang|fro|preudomme}}, which can be translated as a wise, honest, and sensible man. This uncodified code—referred to as the noble {{lang|la|habitus}}—is a term for the environment of behavioural and material expectations generated by all societies and classes.<ref>{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=52}}</ref> As a modern idea, it was pioneered by the French philosopher/sociologists [[Pierre Bourdieu]] and [[Maurice Merleau-Ponty]], even though a precedent exists for the concept as far back as the works of Aristotle.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Malikail|first=Joseph|url=http://www.minerva.mic.ul.ie/vol7/moral.html|title=Moral Character: Hexis, Habitus, and 'Habit'|access-date=25 May 2015|archive-date=15 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151215020431/http://www.minerva.mic.ul.ie/vol7/moral.html|url-status=live|journal=Minerva: An Internet Journal of Philosophy|volume=7|year=2003}}</ref> Crouch in 2019 argued that the {{lang|la|habitus}} on which "the superstructure of chivalry" was built and the {{lang|fro|preudomme}} was a part, were recognised by contemporaries as components of ''courtoisie'' (from Latin ''curialitas'') which was defined as superior conduct appropriate to the aristocratic hall (''court'' or ''curia'').  He saw it as being taught within the confines of the hall by its senior figures to youths confided to the lord and his household for their social upbringing.  Crouch suggested courtliness had existed long before 1100 and preceded the codified medieval noble conduct we call chivalry, which he sees as beginning between 1170 and 1220.<ref>D. Crouch, ''The Chivalric Turn'' (Oxford, 2019), 39-145</ref>

