CHIVALRIC LITERATURE

Chivalric Literature was Escapist Fantasy Which Tells Us Nothing about Real Life

Chivalric Literature was Escapist Fantasy Which Tells Us Nothing about Real Life

Introduction

Chivalry is a social concept that strongly influenced the literature of Western Europe during the later 10th and 12th century. The concept attempted to describe the rules for polite behaviour for the aristocrats of a feudal society. Feudalism bound all classes of society in mutual oaths of loyalty in exchange for patronage or service.

The code of chivalry dictated a knight's behaviour in battle and in relationships with his overlord and his own servants, while the code of courtly love dictated how the knight should behave at court, particularly in his amorous addresses to the court's ladies. Portrayals of chivalry and courtly love in the literature, however, suggest that these artificial modes of behaviour were difficult to actually practice, and even in their fictionalized versions, characters adhering to the standards of chivalry and courtly love do not find them free of contradictions. (Anderson, 2007)

Chivalry required knights and nobles to swear loyalty to their superiors and show compassion and mercy to the weak and socially inferior. The ideal chivalric knight was brave, loyal, and determined as well as compassionate, just, and helpful to those in distress—an exemplar of Christian virtue. As the Crusades into the Holy Land began, many knights took vows of chastity and poverty to give their exploits a more spiritual dimension. The beginnings of the code of chivalry in the medieval romance can be traced to the French Le Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland), which dates to the late 10th century. The narrative retells the story of an actual battle in 778 when a group of Basques attacked the rearguard of Charlemagne's army as he withdrew from Spain.

Christian Values

The Roland poet, composing near the end of the 11th century, turns the attacking party into Saracens (Moors, who were Muslims from the Moroccan coast), making a central issue of the poem a defence of Christianity. He also turns Charlemagne's army into a set of feudal nobles governed by feudal attitudes and bonds of loyalty. Roland and his warriors refuse to abandon one another even though it appears they will all likely die. In addition, Roland hesitates to blow the horn that will summon reinforcements, since this act, suggesting that he is not heroic enough, would shame his and his family's honour. Roland's tragic death and the vengeance of Charlemagne valorise the behaviour of the hero in war, a theme that would continue into other French chansons de geste, or songs of adventure. In addition, as literature elaborated on the conduct of the hero in war, it also elaborated on the conduct of the hero in love. In love, poetically imagined as a type of polite warfare, hearts were at stake instead of lives.

Thus, the concepts of chivalry and courtly love develop simultaneously in the romantic literature. The practice of courtly love developed around the 11th century. ...