...The First Knight and A Knight’s Tale are both similar, in that, they both have a knight, which the story is based around, that has moments where he follows the Code of Chivalry and moments where he does not. In The First Knight, we see Sir Lancelot’s downfall when he meets Lady Guinevere. When they meet, he starts to slack when it comes to the Code of Chivalry because of how much she tempts him without even realizing it. In A Knight’s Tale, William starts to not follow the Code of Chivalry when he begins professionally jousting and when he meets Jocelynn. Even though both knights thought they had good intentions, they did not. This led to major conflict in both stories. These men don’t compare in their actions of following and not following the Code of Chivalry, but in their motives behind it. On the other hand, both men contrasted on their motives for which they did not follow the Code of Chivalry....
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...The way people interact plays a key role in the attitude of society. Throughout history, people have communicated through violence, trade, and agreements. Some interactions benefit society, while others negatively impact it. Chivalry provided knights with rules for interaction and behavior in the Middle Ages, and they were considered honorable. While chivalry may seem like it died in the past, chivalry is still essential to daily life because it evolves over time, sets a moral standard, and creates a better society. Indeed, chivalry is still followed because it has evolved over time. In the Dark and Middle Ages, chivalry was defined as the code of ethics knights followed (Wells). Chivalry is not the strict set of rules it used to be, but a general guideline for how people should behave and interact with others. In the code of chivalry, protect the innocent, never lie or deceive, and never attack an unarmed foe are among some of the rules knights were required to follow. Nowadays, protecting the innocent and remaining honest is still important; however, the meaning of never attacking an unarmed foe has changed. In the Middle Ages, never attacking an unarmed foe was literal, but today, it means not acting...
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...Chivalry is more than just a few rules; it is a way of life followed by knights (Grendler 154). Deriving from the French word "chevaliar," which means knight, chivalry was the social structure of Medieval Europe (154). During medieval England, values of honor, valor, courtesy, purity, and loyalty to his lord was expected (154). In Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, the code of chivalry and influence is demonstrated through the Green Knights test of Gawain's honor and valor and Bertilak's test of Gawain's courtesy and purity. In Medieval England, knights were the foundation of the chivalric system (155). They were soldiers with respected training. armor, and weapons (155). Knights were also known for their main focus on virtue, honor, and courtesy (155). According to the Song of Roland, there are seventeen entries in the Knights Code of Chivalry, one of which being to live by honor and for glory (156). When the Green Knight barged into the court wanting to play a game, everyone was shocked and scared (Gawain 235). The Green Knight's reason for coming was to test King Author's reputation: courtesy, valor, and honor (Gawain 257-265). However, it is Sir Gawain that stands up to take on the game, showing a great sign of courteousness to King Author (Gawain 345). The chivalric system...
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...Of the many concepts that are prevalent in the study of the Middle Ages, few of them are as fluid and abstract as the idea of Chivalry. Chivalry is a concept that shows its head in many different pieces of literature from the time period as well as in the actions of many of the era's most prominent individuals. Knights, kings, soldiers, nobles, and more all followed the ideals of chivalry to one extent or another. The problem with examining their actions, however, lies in the fact that people within each of these groups interpreted chivalry differently. Whereas one person may view the act of war as chivalrous, others may look towards maintaining their estates and income as more important to their chivalrous valor. This makes simply defining...
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...Chivalry died in the Middle Ages, but there is no complete answer to the reason for that death. Some knights held on to the characteristics of chivalry, but others began to lose their honor and become less loyal. Geoffrey Chaucer, a writer from the fourteenth century, wrote a framed story called The Canterbury Tales. This work is made up of a General Prologue, which is a description of all the individual pilgrims going on the pilgrimage, followed by several tales told by these pilgrims. He describes several knight’s in this work through a chivalric code of honor. Through his description of the Knight in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, as well as the “Knight’s Tale” and the “Wife of Bath’s Tale,” Chaucer suggests that although chivalry...
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...In today`s society it is difficult to find a person who is true to their word, unlike in medieval times. In medieval times a person who possessed these characteristics was a knight, who followed the code of chivalry. In The Wife of Bath`s Tale by Chaucer, the knight is a character that follows numerous aspects of the code of chivalry including staying true to his word numerous times even though he does not want to, and in the end he is rewarded for doing so. The knight first shows that he is true to his word in this tale when he promises the queen that he will find what all women most desire, “Sad was the knight and sorrowfully sighed, but there! All other choices were denied, and in the end he chose to go away and to return after a year and a day armed with such answer as there might be sent to him by god” (Chaucer, 89-94). This quote shows that even though he truly does not want to spend a year searching for what all women desire he does accept the challenge and in the end he does return with the correct answer. As a result for returning with the correct answer, the knight is able to keep his life even though he committed a ghastly crime. The second occurrence of the knight staying true to his word occurs near the end of his journey to discover what all women most desire. Near the end of his journey the knight has not found an answer to this question, but once he meets an old woman he agrees to do what she wants him to do in return for the answer to this confounding...
