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Spanish chivalry
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Spanish chivalry
During the Middle Ages, Europe was the stage of a large number of wars, some of them shortlived, others iterative or long. European warfare during the Middle Ages was marked by a transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics, and in particular of the role of cavalry and artillery. In addition to military, tactical and technological innovations during this period, chivalric military and religious ideals arose, giving motivation for engagement in the ceaseless warfare. In the Iberian Peninsula (particularly in Spain or future Spanish territories), chivalric ideals and institutions would be adopted and exercised with more fervour than anywhere else.
Chivalry, or chivalric codes of manners and proper military engagement, is believed to have arrived in the Iberian Peninsula during the 10th century, in the context of the Reconquista. This was when Frankish knights, who were willing to fight the Muslim invaders of Iberia prior to the Crusades, appeared to protect pilgrims flocking to what was believed to be the tomb of the apostle James in Galicia. St. James himself was known and celebrated in Christianity as ‘the slayer of the Moors’, and the discovery of his body by Christians has been considered an igniting factor of the Reconquista. The Reconquista had begun under Alfonso II (791–842) and would last nearly 700 years as Christians attempted to drive Muslims out of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the in-statement of chivalric knightly orders and the chivalric ideals and codes of conduct weren’t present on the Iberian Peninsula until almost the second century of the Reconquista. In the context of the Reconquista, and the close proximity of Christian and Muslim populations, the atmosphere for the development of Knightly Orders was ripe, and in the subsequent centuries, chivalry flourished in Spain to a greater extent than in other Christian states.
Chivalry in medieval Spain cannot be understood outside of the context of the military orders of knighthood. Historians are conflicted as to whether Spanish knights were directed more by royalty (such as the king of Castile or the king of Aragon), or by the Papacy. But there seems to be a consensus that the knights had obligations to both and an overarching allegiance to the Church, as both were in direct contact with knights (and often royalty were themselves, knights and crusaders). Some scholars have suggested that the later Spanish military Orders, like that at the fortress of Calatrava, pledged their loyalty primarily to their Kingdom, in this case Castile, but orders like the Templars or Hospitallers were more independent and not necessarily loyal to any kingdom consistently.
The Iberian Peninsula had multiple factors contributing to the strong chivalric ethos exemplified by Spanish knights. One determinate factor to the strong adoption of chivalric orders in Spain is the Reconquista, in which Christian kingdoms attempted to expel Muslims from the peninsula. The greatest foes of the Spanish knights were Muslims, who were not an imagined enemy but one deeply entrenched in reality and not as distant as the infidel, or enemy, was for the knights of France or Germany. In other Christian kingdoms, the fighting was initially waged between Christians of different kingdoms, and as such was more debated and contested within Christian circles. However, in Spain, the Christian knights and kingdoms were engaged with what was almost acknowledged as a foe to Christianity, and this common enemy had some role in uniting Christian kingdoms in the cause of the Crusades and Reconquista. In the 12th and 13th century, most of the prominent Spanish knightly orders were formed. The early formation of the orders was dangerous and unstable. In Calatrava, in the mid-12th century, Castilian knights established a fortress, which would later be abandoned due to the threat of a Muslim attack. Within fifty years, a fort of the Order of Calatrava was rebuilt and became a fortified monastic community.
The prominence of knightly orders in the political and military realms of the Christian kingdoms of the peninsula fluctuated with the crusader zeal of the kingdoms’ rulers; however, their power was not exclusively tied to the Crusader Kings. For instance, Ferdinand III of Castile’s reign facilitated the rise of more Spanish orders because of the desire in the kingdom, led by the king, to crusade against the Moors.
After the death of Ferdinand III, Castile was relatively peaceful and the morale of the orders was undermined. In this period of peace between the orders and the Muslims, mercenaries were hired to replace and assist knights in their fighting, Masters of the Orders were no longer religiously appointed, and civil war was waged between Christian knights with conflicting loyalties.
By this time chivalry was influenced by the fictional prowesses of chivalry romances. Knight Suero de Quiñones and his friends, in summer 1434, maintained a pas d'armes (Passo Honroso) jousting as an homage to his future wife in 166 combats against pilgrim knights that attempted to cross a bridge on Saint James's Way.
The decline of knightly orders in Spain is debatable. Some historians have attributed the fall of chivalry and knightly orders to Miguel de Cervantes, because he “smiled Spain’s chivalry away” with his satirical novel Don Quixote (published in two parts, 1605 and 1615). Others have suggested that chivalry's decline was due to the expulsion of the Muslims in 1492, or the centralization of political power under the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Once the Moors were expelled, the four orders were perceived as powerful subjects and it became a priority for the Crown to gain control over them – particularly at a time when the Crown was struggling to establish its central authority. If one subscribes to this latter view (the earlier fall of chivalry and knightly orders at the end of the 15th century), then clearly Cervantes did not so much contribute to that event, as to document (at the beginning of the 17th century) its prior occurrence, a point that is central to Don Quixote, that this decline had already occurred at the time of Quixote's adventures.