The pre-chivalric noble {{lang|la|habitus}} as discovered by Mills and Gautier and elaborated by Stephen Jaeger and David Crouch are as follows:
# '''Loyalty''': It is a practical utility in a warrior nobility. [[Richard Kaeuper]] associates loyalty with ''prowess''.<ref name="Crouch_56">{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=56}}</ref> The importance of reputation for loyalty in noble conduct is demonstrated in {{clarify|text=William Marshal biography|reason=how is it demonstrated? is this a biography of William Marshal or by William Marshal? Who was he?|date=July 2023}}.<ref name="Crouch_56"/>
# '''Forbearance''': knights' self-control towards other warriors and at the courts of their lords was a part of the early noble {{lang|la|habitus}} as shown in the {{lang|la|Conventum}} of [[Hugh IV of Lusignan|Hugh de Lusignan]] in the 1020s.<ref name="auto">{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=63}}</ref> The nobility of mercy and forbearance was well established by the second half of the 12th century long before there was any code of chivalry.<ref>{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=65}}</ref>
# '''Hardiness''': Historians and social anthropologists{{who|date=March 2020}} documented that in the early stages of 'proto-chivalry,' physical resilience and prowess in warfare were almost prerequisites for chivalry-associated knighthood. For warriors, regardless of origin, displaying exceptional physical prowess on the battlefield often led to attaining noble-knightly status or immediate nobilitation. To deliver a powerful blow in Arthurian literature almost always certifies the warrior's nobility. This view was supported by formal chivalric authorities and commentators: the anonymous author of ''La vraye noblesse'' states that a person of 'low degree' with martial bearing should be elevated to nobility by the prince or civic authority, "even though he be not rich or of noble lineage". Scholastic analyst Richard Kaeuper summarizes the matter: "A knight's nobility or worth is proved by his hearty strokes in battle".{{r|Kaeuper|page=131}} The virtue of hardiness, aligned with forbearance and loyalty, was a key military virtue of the {{lang|fro|preudomme}}. According to Philip de Navarra, a mature nobleman should possess hardiness as part of his moral virtues. Geoffrey de Charny also underscored the importance of hardiness as a masculine virtue tied to religious sentiments of {{lang|la|[[contemptus mundi]]}}.<ref>{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=67}}</ref>
# '''Largesse''' or '''Liberality''': generosity was part of a noble quantity. According to [[Alan of Lille]], largesse was not just a simple matter of giving away what he had, but "{{lang|la|Largitas}} in a man caused him to set no store on greed or gifts, and to have nothing but contempt for bribes."<ref>{{harvp|Crouch|2005|pp=69–70}}</ref>
# '''The Davidic ethic''': encompasses the noble qualities of {{lang|fro|preudomme}} derived by clerics from [[Bible|Biblical tradition]]. This concept aligns with the classical Aristotelian notion of the "magnanimous personality" and the early Germanic and Norse tradition of the war-band leader as a heroic figure. The Christian-Davidic guardian-protector role of warrior-leadership emerged from the Frankish church to legitimize authority based on ethical commitment to safeguarding the vulnerable, ensuring justice for widows and orphans, and firmly opposing cruelty and injustice by those in power. This opposition extended to sub-princely magistrates and even monarchs who violated ethical principles of {{lang|la|lex primordialis}} or {{lang|la|lex naturae}}.<ref>{{harvp|Crouch|2005|pp=71–72}}</ref> At the heart of the Davidic ethic lies the idea of the strong demonstrating benevolence towards the weak.<ref>{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=78}}</ref> John of Salisbury imbibed this lineage of philosophico-clerical, chivalric justifications of power, and describes the ideal enforcer of the Davidic ethic in this way: {{blockquote|The [warrior-]prince accordingly is the minister of the common interest and the bond-servant of equity, and he bears the public person in the sense that he punishes the wrongs and injuries of all, and all crimes, with even-handed equity. His rod and staff also, administered with wise moderation, restore irregularities and false departures to the straight path of equity, so that deservedly may the Spirit congratulate the power of the prince with the words, 'Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me.' [{{bibleverse|Psalm|23:4}}] His shield, too, is strong, but it is a shield for the protection of the weak, and one which wards off powerfully the darts of the wicked from the innocent. Those who derive the greatest advantage from his performance of the duties of his office are those who can do least for themselves, and his power is chiefly exercised against those who desire to do harm. Therefore not without reason he bears a sword, wherewith he sheds blood blamelessly, without becoming thereby a man of blood, and frequently puts men to death without incurring the name or guilt of homicide.<ref name="Sourcebook">{{cite web |title=Medieval Sourcebook: John of Salisbury: Policraticus, Book Four (selections) |work=[[Fordham University]]) |last=Halsall |first=Paul |access-date=February 20, 2021 |date=October 1998 |url=https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/salisbury-poli4.asp |archive-date=10 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201210091345/https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/salisbury-poli4.asp |url-status=live }}</ref>}}
# '''Honour''': [[honour]] was achieved by living up to the ideal of the {{lang|fro|preudomme}} and pursuing the qualities and behaviour listed above.<ref name="auto1">{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=79}}</ref> [[Maurice Keen]] notes the most damning, irreversible mode of "demoting" one's honorific status, again humanly through contemporary eyes, consisted in displaying pusillanimous conduct on the battlefield. The loss of honour is a humiliation to a man's standing and is worse than death. [[Bertran de Born]] said: "For myself I prefer to hold a little piece of land in ''onor'', than to hold a great empire with dishonor".<ref name="auto1"/>

From the 12th century onward, chivalry came to be understood as a moral, religious, and social code of knightly conduct. The particulars of the code varied, but codes would emphasise the virtues of courage, honour, and service. Chivalry also came to refer to an idealisation of the life and manners of the knight at home in his castle and with his court. The code of chivalry, as it was known during the late medieval age, developed between 1170 and 1220.<ref>{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=80}}</ref>

