The Ideals of Chivalry and Courtly Love
Medieval Europe and the Emergence of the Chivalric Code
Mar 22, 2009
Perhaps no other era has been as written about and as idealized as the age of chivalry in medieval Europe. Virtues such as courage, honesty, valor, and compassion became more important to the noble classes as a whole, and knights sought to emulate the starring roles of Arthur and Lancelot in the Arthurian legends.
Women, Knights, and Courtly Love
During the chivalric age, the role of women also changed and expanded as an ideal akin to chivalry emerged in the European courts: courtly love. Both courtly love and chivalry emphasized the importance of a knight's fidelity to one lady and of the chaste, though ideal, relationship between a knight and his chosen lady.
These are certainly the ideals that Hollywood has picked up on with recent incarnations of the age of chivalry on the silver screen. By understanding the ideals and the realities of the age of chivalry, historians can better grasp the complex nature of both courtly love and chivalry.
The Emergence of Chivalry: From Warrior Peasants to Knights
Before the age of chivalry, which saw its full flowering in the courts of Eleanor of Aquitaine, feudal knighthood was both violent and uncouth. The elegant Lancelot of the Malory’s Morte d’Arthur had yet to emerge in the battlefields of medieval Europe. In fact, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the vileness of bandit knights, such as Geoffrey de Mandeville, who committed grave atrocities against their opponents. Knights like de Mandeville were accustomed to rampant plundering and pillage and enjoyed the spoils of war, regardless of principles of justice, mercy, or fair play.
Prior to the 1100s, knights were not yet part of a privileged class but instead were regarded as warrior peasants, contributing to their hardened attitudes toward the helpless lower classes. Even with the emergence of the chivalric code, it was difficult for these old attitudes to die away entirely.
Finally, in the later twelfth century, the old ways of rampant destruction began a gradual transition toward a more civilized, honorable system. Etienne de Fougeres, the Bishop of Lisieus, believed that the nobility was the only class that could take part in the specialized system of chivalry and that a special class of warriors would be needed to carry out the corresponding new ideals. In 1241, Henry boosted the Bishop’s cause by declaring that English gentlemen with a certain amount of property would be classified as knights.
Eleanor of Aquitaine and Courtly Love
One of the greatest figures in the promotion of the chivalric ideal was Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor’s interest in the poetry of courtly love and its ideals was shared by her daughters, Marie of Champagne, and together they reigned over the courts of love at Poitiers, Eleanor’s court. To encourage the development of chivalry and courtly love, Eleanor became a patroness of the bourgeoning art of courtly love, and she offered financial support to troubadours who visited her court and celebrated these ideals.
Later, Eleanor contributed an important ideal, that of the romantic quest. Unfortunately, these quests, where knights sought to attain honor and glory through spectacular feats, ultimately turned into nothing more than sophisticated games. Moreover, women of the upper classes were idealized and worshipped from afar, but chivalric knights were often brutal and ill-mannered toward women of the lower classes.
In the end, members of the aristocracy embraced the idea of chivalric conduct and in the romance of courtly love, but they often failed to put these codes into practice. However, the ideal of the chivalric knight has lingered through the ages, and authors and readers continued to be entranced by the exploits of knights and their ladies.
References:
O'Donoghue, Brent. The Courtly Love Tradition. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1982.
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