Medieval Knight
What was the medieval knight’s perception of women?
A knight was supposed, according to the code of chivalry, to treat women with courtesy. On a practical level, he would expect his wife to be a good household manager, and to take care of his castle or manor and estates while he was away at court or at war, as knights frequenty were. He would regard his wife as his second-in-command in the household. She might even have to organise the defenses of his estates in his abscence. In ‘Treasure of the City of Ladies (1399) Christine de Pisan advises ladies:
“We have said also that she ought to have th eheart of a man, that is, she ought to know how to use weapons and be familiar with everything that pertains to them,, so that she may be ready to command her men if a need arises. she should know how to launch an attack, or to defend against one,, if the situation calls for it.
He might have a romantic attachment to a lady to whom he was not married (this was the fashion known as ‘courtly love) which was supposed to be entirely innocent and chaste, but in reality sometimes was not. It is not known however how common such attachments were in real life, rather than in the pages of romances.
The conventions of chivalry directed that, in the words of the thirteenth-century Roman de la Rose, men should ‘do honour to ladies . . Serve ladies and maidens if you would be honoured by all. Men were to be courteous, witty, accomplished, to speak gently to “do nothing to displease a lady”. In practice, a husband had authority over his wife, and she was obliged to obey him, but a knight of sense valued his wife’s role in managing his household and keeping everything running smoothly during his frequent absences.
The ‘chastity belt’ mentioned in an answer above, does not seem to have existed before the 15th century, by which time the age of knightss going off on crusade etc was past.
Medieval Europe: Knights
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