Medieval knights, especially Teutonic knights, were a very developed class.
At first, knights were developed from cavalry, and the prerequisite was that only cavalry replaced infantry could the knight class rise. The first time the cavalry showed their talents, it was undoubtedly the battle in which the Germans defeated East Rome, which gave the cavalry an advantage. However, knight is not equal to cavalry in absolute sense. Knights are actually the product of bringing military power into feudal system in western Europe. At first, due to the large number of freemen, compulsory military service was implemented. However, with the annexation of land, the large-scale real estate system has greatly reduced the number of freemen, making it difficult to implement compulsory military service, and the range of people who can be enlisted in the army is getting narrower and narrower. Freemen can't afford military equipment, so knights began to become the privileges of lords.
In order to ensure a considerable number of soldiers, the upper class at that time took some measures, that is, combining military service with economic resources, which was a common feudal system in the Middle Ages. This system began in the period of Charles Martel in the Frankish Kingdom. Military service changed from compulsory system to fief system, so the army of feudal lords became the foundation of the national army. This system is stable and firm, transforming cavalry from dispersed state into knight class, that is, knight equals cavalry plus land ownership.
At that time, the main duty of knights was soldiers, and the image of soldiers was highly respected by society, because frequent military activities were the characteristics of the Middle Ages. In people's minds, war is the normal state of social life. In the economic field, knights are part of the feudal system, loyal to the lords, and strengthen this bond through oath and other ceremonies. From the social stratum, a noble can be a knight in battle, but a knight is not necessarily a noble. The knight's main duty is to fight, but he does not have the judicial power and some hereditary rights owned by the nobility, but he is a "follower of the nobility" and is in the middle class between the nobility and the peasants.
In the peaceful period after 12 ~ 13 century, the knight's military can only begin to weaken, improve its position in the economic and political fields, and gradually merge with the nobility. At that time, the cultivation of knights began from birth, which was a very long process: he was baptized under the supervision of his father at birth and raised by a wet nurse until he was 7 years old, and he could not live with his family. After I was 7 years old, I really embarked on the road of chivalry. I left my residence, went to a noble family with a higher status than mine, and began to learn the necessary knowledge of becoming a knight, such as eagle hunting, various religious knowledge and etiquette. From the age of 14, he was a personal attendant of the nobility, which was of a ceremonial nature, and he could learn a lot from it until he grew up at the age of 2 1.
2 1 year-old, you must go through a special ceremony to leave the Lord family and become an independent knight. The ceremony was grand, and this canonization ceremony was regarded as a continuation or deformation of the past rite of passage: on the first day, there were two ceremonies, bathing and praying, to purify the body and soul. Officially decorated the next day: the horse was collected and a symbolic race was held, which became the external symbol of the knight.
Therefore, the knights at that time had fixed characteristics and were specifically called "soldiers".
The relationship between medieval knights and the church is a major feature of medieval knights, and it is also a combination of barbarism and theory.
At first, the two sides were antagonistic, because the knight represented the destroyed side, while Christianity represented the destroyed Roman Empire. Knights are very martial and characterized by looting, and the target of looting is often directed at the church. Both sides have conflicts in theory and practice. Christianity advocates peace, while knights enjoy war.
There are two main factors that lead to the combination of the two: one is the secularization of the church. Because of its large amount of land, the church became the largest feudal landlord in western Europe. At that time, a small church could own more than 1000 manors. In order to protect its own property and interests, the church began to dabble in secular things, from dependence on the king to domination of the king, which also shifted the object of knight protection. As Christians, knights can't invade the church, and the church has changed from an institution opposed to knights to an institution protected by knights. The second point is that the knight himself has changed. Because entering the church was the way for aristocratic descendants to gain social status at that time, knights received religious education from an early age, followed God's instructions and chose appropriate behaviors, and cultivated their belief in God from an early age. In addition, knights often pray for God's blessing when they are in trouble. Some knights turned to monasticism because the war was too cruel, and some knights survived because they absolutely believed in Christianity because they needed spiritual comfort.
Therefore, the codes of conduct of many churches have become the rules of knights, and knights have become soldiers of God. At that time, the principle of knights was mainly: to be a devout Christian. 12 ~ 13 centuries later, piety became the first criterion. Believing in Christianity is not only a quality, but also a qualification, which stipulates and binds knights. Knight's equipment also represents doctrine, sword is the symbol of cross religion, shield represents the duty of protecting the church, and double-edged sword represents the just side and kills the enemy. Believing in God, knights must also pray and repent their crimes with practical actions. We must be the guardians of the church. The secular state is God's room on earth, and the king is the representative of the room. Knights protect the king not only to protect God, but also to protect the church.
