The Good
Fantasy/Ideal
|
Knights
|
|
|
|
When kindness, loyally, truth and justice vanished, cruelty, disloyalty and falsehood arose, there was evil in the world in which God had made man to love, serve, and honor Him. When the world lapsed into wickedness, it was dear which restored justice. And so the peopel were divided into groups of a thousand, and from each group one man was chosen who was the most loyal, most brave, most knowledgeable, and most courteous of them all.
After that, they looked for the most suitable animal, the most handsome, the bravest, the strongest, and the most fitting to serve this man. And they found that the horse was the noblest and most suitable to serve him. Because the horse was chosen rather than any other animal, the man takes the name of the horse, which is "cheval" in French, so the man is the "chevalier" or in English "knight." Thus the noblest man was given the noblest beast. After that, arms were chosen that were the best for war, and to protect this man from death. And these arms were given to the knight.
[The Book of the Order of Chivalry, 1276]
Peter Speed, ed. Those Who Fought. New York: Italica Press, 1996.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Bad
Realistic/Criticism
|
