Chivalry Lives

During the transition from the late Middle Ages to the Renaissance a very important idea took shape in the Western World. Chivalry was a concept created by religious and literary figures to formalize what was best and “noble” in human nature. As the idea evolved the notion of the “perfect knight” took form and damsel saving and dragon slaying became the order of the day. The perfect knight possessed the qualities of courage, courtesy, honor and justice; the job of the knight was to protect and serve the weak.

Writers about chivalry came up with the idea of the Nine Worthies – three persons from each of three traditions. Pre-Christian worthies were Hector, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar. The Christian worthies were King Arthur, Charlemagne and Godfrey of Bouillon. From the Jewish tradition Joshua, King David and Judas Maccabeus were cited. With these paragons-and paradigms- in place humans had a clearer path to personal nobility.

Today we seem to think that ‘”chivalry is dead.” It seems like an idea from another age. We see people holding doors or helping old folks across the street and we think that these simple acts are chivalrous. At this exact moment, we are seeing chivalry return at a much higher level. We see health care workers contesting with the dragon of illness on behalf of the weak. Courage, honor and a sense of mission are motivating the best among us and their quest is marked by great danger. Great tenacity and great altruism is their answer. These men and women are heroes on the scale of Lancelot and Hector… they put their lives on the line for a noble cause.

The actions of these people give us hope and their place in history is assured. Each of us will have our own list of worthies before this particular dragon is subdued. These people are the embodiment of the chivalric ideal. They are heroes that remind us that chivalry is not dead. As Charles Kingsley once said, ” The age of chivalry is never past so long as there is a wrong left unredressed on earth.”

Carry on, great ones !!.