I was in "Intro to English Literature" class today, and since we're studying texts from the turn of the first to second millennium (800s to 1200s. It's hard to tell), we looked into some of the backdrop of medieval life. What pops into your head when you think of medieval times (aka middle ages)? Knights in shining armor? Castles? Kings? The legend of King Arthur? These images have been immortalized since they came to us. I'm not sure why, but they have.
One thing that some people think of is chivalry: the behavior code-type thing that knights were supposed to observe. We looked into a chivalry code from the fifteenth century today in class. There were six points to observe:
1. Love God above all, be faithful, and sustain the Church.
2. Be true to your sovereign lord.
3. Be true to your word.
4. Sustain and succor widows and maidens.
5. Remain nowhere where wrongful judgment is made.
6. Suffer no murderers or extortioners of the King's people within your country, but take it upon yourself to make sure they receive justice and are punished by the King's law.
Someone in the class asked if this meant an atheist couldn't be knighted. A small discussion ensued, and the professor decided she would look into a more current code of chivalry. I took the time to do so a few hours ago; I'm not sure if it was really a code to abide by, but it was certainly more "flexible" than the one above.
When I say "flexible," I mean it was infected with relativism (more on that later).
In other words, the first command was replaced with a command to honor the first and foremost authority in your life, be it God, family, wife, etc. "Flexible" indeed. All of a sudden, you don't have to honor God and Church before anything else anymore.
Granted, not everyone's a Christian. I know that well enough. I also know that even less people are Catholic (even though the majority of Christians are Catholic, it doesn't say much if your heart is made of stone). If you think God's a myth (I'll tell you He's not, but that's for another day), you can think of the first command to be the most important figure in your life. But if you're a Christian, don't try and weasel out of this one.
Please. It drives me nuts.
The two commandments that all Christians are to follow are "You shall love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Follow these two commandments and the six precepts above will come naturally. However, if these two commandments are too simple for you, then try implementing the code above in your life (I'm talking to everyone here, but I'm putting special emphasis on the men: they need this more). Honor God first. Your "sovereign lord" might be your teachers, parents, professors, or anyone else in authority over you that doesn't appear on the news. Also, be honest. A dishonest person has no friends because they can't trust him. Is that supposed to be a happy life? I doubt it. Help those in need. The reason the knights were called on to support widows and maidens was because they had no man in their lives to support them (maidens were unmarried). Help those who have no one to help them.
The last two are a little harder to interpret. The 5th one says you shouldn't stick around in a place where wrongful judgment is made. That doesn't mean "leave a group of sinners because they don't know jack." It means "if you're living in a place where people do whatever the heck they want without considering consequences, you can't get any serious influence in their lives, and you're feeling tempted to join them, then you should probably get outta there before you do something stupid." In other words, don't put yourself at risk of sacrificing your integrity.
The last one says you should execute justice on those who do evil. Unless your a man in authority, you don't really have the authority to execute judgment on those who commit evil. However, you CAN alert the authorities who do have that power to act on it. In fact, this is your duty. It's no wonder it was included in the code.
I live in North County, where a transport company that runs trains and buses has this mantra where "if you see something, say something." In other words, if you see something suspicious, tell someone!
Live by these six precepts, and I'm sure your life will be good. (I almost typoed food. Then again, I guess the way you live will be food for those who are starving on their lifestyle.) Chivalry's not dead; it's surely alive. It's living on the inside, roaring like a lion...
Oh jeez...I'm rewriting a Christian song to chivalry?! I should probably get off now.
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