The age of chivalry. The legend of King Arthur

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

South Ukrainian National Pedagogical University. K. D. Ushinsky

Department of German Philology and Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages

The age of chivalry. The legend of King Arthur

Student of second-year

Speciality 014.02

(Language and literature(English))

Correspondence department

Solomeievych Viktoriia

Odessa 2022

CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION
• WHAT IS CHIVALRY
• THE TRADITION OF CHIVALRIC TOURNAMENTS
• THE IDEAL OF CHIVALRY AND THE VOW TRADITION
• THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR
• CONCLUSION
• APPENDIX1

• INTRODUCTION
• If we are going to talk about the age of knighthood, we first need to define the term "knight". As a rule, it is used in the broadest sense of the word to characterize a representative of the military estate of the Middle Ages, regardless of property status, nobility or ethno-political affiliation.
• It should not be forgotten that a knight is first and foremost a warrior. This is how the clerics called knights in the twelfth century. This professional affiliation, coupled with a natural given, determined the priority of physical strength in the knight's eyes. A knight by definition had to possess this dignity. And it is not just the fact that a knight of the classical Middle Ages had to carry armor and weapons weighing 70-80 kilograms, which was only under the power of a very strong man. The way of life, the technology of military operations of the time could not but determine the special value of muscular strength, physical fitness for the knight. It is not surprising that the education of the knight was subordinated to the task of making a strong warrior out of a young man. The German poet Hartmann von Aue quoted a Carolingian proverb: 'He who remains in school until he is twelve without riding is fit only to become a priest'.
• Speaking about the second part of the essay's topic, we should remember that, according to legend, Arthur is the king who gathered the most noble and valiant knights of the Round Table at his court in Camelot. There are numerous legends and romances about the deeds of Arthur and his knights, mostly concerned with the quest for the Holy Grail and the rescue of fair ladies. The epic of King Arthur and his knights has served as the basis for works of literature, painting, film and other art.

