On the Development and Decline of Chivalry欧洲骑士制度的兴衰历史英语论文

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1、On the Development and Decline of ChivalryIntroduction:Chivalry, also known as Knighthood, can be defined as the general collection of organizations, regulations, morals and norms owned particularly by the knight class in west Europe in the Middle Ages. This system, with its nature of the dictatorsh

2、ip of mid-and-smallish feudal nobles, is based on the vassalage of land, bonded with knight enlistment, directed by Christian thought. Narrowly speaking, it is a kind of military system. Generally speaking, it serves as a system as well as a moral concept. Since Chivalry has a long-lasting impact on

3、 the developing history of west Europe, I fancy, it is quite necessary to talk about the development and decline of Chivalry.The knighthood, originated with the joint efforts of several elements, including ancient history recollections and various social facts at that time. All of these elements tog

4、ether gave birth to military fief which served as the economic isotopic carrier for the endowment of political rights on knight class. Under the spiritual shaping of Christian thought, Chivalry was established firmly.Chivalry, as a military regime built on the fief system, primitively originated in

5、Frankish Kingdom in the 8th century. Then it was passed to the north, to the west of Reich across Flender, Burgundy and so on. It is safe to say that Chivalry is a kind of mechanism on the whole European continent. To be frank, its development can be divided into three stages.Three stages of develop

6、ment: The first stage was approximately from the Military Reform of Charles Martel, to the end of 11th century. During this period, Chivalry was still on the primary level. Here follows its several features.To begin with, knights were professional soldiers and the primitive soldiers were considered

7、as the most faithful and the bravest people. They shouldered the mission of protecting national people. Their major task was to fight in various battles and to serve their suzerains. It was estimated that they were at war for 4060 days per year. Therefore, its military feature can be plainly seen. K

8、nights were an open class before 11th century. Any person who could afford to buy weapons and horses and had ever participated officially in the ceremony could deserve the name of a knight. A freeman, who was born in a poor family, could also be named a knight as long as he could behave bravely in a

9、 battle. Whats more, every knight had the right to nominate a knight out of a common person. But it is worth nothing along the way that the equipment cost was fairly high. At that time, a very healthy and strong bull cost about 2 sorida, while it would cost 22 times more than that money to equip a k

10、night. Well-equipped weapons and excellent skills, together with the strict measurement of military strength suggest that not everyone could become a knight. Every knight must be outstanding in the Middle Ages. In addition to the conditions above, competitiveness also played a big role during that p

11、eriod. If a knight could beat his rival or an aggressive person, his reputation would be lifted immediately and he would become the respected hero in peoples mind. Secondly, all the knights were feudal lords. However big or small, as a condition, every knight could gain some feuds from his superior.

12、 There were some typical words written in the Code of Germanic saying “Feif is the reward of every knight.” As the suzerain of the fief, the knights could enjoy the total income of the land and invest the money for their equipment. In addition, some administrative rights were given together with the

13、 fief, such as the rights to tackle civilian lawsuits, part of robberies and homicide cases, the rights to nominate jury members and to investigate some cases. The last feature should be that knights were experiencing the process of Christianism. Those knights in the Middle Ages were almost brutal a

14、nd ruthless warriors. They could tease weak people, plunder peasants, rape women or murder innocent people without being seriously punished. Whats worse, all of these behaviors did not violate the Knight Behavior Norms. However, they betrayed the Christian greatly. As Christian became increasingly i

15、mportant in west Europe, the church began to perform some control over those rough knights. In 10th century, the church launched a campaign called the Peace of God where “Brutal knights should deserve spiritual punishment” was declared. Furthermore, the Truce of God prohibited any kind of battle on

16、Sundays or during other divine festivals. Violence was strictly banned in or near churches, otherwise all the violate participants, knights included, would be exiled from Christian church.The second stage was about from 12th century to the beginning of 13th century. This period was the most successf

17、ul as it was basically about the Crusades. Some features were quite obvious about this stage.Firstly, with the combination of religious discipline and military discipline, the knights aggressiveness, spirit of adventure and religious fanaticism constituted the highest peak in the evolution of Chival

18、ry until the start of the crusades. Under the appeal of the Pope, the crusades became a fair war and the hatred between knights became serious hatred against pagans. Under the protection of religion, the knights bloody and fleshy appetites became legitimate religious fanaticism. They sold all their

