Chivalry (Fr. chevalerie, from chevalier, 'a horseman'), a social arrangement of medieval life in Christian Europe, of which knighthood formed a central feature. It included everything relating to martial accomplishments, and the relation between vassal and lord, then the chief bond of society. With regard to the position of the female sex and domestic life, it developed sentiments and manners which had a powerful and salutary effect on modern society, although it is true that the high ideal standard of purity of morals which it cultivated was not always fully exemplified in the lives of those who were trained under its influence. Though closely connected with feudalism, its germ has by some writers been traced to a much earlier age; and analogies have been pointed out between the doctrines of Boethius's Consolations of Philosophy and the ideas contained in the Testament of Love. See FEUDALISM, KNIGHT.
In English Law, Chivalry is used to mean the tenure of lands by Knight's Service, which might be general or special, according as the tenant was bound to perform to the king or superior military service generally, or some particular service.
The COURT OF CHIVALRY was a military court established by Edward III., of which the Earl Marshal and the Lord High Constable were judges. It tried military offences, and decided questions of personal honour, questions as to coat-armour and the like; and sat for the last time in 1737.