Knights were expected to uphold several virtues. Truthfulness was one of the most important and most closely kept. Charity, or largesse, was another; this was the “Robin Hood” ideal that knights should steal from the sinners and spend such money for a more noble cause. Courtesy was also kept, especially in the company of those members of the nobility with whom the knight was so often seen and with whom he associated, by practicing refined qualities and manners. Gallantry was another, which was the principle that knights should always have a lady somewhere as an object of their service and platonic love, and to whom they should always show the finest courtesy. The last value that was held strongly by knights, both because of their noble chivalry and their affiliation with the Church, was the pursuit of good and the abhorrence of evil (Meller 49-59). The fictional chivalric literature helped to create, define, and even to some extent enforce these values within a knight. Knights would often be called upon to protect merchants in urban areas who were moving their goods. Since urban areas were outside of the feudal system, there was no guarantee of protection from one’s social master. This was one way in which knights upheld their code of chivalry (Scaglione 20-21).
Meller, Walter Clifford. A Knight’s Life in the Days of Chivalry. London: T. Werner Laurie Limited, 1924.
Scaglione, Aldo D. Knights at Court: Courtliness, Chivalry and Courtesy from OttonianGermanyto the Italian Renaissance. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.
Meller, Walter Clifford. A Knight’s Life in the Days of Chivalry. London: T. Werner Laurie Limited, 1924.
Scaglione, Aldo D. Knights at Court: Courtliness, Chivalry and Courtesy from Ottonian Germany to the Italian Renaissance. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991.