SC - important date-
James F. Johnson
seumas at mind.net
Thu Oct 26 00:16:48 PDT 2000
LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> Although I agree with your basic concept, chivalry cannot be equated with
> 'niceness' as it is by a large number of people both in and out of the SCA.
> Chivalry is a set of rules set up for use in combat situations. Where the
> idea that it means "lets all play nice and be inoffensive" is anybody's
> guess. The original meaning is "martial valor or knightly skill." It is
> derived from the 'chevalier ' knights who were "gentlemen trained in arms and
> horsemanship or mounted soldiers. The current definition of chivalrous as
> 'nice' is at the most a Victorian concept based on the 19th century Arthurian
> cycle.
I would venture to guess that the confusion of chivalry with polite
behaviour came about when 'courtly' or courteous behaviour was
considered to be one of the non-martial qualities of chevaliers and
other gently born.
Seumas
- --
Roi ne suis prince, ni duc, ni comte aussi; je suis sire de
Bruyerecourt.
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