In the Middle Ages, how did knight culture imprint the spirit of Western Europe?

In medieval Europe, there was a very special class, namely knights. They were the lowest-level aristocrats with almost no fiefs and property, but throughout the Middle Ages in Western Europe, they were idols in the eyes of ordinary people, the benchmark of the upper class, the mainstay of the feudal political structure in Western Europe, and a powerful force in medieval society.

Knights were very popular and admired in the Middle Ages, which made the moral norms and codes of conduct of knights widely spread, and chivalry and chivalry culture came into being, which not only had a great influence on Western Europe at that time, but also penetrated into all aspects of Western Europeans and profoundly affected the social and historical development of Western Europe.

First, the knight's moral quality gave birth to knight culture.

The emergence of chivalry can be traced back to the Frankish kingdom. In 732 AD, Charlie? Matt became the court minister of the kingdom. He defeated other nationalities at home and abroad with well-trained cavalry. These cavalry come from domestic nobles and rich peasants. Charlie made them professional cavalry and provided them with military fiefs. Compared with the conscripts composed of peasants before, these cavalry are well-equipped, strong in fighting capacity and high in loyalty, so they quickly became popular in western Europe, and the knight class began to appear slowly.

Knights were the lowest class under the feudal fief system in the Middle Ages. They don't have titles, generally only have small fiefs or manors, and some even don't have fiefs. Knights, as vassals of feudal lords, need to swear allegiance to their masters and help them manage their fiefs. In wartime, they need to fight for their masters on the battlefield. Knights need to have their own horses, armor and weapons, which has become the symbol of knights. In many film and television dramas depicting the Middle Ages in Europe, we can often see knights riding burly horses, wearing heavy armor and holding shiny spears.

In medieval Europe, big and small lords often clashed for their own interests, and the most dazzling star in the war was the knight. The soldiers at the bottom of the medieval army were often mercenaries or militia. They are usually poorly equipped and have low fighting capacity. They fled from place to place in the battle. They can't beat well-equipped and well-trained knights at all. The knights charge in the battle, and ordinary soldiers who fight with them often have to flee for their lives. Therefore, compared with other classes, the oppression and importance that knights bring to ordinary people are more direct. Over time, the knight class has become an idol in the eyes of ordinary people.

As we all know, knights have many moral standards and codes of conduct. A qualified knight needs to be trained from an early age. A person needs to go through three stages to become a knight. The first stage is the stage of serving children. At this stage, parents need to complete the transformation from Xiong Haizi to a waiter when sending their children to the main home. Their task is to serve the host and hostess and learn the manners of the upper class. After this stage, he will become humble, honest, polite and loyal to his master.

The second stage is the bodyguard stage. They will learn horse riding, archery and martial arts, and change from waiters to bodyguards to protect the safety of male and female owners. After this stage, they will become brave, courageous and pursue honor. After that, they will enter the final stage, participate in the knighthood ceremony and become a real knight. These tests have cultivated the knight's character and conduct, formed the knight's moral standard and code of conduct, and finally condensed into chivalry, which penetrated into all aspects of society, and knight culture came into being.

Second, the Christian church? Use? Knight's loyalty.

In medieval Western Europe, chivalry was a highly respected and desirable profession. Many civilians gave their children to the lords' families when they were very young, hoping that their children would become arrogant knights. So it was not only military, but also the chivalrous culture in western Europe at that time had a great influence on all aspects of society.

The greatest feature of medieval Europe was religion. Christian culture permeates all aspects of society, and knight culture is no exception. Originally loyal to the master's character, the church turned into loyal to Christ and the church. This idea was later amplified to every Christian, and all Christians must be loyal to the church and be dominated by it. At this time, chivalry became a tool for the church to rule western Europe. In the heyday of the Middle Ages, even a fanatical Crusade broke out, and a large number of knights were sent to the eastern battlefield.

