There are
four distinct periods in the history of chivalry. The
period of foundation, i.e. the time when the Truce of God
was in force, witnessed the long contest of the Church
against the violence of the age, before she succeeded in
curbing the savage spirit of the feudal warriors, who
prior to this recognized no law but that of brute force.
FIRST PERIOD: THE CRUSADES
The Crusades
introduced the golden age of chivalry, and the crusader
was the pattern of the perfect knight. The rescue of the
holy places of Palestine from Moslem domination and the
defense of pilgrims became the new object of his vow. In
return, the Church took him under her protection in a
special way, and conferred upon him exceptional temporal
and spiritual privileges, such as the remission of all
penances, dispensation from the jurisdiction of the
secular courts, and as a means of defraying the expenses
of the journey to the Holy Land, knights were granted the
tenth of all the church revenues. The vow of the crusader
was limited to a specified period. For the distant
expeditions into Asia, the average time was two or three
years.
SECOND PERIOD: THE MILITARY ORDERS
After the
conquest of Jerusalem, the necessity of a standing army
became peremptory, in order to prevent the loss of the
Holy City to surrounding hostile nations. Out of this
necessity arose the military orders [note: the reference
here is to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the
Knights Templar, and, later, the Teutonic Knights} which
adopted as a fourth monastic vow that of perpetual warfare
against the infidels. In these orders, wherein was
realized the perfect fusion of the religious and the
military spirit, chivalry reached its apogee. This heroic
spirit had also its notable representatives among the
secular crusaders, as Godfrey of Bouillon, Tancred of
Normandy, Richard Couer de Lion, and above all Louis IX of
France, in whom knighthood was crowned by sanctity.