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The code of chivalry and the ideal of courtly love were two of the most distinctive and most enduring cultural products of the High Middle Ages. The code of chivalry prescribed how a knight should behave toward his lord, his peers, his enemies, his lady, and God, and it shaped the self-understanding of the medieval aristocracy for centuries. The ideal of courtly love, developed in the troubadour poetry of southern France and elaborated in the romances of northern France, prescribed a complex set of rules and emotions governing the relationship between the knight and his lady. Together, the code of chivalry and the ideal of courtly love formed the ideological core of the medieval aristocratic class, and they have shaped the Western imagination of knighthood and aristocratic virtue for centuries.
This cluster explores the code of chivalry and the ideal of courtly love. The articles in the related long-tail pages provide deeper examinations of specific aspects of the topic.
Maurice Keen, “Chivalry” (Yale, 1984), is the standard English-language history. Georges Duby, “The Knight, the Lady and the Priest” (1983), is the indispensable cultural-history complement. The page below uses both, and the primary literature of the courtly-love tradition (the De Amore of Andreas Capellanus, c. 1180; the troubadour canso; the Roman de la Rose of Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun) as its primary material. The gap between the chivalric ideal and the practice of medieval warfare is treated throughout.
The Origins of Chivalry
The origins of chivalry are rooted in the early medieval practice of the warrior class, and they developed gradually over the course of the High Middle Ages. The word chivalry (from the Old French chevalerie, from cheval, horse) originally referred to the body of mounted warriors who served the king or the great lords, and it gradually came to refer to the code of conduct that governed the behavior of these warriors. The code of chivalry was never a single, formal document, but it was a real and powerful influence on the self-understanding of the aristocratic class of the High Middle Ages.
The early form of chivalry emphasized the warrior virtues of courage, loyalty, and honor. The knight was expected to be brave in battle, loyal to his lord, and honorable in his dealings with his peers. The early chivalric ideal was closely tied to the feudal system, and it emphasized the mutual obligations of lord and vassal. The chivalric virtues were typically expressed in the literature of the period, especially in the chansons de geste of northern France and the romances of Chrétien de Troyes and his successors.
The later form of chivalry added the Christian virtues to the warrior virtues. The knight was expected to be pious and devout, to protect the Church and the weak, and to defend the Christian faith against its enemies. The later chivalric ideal was closely tied to the Crusades and to the military religious orders (the Templars, the Hospitallers, and the Teutonic Knights), and it was elaborated in the literature of the period, especially in the romances of the Holy Grail and the Order of the Garter. The later chivalric ideal also added the virtue of courtly love to the warrior and Christian virtues, and it emphasized the importance of the relationship between the knight and his lady.
The Code of Chivalry
The code of chivalry was a complex set of ideals and obligations that governed the behavior of the knight. The code was elaborated in the literature of the period, especially in the romances of Chrétien de Troyes and his successors, in the chansons de geste, in the courtesy books of the late medieval period, and in the writings of the Church Fathers and the scholastic theologians. The code was never a single, formal document, but it was a real and powerful influence on the self-understanding of the aristocratic class.
The chivalric virtues included courage, loyalty, honor, generosity, courtesy, piety, and service. The knight was expected to be brave in battle, loyal to his lord, and honorable in his dealings with his peers. He was expected to be generous to the poor and the weak, and to defend the honor of women. He was expected to be pious and devout, to attend Mass and the sacraments, and to defend the Christian faith. He was expected to be courteous to his lady and to serve her with devotion and respect.
The code of chivalry was closely tied to the feudal system and to the Christian faith. The knight swore fealty to his lord, and he was bound by the feudal contract to provide military service in return for his fief. The knight swore to defend the Church and the Christian faith, and he was bound by the oath of crusade to fight for the recovery of the Holy Land. The knight swore to defend the honor of women and to serve his lady with devotion and respect, and he was bound by the code of courtly love to maintain the standards of behavior in his relationship with his lady.