The concept of love of medieval knights also has its uniqueness, which is out of tune with the concept of modern people and can be said to be unique.
At that time, marriage was based on property, and knights pursued love, but they were all ladies, not for marriage. This idea became the theme advocated in the late Middle Ages. Bards sang poems everywhere, which had a great influence on Europe in the future. Moreover, this view of love had a certain social foundation at that time.
In peacetime, the knight's military can only be weakened, and he began to live in the noble court, paying attention to etiquette and manners rather than force. Especially after the Crusade, most men went out to fight, and worldly things fell on women, and women's ability and status were improved. The hostess often plays an important role in the court and occupies a lofty position, and becomes the object of worship of warriors who come to attach themselves. Moreover, knights grew up in aristocratic families, and many educations were arranged by the hostess, which virtually constituted a kind of mother worship. This is also a supplement to the loveless marriage at that time. Knights marry for profit. In order to meet spiritual needs and find spiritual support beyond normal marriage, the woman they worship naturally becomes the object of their pursuit. This kind of love has many concepts different from other times: it contains the concept of loyalty, but does not pursue equality; And not for the purpose of marriage, it doesn't matter if you experience difficulties; This is also an opportunity for moral improvement, and the feudal vassal relationship is reflected in obedience in love. In people's minds at that time, a lady was a typical woman of that period. If a rude knight is favored, he can become educated, which conforms to the norms of high society and the requirements of peacetime.
What is knight literature?
Knight literature is a kind of secular literature completely different from church literature. It was formed from the 11th century to the 13th century. During this period, the entrepreneurial era of endless fighting is over. Due to the establishment of the chivalry system and the improvement of the social status of the chivalry class, their own spiritual life and moral standards have emerged. They broke through the Christian concept of being born forbidden, demanding worldly pleasures, yearning for worldly love, pursuing chivalry, helping the weak and destroying the strong, and Wen Ya's chivalry. Martial arts literature is the concentrated expression of this spiritual feature.
Knight literature is mainly based on folklore and epic, and the basic themes are mostly feudal knight's meritorious service, chivalrous adventure, lady worship and love supremacy. It can be roughly divided into two categories: one is mainly about the love twists and turns of knights and ladies, which are often expressed by lyric poems. The love song of "Tru Baddour" in Provence in southern France is the most representative lyric poem of knights. Among them, "Song of Dawn" describes the most wonderful scene when the dawn is about to break and the knight and his wife are reluctant to part. Song of Dawn is the essence of love songs in Provence. In the middle ages of arranged marriage, the "supreme" knight love was the first personal love in history. The other is mainly about the adventures and achievements of knights, which are often expressed in the form of knight legends. In the Middle Ages, all the major countries in Western Europe had stories about the legend of King Arthur, and other knight legends were based on the story of King Arthur and his 150 knights of the Round Table and the story of the Holy Grail. Therefore, the British system of Arthurian legend is the most influential and representative system in medieval western knight legend literature. The knight legend belonging to this system, the most outstanding in Britain is Sir Gawaine and the knight with a side coat; The most typical legend of French chivalry is Lancelot, and there is the rhyme legend "The Legend of bulut". Germany's Trident and Ithaca later joined the British system. The second system is the French system. The west of France is the center of knight literature, and the troubadour here is called "Te Rouville". The knight legends of this system are mostly based on the battle stories of Charlemagne and his knights, such as Song of Roland. The difference between it and heroic epic lies in that the legend of chivalry is not limited to historical facts, and the "special Ruville" can be purposefully invented to highlight the three major themes of chivalry literature: adventure, love and religion. The third system is the ancient system, taking ancient epics such as ancient Greece, Rome's Trojan War and Alexander's Expedition as themes. The significance of knight literature in the history of literary development lies in the fact that the seeds of modern novels have matured in this kind of works.
France is the most prosperous place of chivalry literature. The main genres are lyric poetry and narrative poetry (poetic legend). The center of knight lyrics is Provence in the south of France. The authors are mainly feudal lords and knights, and a few are people from the lower classes. The main achievement of knight literature in northern France is knight narrative poetry. Knight literature also shows a certain anti-feudal spirit.
What does it mean to the development of literature?
Knight literature has always been the product of a combination of a system (knight system) and a culture (Christian culture), and the rise and fall of knight system directly determines the rise and fall of knight literature. The history of the emergence, development and decline of knight literature is the history of the emergence, development and decline of the medieval knight system. On the contrary, martial arts literature has gone through three different processes: emergence, development and transformation. In other words, knight literature is historical literature, and it will decline without transformation.