202Chapter 11
The Evolution of the Chivalric Ideal
The knights, too, became more decorative and the-
atrical with the passage of time. As the importance of
their original function began to diminish, the concept
of nobility began to evolve in its place. The qualities
of courage, loyalty, strength, and courtesy came to be
regarded as hereditary attributes. The process began
with the introduction of dubbing to knighthood in
the late eleventh century. Knights were then regarded,
in the language of the church, as an ordoor order in
their own right, a social institution instead of a mere
body of fighting men. Before long a priest customarily
blessed the knight’s arms and invested him with them
in a rite reminiscent of ordination. This was perhaps
inevitable when crusades were becoming the last legit-
imate outlet for military virtues. Finally, in the century
after 1130, knighthood was transformed into a heredi-
tary privilege. In 1140, Roger II of Sicily declared that
only the descendants of knights would be admitted to
knighthood. By 1187, it had become illegal to knight
a peasant in the empire, and peasants were prohibited
from carrying a sword or lance. Similar provisions
were found in almost every European kingdom by the
second half of the twelfth century.
Such prohibitions were not airtight. Members of
the urban patriciate were sometimes able to achieve
knightly rank, but their elevation was neither cheap nor
easy. In a reversal of earlier practice, peasants were ex-
cluded from knighthood almost by definition. To fore-
stall the proliferation of titles, kings achieved a statu-
tory monopoly over the granting of knighthoods and
forbade the ancient custom whereby any knight could
make another. At the same time, they created a profu-
sion of counts and barons to distinguish between their
greater and lesser vassals. This process reached a peak
in the empire, where the status of noble families was
eventually graded in exquisite detail. When the military
revolution of the fourteenth century brought common-
ers back to the battlefield in great numbers, such poli-
cies had to be reversed. Kings retained the sole right to
grant titles but bestowed them once again on people of
humble origin. The feudal nobility, whose importance
in war was by this time greatly diminished, regarded
such creations as an outrageous betrayal of chivalry.
Legal developments went hand in hand with an ex-
pansion of the chivalric ideal. What had once been lit-
tle more than a prescription for courage and loyalty
evolved into an all-encompassing moral and esthetic
code. The church, in its drive to influence all European
institutions, bore partial responsibility for the change.
Courtesy, clemency to a fallen enemy, and the respect-
ful treatment of women became hallmarks of the
knight, though such behavior was extended only to
members of the noble class. Peasants could still be
raped and murdered with impunity under the laws
of war.
Along with these presumed virtues went a style of
speech and personal carriage that clearly set the knightIllustration 11.3
Harlech Castle, Wales.Built by
Edward I of England between 1283 and
1289, Harlech Castle’s chief purpose
was to serve as a visible symbol of
English power. The Welsh were not
rich, numerous, or threatening to a far
weaker structure.