Editing Chivalry (section)

===Chivalry and Christianity===
{{Further|Knightly Piety}}

Christianity had a modifying influence on the classical concept of heroism and virtue, nowadays identified with the virtues of chivalry.<ref>{{harvp|Corrêa de Oliveira|1993|p=10}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Keen|2005|p=56}}</ref> The [[Peace and Truce of God]] in the 10th century was one such example, which placed limits on knights to protect and honour the weaker members of society and also help the church maintain peace. At the same time the church became more tolerant of war in the defence of faith, espousing theories of the [[just war]]; and [[liturgies]] were introduced which blessed a knight's sword, {{clarify|text=and a bath of chivalric purification|reason=what's that?|date=July 2023}}. In the [[Grail]] romances and ''Chevalier au Cygne'', it was the ethos of the Christian knighthood that its way of life was to please God, and chivalry was an order of God.<ref>{{harvp|Keen|2005|p=62}}</ref> Chivalry as a Christian vocation combined [[Teutons|Teutonic]] heroic values with the militant tradition of [[Old Testament]].<ref name="auto"/>

[[File:Ghent Altarpiece E - Knights of Christ.jpg|thumb|upright|''Knights of Christ'' by [[Jan van Eyck]]]]

The first noted support for chivalric vocation, or the establishment of a knightly class to ensure the sanctity and legitimacy of Christianity, was written in 930 by [[Odo of Cluny|Odo]], abbot of [[Cluny]], in the ''Vita of St. Gerald of Aurillac'', which argued that the sanctity of Christ and Christian doctrine can be demonstrated through the legitimate unsheathing of the "sword against the enemy".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Life of St. Gerald, by Odo|year=1954|publisher=Penn State Press|page=371}}</ref> In the 11th century the concept of a "knight of Christ" ({{lang|la|miles Christi}}) gained currency in France, Spain, and Italy.<ref name=sweeney/> These concepts of "religious chivalry" were further elaborated in the era of the [[Crusades]], with the Crusades themselves often seen as a chivalrous enterprise.<ref name=sweeney/> The [[Military order (society)|military order]]s of the crusades which developed in this period came to be seen as the earliest flowering of chivalry,<ref>{{Britannica|113409}}</ref> and some of their opponents like [[Saladin]] were likewise depicted as chivalrous adversaries. It remains unclear to what extent the notable military figures of this period—such as Saladin, [[Godfrey of Bouillon]], [[William Marshal]], or [[Bertrand du Guesclin]]—actually did set new standards of knightly behaviour, or to what extent they merely behaved according to existing models of conduct which came in retrospect to be interpreted along the lines of the "chivalry" ideal of the Late Middle Ages.<ref name=sweeney/> Nevertheless, chivalry and crusades were not the same thing. While the crusading ideology had largely influenced the ethic of chivalry during its{{ambiguous|date=July 2023}} formative times, chivalry itself was related to a whole range of martial activities and aristocratic values which had no necessary linkage with crusading.<ref>{{harvp|Keen|2005|pp=44–45}}</ref>

The [[Virgin Mary]] was venerated by multiple chivalric orders, including the [[Teutonic Knights]], who honored her as their patroness.<ref>{{cite book|title=Chivalry, Kingship and Crusade: The English Experience in the Fourteenth Century|author=Timothy Guard|year=2013|isbn= 9781843838241|publisher=Boydell Press|pages=73–89}}</ref> The medieval development of chivalry, with the concept of the honour of a lady and the ensuing knightly devotion to it, not only derived from the thinking about Mary, but also contributed to it.<ref>{{harvp|Bromiley|1994|p=272}}</ref> Although women were at times viewed as the source of evil, it was Mary who as mediator to God was a source of refuge for man. The development of medieval [[Mariology]] and the changing attitudes towards women paralleled each other.<ref>{{harvp|Tucker|1987|p=168}}</ref>