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Spanish chivalry
During the Middle Ages, Europe was the stage of a large number of wars, some of them shortlived, others iterative or long. European warfare during the Middle Ages was marked by a transformation in the character of warfare from antiquity, changing military tactics, and in particular of the role of cavalry and artillery. In addition to military, tactical and technological innovations during this period, chivalric military and religious ideals arose, giving motivation for engagement in the ceaseless warfare. In the Iberian Peninsula (particularly in Spain or future Spanish territories), chivalric ideals and institutions would be adopted and exercised with more fervour than anywhere else.
Chivalry, or chivalric codes of manners and proper military engagement, is believed to have arrived in the Iberian Peninsula during the 10th century, in the context of the Reconquista. This was when Frankish knights, who were willing to fight the Muslim invaders of Iberia prior to the Crusades, appeared to protect pilgrims flocking to what was believed to be the tomb of the apostle James in Galicia. St. James himself was known and celebrated in Christianity as ‘the slayer of the Moors’, and the discovery of his body by Christians has been considered an igniting factor of the Reconquista. The Reconquista had begun under Alfonso II (791–842) and would last nearly 700 years as Christians attempted to drive Muslims out of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the in-statement of chivalric knightly orders and the chivalric ideals and codes of conduct weren’t present on the Iberian Peninsula until almost the second century of the Reconquista. In the context of the Reconquista, and the close proximity of Christian and Muslim populations, the atmosphere for the development of Knightly Orders was ripe, and in the subsequent centuries, chivalry flourished in Spain to a greater extent than in other Christian states.
Chivalry in medieval Spain cannot be understood outside of the context of the military orders of knighthood. Historians are conflicted as to whether Spanish knights were directed more by royalty (such as the king of Castile or the king of Aragon), or by the Papacy. But there seems to be a consensus that the knights had obligations to both and an overarching allegiance to the Church, as both were in direct contact with knights (and often royalty were themselves, knights and crusaders). Some scholars have suggested that the later Spanish military Orders, like that at the fortress of Calatrava, pledged their loyalty primarily to their Kingdom, in this case Castile, but orders like the Templars or Hospitallers were more independent and not necessarily loyal to any kingdom consistently.
The Iberian Peninsula had multiple factors contributing to the strong chivalric ethos exemplified by Spanish knights. One determinate factor to the strong adoption of chivalric orders in Spain is the Reconquista, in which Christian kingdoms attempted to expel Muslims from the peninsula. The greatest foes of the Spanish knights were Muslims, who were not an imagined enemy but one deeply entrenched in reality and not as distant as the infidel, or enemy, was for the knights of France or Germany. In other Christian kingdoms, the fighting was initially waged between Christians of different kingdoms, and as such was more debated and contested within Christian circles. However, in Spain, the Christian knights and kingdoms were engaged with what was almost acknowledged as a foe to Christianity, and this common enemy had some role in uniting Christian kingdoms in the cause of the Crusades and Reconquista. In the 12th and 13th century, most of the prominent Spanish knightly orders were formed. The early formation of the orders was dangerous and unstable. In Calatrava, in the mid-12th century, Castilian knights established a fortress, which would later be abandoned due to the threat of a Muslim attack. Within fifty years, a fort of the Order of Calatrava was rebuilt and became a fortified monastic community.
The prominence of knightly orders in the political and military realms of the Christian kingdoms of the peninsula fluctuated with the crusader zeal of the kingdoms’ rulers; however, their power was not exclusively tied to the Crusader Kings. For instance, Ferdinand III of Castile’s reign facilitated the rise of more Spanish orders because of the desire in the kingdom, led by the king, to crusade against the Moors.
After the death of Ferdinand III, Castile was relatively peaceful and the morale of the orders was undermined. In this period of peace between the orders and the Muslims, mercenaries were hired to replace and assist knights in their fighting, Masters of the Orders were no longer religiously appointed, and civil war was waged between Christian knights with conflicting loyalties.
By this time chivalry was influenced by the fictional prowesses of chivalry romances. Knight Suero de Quiñones and his friends, in summer 1434, maintained a pas d'armes (Passo Honroso) jousting as an homage to his future wife in 166 combats against pilgrim knights that attempted to cross a bridge on Saint James's Way.
The decline of knightly orders in Spain is debatable. Some historians have attributed the fall of chivalry and knightly orders to Miguel de Cervantes, because he “smiled Spain’s chivalry away” with his satirical novel Don Quixote (published in two parts, 1605 and 1615). Others have suggested that chivalry's decline was due to the expulsion of the Muslims in 1492, or the centralization of political power under the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. Once the Moors were expelled, the four orders were perceived as powerful subjects and it became a priority for the Crown to gain control over them – particularly at a time when the Crown was struggling to establish its central authority. If one subscribes to this latter view (the earlier fall of chivalry and knightly orders at the end of the 15th century), then clearly Cervantes did not so much contribute to that event, as to document (at the beginning of the 17th century) its prior occurrence, a point that is central to Don Quixote, that this decline had already occurred at the time of Quixote's adventures.
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