raping) her-but if he battled another knight for her, he was entitled to “do with her as he pleased.” She specified: If a knight met an unaccompanied noblewoman or her lady on the road, under chivalry he was forbidden from “dishonoring” (i.e. Kaufman explained the words of 12th-century poet Chrétien de Troyes, “famous for his chivalric romances.” Notably, the code of chivalry did not apply to common peasants or lower class women-a 2018 Washington Post article by Middle Ages expert Amy S. (One expert went as far as calling knights as “hired thugs.”) William Kent’s 1729 “The Battle of Agincourt.” ( Royal Collection Trust) It was this violence that the church attempted to regulate, giving rise to a code meant for those horse-bound ‘knights’ which later became known as chivalry.”Įssentially, the code of chivalry was originally designed by the church because their elite military class-those beloved, revered “knights in shining armor”-were so horrifyingly prone to violence that their practices could no longer be permitted to persist. “A martial elite arose which came to view violence as its primary and hereditary profession. While those five rules may seem harmless, an Ohio State University book review for Nigel Saul’s “ Chivalry in Medieval England” summarizes the need for the development of the code of chivalry as follows : If you found this article helpful, please consider supporting our independent reporting and truth-telling for as little as $5 per month.
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