Argumentative Essay On Chivalry
The warriors of Medieval times, the lovers of many women, and the ones who were called upon by the kings. These were the Medieval Knights. Medieval knights were valued by the kings, they were courteous to women, but when they were needed the switch flipped. The knights were a ruthless band of men, who were misunderstood by some. The side most people never saw was the side of chivalry and kindness.
One of the important things for a knight to uphold was that he was to be chivalrous. The word chivalry is derived a word that means horseman. Although it comes from the word that means horseman, chivalry has nothing to do with horses. Chivalry was the codes of a knight. In a better description, it was the honor code of the knight. Respect towards …show more content…
women was an important part of the chivalry codes (Chivalry, 2014). Like today, a knight was expected to be a gentleman. The Codes of Chivalry was what the knights loved by.
The Codes of Chivalry were exercised and were basically written by the medieval knights.
Qualities that were idealized by the knight was the basis of the Codes of Chivalry. These codes were for the knights, and were also by the knights. During the knighthood ceremony, the future knight had to state vows and oaths based from the ideas in the Codes of Chivalry. “A knight was to fear God and maintain his church, and was also expected to protect the weak and defenseless.” These ideals were expressed in poems, literature, etc. by the authors of that time period. Since these were the only choices of literature of this time, it makes sense that people would listen to them. “A knight was not only expected to have strength, skill, and aggression, but they were also supposed to show a chivalrous side.” Some of the points on the Codes of Chivalry was they were not allowed to trade with certain people. Another part of chivalry was that it was respect towards women and most of the laws referred to this. It is stated that, “He who is jealous shall not love.” This is stating that a man who is jealous of others because of the women that they accompany shall not be love by the woman that loves him. This is showing respect towards the woman of the medieval times by keeping heartbreakers away from them (Chivalry, 2014). Although chivalry was an important part of a knight's life, all life has to have a
beginning.
The Templar order was one of the first religious knight orders. In Jerusalem, during the bloody first Crusade, a religious brother-hood was born (Napier, 2008). This was the brother-hood of the Templar. The Knights Templar, the Teutonic knights, and the Hospitallers all emerged during the time of the Crusades. Hugues de Paynes, a French knight, established the Templar order around 1118 with a small group of family and friends. The original headquarters of the order was Temple Mount. The King of Jerusalem approved of the Templars. With the king’s approval, this marked a big step in the progress of the Knights Templar. They not only were responsible for protecting lives, but also protected travellers money resulting in the development of a banking system (Knights Templar, 2015). Protecting the money of weary travellers was yet another reason that the Templars were appreciated. The Templars were different from other knight orders because of the religious vows that they had to take. At one point in time, the Templars exercised such extensive powers, that they basically only listened to the Pope. This was such a high honor for the Templars because of their religious beliefs. “The Templars’ most famous defeat was against the nemesis of Jerusalem, the Sultan Saladin,” (Napier, 2008). Although the Templars were a great brother-hood, it came to an end short after.
The Templars thrived until the year of 1307. On Friday the thirteenth of October, 1307, Jacques de Molay and sixty of his knights were arrested in Paris , starting the decline of the Knights Templar. This is why Friday the thirteenth is deemed unlucky (Knights Templar, 2015). This makes sense because of how they were so highly appreciated. The Templars were trialed during the years of 1308. 1309, and 1310. These trials marked the end of the Templar brotherhood.
Although the Templar brotherhood fell apart, other orders of knights did not fall apart. In 732 a raiding party had taken over Bordeaux and was headed towards Poitiers when they were met by Charles Martel and were completely destroyed, by Martel and the Frankish army. Charlemagne is credited with being the creator of the Frankish army. Charlemagne's warriors were well equipped at all times. This was one of the earliest signs of the organized knights. “Originally knighthood was a professional association.” This is understandable because of how the knights were seen in society. They were valued by the kings and were worshipped by the kingdom peasants. Knighthood emerged in the eleventh century, and its members were made of anyone who could afford the armour and a horse. Even though it was professional, in the beginning the orders were in need of any and all members. The noble class and knightly class came together in the late 1100’s, resulting in a finer class of knights. “Starting in the thirteenth century heredity enters into the knightly class.” This meant that the son of any knight had the opportunity to become a knight. In the late thirteenth century, the use of knights slowly started to decline (Bradford,1991). This started the beginning of the end of the militaristic knight.