However, knight culture did not completely succumb to religion. Knight culture broke through the shackles of religion in many aspects and added a touch of color to the lifeless Middle Ages. In the definition of Christianity, people are born guilty. They came to this world to atone for their sins, to live a miserable life, and finally to be redeemed. This theory of original sin has deeply bound people's minds. The civilians at the bottom have been wandering around all their lives without the slightest initiative, and all they get in the end is a roll of rag mats wrapped in corpses. Chivalry pursues supreme honor, and people have to make continuous progress and efforts to get honor, which brings a little enterprising desire to those who are in a daze.

Knight culture also profoundly influenced the love view of western Europeans at that time. Christian church restrains people's desires infinitely, and love is no exception, while knight culture pursues true love. The code of conduct of chivalry and gentleness towards the hostess gradually evolved into love, and people became pious about love, and began to despise the simple love between men and women in the traditional sense and began to pursue it? The knight pursued your wife? Type of love mode, whether in the upper middle ages, that is, love and marriage as a political and economic tool, or? Parents' orders, matchmaker's words? The civilian class is a big step forward. The knight's loyalty to his master gradually evolved into loyalty to love. He must pursue the person he loves until death do us part. He can't be half-hearted about love and abandon and advocate it from the beginning? Romantic? This view of love is unique to western European culture and has become the main tone of western European view of love.

Romantic? What kind of love? Knights pursue ladies.

Third, the further development of knight culture.

Knight culture not only had a great influence at that time, but also affected the historical development of western Europe from ancient times to the present.

In his masterpiece Don Quixote, Cervantes, a Spanish writer, described the hero as a man with good chivalry, but full of ugliness, who was regarded as a madman by the world, and expressed his regret that the world was outdated and chivalry was buried. In fact, Cervantes himself liked knight novels very much when he was young, and admired knight spirit very much. He followed the pioneering spirit of the knight and joined the maritime expedition fleet. As a result, he met pirates, spent many years in prison and lived a miserable life. He laughed at Don Quixote in his book, didn't he laugh at himself? In fact, there are many people like him. Adventurers with pioneering spirit, such as Columbus and Da Gama, finally succeeded, opening the era of great navigation in Western Europe. This pioneering spirit of western Europeans is inseparable from chivalry.

Quixote

Knight culture makes western Europeans advocate force and attach importance to soldiers. Different from the orientals who value literature over martial arts, the martial spirit of western Europeans has a long history. The status of knights is enviable. Knights have all noble qualities to defend the people and fight against pagans, which has been widely recognized by the society. Therefore, many people have joined the cause of becoming knights and actively participated in the war, hoping to gain honor through military achievements. In the late Middle Ages, the status of knights plummeted, but this spirit of pursuing honor and advocating force still spread, and many lower-class people became new noble through military service. The chivalrous system has made some people become military elites, which has been recognized by the whole society and formed a martial atmosphere in the whole society.

Because knights wear heavy armor and have excellent weapons, ordinary soldiers often carry these on the battlefield? Iron man? I can't help it. Some battles become one-on-one contests between knights on both sides, and later become knights? Duel? Culture, whether for territory, wealth or lovers, is determined by dueling. Dueling culture did not end with the disappearance of chivalry, but developed in later generations. 1837, the famous poet Pushkin died in a duel. Dueling is often a time and place agreed by both parties, a respected notary. No matter what the outcome of the duel is, both sides must obey and not seek revenge, which is reflected everywhere. Is it fair? This culture gradually evolved into the form of arbitration and became the main legal means.

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Although the chivalry system has died out, the chivalry and chivalry culture brought by it have already penetrated into the bone marrow of western Europeans and profoundly affected the development of western European history. The reason why western Europeans can take the lead in the great changes in the modern world and become the leading force in the world is inseparable from knight culture.

With the opening-up and world domination of western Europeans, knight culture has spread all over the world with the footsteps of western Europeans. Although the chivalrous culture of advocating force and pioneering has brought great suffering to the world, there are many valuable spiritual wealth in it, which is exactly what China culture, which values literature over martial arts and is reserved and restrained, lacks. It's time for us to study.