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Chivalry: Virtue Of A Knight In The Middle Ages

795 Words4 Pages

Saniyah Byrd
Mr. Jimenez
Period 2E
February 6, 2023

Arthurian Legends Essay

In the Middle Ages of Europe, the virtues of a “perfect” knight consisted of being piety, benevolent, merciful and significantly more. The most important virtue of a knight in this era was chivalry. Chivalry is defined in this context as a system the knights were in accordance with which put the behavior of courage, honor, and loyalty on a high pedestal. It’s also known as the Code of Chivalry that all the knights were expected to follow. Sir Lancelot du Lac lived up to the standards of chivalry and the “perfect” knight. He is even considered the best knight in Arthurian romance. This claim is highly debated because Lancelot committed adultery with Queen Guinevere, …show more content…

As he was described, “Lancelot was the First Knight of the Round Table, and he never failed in gentleness, courtesy, or courage. In addition to his courage and prowess on the battlefield, Lancelot was also a knight who was consistently serving others, thus giving him a good name and favor among most circles.” (King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table). It was only a matter of time before his reputation came crashing down. Lancelot fell in love with Arthur’s wife Gunievere and she reciprocated the same feelings for him gradually. Their love story was bittersweet and lasted horribly. Queen Guinevere could not resist his advances and they evolved to lovers. Obviously this is forbidden and adultery was against the Code of Chivalry in Lancelot’s case. Despite this taboo affair, Lancelot and Guinevere continued with rumors about them brewing. The other knights of the Round Table grew suspicious and the lovers were caught, revealing the secret. As a result of this, Guinevere was seized and condemned to burning to death for her unfaithfulness to King Arthur. Lancelot was later banished and he declared “…I shall depart with no worship, for a fleamed man departeth never out of a realm with no worship” (Malory 190). A perfect knight would not have enticed an affair with the king’s wife and it's forbidden by the Code of

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