• WHAT IS CHIVALRY
• Knighthood was a social institution that emerged in the feudal system around the year 1000. In the strict sense of the word, a knight is any man who wields a weapon and has undergone a special initiation ceremony. However, it is not enough to be a true knight; it is also necessary to follow certain rules and lead a special way of life. knight arthur epic
• The knighthood, a social category in Western and Central Europe in the Middle Ages, which included all the secular feudal lords or part of them - small feudal lords First mention of knighthood. refer to the end of the 10th century. At that time knights (in Latin terminology milites) meant a category of military servants (mostly mounted), who were vassals of the nobility. As feudal fragmentation grew, which favoured the expansion of the rights of small knights, the distinction between knights and nobility was gradually erased. Already in the 11-12 centuries under the knighthood more and more often begin to understand all the secular feudal warriors, and with the formation in the 12th century the spiritual-knightly orders of chivalry began to cover and part of the spiritual feudal lords. The knighthood usually coincided with the presence of a landed feud, which allowed him to be free from direct participation in production and ensured the acquisition of a war horse and knightly weapons (sword, shield, armour, etc.), which over time became more and more expensive.
• The knighthood originated in Western Europe at the turn of the X-XI centuries as a military estate in the service of a large landed aristocracy. However, very soon the ideals, lifestyle and behaviour of these elite warriors began to spread to the entire nobility, including the highest aristocracy and kings themselves. By the end of the twelfth century, virtually all of Western Europe's nobility (except for that part of it that chose a spiritual career) went through the ceremony of initiation to knighthood. In the XIII century the words "knight" and "nobleman" became virtually synonymous. The ritual of initiation became more and more solemn and lavish. But the requirements for the entrant to the nobility is growing. As a result, in the XIV and even more so in the XV century. not all the nobles could not be awarded this honor. Not passed the dedication of the petty nobles often kept a modest squire title, which nevertheless assumed, given a favorable set of circumstances possible initiation to knighthood. Most importantly, the ideals and lifestyle of chivalry were an absolute model for the entire nobility.
• Knights, therefore, were not a legal class, but a specific social category or, in modern parlance, a community of "professionals" in mounted combat (the only effective method of warfare until the end of the 13th century), able to lead that special life, which was presented as the life of a knight. Theoretically, chivalry was available to anyone who had been baptised: any knight had the right to make a knight of whom he deemed worthy, regardless of origin or social standing. The epic songs, so-called 'gestures', abound with examples of commoners (peasants, foresters, pigmen, tradesmen, jugglers, cooks, gatekeepers etc) being knighted as a reward for services rendered to the hero. Sometimes even simple servants are mentioned.
• However, in reality the case was different. Since the middle of XII century knights filled up their ranks almost exclusively due to sons of knights and, thus, formed a hereditary caste. The knighting of commoners, if not disappeared altogether, became an almost unique event. Two reasons can be given for this phenomenon. The first was that the process of accepting new members inevitably led to the appropriation by one class - the landed aristocracy - of the privilege of forming a knighthood that was not subject to any legal rules. The second, and perhaps more important, has to do with socio-economic requirements: the horse, the military equipment, the ceremony and festivities on the occasion of knighthood were expensive; and the knight's lifestyle of pleasure and idleness presupposed a certain amount of wealth, which in that era was based only on possession of land. Knighthood did bring honor and glory, but had to live either from the generosity of a rich and powerful patron (which was still relatively easy in the early twelfth century, but much more difficult a century later), or on the income of patrimony. Many, however, preferred the court generosity of a liege lord to receiving even the smallest fiefdom.
• By 1200 knights were mostly lords or sons of lords. In France, this phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the XIII century, so that the rank of knighthood is no longer seen as a personal, and becomes a hereditary quality available only to the upper strata of the aristocracy. From this time the process of merging of chivalry and aristocracy begins.
• THE TRADITION OF CHIVALRIC TOURNAMENTS
• After being knighted, a warrior's daily life was a constant training of physical and martial prowess. Hunting and jousting were cultural substitutes for battle, which helped to improve the knight's skills and self-esteem in his own eyes and those around him. Fighting a wounded wild boar or bear was just as dangerous as fighting an armed foe. In addition, the pursuit of wild beasts developed the riding skills needed by a knight.
• Tournaments also helped to improve a knight's martial art, not to mention created a good opportunity to show off personal courage, to be noticed and, among other things, to obtain material rewards confirming knightly prowess. Initially these were semi-military duels. The main aims of such a contest were clearly visible: self-assertion of the warrior and seizure of booty. As a rule, they were fought with weapons no different from those used in battle, and almost any kind of weapon was allowed, up to bows and crossbows. Mass fights prevailed. The defeated person was stripped of all his arms and horse in favour of the winner. Often the defeated in the tournament became a prisoner of his successful rival and had to pay ransom as in the conditions of the feudal war.