19、properties and King Charles even pledged the whole region and country. Along with the crusades, knight groups turned up as the central part of Christian knights. The most popular knight groups were the Teuton Knight Group, the God-temple Knight Group and the Hospital Knight Group. These three groups

20、 were basically composed of monks and priests who were directly governed by the Pope. They can be mainly divided into four classesKnights, Sergeants, Farmers and Chaplains. Every knight group had its own strict regulations. Particularly, they held fast to three beliefssecurity and poverty, faithfuln

21、ess, adherence to the fate. They fought against pagans in the name of God, which embodied an obvious feature of combination of religion and military affairs.Secondly, the hereditary of knight privilege and the separation between farmers and knights could not be ignored. On the one hand, after 12th c

22、entury, it had become a descendent privilege. In fact, if an emperor bestowed a peasant with the name “knight”, he would create a family of knights. On the other hand, the gap between peasants and knights became wider and wider. In 1152, a peace decree stipulated that legitimate knights were those w

23、hose ancestors were real knights. In 1187, another order clearly prohibited the descendents of peasants from becoming knights. Due to the harsh discrimination, social classes were firmly established.The third stage was from the end of 13th century to the Religious Reform period. During this period,

24、chivalry began to decline and finally disappeared in the history. This could be proved by the following aspects. First things first, knights began to transform to be common noblemen. Since the end of 12th century, a well-trained army force became a necessity for the defense of the nation owing to se

25、veral factors such as the dramatic changes of land system, the inner deterioration of the hereditary fief, the awakening of national awareness, the eager need of war and so on. However, the past Knight System had no certain time and discipline restrictions thus could not be applied to the very situa

26、tion. Therefore, it must be thrown away. Thereafter, most European countries, Britain, France and Germany in particular, accepted the Scutage System, which separated knights from their basic military discipline. Those knights either chose to become profane noblemen living on their large amount of la

27、nd or decided to do business and then became the predecessor of the new bourgeoisie. Another aspect was that knights served only as a symbol of reputation. After 14th century, the ceremony of gaining the fame of “knight” became more and more casual. Particularly in the war between Britain and France

28、, James often named a lot of soldiers “knights” in order to cheer them up to win the war. Whats worse, some wealthy bureaucrats could make money by means of selling the fame and position of knight. It was said that the price of a knight and its unique equipment had become so high that many common no

29、blemen could not afford to keep the fame. To sum up, the knight had already lost its original connotation and become just a symbol of reputation. Conclusion:In general conclusion, although Chivalry has already died out, its influence still remains long-lasting. Standing on the point of history, chiv

30、alry, as a European mechanism, also made the Middle Ages known as the Knight Times. Knights became the backbone of the whole society, and the knight spirit influenced the culture of the whole times. Furthermore, after the Religious Reform, Chivalry was still the powerful moral concept which dominate

31、d peoples mind and spirit. It surely deserves the reputation of “the crown of the whole social system”. Looking forward to the future, the knight is blessed with many virtues: as warriors, they are loyal; as believers, they are courteous; as men, they are pure; as the aristocracy, they are passionat

32、e. So Knights become the embodiment of justice and power, also the symbol of glory and romance. Chivalry has shaped the Western ethical standardcourtesy, respect for others, modesty and prudence. It has a profound impact on peoples attitudes and behavior. Today, Britain still has a title named knigh

33、t. The Queen has the right to bestow all the outstanding figures who have made significant contributions to the state and society with this honorable title.Further more, from the spirit of knights, we can acquire much life philosophies. For example, we should learn to maintain humility. However low

34、his identity is, however much you hate him, if he did not commit heinous sins, we must learn to forgive him. Virtues are like precious stones which are always shining and gleaming. We must be honest, cheating will only lead to more deceits, and at last, the liar will pay a high price for his sins. W

35、e should not abandon or ignore principles and virtues. Remember them and keep them in your mind, the door to success and happiness will be open to you. I bet that these beliefs can also be applied to our daily life. Particularly, they are quite useful for us to tackle problems arisen from our relationship. Judging from this, we can clearly see that knight spirit and culture is an inexhaustible treasure-trove which deserves our further studying.