The Culture of Chivalry

Announced by Pope Urban II.
- Relieve siege of Constantinople by Turks.
- Liberate Jerusalem from Muslim rule.

Benefits acquired by noble families:
- A penitential exercise that removes penalties for all confessed sins.
- Going on Crusade replaces all forms of penance, widely interpreted as a means of going straight to heaven.
- Economic impact:
- Externalizes violence and looting, previously the economic basis for feudalism.
- Useful means of turning younger sons (primogeniture) into profit for noble families.

By the 1200s, individuals could "take the cross" and pay for others to take their place.
- Transformation into a cash transaction.

Incentives:
- Plunder and booty to motivate troops and maintain the army.
- Provided protection money and formal sharing arrangements of loot agreed upon before departure from Europe.
- Spiritual dividend: Loot was viewed as a reward for divine favor.
- Specific historical examples:
- Plunder from Constantinople (1204) funded a European state for a decade.
- The Horses of San Marco from the Hippodrome of Constantinople.
- Fatimid linen, silk, cloth, and gold embroideries ended up in the treasuries of Christian monasteries and cathedrals.

Origin of Military Orders from affinity groups founded in Jerusalem after conquest.
- Fighting men could take vows in quasi-monastic groups based in Palestine:
- Knights of the Temple: Founded to provide safe passage for pilgrims to Jerusalem.
- Knights Hospitaliers: Founded to care for pilgrims at the Hospital of Saint-Jean of Jerusalem.
- Teutonic Knights: Originally a German-speaking group, later controlled much of Poland.

Definition of Chivalry:
- Aristocratic, secular ideology.
- Code of honor for medieval knights.
- Begins as conventions for behavior on the battlefield, expanding to moral and sexual codes.

Prior to the 1000s, feudalism relied on endemic warfare for profit.
- Challenge: Legitimate targets became scarce with Christianity's rise.
- Ransom system became common, allowing for monetizing victories over fellow Christians.

Chivalry's transition into secular culture occurred by the 1300s, especially post-Crusades.
- Promoted aestheticized violence and knightly combat, paralleling church culture.

Tournaments disseminated chivalric ideals and trained knights through:
- Jousting and safe combat methods.
- Young knights could prosper by winning battles, earning horses and armor.

Emergence of codes of practice between men and women, often outside of marriage.
- Cultivation of unattainable love.
- Intertwined with the chivalric code; love could ennoble warriors.
- By the end of the 12th century, love was seen as a means for spiritual and martial improvement.
- Mary, as a motherly and erotic figure, became a patron of knights.

Definition of Heraldry:
- The science and art of using symbols to identify individuals, armies, institutions, and corporations.
- Originated from a herald, who served as a messenger and announcer in tournaments.
- Armorial bearings developed to distinguish combatants on the battlefield.
- Michel Pastoreau noted as a key figure in heraldic studies.

Definition:
- Belief system establishing a kinship or mystical relationship between humans and spirit-beings (e.g., animals or plants).
- Totems serve as emblems or symbols for kin groups or individuals.

Definition:
- Describes tight ranks of men-at-arms on horseback charging with a lance couched under their arm.
- Specific helmets provided better protection but limited vision.
- Shield design specific to this fighting style—triangular, wide at the top, aimed to protect lower body.

Rare depiction of complete knight armor for man and horse dating around 1350–60.
- Includes elements such as mail shirts, helmets with movable visors, neck protection, gauntlets, and plate armor for legs.

Definition of a Crest:
- Object placed on top of a helmet, usually bound by a “wreath of the colours.”
- Traditionally made of leather, it evolved into more valuable materials.