===The Crisis of Courtliness and Rise of Chivalry===
Courtliness remained a recognised form of superior conduct in medieval European society throughout the middle ages.  Courtly behaviour was expected of all aristocrats and its norms were integrated into chivalric literature.  But as Crouch demonstrated courtliness (unlike chivalry) was not confined to noble society.  There are examples of servants, merchants, clergy and free peasants being commended for their 'courtly' behaviour in medieval literature.<ref>Crouch, 2005, 56-7</ref> His explanation for the appearance of chivalry as a recognisable and prescriptive code of behaviour is tied into the more exclusive definition of nobility that appears in the late 12th century.  This had a particular impact on the professional horse warrior, the knight.  Retained knights were a prominent feature of the households of barons, counts and princes, and were thought to be proper associates of their lords.  As such knights adopted the fashions and behaviours of their lords.  In many cases knights were often drawn from the younger sons of noble families so they would regard themselves as being noble too, if less noble than their lords.  Crouch locates the tipping point of the nobilising of the knight as in the households of the sons of King Henry II of England, and in particular his eldest son, the [[Henry the Young King]] (died 1183).  Young Henry lived a lavish lifestyle of unprecedented expense focussed on the great northern French tourneying society of the 1170s and 1180s.  Since Young Henry had no domains to rule, his father was willing to fund the itinerant playboy lifestyle of his son to distract him from meddling in his realms, and also to stake a claim to the cultural high ground over the other European princes of the day.<ref>Crouch (2019), 122-9, 303-4</ref>  Young Henry was nonetheless heavily criticised for his wasteful and hedonistic life, and Crouch finds it significant that the first known work which used the knight as a moral exemplar and as a definitive nobleman, the ''De Re Militari'' of [[Ralph Niger]] (c. 1187) was written by the young man's former chaplain, in part as a moral defence of the knightly lifestyle.<ref>Crouch, (2019), 291-3</ref>

Crouch suggests another reason why chivalry coalesced as a noble code in the late 12th century in his analysis of conduct literature.  He suggests that the courtly habitus underwent a crisis as its moral failure became obvious to writers, particularly in the materialism that motivated courtly society.  Crouch sees the ''Roman des Eles'' of the poet-knight [[Raoul de Houdenc]], as a critique of courtliness and its failures.  Raoul's solution is to focus moral eminence on the figure of the knight, who is to be the avatar of a new moral nobility, set above all other males.  A knight was to eschew materialism (''envie'') and to embrace noble generosity (''largesce'').

===Themes of chivalric literature===
In [[medieval literature]], chivalry can be classified into three overlapping areas:
#Duties to countrymen and fellow Christians: this includes mercy, courage, valour, fairness, protection of the weak and the poor, and the servant-hood of the knight to his lord. This also includes being willing to give one's life for another's; whether for a poor man or his lord.
#Duties to God: this includes being faithful to God, protecting the innocent, being faithful to the church, being the champion of good against evil, being generous, and obeying God above the feudal lord.
#Duties to women: this is probably the most familiar aspect of chivalry. This includes what is often called courtly love—the idea that the knight is to serve a lady, and after her all other ladies—and a general gentleness and graciousness to all women.

Different weight given to different areas produced different strands of chivalry:
;warrior chivalry: in which a knight's chief duty is to his lord, as exemplified by Sir [[Gawain]] in ''[[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]]'' and ''[[The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle]]''
;religious chivalry: in which a knight's chief duty is to protect the innocent and serve God, as exemplified by Sir [[Galahad]] or Sir [[Percival]] in the [[Holy Grail|Grail legends]]
;courtly love chivalry: in which a knight's chief duty is to his own lady, and after her, all ladies, as exemplified by Sir [[Lancelot]] in his love for Queen [[Guinevere]] or Sir [[Tristan]] in his love for [[Iseult]]

===Origins in military ethos===
[[File:Roman Museum 007.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of a [[Roman cavalry]]man ({{lang|la|[[Equites|eques]]}})]]
Emerging with the [[knight]]'s character and the chivalric ethos were novel elements: revised social status, innovative military tactics, and fresh literary themes.<ref>{{harvp|Keen|2005|p=42}}</ref> Chivalric codes encompassed regulations such as pledging loyalty to the overlord and upholding warfare rules. These rules dictated refraining from attacking a defenseless opponent and prioritizing the capture of fellow nobles for later ransom instead of immediate harm, akin to adhering to a perceived codified law.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Holt Literature and Language Arts Course Six|last=Holt|isbn=978-0030564987|location=Houston. TX|pages=100|date=May 2002}}</ref> The chivalric ideals are based on those of the early medieval warrior class, and martial exercise and military virtue remain integral parts of chivalry until the end of the medieval period,<ref name=sweeney>{{harvp|Sweeney|1983}}</ref> as the reality on the battlefield changed with the development of [[Early Modern warfare]], and increasingly restricted it to the [[Tournament (medieval)|tournament ground]] and [[duel]]ling culture. The [[joust]] remained the primary example of knightly display of martial skill throughout the [[Renaissance]] (the last Elizabethan [[Accession Day tilt]] was held in 1602).