Even though the use of knights in battle began to decrease, knights used for entertainment were still in use. William Marshall was one of these knights for hire. “ William was the fourth of six son’s, but was the only one born into the knightly class.” At a young age, William had a brush with death while being held hostage, for something his father, John, had done. William soon realized he could make good money at tournaments. “ Tournaments consisted of two teams trying to capture the opposing teams knights.” He won his first battle, but had to pawn off his prize, a robe, so that he could buy a new horse after his was killed. Although he did have to get rid of his prize, it was well worth the it. William was so well known because he became wealthy and famous, therefore, shortly after his death a biography was written for him (Bradford, 1991). As most know a knight was only as good as the skills he possessed and the resources he obtained.
When one speaks of the resources a knight could obtain, they are speaking of the weapons that he used. The main weapons of the knights were the swords and the lance (Source 5). The lance, although not as well known as the sword, was used in the same manner. The lance was used by horseman who were charging into battle. The sword was used for close combat and could be used to jab at an opponent in retreat. Even though these were the most common weapons, they were not the only ones in use. Weapons that required accuracy such as the longbow, bow and arrow, and crossbow were also used. These weapons were used for combat where it was too risky for a sword to be used. These weapons were made of wood and string. Unlike the other two bow types, the crossbow required a trigger mechanism to fire. These weapons are still in use today, but not by modern military. They are used by hunters across the globe. With the weaponry that the knights used, they had to have a way to protect themselves against enemy weapons.
The armour the knights needed was to protect them against the enemy. The Romans used plate armour, but after multiple invasions of Rome, it had nearly disappeared. One of the only survivors of these many invasions, were the shields that the Romans used while in battle. They were not made of metal however, but made of wood. Since wood is much easier to break than metal, the knights needed more protection than that of the wood.
Although the plate armour had gone out of existence, chain mail was still in use. In the early stages of mail, only the wealthy could afford it because of how it was made. Chainmail is made up or conjoining iron rings. The smaller the rings were, the better it was at protecting the body because there would have been less room for error. The downside to only having mail armour was that one would have to wear a quilt type material underneath for extra protection. The extra protection was not the bad part of wearing the quilt type material, but it collected tremendous heat. During a normal European summers day, temperatures could reach well over one hundred degrees fahrenheit. This would not only be uncomfortable, but could lead to many health problems. One of the main problems would be dehydration. The knight would either be riding all day or fighting, which would make him sweat uncontrollably in the summer heat. If the knight were riding on a road close to a stream or river, he could stop to get a drink and cool down, but if he was in an intense battle, he could not stop until the battle was over. A battle could take hours, days, or even week (Hopkins, 1993). Even though the health of the knights was needed, having comfort in battle would have been a nice addition.
Since the knights would have been tugging around a quilt under their chainmail, it would have been much heavier than normal mail. This being said, the sweat from a knight would have been collecting inside of the quilt making it damp and even heavier, presumably. doubling its weight (Source, 3). The weight and the moisture of the cloth would not only be uncomfortable but would make someone feel disgusting. By the time of the Crusades, excellent mail was being produced (Heller, 1982). Although chainmail was good for what it was meant for, there were some some flaws.
The flaws in the chainmail lead to better armour being made. One of the newest implications of armour was the helmet. It was meant to protect the head and face. It had a bar across the nose to protect from blows to the face from enemy weapons. Normally the helmets were made of either bronze or iron. On the inside of the helmet, some knights would wear a cloth cap to protect from helmet to head contact (Heller, 1982). The knight would not want to have a sweaty head, then he would get hit and his helmet would fly off because of how sweaty their head is. Knights were not the only ones that had armour.
The knight’s horses were a valuable asset in battle, and they needed to be protected. These horses were covered from head to hoof. They were covered in a quilt like blanket to protect their body and had iron for their head. There were iron blinders around the eyes so they would not get poked out while charging into battle. Blinders are used so that the horse can only see straight ahead while running so they do not get distracted. The horses necks were also protected by plate armour so nothing could penetrate the neck area. The main purpose in this is to protect the artery that runs down the neck. If this artery were to be cut the horse would die, leaving the knight without transportation (Source 8).
