[Sidenote: liberality, but extravagance;]
[Sidenote: Counteraction of otherworldliness.]
=The Effects of Chivalric Education.=--Such was the training of the knight in the ‘rudiments of love, war, and religion.’ It contained many apparent anomalies and contradictions, and every virtue seems to have been balanced by a correlative vice. The knights were recklessly courageous in battle, but their anger was ungovernable and their cruelty extreme. A great self-respect was supposed to characterize the true knight, but this often reacted into an overweening pride. Likewise, while the knights were rated largely according to their liberality and hospitality, these virtues degenerated into a great love of display and extravagance beyond measure. Again, although great respect for womanhood was inculcated, not much consideration could be expected by the woman beneath a certain rank. Similarly, the knightly word of honor, if accompanied by certain forms, would be held sacred, but should these forms be omitted, a decided breach of faith was not uncommon. As a whole, however, the chivalric training had a beneficial effect upon the society of the times. It helped to organize the turmoil and to refine the barbarism of mediæval Europe, and was an effective instrument in raising the position of women. Moreover, while this peculiar training was artificial and worldly, by that very tendency it did much to counteract the ‘otherworldly’ ideal of monasticism and the general asceticism of the period. It encouraged an activity in earthly affairs and a frank enjoyment of this life, and thus helped to develop a striking characteristic of the Renaissance.
Graves, _During the Transition_ (Macmillan, 1910), chap. VII; Monroe, _Text-book_ (Macmillan, 1905), pp. 284-291. Detailed descriptions of the stages of chivalric training can be found in Cornish, F. W., _Chivalry_ (Sonnenschein, London, 1901) (Macmillan, 1908); Furnival, F. J., _Early Education in England (Forewords to The Babees Book_, Early English Text Society, Original Series, vol. 32); and Mills, C., _The History of Chivalry_ (Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia, 1844), vol. I, chaps. I-V, and vol. II, chap. VII. An ingenious, but uncritical reconstruction of the life of a knight in story form, is found in Gautier, L., _Chivalry_, chaps. V-XX.