The martial skills of the knight carried over to the practice of [[Medieval hunting|the hunt]], and hunting expertise became an important aspect of courtly life in the later medieval period (see [[terms of venery]]).  Related to chivalry was the practice of [[heraldry]] and its elaborate rules of displaying coats of arms as it emerged in the [[High Middle Ages]].

===Chivalry and Christianity===
{{Further|Knightly Piety}}

Christianity had a modifying influence on the classical concept of heroism and virtue, nowadays identified with the virtues of chivalry.<ref>{{harvp|Corrêa de Oliveira|1993|p=10}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Keen|2005|p=56}}</ref> The [[Peace and Truce of God]] in the 10th century was one such example, which placed limits on knights to protect and honour the weaker members of society and also help the church maintain peace. At the same time the church became more tolerant of war in the defence of faith, espousing theories of the [[just war]]; and [[liturgies]] were introduced which blessed a knight's sword, {{clarify|text=and a bath of chivalric purification|reason=what's that?|date=July 2023}}. In the [[Grail]] romances and ''Chevalier au Cygne'', it was the ethos of the Christian knighthood that its way of life was to please God, and chivalry was an order of God.<ref>{{harvp|Keen|2005|p=62}}</ref> Chivalry as a Christian vocation combined [[Teutons|Teutonic]] heroic values with the militant tradition of [[Old Testament]].<ref name="auto"/>

[[File:Ghent Altarpiece E - Knights of Christ.jpg|thumb|upright|''Knights of Christ'' by [[Jan van Eyck]]]]

The first noted support for chivalric vocation, or the establishment of a knightly class to ensure the sanctity and legitimacy of Christianity, was written in 930 by [[Odo of Cluny|Odo]], abbot of [[Cluny]], in the ''Vita of St. Gerald of Aurillac'', which argued that the sanctity of Christ and Christian doctrine can be demonstrated through the legitimate unsheathing of the "sword against the enemy".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Life of St. Gerald, by Odo|year=1954|publisher=Penn State Press|page=371}}</ref> In the 11th century the concept of a "knight of Christ" ({{lang|la|miles Christi}}) gained currency in France, Spain, and Italy.<ref name=sweeney/> These concepts of "religious chivalry" were further elaborated in the era of the [[Crusades]], with the Crusades themselves often seen as a chivalrous enterprise.<ref name=sweeney/> The [[Military order (society)|military order]]s of the crusades which developed in this period came to be seen as the earliest flowering of chivalry,<ref>{{Britannica|113409}}</ref> and some of their opponents like [[Saladin]] were likewise depicted as chivalrous adversaries. It remains unclear to what extent the notable military figures of this period—such as Saladin, [[Godfrey of Bouillon]], [[William Marshal]], or [[Bertrand du Guesclin]]—actually did set new standards of knightly behaviour, or to what extent they merely behaved according to existing models of conduct which came in retrospect to be interpreted along the lines of the "chivalry" ideal of the Late Middle Ages.<ref name=sweeney/> Nevertheless, chivalry and crusades were not the same thing. While the crusading ideology had largely influenced the ethic of chivalry during its{{ambiguous|date=July 2023}} formative times, chivalry itself was related to a whole range of martial activities and aristocratic values which had no necessary linkage with crusading.<ref>{{harvp|Keen|2005|pp=44–45}}</ref>