One of the important things for a knight to uphold was that he was to be chivalrous. The word chivalry is derived a word that means horseman. Although it comes from the word that means horseman, chivalry has nothing to do with horses. Chivalry was the codes of a knight. In a better description, it was the honor code of the knight. Respect towards …show more content…
women was an important part of the chivalry codes (Chivalry, 2014). Like today, a knight was expected to be a gentleman. The Codes of Chivalry was what the knights loved by.
The Codes of Chivalry were exercised and were basically written by the medieval knights.
Qualities that were idealized by the knight was the basis of the Codes of Chivalry. These codes were for the knights, and were also by the knights. During the knighthood ceremony, the future knight had to state vows and oaths based from the ideas in the Codes of Chivalry. “A knight was to fear God and maintain his church, and was also expected to protect the weak and defenseless.” These ideals were expressed in poems, literature, etc. by the authors of that time period. Since these were the only choices of literature of this time, it makes sense that people would listen to them. “A knight was not only expected to have strength, skill, and aggression, but they were also supposed to show a chivalrous side.” Some of the points on the Codes of Chivalry was they were not allowed to trade with certain people. Another part of chivalry was that it was respect towards women and most of the laws referred to this. It is stated that, “He who is jealous shall not love.” This is stating that a man who is jealous of others because of the women that they accompany shall not be love by the woman that loves him. This is showing respect towards the woman of the medieval times by keeping heartbreakers away from them (Chivalry, 2014). Although chivalry was an important part of a knight's life, all life has to have a
beginning.
The Templar order was one of the first religious knight orders. In Jerusalem, during the bloody first Crusade, a religious brother-hood was born (Napier, 2008). This was the brother-hood of the Templar. The Knights Templar, the Teutonic knights, and the Hospitallers all emerged during the time of the Crusades. Hugues de Paynes, a French knight, established the Templar order around 1118 with a small group of family and friends. The original headquarters of the order was Temple Mount. The King of Jerusalem approved of the Templars. With the king’s approval, this marked a big step in the progress of the Knights Templar. They not only were responsible for protecting lives, but also protected travellers money resulting in the development of a banking system (Knights Templar, 2015). Protecting the money of weary travellers was yet another reason that the Templars were appreciated. The Templars were different from other knight orders because of the religious vows that they had to take. At one point in time, the Templars exercised such extensive powers, that they basically only listened to the Pope. This was such a high honor for the Templars because of their religious beliefs. “The Templars’ most famous defeat was against the nemesis of Jerusalem, the Sultan Saladin,” (Napier, 2008). Although the Templars were a great brother-hood, it came to an end short after.
The Templars thrived until the year of 1307. On Friday the thirteenth of October, 1307, Jacques de Molay and sixty of his knights were arrested in Paris , starting the decline of the Knights Templar. This is why Friday the thirteenth is deemed unlucky (Knights Templar, 2015). This makes sense because of how they were so highly appreciated. The Templars were trialed during the years of 1308. 1309, and 1310. These trials marked the end of the Templar brotherhood.
Although the Templar brotherhood fell apart, other orders of knights did not fall apart. In 732 a raiding party had taken over Bordeaux and was headed towards Poitiers when they were met by Charles Martel and were completely destroyed, by Martel and the Frankish army. Charlemagne is credited with being the creator of the Frankish army. Charlemagne's warriors were well equipped at all times. This was one of the earliest signs of the organized knights. “Originally knighthood was a professional association.” This is understandable because of how the knights were seen in society. They were valued by the kings and were worshipped by the kingdom peasants. Knighthood emerged in the eleventh century, and its members were made of anyone who could afford the armour and a horse. Even though it was professional, in the beginning the orders were in need of any and all members. The noble class and knightly class came together in the late 1100’s, resulting in a finer class of knights. “Starting in the thirteenth century heredity enters into the knightly class.” This meant that the son of any knight had the opportunity to become a knight. In the late thirteenth century, the use of knights slowly started to decline (Bradford,1991). This started the beginning of the end of the militaristic knight.
