Chivalry

           I was going to write about women rights, but then I learned that Spartan women in ancient Greece actually had a surprising amount of rights and power, as did women to a lesser extent under the Qu'ran and New Testament. Perhaps that was also a reason Athens lost to Sparta, since women were allowed to run things (with full or nearly full power and authority) it basically freed up all the men to fight when it was required. However a related topic, Chivalry, does fall solely under the Medieval period.

God forbid she walk around

            Although women haven't been viewed as as property in the true sense of the word since the fall of the Roman Empire, women have always been treated as something different, oftentimes lesser, sometimes something to be coddled and looked after other times something to admire from afar. One of the ways this behavior manifested itself in was in the code/concept of Chivalry. 

Chivalry-is a term related to the medieval  institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others(wikipedia). It is usually associated with ideals of knightly virtues, honor and courtly love.

Chivalry- was a medieval concept encompassing what was considered to be the ideal conduct for a knight. In modern usage, chivalry can mean various forms of 'polite' behavior, often that of men performing small courtesies for women, such as offering to carry their things, holding doors open for them, letting them go first when choosing things, walking on dirt or grass when there isn't enough room on the sidewalk and other similar behaviors.

              If you are having trouble distinguishing "manners" from " idolizing/behavior typechivalry" they way I differentiate (general guideline) is that if you wouldn't do it for a Male but would for a woman it falls under Chivalry. I hold the door open for everyone, so that falls under manners, but I only move over when walking if it happens to be a female, that falls under Chivalry. I do not kiss women's hands because that falls under sexual harassment.

So we have two sort of ideas here, one is more honor/service related, one is more a system of how to idealize/idolize/treat women. They both seem to hold true when you look into what Chivalry is.

              I checked around by typing "origins of Chivalry" in Google  till about the 8th or so page of results. It seems that while it may have origins or was seeded as far back as perhaps the Roman empire, Chivalry as a sort of code of gentlemanly behavior and idolizing women did not come into existence until the Middle Ages. In English, the word is first attested in 1292, as a loan from Old French shevalerie "knighthood", an abstract noun formed in the 11th century based on chevalier "knight", ultimately from Medieval Latin caballarius "horseman"; cavalry is from the Italian form of the same word, loaned via Middle French into English around 1540. So chivalry started out as something that "knights" or "horse riding warriors" were supposed to engage in. The same idea still carries over today. When you hear the word chivalry the first image in your mind is probably a knight, probably followed by a princess in a tower, or a courageous knight charging into battle against some foe.

Boatz and hoez in the medieval era

                  It can be seen in Francesco Petrarch's 366 sonnets about a woman named Laura, his love, his devotion, his eternal worship from afar for this lovely maiden who was the personification of beauty and truth. But Laura was married to another and never returned his affection. This   "love from afar  "  is reminiscent of the medieval chivalric tradition of the troubadours, but these sonnets reflect a person anguish and subtlety that is very modern in outlook. This would be the "Princess in a tower/held captive by some force/power/monster" type of deal or the squire/knight serving the Queen or other royal lady that he can never have or has to go through an ordeal to reach.

I hope this is worth it!!

Rapunzel!! Rapunzel!! let down your hair!!

worship of the female form/creature is not a new practice

          It is also found in Whether woman was fittingly made from the the rib of man by Saint Thomas Aquinas. He basically shows that a woman has her place relative to a man. Not to rule over him and not to be a slave/servant. Women are compared to something divine such as the sacrament, or blood and water flowing out of Christs side when he was speared on the cross. It falls under the idolization/divinity of women, of treating "special" with certain "chivalrous" behaviors which may or may not come off as offensive now a days.
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             It is also found under Chivalric Ideals: The Function of Knight Hood by John of Salisbury. The praises of God are in their throat, and two-edged swords are in their hands to execute punishments on the nations and rebuke the peoples, and to bind their kings in chains and their nobles in links of iron. But to what end? To the end that they may serve madness, vanity, avarice or their own private self-will? By no means. Rather to the end they they may execute the judgement that is committed to them to execute; wherein each follows not his own will but the deliberate decision of God, the angles and men, accordance with equity and public utility.....    This falls under the power and duty of a knight to slay evil no matter where and under what guise it lurks,protect the innocent (not just women) and to be a shining/gleaming/standard bearers of hope for all mankind.

She doesn't look evil.... history would show otherwise

             I, however, think that Chivalry is even more ingrained and subtle than that. Virgin Mary worship/idolization is prevalent throughout the "Catholic" world and belief system.Over the centuries, devotion and veneration to Mary has varied greatly among Christian traditions. For instance, while Protestants show scant attention to Marian prayers or devotions, of all the saints whom the Orthodox venerate, the most honored is Mary, who is considered "more honorable than the Cherubim and more glorious than the Seraphim. Orthodox theologian Sergei Bulgakov wrote: "Love and veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the soul of Orthodox piety. A faith in Christ which does not include his mother is another faith, another Christianity from that of the Orthodox church.  Catholics claim to not worship Mary, but presence of countless frescoes, paintings, statues, buildings chants and prayers all done in her name would indicate otherwise.

john 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

 

           People say chivalry is dead, but between it's 3 forms I'd say its more alive then ever. There are countless 5$ paperback novel love stories. Fictional and non fictional stories of heroes and even a religion that revolves around it.

something Hispanic Catholic might carry in their wallet

A real life hero (Alvin York)

5$ love novel

A space knight

In brightest day, in blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight

Let those who worship evil's might,

Beware my power... Green Lantern's light!

 I had typed this thing before 4:30 but then got a message saying It didn't post the blog to prevent scripting. Then I had to redo it all again... I saved the text on a word document this time which was a good thing, because it failed to submit yet again, it killed all my links,italics, bolds and I had to get the pictures again and retype all my captions. The prescott valley yavapai campus kicked me off the computer mid work, so they could install new computers