The Chivalric Code
Origins of the Chivalric Code
• In literature, King Arthur outlines the proper
behavior of his knights when they are seated at the
Round Table. He proclaims these the Chivalric
Code.
• The Code of Chivalry dictates that
the knights follow the will of the
king. Given that this is the era of
the Rightful King, we can see why
these guidelines were so easily
adopted and adhered to.
Ten Commandments of the Code
of Chivalry
From Chivalry by Leon Gautier
I.
Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches,
and shalt observe all its directions.
II.
Thou shalt defend the Church.
III.
Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt
constitute thyself the defender of them.
Ten Commandments of the Code
of Chivalry
IV. Thou shalt love the country in the which
thou wast born.
V.
Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.
VI. Thou shalt make war against the Infidel
without cessation, and without mercy.
Ten Commandments of the Code
of Chivalry
VII. Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy
feudal duties, if they be not contrary to
the laws of God.
VIII.Thou shalt never lie, and shall remain
faithful to thy pledged word.
Ten Commandments of the Code
of Chivalry
IX. Thou shalt be generous, and give largess
to everyone.
X.
Thou shalt be everywhere and always the
champion of the Right and the Good
against Injustice and Evil.
Courtly Love
History
• In 1168, Eleanor of
Aquitaine left the court of
her husband Henry II and
took up residence in her
ancestral lands of Poitou and
ruled as a duchess.
• With a deft hand and a
discerning eye, she turned a
district that had been on the
outskirts of events for forty
years into the center of
economic and social life.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
• As a result of this sudden
burst of activity, Eleanor's
court in the city of Poitiers drew
vassals paying homage, squires
training to be knights, young
ladies acquiring their education,
and visiting future kings and
queens related by blood or
marriage to the duchess.
• Because she was a woman of
renowned beauty, charm and
style as well as extraordinary wit
and iron will, the poets,
chroniclers, musicians,
philosophers, artists, who always
flocked around her also
congregated at Poitiers. It was
out of royalty and romance that
the movement of courtly love
emerged.
The Stages of Courtly Love
• Attraction to the lady, usually via eyes/glance
• Worship of the lady from afar
• Declaration of passionate devotion
• Virtuous rejection by the lady
• Renewed wooing with oaths of virtue and eternal fealty
• Moans of approaching death from unsatisfied desire (and other
physical manifestations of lovesickness)
• Heroic deeds of valor which win the lady's heart
• Consummation of the secret love
• Endless adventures and subterfuges avoiding detection
The Twelve Rules of Love
from The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus
1. Thou shalt avoid avarice like the deadly
pestilence and shalt embrace its
opposite.
2. Thou shalt keep thyself chaste for the
sake of her whom thou lovest.
3. Thou shalt not knowingly strive to break
up a correct love affair that someone
else is engaged in.
4. Thou shalt not choose for thy love
anyone whom a natural sense of shame
forbids thee to marry.
5. Be mindful completely to avoid
falsehood.
Rules continued
6. Thou shalt not have many who know of
thy love affair.
7. Being obedient in all things to the
commands of ladies, thou shalt ever
strive to ally thyself to the service of
Love.
8. In giving and receiving love's solaces let
modesty be ever present.
9. Thou shalt speak no evil.
10. Thou shalt not be a revealer of love
affairs.
11. Thou shalt be in all things polite and
courteous.
12. In practicing the solaces of love thou
shalt not exceed the desires of thy lover.
The Literary Convention of
Courtly Love
• In France and England, courtly love became a
central theme of lyric and epic poetry.
• The literary convention of courtly love appears
in works of most of the major authors of the
Middle Ages, including Geoffrey Chaucer
(Canterbury Tales).
• Courtly love conventions are found in the
medieval genres of lyric, the allegory and the
Romance (such as “Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight”)
The Literary Convention of
Courtly Love cont.
• In the 12th century, literature written in
French was referred to as "romance" to
differentiate it from "real" literature,
which was written in Latin.
• - Eventually, the term "romance" began
to refer not to any literature written in
French, but to the specific sort of
literature that was popular among the
French-speaking court audiences of
France and Anglo-Norman England:
stories of the chivalric adventures of
knights and their ladies.
• - There have been debates about whether
courtly love was a social reality or simply
a literary fiction. Regardless, it was a
widespread and significant notion.