Even though the use of knights in battle began to decrease, knights used for entertainment were still in use. William Marshall was one of these knights for hire. “ William was the fourth of six son’s, but was the only one born into the knightly class.” At a young age, William had a brush with death while being held hostage, for something his father, John, had done. William soon realized he could make good money at tournaments. “ Tournaments consisted of two teams trying to capture the opposing teams knights.” He won his first battle, but had to pawn off his prize, a robe, so that he could buy a new horse after his was killed. Although he did have to get rid of his prize, it was well worth the it. William was so well known because he became wealthy and famous, therefore, shortly after his death a biography was written for him (Bradford, 1991). As most know a knight was only as good as the skills he possessed and the resources he obtained.
When one speaks of the resources a knight could obtain, they are speaking of the weapons that he used. The main weapons of the knights were the swords and the lance (Source 5). The lance, although not as well known as the sword, was used in the same manner. The lance was used by horseman who were charging into battle. The sword was used for close combat and could be used to jab at an opponent in retreat. Even though these were the most common weapons, they were not the only ones in use. Weapons that required accuracy such as the longbow, bow and arrow, and crossbow were also used. These weapons were used for combat where it was too risky for a sword to be used. These weapons were made of wood and string. Unlike the other two bow types, the crossbow required a trigger mechanism to fire. These weapons are still in use today, but not by modern military. They are used by hunters across the globe. With the weaponry that the knights used, they had to have a way to protect themselves against enemy weapons.
The armour the knights needed was to protect them against the enemy. The Romans used plate armour, but after multiple invasions of Rome, it had nearly disappeared. One of the only survivors of these many invasions, were the shields that the Romans used while in battle. They were not made of metal however, but made of wood. Since wood is much easier to break than metal, the knights needed more protection than that of the wood.
Although the plate armour had gone out of existence, chain mail was still in use. In the early stages of mail, only the wealthy could afford it because of how it was made. Chainmail is made up or conjoining iron rings. The smaller the rings were, the better it was at protecting the body because there would have been less room for error. The downside to only having mail armour was that one would have to wear a quilt type material underneath for extra protection. The extra protection was not the bad part of wearing the quilt type material, but it collected tremendous heat. During a normal European summers day, temperatures could reach well over one hundred degrees fahrenheit. This would not only be uncomfortable, but could lead to many health problems. One of the main problems would be dehydration. The knight would either be riding all day or fighting, which would make him sweat uncontrollably in the summer heat. If the knight were riding on a road close to a stream or river, he could stop to get a drink and cool down, but if he was in an intense battle, he could not stop until the battle was over. A battle could take hours, days, or even week (Hopkins, 1993). Even though the health of the knights was needed, having comfort in battle would have been a nice addition.
Since the knights would have been tugging around a quilt under their chainmail, it would have been much heavier than normal mail. This being said, the sweat from a knight would have been collecting inside of the quilt making it damp and even heavier, presumably. doubling its weight (Source, 3). The weight and the moisture of the cloth would not only be uncomfortable but would make someone feel disgusting. By the time of the Crusades, excellent mail was being produced (Heller, 1982). Although chainmail was good for what it was meant for, there were some some flaws.
The flaws in the chainmail lead to better armour being made. One of the newest implications of armour was the helmet. It was meant to protect the head and face. It had a bar across the nose to protect from blows to the face from enemy weapons. Normally the helmets were made of either bronze or iron. On the inside of the helmet, some knights would wear a cloth cap to protect from helmet to head contact (Heller, 1982). The knight would not want to have a sweaty head, then he would get hit and his helmet would fly off because of how sweaty their head is. Knights were not the only ones that had armour.
The knight’s horses were a valuable asset in battle, and they needed to be protected. These horses were covered from head to hoof. They were covered in a quilt like blanket to protect their body and had iron for their head. There were iron blinders around the eyes so they would not get poked out while charging into battle. Blinders are used so that the horse can only see straight ahead while running so they do not get distracted. The horses necks were also protected by plate armour so nothing could penetrate the neck area. The main purpose in this is to protect the artery that runs down the neck. If this artery were to be cut the horse would die, leaving the knight without transportation (Source 8).