• By the 13th century the tournament began to acquire a more symbolic and ritualised character. This was expressed, above all, in attempts to regulate the battle. A double wooden barrier was erected around the quadrangular round table, and bridges were erected near it, where judges and spectators - many of whom were ladies - were seated. The heralds proclaimed the names of the knights taking part in the tournament, listing the deeds that had made them famous before. The terms of the tournaments were varied. Typically in the classical era they started with a duel of individual knights, called "jute" in France. The task could be to strike an opponent with a lance in a certain place (in the chest or the centre of the shield) or to plunge the opponent to the ground, knocking him out of the saddle. In the XIII century the Status Armarium was created - the body of tournament rules. It prohibited to aim a spear at the legs or right arm of the opponent.
• Nevertheless, tournaments continued to be a dangerous event that gave an outlet for warriors' natural aggression. The impulsive nature of man of that era often led to the fact that the knights, in the heat of confrontation, forgot that this was merely a festive imitation of a military adventure. It was not uncommon for such tournaments to result in casualties. There were times when the armed servants and squires of the participants interfered in the course of a tournament battle. Over time, therefore, tournaments swords and lances began to be blunted and the spectators and servants of the tournament participants were forbidden to appear near the field in armour and with weapons. The time of the tournaments was limited - javelins could not be broken from Friday to Monday and on major church feasts. The prize for the winner became symbolic - now he got only a part of his unsuccessful rival's armour - a spur or plume from his helmet.
• If at the early stage of the tournament spontaneity allowed for the participation of commoners, in the classical age the noble origin of the participant of the duel also became a necessary condition. The "King of Arms" and the heralds strictly observed the composition of the participants. Moreover, gradually tournaments began to use special armour - more closed and heavier than the combat armour. Different types of armour also appeared for different kinds of jousting - mounted and fought on foot. The cost of such equipment automatically excluded the disadvantaged from the ranks of the participants.
• At the same time tournaments became brighter and more spectacular. A greater role began to play ladies - sometimes they determined the winner of the tournament (late XIV century.). From the XIII century among the chivalry appeared tradition to wear the colours of their ladies and attach things to the helmet or lance ladies, donated as a sign of affection - it could be a veil, sleeve, shawl. By the fourteenth century it became fashionable to open a tournament with a procession in which ladies led their knights in gold or silver chains.
• At the zenith of the Middle Ages, the desire for self-assertion underlying the tradition of tournament battles makes itself felt constantly, including in everyday life, whether in peacetime or warfare. The Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, swore on the cross that he was ready to face the Grand Turk whenever he wished, if he accepted the challenge. Froissart describes a duel during the Hundred Years' War between Edward III and a French nobleman Estache de Ribmont. In his first encounter with the French, the English king chose this particular knight, who had a reputation as a strong and daring warrior. Despite his opponent's merits, Edward III succeeded in defeating him. The knight only learned that he had fought the king when he received new clothes as a gift, along with an invitation to dine with his mighty rival at the castle of Calais.
• The custom of having personal duels on the eve of a battle in front of two troops survived until the end of the Middle Ages. The famous Bayard challenged Sotomayor to a duel in the Battle of Italy in 1501, which was known as the Barlett challenge. It was not uncommon for a stone to be placed at the site of the duel, to which the knights made pilgrimages.
• THE IDEAL OF CHIVALRY AND THE VOW TRADITION
• The code of knightly honour implied that the members of this nobility had to be true to their word. Just as the members of a barbarian comitatus served their leader largely because of the need to protect the interests of their group identity, which was most often understood as a duty to this or that konung, chief and tribe, so too the knightly communities, grouped into orders and fraternities, conceived their group interest through the prism of the duty of fidelity to the word. This value of the chivalric world found various expressions in a variety of customs and rituals. It was associated with the custom of the knightly vow, which found the most bizarre forms.
• Generosity was the flip side of luck and power. The code of honour included generosity as an obligatory maxim of knightly behaviour. The stronger the liege lord was, the more powerful his linage, the richer he was as a rule. As a rule, also more generous. It should be especially emphasised that the ideal of generosity, like the ideal of courage, especially in the early epoch, carried a certain excessiveness. The textbook example of the knight who sowed the field with silver involuntarily comes to mind as an example of the extreme expression of the nature of this value.
