The word Chivalry is taken from the French cheval and the Latin caballus. Militare ordine del collare, involves civility, integrity, nobility, honesty, honor, courage and self discipline. The institution of chivalry works on the three pillars of military, social and religion. Let us know these one by one.

 

1. Military:  The knights were described as the finest warriors on earth. They represented chivalry with all its virtues. The knight was different militarily from others in

a)      The weapons he fought with

b)      The horses he maintained for battle and other military needs

c)      The flag he carried with him

d)      The number of personal attendants he maintained to look after his military needs.

 

2. Social:  Socially a knights career was costly and required personal means to maintain. A knight had to spend from his own pocket as there were no treasury or war budgets in those days. The knights were given vast tracts of land along with men which they maintained to raise an army in the service of the Crown and Church.

 

3.   Religious:  In the earlier periods, the church did not view a military career very favorably.  This changed during the Crusades when the church had to take the help of these knights to raise Christian armies for fighting their battles. This introduced a different perspective of knighthood and elevated chivalry to an altogether elitist level.