It served to define right action in court, battle, and daily life.
I commit to emulating those ideals and putting them into practice in my own life.Įvery journey starts with a single step… this is mine.The code of honor had its roots in the Renaissance code of chivalry. I will share my thoughts here as I look at what the virtue meant at the time, what it might mean to us today. In my personal quest to be more chivalrous, I am exploring those virtues that the Duke of Burgundy defined. And I believe that men – and women – want to be better people and that they would prefer to live in a society that valued things like honesty, integrity, and sound judgment. That’s why I want to bring back chivalry.īenjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister in the 1880’s said, “ To believe in the heroic makes heroes.” I believe in the heroic.
The knights were not perfect but their ambition to be honorable made them better men. They include faith, charity, justice, sagacity, prudence, temperance, resolution, truth, liberality, diligence, hope and valor.Ĭan you imagine what life would be like if these virtues were the norm? Can you imagine how different it would be going to work where people pledged to uphold and honor these values? The Chivalric IdealĬhivalry was an ideal, a goal, a thing to strive for. We do have a written description of chivalry and the twelve chivalric virtues befitting a knight written by the 14 th century Duke of Burgundy. These songs, performed in the public houses, became the focus of discussions amongst the townspeople and lessons to teach the children the concepts of honor, bravery, and charity. We have stories and poems passed down through oral tradition by the bards and minstrels epic poems of valor, bravery, and the fight for justice. The accounts of chivalry that we have, the actual texts regarding the knight’s code, are from the romantic literature of the time. “ And on the institution of chivalry says “ a knight was expected to be a man of culture and poise as well as of honor and prowess.” But chivalry was more an ambition than an accomplishment it was an ideal that shaped the men of the society and, as Miner points out “ it had the effect of elevating and concretizing their civil righteousness.” Chivalry in Literature In his book “ The Compleat Gentleman” author Brad Miner notes: “ the Crusades (1095-1271) were probably the most important factor in the development of chivalry as a doctrine. He held himself and his fellow knights accountable. The knight would swear and his word was his bond. They swore to defend the crown and/or the church, to always be worthy of respect and honor, to fight with honor, defend the weak and the innocent, etc. Knights swore their allegiance, to serve king and country. There were no written rules governing the knight only the promises he made to the lord of the manner, to the king, or to the church. No Knight’s HandbookĬontrary to popular belief, there was no “Ye Old Knight’s Code of Chivalry.” No pocket edition the knights carried around with them and referred to in a given situation. I could just copy that code directly from the knight’s book of chivalry…Įxcept there was no book. That is to say, the knightly virtues that made up the Chivalric code. Continuing that theme, I want to talk a little about the knight’s code. In a previous post, I spoke about my quest, a personal journey based on the ideals of Chivalry and Becoming a Chivalrous Leader.
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