Chivalry is the code of condut (or virtues) that Knights of Daventry and the Royal Guard strive to follow.
This concept primarily is mentioned specifically in the Reboot Canon see Test of Chivalry (though there are a number of characters and virtues and traits that could represent it in the original series as well: See Graham, Connor, or Vladimir Tsepish the Paladin)
In script for King's Quest Chapter 3 Graham is described as treating the ladies chivalrously in the subtitle transcript.
Behind the scenes[]
There are a number of different forms in which ideals of chivalry are codified both as rules and as virtues.[1] Chivalry in the Middle Ages was a moral, religious and social code of knightly and courtly conduct. The code varied, but it often emphasized honor, courage and service. Chivalry in the Middle Ages may also refer to an idealized life and a knight’s manners while among his court.
The Aurthurian code of Chivalry includes: Honour, Honesty, Valour and Loyalty.
As described by the Duke of Burgundy:
- Faith
- Charity
- Justice
- Sagacity
- Prudence
- Temperance
- Resolution
- Truth
- Liberality
- Diligence
- Hope
- Valour
The Knight Code of Chivarly according to the Song of Roland has 17 rules:
- To fear God and maintain His Church
- To serve the liege lord in valour and faith
- To protect the weak and defenceless
- To give succour to widows and orphans
- To refrain from the wanton giving of offence
- To live by honour and for glory
- To despise pecuniary reward
- To fight for the welfare of all
- To obey those placed in authority
- To guard the honour of fellow knights
- To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
- To keep faith
- At all times to speak the truth
- To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
- To respect the honour of women
- Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
- Never to turn the back upon a foe
Gautier's Ten Commandments of chivalry are:
- Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches and thou shalt observe all its directions.
- Thou shalt defend the Church.
- Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them.
- Thou shalt love the country in which thou wast born.
- Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.
- Thou shalt make war against the infidel without cessation and without mercy.
- Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if they be not contrary to the laws of God.
- Thou shalt never lie, and shalt remain faithful to thy pledged word.
- Thou shalt be generous, and give largesse to everyone.
- Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.[2]
Though these ten commandments are often accepted to be what knights would use, these would not necessarily be what a knight actually followed in the medieval era. This code was created by Leon Gautier in 1883, long after the knight had ceased to exist in its traditional form. Chivalry in a historical sense was more of a subjective term, these laws would likely be seen as good code for a clergyman, however others would hold different ideas on what chivalry truly was.
The pre-chivalric noble habitus as discovered by Mills and Gautier are as follows:
- Loyalty: It is a practical utility in a warrior nobility. Richard Kaeuper associates loyalty with prowess.[3] The importance of reputation for loyalty in noble conduct is demonstrated in William Marshal biography.[3]
- Forbearance: knights' self-control towards other warriors and at the courts of their lords was a part of the early noble habitus as shown in the Conventum of Hugh IV of Lusignan in the 1020s.[4] The nobility of mercy and forbearance was well established by the second half of the 12th century long before there was any code of chivalry.[5]
- Hardihood: The quality of hardy aligns itself with forbearance and loyalty in being one of the military virtues of the preudomme. According to Philip de Navarra, a mature nobleman should have acquired hardiness as part of his moral virtues. Geoffrey de Charny also stressed on the masculine respectability of hardiness in the light of religious feeling of the contemptus mundi.[6]
- Largesse or Liberality: generosity was part of a noble quantity. According to Alan of Lille, largesse was not just a simple matter of giving away what he had, but "Largitas in a man caused him to set no store on greed or gifts, and to have nothing but contempt for bribes."[7]
- The davidic ethic: It is the strongest qualities of preudomme derived by clerics from Biblical tradition. Originally it was a set of expectations of good rulership articulated by the Frankish church which involved the rightful authority based on protection for the weak and helpless (in particular the Church), respect for widows and orphans, and opposition to the cruel and unjust.[8] The core of Davidic ethic is benevolence of the strong toward the weak.[9]
- Honor: honor was what was achieved by living up to the ideal of the preudomme and pursuing the qualities and behavior listed above.[10] The loss of honor is an humiliation to a man's standing and is worse than death. Bertran de Born said: "For myself I prefer to hold a little piece of land in onor, than to hold a great empire with dishonor".[10]
The code of chivalry, as it was known at late Medieval age, developed between 1170 and 1220.[11]
In KQ commandment #1 (or any rule having to do with the Church) is irrelevant. There is no evidence of any churches in the reboot universe, and individually mostly worship/pray/revere the Shining Stars and the Corn Grass, although god is mentioned at least once.
Number 2 & #3 can be reinterpreted as 'defend the kingdom'. Even in the original Sierra, Graham was portrayed as the 'defender of the realm'. All of the Royal Guard pledge to defend the Kingdom of Daventry in the new series. Women are not considered 'weak' in the reboot universe (no necessarily in the original universe either), and thus woman are allowed to hold positions in the knighthood as well in the new series, and just as capable of defending the realm.
The number 4 rule fits more for the original universe, for Graham was born and raised in Daventry. But it means nothing for Graham of the reboot who was not born in Daventry, nor cares about his place of birth. he was lonely there, and had no friends. It's unclear what he thought of his living family members.
Number 5 most of the knights will stand up against the enemy. Even Graham as King stands up to evil forces (except when its hopeless see three-headed dragon in the original universe). With the exception of Number 2 who runs away in "distress" at just about any scary thing or imminent death.
Number 6 of Gautier's code is inapplicable in the reboot universe unless you count the goblins, but Daventry made peace with them. It's seemingly inapplicable to original to the original universe as its largely at peace. They certainly aren't going after 'infidel' nations (I.E. nations with different religions than their own).
Number 7, with exception to the last part concerning "God", knights of Daventry mostly perform their duties. Although Amaya considers them 'incompetent'. Graham certainly lives up to his expectations.
Number 8, Mostly true of the Knights of Daventry in both universes... Although Graham has been known to bend the rules a bit, cheating and/or stealing when the need outweighs the reasoning against.
Number 9, this is unclear, but at least Graham was relatively giving in both universes.
Number 10, more or less applies to knights in both old and new universes.