By Miranda Sallee
When one thinks of King Arthur, a common theme that reveals itself is “chivalry”. The term chivalry is technically defined as “the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and a readiness to help the weak” (Merriam-Webster). But in these Arthurian texts the Knights of the Round Table, as well as King Arthur, seem to try and fit their actions into this definition of chivalry and therefore construct them into a justifiable argument. Through the texts The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth, The Wedding of King Arthur by Thomas Malory, and “The Coronation of Arthur and Guinivere” in Wace’s Roman de Brut, there is a correlation of the questionable actions of King Arthur and his knights excusing their behavior and lack of respect for their fellow human beings in the name of chivalry.
Chivalry in medieval literature, more specifically Arthurian literature, is a word that is often disagreed upon by scholars who have a hard time coming to an agreement on what exactly the term means in these texts. James Ross Sweeney, who wrote an article discussing chivalry in his “Dictionary of the Middle Ages”, he wrote that “Writers from the eleventh through the eighteenth century commonly spoke of chivalry, but their meaning was seldom consistent or precise” (16). He argues that the inconsistent use of the word causes many different interpretations of the texts. In this period of writing, the meaning of the word was molded to meet the specific needs of the authors and to move their story in the direction that most suited their agenda.
In “The History of the Kings of Britain”, Geoffrey of Monmouth describes how Arthur’s father, King Uther falls in love with a different man’s, Gorlois’s, wife Igerna. Instead of using this opportunity to have Uther chivalrously back down, he instead asks Merlin to help him transform into the guise of Gorlois and sleep with Igerna. These actions were completely justifiable in the sense that this act of King Uther lead to the conception of King Arthur, who was the savior of Britain. This bizarre scene weighed down heavily with the sense of rape and deception was justified by the outcome of that night. Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote after Uther told Igerna that he had deceived her that “…she denied nothing he asked. This night also she conceived the most renowned of men, Arthur, who afterward won fame by his extraordinary valor” (63). Right after Monmouth wrote about how Uther “deceived her…with false words that he artfully contrived” (63), he went on proclaiming the justification of these deceitful actions by the chivalrous gift of Arthur from Uther.
Another instance in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s “History of the Kings of Britain” he writes about the duel between King Arthur and his nephew Mordred. Mordred, in King Arthur’s absence, had taken the crown for himself and that Queen Guinivere had “…broken the oath of her prior nuptials, had been joined to him in unconscionable lust” (86). It does not say that Mordred had anything to do with this affair, but instead Monmouth places the brunt of the blame on Queen Guinivere. Being of chivalrous character, both King Arthur and Mordred to partake in a duel with each other. This act of chivalry between the two men strips Queen Guinivere into nothing more than an object to be fought over. The only thing being fought for in this duel is Arthur’s pride as a king, for that is something that could be considered in the “qualities expected of an ideal knight” (Merriam-Webster). Fighting for a damsel has long been thought to be an act of chivalry, an act in which knights and kings could justify by saying so. But in actuality it reduces said damsel down to a point to be added to the victorious man’s scoreboard. These actions are done for the sole purpose of boosting their own moral as well as their personal worship.
Looking at a different piece of literature, we have Wace’s “Roman de Brut”. In this text Wace talks about the coronation of both King Arthur and Queen Guinivere. He describes the ceremony with great detail. One of these details is how the coronations of the two are separate. King Arthur and Queen Guinivere are crowned in separate churches with a separate entourage. Being coronated with such an expansive ceremony surrounded by kings, bishops, and a large crowd is one way to chivalrously establish your positions as king of Britain. This could be in order to honor his wife by giving Queen Guinivere her own ceremony, but it ends up placing the pair on unequal grounds. Even after the ceremony the two head off to different dining halls to eat with member of the same sex. The creates a chasm between King Arthur and Queen Guinivere not just emotionally, but socially as well as a lack of respect. The chivalrous idea of a man being crowned at his own coronation ceremony puts the woman on a lower rung of the social order. Gerhild Scholz Williams wrote an article satirically discussing the use of chivalry in medieval texts, and wrote that in the time period that these texts were written, chivalry was “of an increasingly lavish affirmation of chivalry, its customs, its rituals, and its historical presence” (Scholz 27). This ritual of coronation is also woven together with the custom of chivalry. But this puts a disconnect between King Arthur and his wife, though it is justifiable by the custom of the day and the importance of chivalry’s role.
In the third text, “Le Morte Darthur” by Sir Thomas Malory there is a section titled “The Wedding of King Arthur”, which talks about the wedding ceremony between King Arthur and Queen Guinivere. After the ceremony, there is a reception. There King Arthur gathers his knights. There is a woman there who is scooped up by a different knight and is carried away. The After Merlin tells the king that he must take care of it, his new knight, Gawain, took the job and rode off to prove his chivalrous nature as a knight and rescue the damsel in distress. But instead of saving her, Sir Gawain accidentally ends up decapitating the poor woman. Instead of losing his title of knight, King Arthur makes Sir Gawain take an oath to “never be against lady nor gentlewomen, but if he fight for a lady and his adversary fighteth for another” (Malory 56). This action of killing a woman leads to Arthur requiring all of his knights to swear an oath. The oath is to never murder, flee treason, give mercy, and be good to women (Malory 57). Every year the Knights of the Round Table re-swear this oath. The is what Malory defines as chivalry, and justifies the murder of the young woman by explaining the oath that came from it.
Each act of the Knights of the Round Table seems to be just flexible enough to fit into this chivalrous oath that they took from King Arthur. Even if the action may seem horrendous to the modern-day reader, the deeds are completely justifiable under the code of chivalry. Though scholars argue about the true meaning of the word, authors most likely molded the word into what they wanted it to be to illuminate their characters as righteous knights. The basic concept of chivalry allowed the knights, and King Arthur, the flexibility of justifying their actions with that excuse. The oath that Arthur and his nights hold so close to their hearts is nothing more than a pass for them to carve out their own knightly reputation with no repercussions for their lack of respect for their fellow men and women.
Work Cited
Bond, Gerald A. “Journal of the American Academy of Religion.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 54, no. 4, 1986, pp. 778–781. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1463939.
Lacy, Norris J., and James J. Wilhelm. The Romance of Arthur: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation. Taylor and Francis, 2013.
Malory, Thomas, and Helen Cooper. Le Morte DArthur: the Winchester Manuscript. Oxford University Press, 2008.
Williams, Gerhild Scholz. “License to Laugh: Making Fun of Chivalry in Some Medieval Texts.” Monatshefte, vol. 78, no. 1, 1986, pp. 26–37. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30159200.
Arthurian Literature 