“The motto of chivalry is also the motto of wisdom to serve all, but love only one. ”(Balzac 01) Back in Medieval Times knightly virtues, honor and courtly love was known as the Code of Chivalry. The Code of Chivalry was a moral system, which basically introduced a set of conducts. Such a system has reasons behind why it was created, consequences in people behaviors, and major impacts that still influence today. Chivalry began as a warrior’s code. Since others civilizations had gathered together each warrior had to join with others in order to compete.
Yet, civilization kept developing and moving on across the globe that eventually the ideal of duty had to change. In the Western, the first real challenge came from the church. The Medieval Times was an era where people would really attempt to elevate themselves. At first, chivalry failed but as time went on it became something from within each individual could follow.
Following the chivalric system had positive consequences back then. It could bring out the best in a knight.
For example, constant training for battle may have prevented some wars due to the idea of “mutual annihilation”(Neumann 01) which was a concept of chivalry. Also, the code attempted to moderate violence. In a time of fighting, chivalry was developed to make peace. The impact of chivalry on the twenty first century is major. Unfortunately, nowadays it is not followed like before. There is no practice for chivalry because of the abundant amount of crime, racism and others. But the essence is still present.
