Summary of the characteristics of chivalry in medieval England and its role in society
Contribution to the development of Great Britain.
Modern Britain was the first country to end bourgeois rule and adopt a constitutional monarchy. The reasons for its development are manifold, but chivalry can play a role in creating a spirit of contract and equality among the English people. The role of knights in the administration of justice ensured that the common law was well known throughout the country by exercising the power of royal decrees issued by successive kings.
During the time of John and Henry III, the understanding of the law was more advanced and profound. The king's idea of governing the country according to law gradually took shape. In knighthood, the rights and duties between the king and the nobility were protected by feudal laws and Xi, and neither party could violate them alone. The complex relationships between monarchs and nobles, warlords and commanders, lords and vassals, etc., were all based on the principle that both sides had to abide by the contract.
Henry Blackton, a royal judge in the mid-13th century, made it clear that feudal treaties created a legal bond between feudal rulers and their vassals. This bond not only ensured that the king was seen as a member of the feudal society, but also allowed him to advantageously deal with initiatives involving both parties to the contract.
Once a feudal relationship was established, the responsibilities and obligations of the ruler and vassal were clearly defined from the moment the two parties signed the master-slave relationship. The lord paid the knight a stipend in order to provide him with sufficient resources, equip him for battle and life, and protect him from harm. Knights must also obey the lord, swear allegiance to the lord, and perform cavalry and other auxiliary duties for the lord. Once the lords and vassals have clarified their respective responsibilities and obligations, contractual relations are established. This contractual relationship ensures the fulfillment of mutual obligations, and:"Conditions were created for the establishment of constitutional government in European countries"。
At the same time, such contracts are clear in terms of rights and responsibilities, subject to public scrutiny, and backed by the law"。If the king asks for services, donations, or inheritances that exceed his traditional commitments, the law can absolutely deny him"。Similarly, if a courtier does something unfaithful and betrays his lord, he is despised and publicly condemned by the people of society.
If the parties have a difference of opinion, they can resort to the judgment of the law to resolve the dispute. The principle of acting according to contract and seeking legal help in the event of a dispute has had a wide impact on British society, and has played an important role in enhancing people's legal awareness and developing the Xi of respecting the law.
The knightly system also upheld the principle of legal equality to a certain extent. First of all, the knightly class itself has the characteristics of various social classes, the upper class may be the king and the great nobles of noble birth and transcendent status, and the lower class may be rich freemen or even lowly subjects.
In the group of knights, they could be called knights, which inadvertently brought the noble group closer to the lower classes. In addition, English knights swore allegiance directly to the king, which deepened the sense of equality among English knights. From the point of view of chivalry, anyone who swore allegiance to the king belonged to the knightly class"。"Whether they owned an entire province or only a portion of the knightly service, they were direct vassals of the king.
The voluntary observance of agreements between lords and vassals in the form of charters stipulating each other's rights and obligations further restored a sense of conceptual equality between them. Among the few surviving chivalric legends in England, the case of Fulco Fitz-Walling is a good example: Maurice Fitz-Roger of Povis expelled Fulco's father, Wallin, from Blancheville's domain, and Fulco, as the rightful heir to the domain, demanded a just verdict, which King John refused.
Your Majesty, you are our lawful lord, and as long as I am in your fiefdom, I must serve you, but you must also protect my legal rights, and you have violated both my rights and the common law, and no good king will deprive the royal family of the rights of a free tenant, so I am not obliged to serve you any more!"The interests of the Ottomans were threatened, and such actions against the king were considered legitimate at the time.
Chivalry in Western Europe originated in the Frankish Kingdom, but after the Norman conquest of England in 1066, chivalry spread to England and, under the influence of a unique historical environment, developed into a knightly system with distinct English characteristics. The peculiarities of English chivalry are mainly reflected in three points: first, unlike the natural development of the European continent, English chivalry was created by William of the Duchy of Normandy"Grafting"Come.
Secondly, the English knighthood avoided the knighthood of continental Europe"The vassals of my vassals are not my vassals", emphasizing that knights of all classes swore allegiance directly to the king of England, thus establishing a powerful feudal kingdom. The third point is that the functions of the English knights began to change in a short period of time, the original basic military functions were weakened, but the civil and social functions were continuously strengthened, and a group of knights began to integrate into the squire class, forming an English-style gentlemanly spirit.
The author believes that the emergence of chivalry did more good than harm to the development of British society. The following points can be made in this regard. The most direct was the integration of Britain into the countries of Western Europe. During the Anglo-Saxon period, Britain spent most of its time in contact with the Nordic countries and peoples. The advent of chivalry brought Britain into increasingly close social, cultural, and religious contact with the European continent. Britain gradually"Leave"The countries of the North, to Western Europe, where civilization was more developed, were crucial for the development of British society.
The chivalry of England also created a more centralized feudal monarchy, and the relative concentration of royal power to a certain extent offset the shortcomings of the feudal system that were easy to cause social **, and prevented private struggles between feudal lords. A series of military and recreational activities of knights also provided opportunities for the middle and lower classes to increase their wealth and improve their social status, alleviating the social contradictions in Britain at that time, and providing a more stable social environment for the development of Britain.
The impact of the English knighthood on the development of society was twofold: in the economic field, the establishment of the knighthood system perfected the English feudal system, the knighthood system ensured that the English knights had de facto use rights to the land, and the knights began to develop the economy and military on their estates.
Especially in the 12th and 13th centuries, as the functions of knights changed, the military functions of knights weakened, the cost of knights increased sharply, and most knights turned to agriculture and commerce, which necessarily accumulated conditions for the development of modern capitalism in England. In addition, the rights and obligations established between feudal lords and feudal subjects, and the mobility and openness of the knightly class, indirectly shaped the spirit of contract and egalitarianism of the British, laying the foundation for modern Britain to become a constitutional monarchy.
In the first half of the 13th century, the number of knights in England declined sharply. There are two main reasons for this: one is the constant expense of knighthood, and the other is the decline of its military function. Titles gradually became a symbol of social status, and anyone with a certain amount of wealth could receive them. Although the system of chivalry gradually disappeared in England, its influence on the historical development of medieval English society was still manifested in various ways.