Qualities of a knight in our time. What does it mean to be a knight

Another publication about the most common misconceptions of modern man.

What were they like - real knights?

Brave defenders of the oppressed and warriors true to their word, for whom honor is more valuable than life, gallant admirers of beautiful ladies - this is how we usually perceive medieval knights. We believe that the main qualities of a knight are honor and nobility, courage and loyalty.

This is all, of course, very inspiring, but thinking this way, we are most seriously mistaken, because in reality there were no traces of such noble knights - they existed only on the pages chivalric novels.

But let's take things in order. Let's figure out what qualities of a knight were inherent in this class.

Qualities of a Knight

First of all, no one but yourself knights never defended. The overwhelming majority of them were ordinary bandits and for several centuries they terrorized those around them, robbed merchants and pilgrims, did not submit to any authority and, without much mental anguish, killed anyone who dared to resist them.

Secondly, the scenes from chivalric novels, where beautiful ladies tearfully asked for help and received it immediately. It's a delusion . In reality, at the sight of approaching knights everyone who could move independently, and beautiful ladies, first of all, in a panic, tried to hide out of their sight.

Here are just a few examples. In 1208 knights Simon de Montfort captured the city of Beziers in Languedoc, one of the centers of the heretical teaching of the Albigensians. To the question of one of knight and how to distinguish heretics from true Christians, the papal legate Arnold Amaury responded: “Kill everyone. God recognizes his flock." Noble knights Fifteen thousand people were slaughtered, mostly women and children.

Richard the Lionheart has the best qualities of a knight.

What are we even talking about when the very embodiment of nobility, Richard the Lionheart, after the capture of one of the Saracen fortresses, ordered the stomachs of some hundreds, and several thousand others, to check whether they had swallowed jewelry?

In 1369, Edward, aka the Black Prince, called by medieval authors “the noblest and most worthy knight,” captured the French city of Limoges. He granted freedom to his fellow knights who were captured and ordered the killing of all other inhabitants of the city. And in this case, neither women nor children were spared.

Noble knight Edward the Black Prince.

The “noble” knights who participated in the crusade organized by Peter the Hermit in 1096 marked their journey through Europe with robberies, rapes and murders, as local residents refused to supply them with provisions.

Many knight and went on a crusade just to loot more. And the kings of European states welcomed these campaigns, since in this way they got rid of the uncontrollable and warlike for a long time (and sometimes forever). knights.

In this light, the following story does not seem so implausible:

The knight returned to the castle to his lord. He was badly dented, his armor was bent, his helmet was broken, his face was bloody. His horse was lame, and he himself could barely stay in the saddle.

- What kind of trouble happened to you? - the senor asked the poor fellow.

He, with difficulty straightening up in the saddle, answered:

- Oh, I did a nice job for you, sir! I gave your enemies a good beating in the north...

- What? - cried the surprised baron. – I don’t have any enemies in the north...

“Uh...” the knight said tiredly. – It wasn’t, so now it will be!

Manners of knights

But maybe knights were connoisseurs of beauty and distinguished by excellent manners? The knights had nothing like this, such qualities. It's a delusion.

Historians claim that their castles were always incredibly dirty, chickens and pigs swarmed in the courtyards among garbage, dirt and garbage, the rooms were heated with smoking coal and illuminated with torches. The knights ate with their hands, used their hair and beard as napkins and slept clothed. And the ability of noble knights to appreciate beauty is evidenced by the fact that, having captured Christian Constantinople, they destroyed wonderful works of ancient art, masterpieces made of marble, wood, and bone. And all for the simple reason that the crusaders perceived only gold as something valuable.

Let us also note that the barbarians from the West, who for some reason are recklessly called noble knights, in 1204 turned the richest book depositories of Constantinople with the most valuable works of ancient writers and philosophers into ashes.

Recover from the effects of the invasion knights with crosses on their cloaks, the Byzantine capital could no longer...

So were there really no knights in the best sense of the word? Really best qualities Are the knights we listed at the beginning of the article just fiction? I can reassure the romantics. Although in very small numbers, noble knights still existed. Few literate knights they simply imitated book heroes: King Arthur, Lancelot, Tristan and other literary models. As they say, thanks for that. Here she is great power art! In those distant times, people still believed what was written...

Medieval knighthood is a completely unique phenomenon in the history of Europe. Chivalry had already been formed by the 11th century, and at the time of the start of the Crusades, the rules of conduct for knights and their code of honor had already been established. Knighthood reached its heyday in the 14th century, when tournaments began to be held regularly and complex heraldry was formed.