• Certainly the gifts that knights received for their service varied. The more noble and powerful knights received from those above them on the hierarchical ladder and who were richer, appropriate fiefs. The horseless, as they were called, i.e. non-wealthy knights, could serve for shelter, horses, in word for a certain maintenance, etc.
• The social structure of the knightly class in Western Europe was such that the performance of military functions by the knightly feudal elite, impossible without acquiring new vassals and their corresponding material remuneration, contributed to fixing the psychological attitude as a cultural ideal of generosity. Whatever complex mutations this ideal underwent when it encountered the realities of New Age life, which forced not only the commoner but also the knight to calculate his expenses, it was destined to add to the cultural baggage of the European. This ideal will be in demand in later epochs, not excluding the pragmatic modernity.
• Undoubtedly, the desire for enrichment, tabooed by the Christian ethics of the time, was one of the most important motives for the behaviour of chivalry, motives that were masked in a variety of cultural myths. During the Crusades the thirst for enrichment, especially of the petty landless knights, would find its justification in the need to liberate the sepulchre of the Lord and the brothers in Christ. Moreover, rich booty was seen as a natural gift from God, who thanked the knight for his faithful service.
• The knight's own desire to enrich himself was transferred to the enemy. Muslims, like Jews, were ascribed a special passion for acquiring wealth. The robbery of Constantinople, during which one of the main shrines of Christendom - Hagia Sophia Cathedral - was robbed, was justified by the fact that the knights were punishing schismatics.
• The desire for wealth and military glory, tabooed by Christian ethics and assessed by the Church as sinful greed and pride, has always subconsciously determined one way or another the pursuit of chivalry. Medieval society made it possible to reconcile these aspirations with the interests of society itself, subordinating its egoistic aspirations to the ideas of 'just' war and helping the weak, which worked for the knight's moral self-improvement. Often these aspirations take on a sublimated, seemingly abstract meaning in knightly poetry and the novel - the knight seeks something that has no direct practical significance for his life or the lives of those around him.
• THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR
• Uther Pendragon, the legendary King of Britain, was Arthur's father. Uther was often described as a strong king and protector of the people. Under King Uther, Britain was a prosperous, peaceful land with a happy population, free from danger. But King Uther had no son to succeed him as well as no daughter to please his heart. It is said that in the last years of his life Uther lost his head to Lady Igrainne, who was the consort of his vassal Gorlois, Duke of Tintagel. To see Lady Igrainne again, the cunning king announced a sumptuous feast to be held in his castle, to which all the nobles of the surrounding lands have been invited. At this very feast, the treacherous king could not cope with the passion that seized him, and without scruples hit on Lady Ygraine. The Duke was angered by King Uther's undignified behaviour and went back to his castle with his wife, without informing anyone. Of course it was unheard of for him to leave a royal feast so soon without permission from the king himself. King Uther demanded that the duke and his wife return to the feast and, upon hearing of their refusal, declared war on the duke. But King Uther did not want war. He wanted the Lady Igrainne, and he begged Merlin to help him get the Lady Igrainne. Merlin was willing to help the treacherous king, but the price of that help was great: the king had to give the child born of the affair with Lady Ygraine into Merlin's custody. Uther agreed to Merlin's terms and, with Merlin's charms, assumed the form of the Duke of Gorlois. That very night King Uther's forces attacked Gorlois, and under cover of darkness the King entered Tintagel Castle to spend the night with Lady Ygraine. It was on this night that Arthur was conceived. The next morning it became clear that Gorlois had died in battle and that King Uther could marry Lady Igrainne without hindrance.
• As Arthur grew older, Merlin returned to Arthur and began to teach him many wisdoms, and they became friends. Merlin believed Arthur could become a wise and just king, which is why he took it upon himself to teach the young prince and share his experiences with him. And it was this prince who later became the merciful ruler of the most famous kingdom on Earth.
• As King Uther grew older, his health grew worse and worse. Warlike savages and Saxons were tearing his kingdom apart, and King Uther suspected that he was surrounded by enemies. His suspicions were not unfounded, and the Saxons managed to poison King Uther. When King Uther died, the already fractured country was thrown into chaos, as everyone wanted to become the new king. But Merlin was prepared for such a turn of fate: he used magic to place the sword in the stone. The inscription in gold on the sword read: "Whoever can draw this sword from the stone is the king of England by right of birth." The noble men, setting aside their differences, one by one tried to remove the sword from the stone in the hope of becoming the new king. But none of them succeeded, and the sword, like the king, was consigned to oblivion.
