The Knight's Code Of Chivalry

“The period 1200 to 1600 covers some of the most tumultuous times in English history” (Gravett back cover). Out of that time, surprisingly, the medieval knight emerged. However, the knights needed a type of law to keep them not only civil but also united. So, the code of chivalry was created to guide the knights’ path. The code of chivalry shaped the life of a knight by defining where his obedience lay and what his actions should be.
In order to earn the title knight, one must be obedient to his king and lord. To begin, a squire apprenticed under a knight to learn obedience. A squire followed his knight into battle with his shield and horse with the intent of giving them away if the knight needed help. He also served as the knight’s manservant
The European Dark Ages caused much death; therefore, the church thought up ways to diminish violence. The Church began chivalry because they wished to make men loyal to the church and to stop the killing (“Knights code”). Even though chivalry codes vary slightly among the separate regions, all versions of the codes believed in upholding the ways of the Catholic faith. The Church also created the “peace and then the truce to God” to make men seek peace and uphold honor (Gravett 62). This truce ensured that knights sought after the church before going into the battlefield. Furthermore, defending the faith became a vow that a knight needed to cherish. According to the song of Roland, that vow included fearing God and His church (“Knights and”). The song of Roland shows that following the church reigned supreme to following the lord because the majority of the knights commands revolve around defending, honoring, or believing in the church. “The duty of a knight is to defend the Holy Catholic Faith...our glorious God has chosen knights to vanquish… unbelievers who strive to destroy the Holy Church by force of arms… knights should uphold justice for as it is the duty of judges to judge, none could be better suited to hold Judge” (Corrick 33). This, again, proves how much the church played a role in the life of a knight, for the church would force the knights to fight for them or it would punish and ruin the name of the knight. Hence, the Crusades began. The Crusades changed whom knights fought for. Pope Urban II called the First Crusade. This is when the sword began to represent the church and the “Christianization” of knights ("Knights and”). The christianization of knights and the requirement of them to fight in the crusades caused the breaking of the feudal system and, thus, the loyalty of knights to swing from the lords to the