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Chivalry. “Those who are at war”

The second dominant estate in medieval Europe was the feudal lords.

All feudal lords were considered knights, that is, warriors-horsemen. Element of the knights were wars. When the war was over, the knights, in anticipation of the next, showed their strength and courage in the Tournaments and on the hunt with the falcon. Knights from the most remote corners of the country came to the tournament, as it was possible not only to show themselves on it, but also to get rich.

Victory in the knight tournament was perceived as a feat in honor of the chosen lady’s winner of the heart. The winner approached his chosen one and at the same time held his hand to his forehead – as if he were protecting his eyes from her dazzling beauty. Later this gesture became a sign of respect. So there was a tradition to give military honor – to take under the visor.

Knights could not boast of their education, they wholeheartedly surrendered to military craft and were terribly

proud of it. To commoners, especially to the peasants, their breadwinners, treated with great disdain. At the same time, they considered themselves defenders of the dispossessed, although in reality they oppressed them.

XIII century. From the work of Caesar Heisterbach “Dialogue about miracles”

There lived in Saxony a knight named Ludolf. It was a real tyrant. Once he rode along the road on horseback, dressed in new purple clothes, and a peasant who was riding his cart met him. The dirt spattered from under the wheels of the cart, contaminated Ludolf’s clothes, and then this prideful knight, beside himself with anger, snatched the sword and cut off the foot to the peasant.

The knight armed with a long sword with a cross-shaped handle, a long spear. His body was protected by a flexible chain armor woven from steel rings, and from the fourteenth century, when the firearm appeared, – solid armor from lat. The head of the knight was covered by a pointed Helmet, and his face – Zabralo. The knight had a large shield decorated with a coat of arms. Knight’s clothing

corresponded to the color of the coat of arms. If the coat of arms consisted of several multi-colored parts, then knight’s clothing was sewed from the same number of pieces of different cloth. In battle, the knight tried to knock his opponent out of the saddle, who later could not stand up independently because of the heaviness of his armor.

XII century. From the “Song of Roland”

The Count… quietly exclaims in contrition:
“O Durandal damask, my sword is light,
In whose handle of the shrine I stood: I have
Vasily’s blood, Peter’s imperishable tooth,
Vlasy Denis, God’s man,
Scraps of vestments of Mary-ever-vine,
Do not serve your steel is unfaithful. Let
only a Christian own you,
Let the coward never put on you! .. ”

Knights were cooked from childhood. Anyone who wanted to become a knight, had to first serve as a squire from any knight for seven years. Initiation into the knights passed solemnly. Before the dedication, the young man prayed in the chapel for the whole night. In the morning he laid his arms on the altar and consecrated him to God, then he listened to the mass and went to the sacrament. Only after this, the lord or bishop girded him with a knight’s sword. The newly-made knight became the vassal of his lord.

The knight had to live according to a special Code of Honor. Knightly honor did not allow him to enter into a duel with unevenness, demanding to be generous. The knight got rich in war or in tournaments, in the wind, if only he was not considered stingy. It was considered shameful when a knight changed his word or his lord, did not fall in love without memory to a noble lady, showed cowardice. He had to neglect trade and physical work.

In fact, among knights there were enough treacherous, mercenary, and rude to women. Knights did not like, but the peasants generally hated them.

At the end of the medieval era, due to the spread of “fire pipes” in Europe, that is, firearms, chivalry was on the margins of history. Many knights who knew how to live only by war, engaged in robbery and finally set up a society against themselves.

Tournaments – competitions of knights in medieval Western Europe.

Armor is a metal or leather protective weapon of a warrior and his warhorse.

A helmet is a metal or leather hat that protects the head of a knight.

The visor is a movable part of the helmet that covered the face.

The coat of arms is a sign of the state, city or clan.

Code of honor – a set of rules of conduct, the violation of which was considered shameful.