• Fifteen years later, Merlin led Arthur to the sword in the stone. A crowd had already gathered around the sword in the stone, witnessing with their own eyes the greatest event in history: they witnessed that the sword had defied Sir Kay and that Arthur had managed to draw the sword from the stone. Arthur was then named the new King of Britain and the crowds around him cheered. However, the sword in the stone was a very ordinary sword. King Arthur later defeated the Lady of the Lake, who gave him the mighty sword Excalibur, with which Arthur won many glorious victories.
• Soon Arthur was on the throne and inherited the title of King of Britain from his father. In Camelot, where he lived and ruled, Arthur surrounded himself with the strongest and bravest knights. These knights later came to be known as Knights of the Round Table: they all sat in the same seats, symbolising that Arthur trusted each of them equally and that they all had equal say in all matters. It was from Camelot that the knights set out on feats to save young maidens and to fight against fearsome monsters.
• Despite his youth, King Arthur was a skilful strategist, and under his leadership the Knights of the Round Table engaged in great battles against the Saxons and the rallying barbarian tribes. At the first battle of Badon Hill they inflicted a crushing defeat on the Saxons, halting their advance across the country. When the Saxons returned to thinking about land-grabbing, King Arthur defeated them in three more battles and ordered them to leave Britain. Of course, the Saxons were forced to bend to his will, but they soon tried again to land on Britain's shores and attack Arthur insidiously. King Arthur and his army, however, met the Saxons with dignity, defeating them once and for all with undoubted superiority in battle.
• King Arthur's subjects loved him for his bravery and generosity. While still on the throne, he met and married the beautiful Guinevere, who became a curse on him and his Knights of the Round Table. She turned her attention to Arthur's most loyal, bravest and most handsome knight, Lancelot, and he turned his attention to her, and they fell madly in love. At first they tried to avoid each other, for Lancelot was a faithful knight who had been given a seat at the round table. But King Arthur took no notice of the passion that had flared between them and allowed Guinevere and Lancelot to grow closer. He often asked Lancelot to be friendlier to Guinevere and protect her from all adversity, for he trusted Lancelot as himself. King Arthur did not realise that Lancelot's coldness was only external, and Lancelot had to submit to the king's will. As time passed, Lancelot and Guinevere could no longer contain their feelings, and when the cruel truth of their affair was revealed to Arthur, Lancelot was forced to flee to escape the king's wrath.
• King Arthur was hungry for revenge. He searched tirelessly for Lancelot until he managed to locate his likely hideout. He sent an army to the castle in France where he believed Lancelot was hiding and laid siege, declaring that he would not lift the siege until Lancelot came to him or until everyone in the castle was dead. King Arthur left Mordred, his illegitimate son, in charge of Britain for the duration of the siege.
• Soon after the siege began, King Arthur received word from Merlin that Mordred had betrayed Arthur, kidnapped his wife, Guinevere, and seized the throne. On hearing of this, King Arthur was forced to return to Britain. What King Arthur did not realise was that this was all just part of Morgana's cunning plan to seize Britain and the world. She held the dragon egg, from which a dragon was about to spring, and Morgana's plan was that Mordred and Arthur would slay each other in battle so that she herself could claim the vacant throne. Even one dragon granted her previously unknown power, and if she managed to capture Excalibur, her power would be undeniable.
• Returning to the lands of Britannia, King Arthur had a dream which made it clear that if Arthur tried to fight Mordred, he would be doomed. Arthur decided to send messengers to the traitor Mordred, hoping to negotiate a good deal with him. But while negotiating with Mordred, a viper bit one of his minions and the latter drew his sword to kill it. The sun glinted on the blade of his sword and Mordred and Arthur's battle-ready armies took this as a sign that the Battle of Camlann had begun and was Arthur's final battle.
• Although many of Mordred's warriors fled the battlefield in the knowledge that they were fighting King Arthur, the Battle of Camlann River lasted all day, and by nightfall only the best warriors remained to fight on the battlefield. King Arthur sent a message to Mordred, offering a peace treaty in exchange for Guinevere's life. Mordred rejected the offer, and Arthur attacked his castle. The king saw Guinevere beside Mordred. And Morgana. It was only at that moment that he realised Morgana was behind it all. In a moment of fury he sliced Morgana in two, and, horrified, he saw the features of his beloved Guinevere shining through Morgana, whom the perfidious Morgana had cast a spell over. Guinevere, seated beside Mordred, laughed and turned back to Morgana. King Arthur flew into a fury and killed all of Mordred's knights. Morgana, however, managed to elude King Arthur. Left to face Mordred alone, Arthur finally had his chance to fight him. Both Mordred and Arthur were the best fighters in the realm, and in the end King Arthur managed to stab Mordred. As he thrust his sword into Mordred's heart, King Arthur was distracted by a beam of sunlight reflecting off a sleek dragon's egg. At that very moment, Mordred lunged at King Arthur's sword to reach out and inflict a mortal wound on the king. In his final moments, Arthur wished for nothing more than for Excalibur to be placed back in stone on the Isle of Avalon.