What qualities of knights have already been lost

Chivalry was not created as a simple community of noble warriors. This is a specific group of people who were united moral values. These positive qualities of medieval knights should be considered in more detail:

unconditional honesty. A knight could not lie, and a knight who lied could not bear this title. This was dishonorable, because lying was regarded as cowardice, a desire to avoid a fair confrontation4
loyalty to one's word was highly valued. It was unacceptable to betray one’s own beliefs and renege on promises. Moreover, the promises and oaths had a religious basis. And their violation was unworthy of a knight. Such a person could be deprived of his knighthood and expelled from noble society;
courage. The knight should not have yielded to danger. He had to be fearless. Moreover, knights specifically went on campaigns to fight in the name of God and goodness. That is, they themselves looked for dangers for themselves;
patronage of the poor and downtrodden. The knight was obliged to help the poor and protect the offended. The purpose of many knightly enterprises was to protect those in need.

All of the above qualities are still welcome today. But they are all relative.

Loss of knightly qualities - good or bad

Modern "flexibility" is a means of survival in the world. The age of knights is irrevocably gone. And people's living conditions have changed. Therefore, one cannot regret that the knightly rules of behavior have disappeared forever. After all, the world is already different.

However, these qualities are inherent in all people in one way or another and they command respect from everyone. Therefore, there is no need to try to be a knight. It is enough to follow the listed rules of conduct in everyday life.

What were the ideals of chivalry?

A knight must first of all be a Christian. It was impossible to become a knight without receiving holy baptism.

“These are times of ardent faith,” wrote one of his enlightened contemporaries, “when people have no doubts. They imagine the universe as a vast theater where an endless drama is played out, full of tears and joys, characters which are scattered between heaven, earth and hell; a drama whose outcome is predetermined, whose actions are controlled by God himself, but which in every scene presents large and varied interweavings. Divine persons, angels and saints join every moment to guide humanity, while Satan and his dark legions tempt and confuse him without end. A person, drawn by heavenly mercy and hellish temptations in two opposite directions, is free of will and master of his fate. He has an earthly life to choose between two attractions and, depending on whether he yields to the first or the second, his soul flies off after the death of his body to happy places where eternal joy reigns, or is cast into the abyss - a refuge of despair.”

According to these ideas, man's greatest misfortune was sin; it was necessary either to avoid it or to be cleansed of it. But at the same time, it was believed that there were no unforgivable sins, no atrocities that could not be redeemed by sincere repentance and godly actions.

A knight must be not only a Christian, but also a fighter for the Christian Church. He was ordered to guard and protect her. One of the French ballads says this directly: “We are clergy,” says the minister of the Church, the archbishop, “and it is our duty to serve God, to whom we pray for our friends. And you, knights, do not forget that God created you to protect the Church.”

While defending the Church, the knight was obliged to provide assistance to all those who were under its protection - widows, orphans, and the weak. And I must say, there are, especially in literary monuments, wonderful examples of how knights followed this law. Here's just one of them...

Feeling the approach of death, Charlemagne bequeathed to his son not to rob orphans of their fiefs, and from widows of their last money. However, his son, King Louis, quickly forgot his father’s covenants and offered Count Guillaume the possession of the fief of one of his vassals, the deceased Marquis Beranger.

But Guillaume, knowing that the Marquis still had a son, became furious with anger. In the presence of all the vassals, he scolded his king: “Noble knights, listen to me! See how Louis, our rightful lord, rewards his best servants. During the battle with the Saracens, Turks and Slavs, the king was knocked off his horse. The Marquis Beranger rushed to him, lowering the reins, with a shining sword in his hand, he cut a clearing around the king, like a boar between dogs. Then he jumped off his horse to help his lord. And the king sat in the saddle and rushed off like a cowardly dog. The Marquis Beranger remained, and we saw how he was killed and cut into pieces, but, alas, we could not come to his aid.

He left behind an heir, whose name is little Beranger. To betray this child, you have to be, I swear to God, worse than a coward and a traitor. If anyone dares to take the land of little Beranger, this very sword will cut off his head.”

It was on such ballads that the morality of the future knight was formed. By the way, one can judge from this ballad how little the feudal lords considered their kings at the dawn of chivalry.

Knights were supposed to serve as defenders of right and good against evil. In the fight against enemies, the knight was inspired by his love for his homeland, to which he was strongly attached. The knight considered his country the best country in the world.

This is how touchingly the same literary hero, Count Guillaume, says goodbye to his country France, leaving it for a long time: “He turned towards dear France, and the wind from there blew in his face; he opened his chest to give more air access. Standing against the wind, he knelt down: “Oh, the gentle breath blowing from France. It contains all the people I love. I entrust you to the right hand of the Lord, because I myself do not hope to see you again." Tears flowed from his beautiful eyes. They flow in streams over his face and abundantly wet his clothes.”

Knights, defenders of the Church and the weak, were supposed to serve as examples of courage and show this courage especially in the fight against infidels. The physical ideal of a knight was a strong and brave warrior who “with one blow of his sword cuts a warrior on horseback and in armor from top to bottom along with the horse,” who “without difficulty unbends four horseshoes at a time,” “raises a knight in armor to the head, which stands on his hand,” and finally... eats a quarter of a ram or a whole goose at dinner.