Courtly Love
The ideal of courtly love was developed in the troubadour poetry of southern France in the twelfth century, and it spread across Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The doctrine of courtly love prescribed that the lover should serve his lady with devotion, that love should ennoble the lover, and that the relationship should be conducted in a complex ritual of courtship, with the lady in a position of superior dignity. The doctrine was articulated most famously in the treatise of Andreas Capellanus, the De Amore (c. 1180), a mock-didactic work that parodied the troubadour tradition while also presenting it seriously.
The courtly love tradition was closely tied to the cult of the Virgin Mary, and the lady of the courtly love tradition was often associated with the Madonna of Christian devotion. The ideal of the knight who serves his lady with devotion and respect was a secular version of the religious ideal of the soul who serves the Virgin Mary with devotion and respect. The cult of the Virgin Mary gave the courtly love tradition a religious dimension, and the courtly love tradition gave the cult of the Virgin Mary a secular dimension.
The courtly love tradition was complex and sometimes contradictory. The tradition emphasized the spiritual nature of the love relationship and the ennobling effect of love on the lover, but it also recognized the physical dimension of love and the possibility of physical fulfillment. The tradition placed the lady in a position of superior dignity, but it also required the lover to be active in the pursuit of his lady. The tradition was often criticized by the Church as a dangerous secularization of Christian love, but it also inspired some of the most remarkable literary and artistic works of the High Middle Ages.
The Practice of Tournaments
The tournament was a major feature of the aristocratic life of the High Middle Ages, and it provided the arena in which the chivalric ideals were displayed and the chivalric reputation was won. The tournament developed in the late eleventh century, perhaps in northern France, and it spread across Europe in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The tournament combined martial exercise with social display, and it was the occasion for the aristocracy to display their wealth, their skills, and their prowess.
The early tournament was a free-for-all, with the knights of different lords jousting against each other in a kind of mock battle. The tournament gradually became more formalized, with rules of engagement, designated lists, and judges to determine the winners. The tournament was a major source of revenue for the knights who participated in it, since the winners could capture the horses and equipment of the losers, and it was a major source of reputation for the knights who distinguished themselves in it. The tournament was also a major source of risk, since the knights could be killed or injured in the course of the competition.
The tournament was closely tied to the development of the heraldic system. The coat of arms — a distinctive combination of colors, charges, and ordinaries — was developed to identify the knight in battle and in the tournament, and the herald — an official charged with the regulation of the tournament and the recording of the arms — became a major figure in the aristocratic life. The heraldic visitations of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries recorded the arms of the knights of the realm, and the heraldic rolls are major sources for the history of the medieval aristocracy.
The Legacy of Chivalry
The legacy of the code of chivalry and the ideal of courtly love is complex and enduring. On the one hand, the code of chivalry was a literary and cultural construct that bore little relation to the actual behavior of the medieval aristocracy. The knights of the High Middle Ages were often brutal, violent, and oppressive, and the chivalric ideal was rarely realized in practice. On the other hand, the chivalric ideal was a real influence on the self-understanding of the aristocratic class, and the literature of chivalry has shaped the Western imagination of knighthood and aristocratic virtue for centuries.
The legacy of the code of chivalry can be seen in the modern concepts of honor, courage, loyalty, courtesy, and service that are still part of the Western moral vocabulary. The legacy of the courtly love tradition can be seen in the modern concepts of romantic love, chivalry toward women, and the idealization of the beloved that are still part of the Western literary and cultural tradition. The legacy of the tournament can be seen in the modern concepts of sporting competition, fair play, and the award of prizes for excellence that are still part of the Western tradition of sport.
Sources
Principal sources used in this article:
- Maurice Keen, Chivalry (Yale, 1984).
Further reading:
- Georges Duby, The Knight, the Lady and the Priest (Allen Lane, 1983).
For a recent single-volume synthesis with full scholarly apparatus, see the relevant chapter of Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 2014).