• CONCLUSION
• The Knights of the Round Table were the most noble, brave, gallant and loyal of King Arthur's supporters. They had a special place at his court and were, as we would say today, the narrowest circle of trustees.
• The tales of King Arthur give a varying account of how many knights there were. Some legends speak of twelve knights, others mention twenty-five, 150 and even 366. It is possible that they include lesser-ranked knights who could scarcely be seated at the Round Table. King Arthur is known to have had lesser knightly orders. In the Arthurian cycle we find, for instance, knights of the queen, knights of the guard, a table of travelling friends and even a table of lesser knights. Apparently, when the number 366 is given, it includes all knights, not a select narrow circle of representatives of the Round Table.
• The most popular knights of the Round Table include Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad, Perceval, Mordred, Pelleas, Bors, Lionel and Ector. They were most often found in the legends and stories associated with King Arthur, performing feats and other great deeds, especially in the wanderings-seeking for the Holy Grail.
• Nobility is the main quality required of a man who aspired to a seat at the Round Table. This is how Thomas Malory described the code of conduct set out by King Arthur himself, when he gathered all the knights together:
• "...never to plunder or murder, to flee treason and grant mercy to any who ask - otherwise they shall lose Arthur's good reputation and patronage forever - and always to stand up for ladies, maidens, noble women and widows, to defend their rights and never to commit violence against them on pain of death. And Arthur also admonished them that none of them should take up arms for an unjust war, neither for glory nor for earthly riches.
• But above all a knight treasures his honour: it was easier for him to die than to lose his good name. The code of chivalry cited by Thomas Malory should be supplemented by other rules mentioned in Arthurian legends of various times: never lay down your arms, always ready to give your life for your country, to protect the weak and infirm.
• Knights of the Round Table used to gather in Camelot, King Arthur's capital, on the main feast days of the year. We see in the Arthurian novels how the knights met around the Round Table at Easter, Christmas, and Pentecost (Trinity Day). The heroic deeds and adventures of the knights are usually associated with these festive gatherings in Camelot. The Holy Grail appeared to them on one of these days, when they all gathered in Camelot and witnessed the mysterious spectacle.
• Knights' tournaments were also traditional, where they fought each other in real or pretend battles and hand-to-hand combat, called melees. In such fights, they honed their martial arts and riding skills and tested their combat skills on their partners. Over time these tournaments developed into large public events, albeit quite brutal and bloody. The Church even tried to ban them, but they became so popular that the edict banning them had to be repealed.
• During the Middle Ages knights were given lands and estates. In return, they agreed to fight for their lords and kings, and to maintain a sufficient number of troops and cavalry ready to take to the battlefield at any moment. The knights collected taxes from their lands, with which they fed, clothed, and armed their retinue of bodyguards and warriors. The king was thus relieved of the need to maintain a large army himself. Medieval chronicles of King Arthur's court give a highly idealized version of the knightly host: an elite rallied around the Round Table like brothers and guaranteeing the security of Arthur's kingdom.
• Some authors see the knights of the Round Table not as mere brothers in arms but as something more: a religious and spiritual community of sorts. King Arthur's knights were embarking on a spiritual quest for the Holy Grail, a fact that has led to parallels between them and the so-called "perfecti" or "perfecti" Cathars and their castle of Monsegur, where the Holy Grail was safeguarded. The Cathars were part of a heretical sect persecuted by the Catholic Church. They led an ascetic life and tried to surpass Jesus Christ himself in poverty and modesty. The perfect Cathars were distinguished by their piety and purity and formed the nucleus of the community. Likewise, the Knights of the Round Table formed the core of Arthur's kingdom and sought perfection for the benefit of the whole country.

• APPENDIX

1. Borzova E.P. History of world culture. 2-th ed. - St. Petersburg: Lan' Publishing House, 2002. - 672 с.

2. Gurevich, A.Ya. Categories of Medieval Culture. М., 1987

3. History of Culture of the Countries of Western Europe in the Renaissance: Textbook for High Schools / L.M. Bragina, O.I. Variash, V.M. Volodarsky, etc. ed. - Moscow: Vyssh. shk. 1999. - 479 с

4. Cardini F. The beginnings of medieval chivalry. М., 1987

5. Secrets hidden behind the visor: Encyclopaedic guide to the history of chivalry. - Moscow: Sovremennik, 2002. - 416 с.

6. http://gazetam.ru/15-marta/ryitsarstvo-srednevekovya.htm

7. http://otherreferats.allbest.ru

8. http://seanconneryfan.ru/ http://ru.wikipedia.org

9. http://godsbay.ru

10. http://kingofavalon.game/king-arthur_ru/

Размещено на Allbest.ru