The knight values his name: “It is better to die than to be called a coward.” For a knight, honor is more valuable than life.

It was necessary to deal “knightly” with a defeated enemy of equal rank. The knight had to treat his captive as the most honored guest, even if he was his mortal enemy. Captives, as a rule, offered a ransom for their release, as well as expensive armor and a war horse. A knight could not attack another knight without declaring war.

The knights had to be selflessly devoted to their lord and maintain an unbreakable oath of vassal allegiance. The knight had to be true to his word. When making any promise, he swore by God, “who never lies.” And finally, the knights were supposed to be generous, according to their code...

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The nobility of a knight. The disinherited man speaks with the squires of those who organized the tournament at which he received so many laurels. According to the law of the battlefield, the knight who wins takes the horse, weapons or receives a ransom for them. The Disinherited Knight told the four squires to convey greetings to the noble knights and his intention to take the ransom, but he would only take half of the entire amount. Briand de Boisguillebert's squire replied that he would not take either equipment or ransom, since their battle was not over yet, and they would meet again: that de Boisguillebert himself challenged the Knight of the Disinherited to a mortal battle, and it is hard to forget this. And he added that he considered de Boisguillebert his mortal enemy. Left alone with his servant, the Disinherited Knight said: “Until now... the honor of English chivalry has not suffered at my hands.”

After being wounded, Rebecca looked after Ivanhoe. Eight days passed, and the knight was put on horse-drawn burdens, transported from the house where Isaac, Rebecca's father, temporarily lived. We met along the way with de Bry and his comrades. Ivanhoe identified himself when de Brasset saw the knight’s wounds, because he thought that he had been captured by the Saxon robbers. Brasset observed strict concepts of knightly dignity, which prohibited any violence against the knight, who was in a helpless state. And given that his rival was in front of him, de Brasset ordered his servant to take him to one of the remote rooms of the castle.

When the wounded Ivanhoe found himself in the castle at Front de Beuf and Rebecca was looking after him, the siege of the castle began. Ivanhoe so wanted to be with those who are now there, in battle. He tells the girl that being inactive while knights fight enemies is real torture for him. “After all, the battle is for our daily bread, the smoke of battle is the air we breathe. We do not live and do not want to live otherwise than surrounded by a halo of victory and glory! These are the laws of chivalry, we have sworn to fulfill them, and for their sake we sacrifice everything that is dear to us in life.” And then he added that the spirit of chivalry teaches kings to value their lives incomparably below their dignity, to neglect any troubles, worries and suffering, and not to be afraid of anything. “Chivalry is the source of the purest and most noble relations, the support of the oppressed, the protection of the insulted, the bulwark against the tyranny of rulers! Without him, noble dignity would be an empty phrase. And power finds its best patrons in knightly spears and swords!”

What do I think about while reading the novel Ivanhoe? Being a man is hard, being a knight is even harder. This title, high and honorable, obliges a person to certain requirements that are put forward to a representative of knighthood. And this means that he is distinguished from others by humanity, dignity, courage, and fortitude.

The first knights were cavalry warriors from Ancient Rome, because it was precisely this type of service that this title indicated. Much later, already during the Middle Ages, it began to indicate belonging to a noble family, and it could be received either by inheritance, upon reaching adulthood, or by meritorious feats of arms on the battlefield. But it was not only for military deeds that glorious warriors were awarded this honorary title.

In addition to courage and military honor, the knight had to have other positive qualities, for example, to be well-mannered, to respect elders, to observe the laws of his order, which gave him the honor of knighting, and to be able to treat ladies gallantly. These features became characteristic of knights during the Crusades and made them not only warriors, but also an integral attribute of high society and religion.

What does it mean to be in the modern world?

Concepts of chivalry in modern world slightly different from the concepts of antiquity. Today's knights do not need to go on campaigns, wear a certain type of clothing, be a horseman, or own lands. For girls of the 21st century, a knight, first of all, is a gallant man who can stand up for himself and his lady.

According to sociological surveys, women see the modern knight as well-educated, elegantly dressed, with an athletic figure, impeccable manners and infinitely romantic. Moreover, military abilities and courage often take a back seat, inferior to knowledge of romantic poems, the desire to give flowers and gifts to a woman, and the presence of financial stability.

Modern orders of chivalry

But modern men put a completely different meaning into the concept of a knight. Moreover, there are even knightly orders, similar to the medieval ones, with their own charter, obligations, in which traditions are honored and initiation rituals are performed, exactly repeating the ancient ones.

One of these orders is the Order of the Templars, which has existed in Russia since 1993. The knights of the order sacredly honor religious rules, but do not observe strict monastic prohibitions, like the medieval founders of this movement. However, the charter of modern Templars still contains such requirements as protecting the disadvantaged, helping the poor, honoring elders, respect and tenderness for the mother of one’s children and one’s parents. Members of the organization are engaged in the restoration of monuments, charity, the development of the knightly movement among young people, and hold demonstration tournaments and games.