The [[Virgin Mary]] was venerated by multiple chivalric orders, including the [[Teutonic Knights]], who honored her as their patroness.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chivalry, Kingship and Crusade: The English Experience in the Fourteenth Century|author=Timothy Guard|year=2013|isbn= 9781843838241|publisher=Boydell Press|pages=73–89}}</ref> The medieval development of chivalry, with the concept of the honour of a lady and the ensuing knightly devotion to it, not only derived from the thinking about Mary, but also contributed to it.<ref>{{harvp|Bromiley|1994|p=272}}</ref> Although women were at times viewed as the source of evil, it was Mary who as mediator to God was a source of refuge for man. The development of medieval [[Mariology]] and the changing attitudes towards women paralleled each other.<ref>{{harvp|Tucker|1987|p=168}}</ref>

===Influence of the Moors and Romans===
The works of Roman poets like [[Ovid]] and [[Cicero]] bore some similarities to the typical depiction of romance in chivalric literature during the Middle Ages. In Ovid's works, lovers "became sleepless, grew pale, and lost their appetite," while Cicero's works celebrated the "ennobling power of love". Some scholars also point to the romantic poetry of the Arabs as antecedents to the depiction of courtly love in medieval European literature. In the works of the Cordoban author [[Ibn Hazm]], for example, "lovers develop passions for slave boys as well as girls, interchangeably, and the slave is recognized as now the master of his beloved." Ibn Hazm's ''[[The Ring of the Dove]]'' is a noteworthy depiction of a lover's extreme submissiveness.<ref>{{cite book|title=Rethinking Chivalry and Courtly Love|author=Jennifer G. Wollock|year=2011|isbn=9780313038501|publisher=ABC-Clio|pages=30–42}}</ref>

Medieval courtly literature glorifies the valour, tactics, and ideals of both [[Moors]] and ancient Romans.<ref name="sweeney" /> For example, the ancient handbook of warfare written by [[Vegetius]] called ''[[De re militari]]'' was translated into French in the 13th century as ''L'Art de chevalerie'' by [[Jean de Meun]]. Later writers also drew from Vegetius, such as Honoré Bonet, who wrote the 14th century ''L'Arbes des batailles'', which discussed the morals and laws of war. In the 15th century [[Christine de Pizan]] combined themes from Vegetius, Bonet, and Frontinus in ''Livre des faits d'armes et de chevalerie''.<ref>{{cite book|title=English Printing, Verse Translation, and the Battle of the Sexes, 1476-1557|page=26|author=Anne Elizabeth Banks Coldiron |year=2009|isbn= 9780754656081|publisher=Ashgate}}</ref>

===Late Middle Ages===
In the 14th century [[Jean Froissart]] wrote his [[Froissart's Chronicles|''Chronicles'']] which captured much of the [[Hundred Years' War]], including the [[Battle of Crécy]] and later the [[Battle of Poitiers (1356)|Battle of Poitiers]] both of which saw the defeat of the French nobility by armies made up largely of common men using [[longbows]]. The chivalric tactic employed by the French armoured nobility, namely bravely charging the opposition in the face of a hail of arrows, failed repeatedly. Froissart noted the subsequent attacks by common English and Welsh archers upon the fallen French knights.

''Chronicles'' also captured a series of uprisings by common people against the nobility, such as the [[Jacquerie]] and [[The Peasant's Revolt]] and the rise of the common man to leadership ranks within armies. Many of these men were promoted during the Hundred Years' War but were later left in France when the English nobles returned home, and became mercenaries in the [[Free Companies]], for example [[John Hawkwood]], the mercenary leader of [[White Company]]. The rise of effective, paid soldiery replaced noble soldiery during this period, leading to a new class of military leader without any adherence to the chivalric code.

Chivalry underwent a revival and elaboration of chivalric ceremonial and rules of [[etiquette]] in the 14th century that was examined by [[Johan Huizinga]] in ''[[The Autumn of the Middle Ages|The Waning of the Middle Ages]]'', which dedicates a chapter to "The idea of chivalry". In contrasting the literary standards of chivalry with the actual warfare of the age, the historian finds the imitation of an ideal past illusory; in an aristocratic culture such as Burgundy and France at the close of the Middle Ages, "to be representative of true culture means to produce by conduct, by customs, by manners, by costume, by deportment, the illusion of a heroic being, full of dignity and honour, of wisdom, and, at all events, of courtesy.... The dream of past perfection ennobles life and its forms, fills them with beauty and fashions them anew as forms of art".<ref>{{harvp|Huizinga|1924|loc=Pessimism and the ideal of the sublime life|p=30}}</ref>