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... King arthur satire essay Chivalry was the great code of conduct respected by the knights and heroes during the romantic medieval era. Marked by honor, courtesy, and generosity, chivalry included skill, valor, loyalty to both God and the king, having sympathy towards the sick, oppressed. Within the same general area of chivalry was courtly love. The men fought to attain their ladys affections and love by waging war in their name, or by romancing them. Knights were to devote themselves entirely to one woman.This love was was between a knight and a married woman. However, in each of these pieces are also characters who stray from this ideal code of conduct, Seen in Monty python and the holy grail. Sir Gawain in the Green Knight is a story about chivalrous values and trickery. This story involves the Green knight’s arrival at King Arthur’s feast one evening. The green knight challenges the king to his game and just as King Arthur accepts Sir Gawain insists on accepting the challenge instead. The Green knight is beheaded, but picks his head up and tells Sir Gawain that he must meet him in one year so that he can return the challenge. Sir Gawain sets off on his journey one year later and arrives at a castle. He is graciously let inside where he stays a few days. The lord / the green knight creates a game of his own involving the Lord hunting and Sir Gawain remaining at the castle with the game to test his chivalry and his faith. In monty python and the holy grail starts out with Arthur...
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...from this time period start out around 7 years old and are taught a code of chivalry (code of conduct) and the basics of knight hood. The knight in the Wife of Bath’s tale forcibly violates a young madden and punished with execution by decapitation. He is saved by the queen but is sent on a twelve month and a day quest. The knight in the Wife of Bath’s Tale doesn’t display chivalry by his actions of violating an innocent woman and continues to dishonor this code by being demeaning and crass to an old woman who helps save his life yet at the end allows the old woman to make a decision regarding his life. At the begging of the story a young knight comes across a beautiful madden. Overcome by lust and power he rapes her. The court is defamed by his actions and they condemn him to death. He was going to be executed but “the queen and the other ladies too, implored the king to exercise his grace so ceaselessly, he gave the queen the case and granted her his life, and she could whether to show mercy of refuse.” (70-74) His actions are unchiviric because he forcibly violates a young lady. Any code of conduct should say that rape is unjustified by anyone, especially by a knight. The queen is intrigued by the case and asks to grant his punishment. Before his time the king’s queen offers a proposition. The question he is asked is “What is the thing that women most desire?” (80-81) This question Shows the true chivalry of a man because if a man is chiveric he will know what a woman wants...
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...Agincourt Chivalrous Actions in the Battle of Agincourt The word chivalry is often associated with knights of the medieval ages. This term was used during the 11th and 12th century. The code of chivalry is a code of conduct that reflected bravery and service to others. This code of conduct was expected of the medieval knights. In his book, La Chevalerie, Leon Gautier wrote the ten commandments of chivalry which were the following: 1. Believe the Church’s teachings and observe all the Church’s directions, 2. Defend the Church, 3. Respect and defend the weak, 4. Love your country, 5. Do not fear your enemy, 6. Show no mercy and do not hesitate to make war with the infidel, 7. Perform all your feudal duties as long as they do not conflict with the laws of God, 8. Never lie or go back on one’s word, 9. Be generous, 10. Always and everywhere be right and good against evil and injustice (author, page). The knights were soldiers on horseback. They were soldiers that underwent years of training. They were highly respectable, intelligent and agile fighters. They wore full armor and used swords as weapons. They were once the best soldiers an army could have but the Battle of Agincourt changes every aspect of medieval warfare. With these knightly qualities in mind one can examine the actions that occurred in the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. This very well-known battle was a major turning point in the history of the code of chivalry. The battle of Agincourt was a noteworthy event in history...
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...Excalibur (An Analysis of Chivalry in the Movie Excalibur) This past week in room 303 we have watched the movie Excalibur. This movie is about King Arthur and his life. This movie also involves chivalry and what it means to be a knight. Chivalry is the code of conduct and moral views of knights during the medieval ages. In the movie, there are a few good examples of chivalry. Chivalry is shown with Arthur’s brother, Lancelot, and the father and son in the woods during the movie Excalibur. The first example of chivalry that is shown in the movie is when Arthur’s brother gives up everything knowing what it could bring.. In the beginning of the movie, Arthur pulls the sword from the stone, not knowing how important it was. Not only that, but he had no idea of the responsibilities that would come from being worthy of the sword. He was led to pull out the sword because he had lost his brother’s sword, and was in search for another one. When he pulls out the sword, he hands it to his brother so he has a sword to fight with. His brother, knowing how important the sword is and what it could bring to him, tells everyone it was Arthur who pulled it out. This shows honor because he could have easily said it was him and been able to become king. This shows how noble his brother really is. It shows that he was not overcome...
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...6/12/13 Handara Daniswara COM111 Eulogy For Chivalry Most studies found that the number one fear for Americans is the fear of public speaking, followed by death. That means as of right now I am better off if were inside that casket than standing here delivering this eulogy to you. We are here to commemorate the dead of Chivalry. I still remember the first time I saw him, in a Disney cartoon where he fought through a dragon just to save a girl, that cartoon was the Sleeping Beauty. Since then I saw more of him, opening doors for people, giving up seats for people, volunteer to carrying things for people, pulls out chair for people, paying the bill in his first date, the second date, and reluctantly in the third date but he still pays the bill. He is basically courageous and courteous. We are all mournful by his death, except women who killed Chivalry. If he were still alive today, the world would be a better place. Women, elderly, and kids do not have to stand in public transport; Chivalry would give up his seat. Women would have free dinner; Chivalry would pay the bill. And there would not be any need for automatic doors; Chivalry would open it up for you. Chivalry however did not die in vain. He has set us an example throughout his life, a code of conduct, that we men should follow suit. And if we do, we might bring Chivalry back from the...
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...Hunter Powell Prof. Rufleth English 210-002 24 January 2013 Gawain’s Test of Chivalry The code of chivalry plays a big role in shaping the values and actions of Sir Gawain and the other characters in the poem. Throughout the poem, Gawain’s main focus is staying true to the chivalric code, even if it means he will die honoring it. Christian beliefs also have a significant impact on knightly conduct, and they are both brought together in Gawain’s symbolic shield. Gawain’s chivalry is constantly tested throughout the entire poem, and overall he does a pretty good job of staying loyal to the code. Although he does fail at one point in the poem, it only reveals his imperfect human nature. When reading “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, one should keep in mind the various moral aspects of chivalry in order to acquire a better understanding of the text. Loyalty, courage, honesty, honor, and courtesy are all some of the traits that a knight of chivalry embraces. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” tells the story of Gawain’s test of his chivalric attributes. The test administrator in the poem is the Green Knight. He wants to test the courage and integrity of Arthur and his court. When Gawain, the only knight who steps up to the Green Knight, accepts the challenge, he displays great courage and loyalty to his king. After Gawain strikes his blow unto the Green Knight, this is when the true test begins. To maintain his honor, Gawain will have to journey to the Green Chapel...
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...The Big Three (Three Primary Elements of Chivalry) The first thing that often comes to a person’s head when they hear medieval times is knights. They think of all of the bright shiny armour with the big swords and all of those tags that go along with it. That is really all that they think of when they think of a knight though, they think battle and bright and shiny armour. What people generally don’t perceive is what it took the knight to become a knight. Along with that they don’t realize what really even makes the knight a knight other than the fact that he has to go to battle and fight. In the stories Sir Gawain and the Green Knight translated by Marie Borroff and Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory, they go a little deeper into what it actually means to be a knight. They begin to point out the things that actually classify one as a knight. There are three primary elements that classify a knight: courage, loyalty, and honor....
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...In the story “A Distant Mirror,” written by Barbara Tuchman, the author explains on what the code of chivalry was used and how it affected men in their decision-making in becoming a honorable person. According to the author, Barbara Tuchman, stated that the code of chivalry was “ a code intended to fuse the religious and martial spirits and somehow bring the fighting man into accord with christian theory.” The code was enforced that the knight was suppose to serve for the greater good for others. The knight had to act “Chivalrous”, which was being noble and moral. The did not just have to be a good person, but he had to have good physical attributes. The knight needed to have good stamina. The knight would have to fight on foot or horseback, wearing heavy armor, while holding an eighteen-foot lance. They would have to spend days in all types of weather while on a saddle, it was not easy. The physical hardships tested their loyalty. The knight would have to be loyal, they pledged an oath to their superiors. If the oath was broken, they were charged with treason for their lack of loyalty. The knight would have to be prepared to die at anytime for their fellow knights. The knight would not care for the cause, they did it just for the joy of battle, not caring for the importance of the cause in which...
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...With the definition of ethical being in accordance with the standards for right conduct or practice, there is a difference between the “good” and “bad” knight. The difference is all about standards that are expected from the king. Ultimately the king gets to decide the ethics of a knight as he is the most powerful. A good Arthurian knight is well behaved, he possesses the characteristics of chivalry and go on quests where they are tested in order to prove themselves. A “bad” knight either lacks those qualities, fails the quest or goes against their leader. Romance is a big part of knighthood. The knights work hard to prove themselves in order to earn and court a woman’s love. The Arthurian knights were expected to be strong and skillful and...
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