Chivalry, AGE

OF. Ab. 1,000-1,500; age of the armored horseman, of the nobleman in his castle and the serf in his hut; of force and Feudalism. Chivalry was the redeeming factor of this age; it restrained violence, softened manners, and maintained an ideal standard of honor, fidelity and justice which partly made good the lo of public order and general government. Its origin is traceable to Teutonic delight in arms and personal loyalty. It became a complete system with its code of laws, definite aims, and ceremonial of initiation and degradation. The training of the knight occupied 7 years, first pa ing through the grades of page and squire. From the custom of the newly dubbed knight going forth to try his metal, arose knight-errantry, the practice of roaming abroad to defend the weak and avenge the oppre ed. Its most brilliant phase, the tournament, determined the method of warfare of the age, which was a mere contest of strength between horsemen encased in armor. The Crusades were its crowning military achievement. The invention of gunpowder was its undoing. It overspread all Europe, and reached its highest perfection in France. Its virtues were gentlene , bravery, courtesy, truthfulne , hospitality, generosity, fidelity; it went to fan tastic exce in its adoration of the ladies. Its dark side was the aristocratic spirit which it fostered, the exce ive delight in war and the chase, its contempt for labor, and its love of personal display; but it greatly contributed to the elevation of woman, fostered a lofty conception of personal honor, and transmitted a general ideal of noble manhood.