Chivalry is a term which indicates strictly the organization of knighthood as it existed in the middle agea, and in a general sense the spirit and aims which distinguished the knights of those times. The chief characteristics of the chivalric ages were a warlike spirit, a lofty devotion to the female sex, a love of adventure, and an undefinable thirst for glory. The Crusades gave for a time a religious turn to the spirit of chivalry, and various religious orders of knighthoodarose, such as the Knights of St John, the Templars, the Teutonic Knights, etc.
The education of a knight in the days of chivalry was as follows: In his twelfth year he was sent to the court of some baron or noble knight, where he spent his time chiefly in attending on the ladies, and acquiring skill in the use of arms, in riding, etc. When advancing age and experience in the use of arms had qualified the page for war, he became an esquire, or squire. This word is from the Latinscutum, a shield, it being among other offices the squire's business to carry the shield of the knight whom he served. The third and highest rank of chivalry was that of knighthood, which was not conferred before the twenty-first year, except in the case of distinguished birth or great achievements. The individual prepared himself by confessing, fasting, etc; religious rites were performed; and then, after promising to be faithful, to protect ladies and orphans, never to lie nor utter slander, to live in harmony with his equals, etc, he received the accolade, a slight blow on the neck with the flat of the sword from the person who dubbed him a knight. This was often done on the eve of battle, to stimulate the new knight to deeds of valour; or after the combat, to reward signal bravery.
The rules of chivalry only applied to the nobility. While knights on the battle field and in combat enjoyed rules of engagement and a degree of mutual respect - with the notable exception of the Battle of Agincourt where the captured French knights were murdered at the order of king Henry V - peasants, or the ordinary common folk, were slaughtered and raped by knights as though they were not human at all, and certainly not treated in a chivalrous fashion. Research Chivalry
Fabliau is a form of early French literature consisting of short versified tales of the Trouveres, or early poets of the Langue d'Oil, comic in spirit and intended primarily for recitation. They were mainly written between the 12th and 14th centuries in northern France, and caricature every subject, but particularly women, having as their principal subjects the current gossip and news of the day, which were treated in a witty and sarcastic way. The fabliaux lashed not only the clergy and nobility in their degeneracy, but even mocked the religious chivalrous spirit, and the religious and knightly doctrines and ceremonies. Research Fabliau
On the death of Ferdinand, his grandfather, Charles V assumed the title of King of Spain. In 1519 he was elected emperor, and was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle with extraordinary splendour. The progress of the Reformation in Germany demanded the care of the new emperor, who held a diet at Worms. Luther, who appeared at this diet with a safe-conduct from Charles, defended his case with energy and boldness. The emperor kept silent; but after Luther's departure a severe edict appeared against him in the name of Charles, who thought it his interest to declare himself the defender of the Roman Church.
A war with France, which the rival claims of Francis I in Italy, the Netherlands, and Navarre made inevitable, broke out in 1521. Neither side had a decided success until the battle of Pavia in 1525, where Francis was totally defeated and taken prisoner. Charles treated his captive with respect, but with great rigour as regarded the conditions of his release. A league of Italian states, headed by Pope Clement VII, was now formed against the overgrown power of Charles; but their ill-directed efforts had no success. Rome itself was stormed and pillaged by the troops of the Constable of Bourbon, and the pope made prisoner.
Nor was the alliance of Henry VIII of England with Francis against the emperor any more successful, the war ending in the treaty of Cambray in 1529 of which the conditions were favourable to Charles. A war against the Turks by which Solyman was compelled to retreat, and an expedition against the Dey of Tunis by which 20,000 Christian slaves were released, added to the influence of Charles, and acquired for him the reputation of a chivalrousdefender of the faith. In 1537 he made truce with Francis, and soon after, while on his way to the Netherlands, spent six days at the court of the latter in Paris. In 1541 another expedition against the African Moors, by which Charles hoped to crown his reputation, was unsuccessful, and he lost a part of his fleet and army before Algiers without gaining any advantage.
A new war with Francearose regarding the territory of Milan. The quarrel was patched up by the peace of Crespy in 1545. The religious strife was again disturbing the emperor. Charles, who was no bigot, sought to reconcile the two parties, and with this view alternately courted and threatened the Protestants. At length in 1546 the Protestant princes declared war, but were driven from the field and compelled to submit. But the defection of his ally, Maurice of Saxony, whom Charles had invested with the electoral dignity, again turned the tide in favour of the Protestants. Maurice surprised the imperial camp at Innsbruck in the middle of a stormy night, and Charles with great difficulty escaped alone in a litter. The Treaty of Passau was dictated by the Protestants. It gave them equal rights with the Catholics, and was confirmed three years later by the diet of Augsburg in 1555. Foiled in his schemes and dejected with repeated failures, Charles resolved to resign the imperial dignity, and transfer his hereditary estates to his son Philip.
In 1555 he conferred on Philip the sovereignty of the Netherlands, and on January the 15th, 1556, that of Spain, retiring himself to a residence beside the monastery of Yuste in Estremadura, where he amused himself by mechanical labours and the cultivation of a garden. He still took a strong interest in public affairs, though latterly he was very much of an invalid, his ill health being partly caused by his high living.
Charles V (Charles The Wise) was king of France. He was born in 1337 and died in 1380. He was the son of King John. His father being taken prisoner by the English at Poitiers, the management of the kingdom devolved on him at an early age. With great skill and energy, not free, however, from duplicity, he suppressed the revolt of the Parisians and a rising of the peasants, kept the King of Navarre at bay, and deprived the English of a great part of their dominion in France. He erected the Bastille for the purpose of overawing the Parisians. Research Charles V
Ludovico Ariosto was one of the most celebrated poets of Italy. He was born in 1474 at Reggio, in Lombardy and died in 1533. His lyric poems in the Italian and Latin languages, distinguished for ease and elegance of style, introduced him to the notice of the Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, son of Duke Ercole I of Ferrara. In 1503 Ippolito employed him in his service, used his counsel in the most important affairs, and took him with him on a journey to Hungary. In this service he began and finished, in ten or eleven years, his immortal poem, the Orlando Furioso, which was published in 1515, and immediately became highly popular. He afterwards entered the service of Alfonso I, Duke of Ferrara, the cardinal's brother, a lover of the arts, who put much confidence in him. After quelling disturbances that had broken out in the wild and mountainous Garfagnana, he returned to Ferrara, where he employed himself in the composition of his comedies, and in putting the last touches to his Orlando. The Orlando Furioso is a continuation of the Orlando Innamorata of Bojardo, details the chivalrous adventures of the paladins of the age of Charlemagne, and extends to forty-six cantos. The best English translation is that of Rose. Research Ludovico Ariosto
HMS Chivalrous was a British C Class destroyer of 1710 tons displacement launched in 1945. HMS Chivalrous was powered by two Admiralty 3-drum type boilers providing a top speed of 34 knots and carried a crew of 186. She was armed with four 4.5 inch dual-purpose guns; four 40 mm anti-aircraft guns; six 20 mm anti-aircraft guns; four 21-inch torpedo tubes. Research Chivalrous
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Abbreviations
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