History - Roger de Soterley of Soterley, Knight

Chivalry

The actions of the knight were governed by the code of chivalry.  This code was not formally written and evolved over time.  It was a shared set of common beliefs and ideals that knights shared.  While knights were human and would sometimes ignore this code, it was an ideal for which they strived.  Chivalry (derived through the French cheval meaning knight from the Latin caballus meaning horseman) had  as it's basic elements (adapted from History of Western Civilization, Dr. E. L. Skip Knox, Boise State University, 1995) the following: 

Prowess.  A knight had to fight well. This meant having the ability to accomplish all sorts of physical feats, plus having a knowledge of arms and armor.  Skill in the use of arms.  A true knight was a good judge of weapons. He could use above all the sword, the shield and the lance, although the mace was also popular, in various forms. To maintain this skill required constant practice. The knight was also knowledgeable about armor. He had his preference as to design, various types, and even manufacturers. Physical Strength.  To wield these weapons and bear the armor required tremendous physical strength. There were no weight training programs, only practice in the sense of scrimmaging--the repeated actual use of arms. Personal Bravery.  The true knight could not fear pain or death, or at least could not show his fear or allow it to interfere with his function as a warrior. Bravery meant above all placing one's own body in jeopardy for the sake of one's lord. It meant charging into a mass of armed men even though outnumbered, trusting in God and one's right arm. It did not mean having to fight peasants, however; bravery only covered fighting one's equals. In fact, attacking peasants was not combat at all, properly speaking. If peasants got in the way, they should get back out of the way; if they resisted, then they should be killed. Killing peasants brought neither glory nor shame. All men--that is, all knights--wished to be esteemed men of prowess. "Be preux" said the lord when dubbing a new knight, by which he meant the new knight should exhibit the qualities listed above.

Honor. The honor of a knight was of great importance to him, to be furthered when possible and defended when necessary. A knight's honor was the measure of his standing among his peers; it was also what set him apart from the common rabble around him. It marked the gentle man from the common man. The knight's honor was as real as his manor or castle and he would defend both his honor and his castle to the last drop of blood. Honor was perhaps more important, for a manor or castle could be rebuilt, but a stain on one's honor was difficult to remove.

Liberality.  Gentilesse is reared in the house of largesse. Knightly society was a gift-giving society. A lord was expected to give gifts to his followers. These were not only gifts in our sense, but gifts in the sense of honors shown, privileges granted, and wartime plunder shared. Vassals gave gifts to their lords, upon the occasion of visits, upon marriages and knighting ceremonies, at tournaments, and so on. There were also symbolic gifts that recognized and reiterated the lord-vassal relationship: a piece of earth and two horses every year, or some such. Gifts were exchanged to seal alliances and friendships. Gifts were exchanged among friends. Gifts were sent to accompany embassies and messengers. And all were scaled to suit the honor and nobility of the recipient.  Most knights had no use for a man who lived within his means, for that implied a miserly accounting. The nobility liked to imagine that they were above such matters and that a preoccupation with such mean concerns was characteristic of merchants and townsmen.  Since gifts were a recognition of friendship and nobility, how could a true knight quibble over cost? No, knights admired the man who had bankrupted himself with giving, for that was the true spirit of liberality. As the historian Sidney Painter said, "Long after prowess and loyalty had lost their peculiar applicability to men of high birth, a complete disregard of caution in the use of money was considered the mark of a nobleman." The biographer of William Marshal (13th century) put it this way: "gentillesse is reared in the house of largesse."

Glory.  Glory and plunder were the prizes of battle, and every knight sought them. Glory is akin to our notion of fame, but it has a distinctly martial tone to it. Glory meant prestige, for one's self and for one's family, but that prestige was won through deeds done in combat. Glory could also be won by pious donations or other public acts, but warfare was by far the most important source. Glory was the public testimony of one's prowess. Glory could be won at tournaments or in war; the more prestigious the event, the more opportunity for winning glory. The phrase itself is telling: glory was a prize won on the battlefield, like plunder.  It was therefore important for a knight to have opportunities for winning glory. The battle itself might go either way, but the individual knight would be satisfied only if he had his chance at glory. This was one more factor in undermining discipline on the battlefield.  Fighting for glory did not preclude taking every opportunity for making a profit. Indeed, carrying off great piles of loot was itself a glorious act. Plunder showed the depths of the enemy's defeat, and at the same time enabled the knight to distribute gifts to his followers and comrades.

Loyalty.  Fealty was paramount, and oath-breaking the worst form of behavior. A true knight was the one who stayed true, to his lord, his church and his word.  Loyalty to one's lord came before everything. A man could be forgiven much, but to betray one's sworn lord was the worst crime a knight could commit.  Everything in knightly society depended upon the reliability of a knight's sworn oath. That's why the giving of an oath was considered sufficient evidence in a court of law. When a lord made war on one of his vassals, or a vassal rebelled against his lord, one reason nearly always cited was that the other party had broken faith--had betrayed the trust. The language indicates how deeply this sentiment ran in knightly society. Among the various terms used to describe the followers of a lord was vassi dominici--the vassals of the lord. The French word was mesnie and an older Latin word was comitatus. We can translate these words as "the boys", or "gang" or "band". But another term used was truste--that is to say, "the trusted ones".  In a society that was illiterate, as the society in which knights found themselves largely was, written contracts counted for nothing. The saying ran that, "with pen and ink, one can say anything." Only an oath taken before peers was worth anything. Still, when we look at the historical record, we see betrayals on every hand. Does this mean that all the sworn trusts were a sham? Not at all, for our own society depends on written contracts, notwithstanding the fact that such contracts are sometimes broken. Moreover, oaths kept were usually not worth recording, for that was the norm.

Courtesy.  Courtesy meant manners, after a fashion, but it applied only to relations between members of the nobility. To be courteous means to behave as if one were at court, to be courtly. This was an ideal to be better than was usual with knights. In the beginning, it had nothing whatever to do with behavior toward ladies or with what we call manners.  Originally, courtesy meant the special consideration one knight showed to another. For example, a knight should always give his noble opponent an even chance, never attacking one who was unarmed. If you defeat a knight, you don't kill him; rather, you release him on his parole, his sworn word, with a promise to pay a ransom. This practice enabled many a knight errant to earn his keep at tournaments. From the 12th century on, courtesy was extended to the ladies and was expanded to the ethic of courtly love. We often use the word chivalry to mean only this, but the word chivalry is merely the French word for "knight" or "knighthood" and embraces all the qualities of that rank.