Little Wisdoms: Chivalry

by C.J. McKnight

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081180464X
• ISBN13: 9780811804646
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (CA)
• Length: 61 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

The forgotten Code of behavior in Christendom

The meaning of the path of chivalry has largely been lost to the modern mind. It is often dismissed as an absurd cult of exaggerated manners- and an equally absurd obsession with romantic love. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Chivalry was the result of mankind's spirit rising from the barbarism of the Dark Ages. Chivalry was the recognition that men did not have to live as animals. Instead of might being used solely in the pursuit of plunder and power, came the ideal that the duty of the mighty was to defend the weak and oppressed. It was the recognition that women were not mere chattel to be used at will, but were the living embodiment of the eternal feminine ideal. The entire age was the triumph of idealism over a hard, bloody, barbaric world. Rules of honorable conduct were brought to warfare. Indeed, all of society was brought to a hierarchical order patterned after the kingdom of heaven. Everything had its rightful place in a divinely inspired order. Everything was holy and deserving of respect. All men had an honorable place in the world, and duty flowed both from the top down, as well as, from the bottom up. Even the tournament was far more than merely a contest of physical prowess- it was based in the unshakable conviction that no knight who was false could triumph in single combat over one who was true.This book is an excellent examination both the ideal, as well as the reality, of the Age of Chivalry. It is divided into the following sections: the introduction (by Oxford Fellow Jeremy Cato), The Origins of Chivalry, The Art of Courtly Love, and Chivalry in the Late Middle Ages. The many full-color illustrations are beautiful and jewel-like. The overall effect is that of a hand illustrated medieval book. This is a high quality hard cover. There is an attractive, colorful dust jacket. It should be noted that if you remove the jacket, the cover is illustrated with the seal of the Knights Templar.This would make an excellent gift book for the idealistic and impressionable. As the book points out, the message of chivalry is somehow irresistible, an ever-receding horizon of hope that survives all the wars and other disasters that mankind has suffered through the centuries. It is a message of nobility of purpose, of respect and compassion for others, and of courage in the face of danger.