In the later Middle Ages, wealthy merchants strove to adopt chivalric attitudes. The sons of the bourgeoisie were educated at aristocratic courts, where they were trained in the manners of the knightly class.<ref name=sweeney/> This was a democratisation of chivalry, leading to a new genre called the [[courtesy book]], which were guides to the behaviour of "gentlemen". Thus, the post-medieval gentlemanly code of the value of a man's honour, respect for women, and a concern for those less fortunate, is directly derived from earlier ideals of chivalry and historical forces that created it.<ref name=sweeney/>

Japan was the only country that banned the use of [[firearm]]s completely to maintain ideals of chivalry and acceptable form of combat. In 1543 Japan established a government [[monopoly]] on firearms. The Japanese government destroyed firearms and enforced a preference for traditional Japanese weapons.<ref>{{cite book| last = Gillespie  | first = Alexander | year = 2011| title = A History of the Laws of War|volume=2: The Customs and Laws of War with Regards to Civilians in Times of Conflict | page = 14| publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing| isbn = 9781847318404}}</ref>

===Criticism===
Medieval historian [[Richard W. Kaeuper]] saw chivalry as a central focus in the study of the European Middle Ages that was too often presented as a civilizing and stabilizing influence in the turbulent Middle Ages. On the contrary, Kaueper argues "that in the problem of public order the knights themselves played an ambivalent, problematic role and that the guides to their conduct that chivalry provided were in themselves complex and problematic."<ref name=Kaeuper>{{cite book|first=Richard W.|last=Kaeuper|title=Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1999}}</ref>{{rp|3}} Many of the codes and ideals of chivalry were contradictory: when knights did live up to them, they did not lead to a more "ordered and peaceful society". The tripartite conception of medieval European society (those who pray, those who fight, and those who work) along with other linked subcategories of monarchy and aristocracy, worked in congruence with knighthood to reform the institution{{ambiguous|date=July 2023}} in an effort "to secure public order in a society just coming into its mature formation."{{r|Kaeuper|page=4}}

Kaeuper says that knighthood and the worldview of "those who fight" was pre-Christian in many ways and outside the purview of the church, at least initially. The church saw it as a duty to reform and guide knights in a way that weathered the disorderly, martial, and chauvinistic elements of chivalry.{{r|Kaeuper|pages=62–83}} Royalty also clashed with knighthood over the conduct of warfare and personal disputes between knights and other knights (and even between knights and aristocracy).{{r|Kaeuper|pages=93–97}} While the worldview of "those who work" (the burgeoning merchant class and bourgeoisie) was still in incubation, Kaeuper states that the social and economic class that would end up defining modernity was fundamentally at odds with knights, and those with chivalrous valor saw the values of commerce as beneath them. Those who engaged in commerce and derived their value system from it could be confronted with violence by knights.{{r|Kaeuper|pages=121–139}}

According to British historian [[David Crouch (historian)|David Crouch]], many early writers on medieval chivalry cannot be trusted as accurate sources, because they sometimes have "polemical purpose which colours their prose".<ref name="Crouch_7">{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=7}}</ref> As for [[Kenelm Henry Digby]] and Léon Gautier, chivalry was a means to transform their corrupt and secular worlds.<ref name="Crouch_8">{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=8}}</ref> Gautier also emphasized that chivalry originated from the Teutonic forests and was brought up into civilization by the [[Catholic]] Church.<ref>{{harvp|Crouch|2005|p=12}}</ref> [[Charles Mills (historian)|Charles Mills]] used chivalry "to demonstrate that the Regency gentleman was the ethical heir of a great moral estate, and to provide an inventory of its treasure".<ref name="Crouch_8" /> Mills also stated that chivalry was a social, not a military phenomenon, with its key features: generosity, fidelity, liberality, and courtesy.<ref>{{harvp|Crouch|2005|pp=10–11}}</ref>