The all-absorbing passion for fighting led to the
invention of mimic warfare in the shape of jousts and tournaments. [14] These
exercises formed the medieval equivalent of the Greek athletic games and the
Roman gladiatorial shows. The joust was a contest between two knights; the
tournament, between two bands of knights. The contests took place in a
railed-off space, called the "lists," about which the spectators
gathered. Each knight wore upon his helmet the scarf or color of his lady and
fought with her eyes upon him. Victory went to the one who unhorsed his
opponent or broke in the proper manner the greatest number of lances. The beaten
knight forfeited horse and armor and had to pay a ransom to the conqueror.
Sometimes he lost his life, especially when the participants fought with real
weapons and not with blunted lances and pointless swords. The Church now and
then tried to stop these performances, but they remained universally popular
until the close of the Middle Ages.
[14] Sir Walter Scott's novel, Ivanhoe (chapter
xii), contains a description of a tournament.
INFLUENCE OF CHIVALRY
Chivalry arose with feudalism, formed, in fact, the
religion of feudalism, and passed away only when the changed conditions of
society made feudalism an anachronism. [15] While chivalry lasted, it produced
some improvement in manners, particularly by insisting on the notion of
personal honor and by fostering greater regard for women (though only for those
of the upper class). Our modern notion of the conduct befitting a
"gentleman" goes back to the old chivalric code. Chivalry expressed,
however, simply the sentiments of the warlike nobles. It was an aristocratic
ideal. The knight despised and did his best to keep in subjection the toiling
peasantry, upon whose backs rested the real burden of feudal society.
[15] Don Quixote, by the Spanish writer, Cervantes
(1547-1616 A.D.), is a famous satire on chivalry. Our American "Mark
Twain" also stripped off the gilt and tinsel of chivalry in his amusing
story entitled A Connecticut Yankee at the Court of King Arthur.
