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The conferring of the knighthood was usually done by another knight or a lord, later it was only the monarch who could confer a knighthood and in this picture it was the Queen.
1. The concept of chivalry developed within a fairly brief period from a simple warriors code to a sophisticated system of values in which the principles of personal integrity, the duty to defend the weak from oppression, and the practice of knightly virtues, such as largesse (generosity), pite (compassion) franchise (a free and frank spirit) and courtoisie (courtliness, especially to women) combined with the more traditional virtues of loyalty and prowess. These qualities are repeatedly stressed in medieval accounts of knights, where the conduct of both real knights and fictional heroes is measured against this standard which was expressed by Sir Philip Sidney in the line, “Love of honour and honour of love. |
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2. The chivalrous ideal as portrayed in literature is of course only one side of the coin. Equally, the conclusions of modern historian about the grim realities of medieval knighthood produce an incomplete and distorted picture. Fictional ideal and historical reality must be seen together. Medieval commentators themselves were aware that there were bad knights who brought knighthood into disrepute and in the romances the hero knights also encountered their sinister mirror images. These were the wicked knights who terrorised the helpless peasants, they dishonoured ladies and even desecrated churches.Just as these “black knights” certainly had their counterparts in real life among the robber barons, freebooters and mercenaries of medieval Europe, so to it is clear that thousands of knights felt themselves contributing to a tradition of chivalry stretching back hundreds of years.
Knights in romances spent much time engaged in quests designed to test their knightly qualities or prove them worthy of their ladies and the favourite sport of chivalry was the tournament or joust in which a knight sought to win his lady’s favour. An example of chivalry is the unknown Middle English knight Sir Amadace, who, having been all but bankrupted by his knightly generosity sets forth to repair his fortunes by adventure, only to spend his last forty pounds on a deed of charity – burying the decaying corpse of an indebted merchant whose creditors are denying him burial. For this of course he is later rewarded. |
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3.The concept of romance and chivalry spread across the nations; and in the Middle Ages the nobles of Europe often lived in lonely castles which were usually perched in some inaccessible position. There were few books end even fewer who could read them. Travel was dangerous and rarely undertaken except for a pilgrimage or a crusade and one can understand that visitors were eagerly welcomed. Peddlers, jugglers and mountbacks of all sorts were constantly being entertained. Most welcome of all was the minstrel or singer. The lord and lady, the children and the servants would gather round the fireplace of the great hall to hear the minstrel chant his thrilling tales of love, of war, and of his mighty deeds. Through his songs ran the spirit of chivalry which was the social ideal of the feudal age and which taught knights to defend the Church, to make war against the infidel unceasingly, to be courteous, and to keep their word no matter what difficulties arose.
Around these ideals and around the stories of history and legend that exemplified them, the minstrel built his lays. They were called “Romances” because the minstrels used one of the “Romance” languages – that is languages derived from the old Roman or Latin tongue. The theme of all these early romances is a quest or search, whether it is the Holy Grail the knight is seeking, or a lost mother or father or friend; whether he is seeking forgiveness for a sin or for lack of faith in his lady; or whether he is merely seeking adventure for its own sake – there is always a quest.
The people of the Middle Ages loved to hear the stories of their own heroes as well as those of other lands and times. In France they wanted to hear of Charlemagne the great king who had conquered the barbarian Saracen. They liked to hear of the legendary Roland who had died fighting bravely against great odds and other cycles of stories grew up around King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, various heroes of the Crusades, and Alexander the Great. | |
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Mary Queen of Scots being serenaded by Rizzio who found favour with the Queen to such an extent that her husband Lord Dasrnley became jealous, so the nobles of the court entered into a conspiracy for his removal and Rizzio was killed on 9 March 1566. |
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4. These romances grew sometimes to enormous length as singer after singer embellished the tales handed down by word of mouth and added new episodes in response to the eager demands of his listeners and an immense body of romances still exists which was written down by various singers and collected. |
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5. To modern taste many of these romances seem either too fantastic or like childish stories which are strung loosely together at tiresome length. Yet there is hardly one without its element of charm and passages of striking beauty. “Amadis of Gaul” is one of the most interesting and it can well be described as “the prose epic of feudalism.” The adventures ranged from Scotland to Turkey and giants, enchanters, and magic chambers fill it with amazing incidents. Although Cervantes wrote his Don Quixote” especially to ridicule and deride the old romances, he declared that “Amadis of Gaul” is “the best of all books of this kind that has ever been written."
With acknowledgement to Andrea Hopkins book "Knights" published by Chancellor Press. | |
