Let us confess the truth, whose heralds we ought to be truly, you are not holding to the way which leads to life. The Holy Church has reserved a soldiery for herself to help her people, but you debase her wickedly to her hurt. This is not the (true) soldiery of Christ which rends asunder the sheepfold of the Redeemer. Confronting the arrogant and machismo knights, and with a highly religious tone, Urban II orated (1095): Listen and learn! You, girt about with the badge of knighthood, are arrogant with great pride you rage against your brothers and cut each other in pieces. Only then was it possible for those warring states of Christendom to find common ground, and a reason to fight higher than territorial disputes. Indeed, what was inevitably required to unite the Knights of Europe was a strong and threatening common enemy. Evenso, the effort of the church to bring control and sanction to warfare was significant. Yet these stipulations were contracts easily broken, and their enforcement was virtually non-existent. This latter decree “besought them to pledge themselves by oath to keep the peace, not to oppress the churches or the poor, and to give back what they had carried off.” These oaths were the first attempts to sever the inclination to turn to conflict as a means of social resolution. These oaths became the Pax Dei (Peace of God).īesides defining who was to be offered sanctioned protection, we also see the development of the Truga Dei (Truce of God), which restricted the practice of warfare to particular days of the week, and particular occasions. A year later the synod of Le Puy further prohibited attacks on merchants, on mills and upon vandalism of vines. In 989 the Council of Bishops at Charroux imposed restrictions upon violence, aimed particularly at those who stole from Churches, from peasants or who struck an unarmed cleric (supposedly an armed cleric was capable of defending himself!). Yet this was not the first time that the definition of Knighthood had been decreed by the Church. The oration also arguably became the basis for knighthood for the subsequent centuries, allowing such roles as Defence of the people and Justice to become almost a public service, and a personal duty. This decree officially signalled a shift in the mentality and perception of Europe’s warrior class. “ He would defend to the uttermost the oppressed, the widow and the orphan, and that women of noble birth should enjoy his especial care” – so stipulated Pope Urban II in 1095 at the Council of Clermont in regards to the perfect knight of Christ. Not to mention the fact that (to an extent), devotion to women and devotion to God were somewhat conflicting, unless pursued in the sanctioned manner. Balancing martial responsibilities, giving attention to women and devoting oneself to God was a difficult task. Even fictional characters failed in their ability to reconcile the three pillars of Chivalry: fighting, loving and praying. In this way, according to Greek legend, one is able to live on forever.ĭespite the value of Chivalry being sanctioned by medieval society, it was notoriously difficult to pursue it accurately, and in a way which was unanimously praised. They inspired the Knight to not only aspire to fame in his own life-time, but to make so much impact that his name becomes remembered for centuries. Tales of classical Greek and Roman warriors whose fame and legend were told time and time again were the germ for motivation. To the medieval Knight, worth was derived from achievement and recognition of said achievements. In accordance with Da Vinci who once observed that we are all born equal, but through practice the gap increases, it seems likely that it was through acts of Chivalry that one was observed to have been chivalrous. In a sense, it was defined by what we call the Curriculum Vitae. The ideal of chivalry was that all should strive to achieve, and that achievement would be rewarded. Worthiness is similarly proven by means of curriculum vitae. Modern Capitalist society recognises ‘worth’ by financial reward: those who are ‘most worthy’ are paid the highest salaries. Such obsession with ‘worth’ was what lead to the Chivalric principle of the ‘worthy man’ (Preudomme).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |