CHNAD
692
CHOCTAW
history of chivalry. The period of foundation, i. e.
the time when the Truce of God was in force, wit-
nessed the long contest of the Church against the vio-
lence 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.
The Crusades (q. v.) 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 defence 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 remis- sion of all penances, dispensation from the jurisdic- tion 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. 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 (q. v.) which adopted as a fourth monastic vow that of per- petual warfare against the infidels. In these orders, wherein was realized the perfect fusion of the relig- ious and the military spirit, chivalry reached its apo- gee. This heroic spirit had also its notable repre- sentatives among the secular crusaders, as Godfrey of Bouillon, Tancred of Normandy, Richard Cceur de Lion, and above all Louis IX of France, in whom knighthood was crowned by sanctity. Like the monastic, the knightly vow bound with common ties warriors of every nation and condition, and enrolled them in a vast brotherhood of manners, ideals, and aims. The secular brotherhood had, like the regular, its rule imposing on its members fidelity to their lords and to their word, fair play on the battle-field, and the observance of the maxims of honour and courtesy. Medieval chivalry, moreover, opened a new chapter in the history of literature. It prepared the way and gave ready currency to an epic and romantic movement in literature reflecting the ideal of knighthood and celebrating its accomplishment and achievements. Provence and Normandy were the chief centres of this kind of literature, which was spread throughout all Europe by the trouveres and troubadours.
After the Crusades chivalry gradually lost its religious aspect. In this, its third period, honour remains the peculiar worship of knighthood. This spirit is manifested in the many knightly exploits which fill the annals of the long contest between England and France during the Hundred Years War. The chronicles of Froissart give a vivid picture of this age, where bloody battles alternate with tournaments and gorgeous pageants. Each contending nation has its heroes. If England could boast of the victories of the Black Prince, Chandos, and Talbot, France could pride herself on the exploits of Du Guesclin, Bouci- caut, and Dunois. But with, all the brilliancy and glamour of their achievements, the main result was a useless shedding of blood, waste of money, and misery for the lower classes. The amorous character of the new literature had contributed not a little to deflect chivalry from its original ideal. Under the influence of the romances love now became the main- spring of chivalry. As a consequence there arose a new type of chevalier, vowed to the service of some tiol •!<■ lady, who could even be another man's wife. This idol of his heart was to be worshipped at a dis- tance. Unfortunately, notwithstanding the obliga- tions imposed upon the knightly lover, these extrava- gant fancies often led to lament able results.
In its last stages, chivalry became a mere court
service. The Order of the Garter, founded in 1348
by Edward III of England, the Order of the Golden
Fleece (Toison d'or) of Philip of Burgundy, dating
from 1430, formed a brotherhood, not of crusaders,
but of courtiers, with no other aim than to contribute
to the splendour of the sovereign. Their most serious
business was the sport of jousts and tournaments.
They made their vows not in chapels, but in banquet-
halls, not on the cross, but on some emblematic bird.
The " vow of the Swan " of 1306, was instituted during
the feast of the dubbing of the son of Edward I. It
was before God and the swan that the old king swore
with his knights to avenge on Scotland the murder
of his lieutenant. More celebrated is the " vow of the
Pheasant", made in 1454 at the court of Philip of
Burgundy. The motive was weighty indeed, being
nothing else than the rescue of Constantinople, which
had fallen the past year into the hands of the Turks.
But the solemnity of the motive did not lessen the
frivolity of the occasion. A solemn vow was taken
before God and the pheasant at a gorgeous banquet,
the profligate cost of which might better have been
devoted to the expedition itself. No less than one
hundred and fifty knights, the flower of the nobility,
repeated the vow, but the enterprise came to nought.
Chivalry had degenerated to a futile pastime and an
empty promise. Literature, which had in the past
so greatly contributed to the exaltation of chivalry,
now reacted against its extravagances. In the early
part of the fourteenth century this turning-point be-
comes evident in the poetry of Chaucer. Although
he himself had made many translations from the
French romances, he mildly derides their manner in
his " Sir Thopas " . The final blow was reserved for t he
immortal work of Cervantes, " Don Quixote ", which
aroused the laughter of all Europe. Infantry, on its
revival as an effective force on the battle-field during
the fourteenth century, began to dispute the suprem-
acy which heavy cavalry had so long enjoyed. Chiv-
alry, which rested entirely upon the superiority of the
horseman in warfare, rapidly declined. At Crecy
(1346) and Agincourt (1415) the French knighthood
was decimated by the arrows of the English archers
of Edward III and Henry V. The Austrian nobility
at Sempach (1386) and the Burgundian chivalry at
Morat (1476) were unable to sustain the overpowering
onslaught of the Swiss peasantry. With the advent
of gunpowder and the general use of firearms in bat-
tle, chivalry rapidly disintegrated and finally disap-
peared altogether.
Oman, The Art of War in the Middle Ages (Oxford. 1SS5); Kohler, Kriegwesen in der RUterzeil (Breslau. 1S86-1S90); Boutaric, Institutions militaires de la Franee avant les armees permanentes (Paris, 1863); Lacurne de Ste Palate, Mi- moires sur Vaneienne chevalerie in Memmres de /'.4c. des inscrip- tions (1781); Mills, History of Chivalry (London. 1S20-26); Gactier, La chevalerie (Pari?, ISsti; ( hiuuLKMi z. Essay sur Vorininc de la noblesse (Paris, 1902); Roth ton SrnREOKEN- BTEIN, Die Rilteru'urde und der Ritterstnnd (Freiburg im Br., 1SS6); Henne am Rhtn, Geschichte des Rilterlhum (Leipzig, 1S93); KeRVTN DE LetTEN'HOVE, Froissart; etude lillrriiire sur le XIV si<cle (Brussels, 1857); DE MoNGE, Epopies et romans chevalerexques (Brussels, 1889); Digby, The Droadstone of Honour.
Ch. Moeller. Chnad, Diocese of. See Csanad.
Choctaw Indians, an important tribe or confed- eracy of Muskogean stock formerly holding most of Southern Alabama and Mississippi, with adjoining portions of Louisiana, U. S. A., but now resident in Eastern Oklahoma. The origin and meaning of the name are uncertain. According to their own tradi- tion, which agrees with linguistic evidence, they were formerly connected with the Chickasaw and Crossed
the Mississippi together from tin- West. Their first appearance in history was in 1540, when their giant chief, Toscalusa the "Black Warrior", opposed I >e Soto's march in what was perhaps the most terrible Indian bat tie ever fought in the Eastern United States.
