CHAPTER IV
THE IDEA OF CHIVALRY
Medieval thought in general was saturated in every part with the conceptions of the Christian faith. In a similar way and in a more limited sphere the thought of all those who lived in the circles of court or castle was impregnated with the idea of chivalry. Their whole system of ideas was permeated by the fiction that chivalry ruled the world. This conception even tends to invade the transcendental domain. The primordial feat of arms of the archangel Michael is glorified by Jean Molinet as “the first deed of knighthood and chivalrous prowess that was ever achieved.” From the archangel “terrestrial knighthood and human chivalry” take their origin, and in so far are but an imitation of the host of the angels around God’s throne.
This illusion of society based on chivalry curiously clashed with the reality of things. The chroniclers themselves, in describing the history of their time, tell us far more of covetousness, of cruelty, of cool calculation, of well-understood self-interest, and of diplomatic subtlety, than of chivalry. None the less, all, as a rule, profess to write in honour of chivalry, which is the stay of the world. Froissart, Monstrelet, d'Escouchy, Chastellain, La Marche, Molinet, all, with the exception only of Philippe de Commines and Thomas Basin, open their works by high-sounding declarations of their purpose of glorifying knightly bravery and virtues, of recording “noble enterprises, conquests, feats of heroism and of arms,” “the great marvels and the fine feats of arms that have come to pass because of the great wars.” History, to them, is illumined throughout by this their ideal. Later, when writing, they forget it more or less. Froissart, himself the author of a super-romantic epic of chivalry, Méliador, narrates endless treasons and cruelties, without being aware of the contra-
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