{"id":7039,"date":"2025-07-08T21:37:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=7039"},"modified":"2025-07-08T21:40:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:40:00","slug":"word-of-the-day-chivalry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2025\/07\/08\/word-of-the-day-chivalry\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Day: Chivalry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s word of the day, thanks to Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary<\/a>), is chivalry<\/em>. Pronounced \/ \u02c8\u0283\u026av \u0259l ri \/, chivalry<\/em> is a noun that means \u201cthe sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms\u201d; \u201cthe rules and customs of medieval knighthood\u201d; \u201cthe medieval system or institution of knighthood\u201d; \u201ca group of knights\u201d; \u201cgallant warriors or gentlemen\u201d; or \u201cArchaic. a chivalrous act; gallant deed\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/chivalry<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merriam-Webster gives some background: \u201cChivalry is dead, they say. The statement is indisputably true in at least one sense: the word chivalry<\/em> first referred to medieval knights, as in \u2018the king was accompanied by his chivalry,\u2019 and we’re quite certain those knights are all long gone. But the word\u2019s meaning has shifted since the 14th century, with other meanings joining the first over the years. Today, chivalry<\/em> typically refers to an honorable and polite way of behaving, especially by men toward women. And when people say \u2018chivalry is dead\u2019 they\u2019re usually bemoaning either a perceived lack of good manners among those they encounter generally, or a dearth of men holding doors for appreciative women. The word came to English by way of French, and is ultimately from the Late Latin word caball\u0101rius<\/em>, meaning \u2018horseback rider, groom,\u2019 ancestor too of another term for a daring medieval gentleman-at-arms: cavalier<\/em><\/a>. In a twist, the adjective form of cavalier<\/em> is often used to describe someone who is overly nonchalant<\/a> about important matters\u2014not exactly chivalrous<\/a>\u201d (https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/chivalry<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Etymonline.com, the word enters the English language \u201cc. 1300, \u2018body or host of knights; knighthood in the feudal social system; bravery in war, warfare as an art,\u2019 from Old French chevalerie<\/em> \u2018knighthood, chivalry<\/em>, nobility, cavalry, art of war,\u2019 from chevalier<\/em> \u2018knight,\u2019 from Medieval Latin caballarius<\/em> \u2018horseman,\u2019 from Latin caballus<\/em> \u2018nag, pack-horse\u2019 (see cavalier<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From late 14c. as \u2018the nobility as one of the estates of the realm,\u2019 also as the word for an ethical code emphasizing honor, valor, generosity and courtly manners. Modern use for \u2018social and moral code of medieval feudalism\u2019 probably is an 18c. historical revival\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=chivalry<\/a>). So at one level of meaning, chivalry are the guys who ride horses, which makes sense since the hoi polloi didn\u2019t have horses to ride in battle; that privilege was reserved for the knights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cavalier<\/em>, which is almost the same word, comes into the language from \u201cfrom Italian cavaliere<\/em> \u2018mounted soldier, knight; gentleman serving as a lady’s escort,\u2019 from Late Latin caballarius<\/em> \u2018horseman,\u2019 from Vulgar Latin *caballus<\/em>, the common Vulgar Latin word for \u2018horse\u2019 (and source of Italian cavallo<\/em>, French cheval<\/em>, Spanish caballo<\/em>, Irish capall<\/em>, Welsh ceffyl<\/em>), displacing Latin equus<\/em> (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/word\/cavalier<\/a>). Cavalier can also be an adjective in contemporary English: \u201c\u2019disdainful,\u2019 by 1817, from earlier sense \u2018easy, offhand\u2019 (1650s); originally \u2018gallant, knightly, brave\u2019 (1640s), from cavalier<\/strong><\/a> (n.) in its Elizabethan senses\u201d (ibid.). M-W explains further about the word, \u201cThe adjective trotted into English just a few decades after the noun, first describing those thought to embody qualities of gallantry and suaveness associated with such soldiers. However, the English Puritans later applied the noun with disdain to their adversaries, the swashbuckling royalist<\/a> followers of Charles I, who sported longish hair and swords. Their use undoubtedly contributed to the adjective\u2019s \u2018flippant<\/a>\u2019 sense, which is now the most common. To saddle<\/a> someone (or their behavior, attitude, etc.) with the descriptor today is to say that they do not demonstrate the expected or required care for serious matters\u201d (https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/cavalier).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those Cavaliers was the soldier and poet Richard Lovelace (pronounced \/ \u02c8l\u028cv l\u0259s \/, like \u201clove less\u201d). Born in 1617, he was \u201cthe oldest son of Sir William Lovelace and Anne Barne Lovelace. He had four brothers and three sisters. His father was from a distinguished military and legal family; the Lovelace family owned a considerable amount of property in Kent\u201d (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_Lovelace_(poet)<\/a>. His father died when Lovelace was just 9, in a war against the Spanish, but his family\u2019s money kept him. He \u201cattended the University of Oxford<\/a> and was praised by his contemporary Anthony Wood<\/a>as \u2018the most amiable and beautiful person that ever eye beheld; a person also of innate modesty<\/a>, virtue and courtly deportment, which made him then, but especially after, when he retired to the great city, much admired and adored by the female sex\u2019\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1640s in England featured the Puritan Revolution that ultimately toppled King Charles II and brought Oliver Cromwell to power. Cromwell represented the side that came to be known as the Roundheads, so-called because many of them wore their hair cut closely around their heads, unlike the Cavaliers, who wore their hair in long ringlets. Lovelace, and his family, were on the Royalist side, the Cavaliers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 1641, Lovelace led a group of men to seize and destroy a petition for the abolition of Episcopal<\/a> rule, which had been signed by 15,000 people. The following year he presented the House of Commons<\/a> with Dering’s<\/a> pro-Royalist<\/a> petition which was supposed to have been burned. These actions resulted in Lovelace’s first imprisonment\u201d (ibid.). The experience of prison, though it was relatively brief, led to his writing one of his most famous poems, \u201cTo Althea, from Prison.\u201d Althea was a poetic name; we do not know who the model for Althea was or even if there were such a model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He went to prison again in 1648, and by the time he was released, King Charles had been deposed and beheaded, and the Roundheads were in charge. Lovelace died in relative poverty and obscurity in 1657.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had he lived in the Middle Ages, he would have been a member of the chivalry, but his famous poem shows the values of the chivalry:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Love with unconfin\u00e8d wings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hovers within my Gates,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And my divine Althea<\/em> brings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To whisper at the Grates;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I lie tangled in her hair,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And fettered to her eye,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gods that wanton in the Air,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know no such Liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When flowing Cups run swiftly round<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With no allaying Thames<\/em>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our careless heads with Roses bound,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our hearts with Loyal Flames;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When thirsty grief in Wine we steep,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Healths and draughts go free,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fishes that tipple in the Deep<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know no such Liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When (like committed linnets) I<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With shriller throat shall sing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sweetness, Mercy, Majesty,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And glories of my King;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I shall voice aloud how good<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is, how Great should be,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enlarg\u00e8d Winds, that curl the Flood,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know no such Liberty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stone Walls do not a Prison make,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nor Iron bars a Cage;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minds innocent and quiet take<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That for an Hermitage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I have freedom in my Love,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in my soul am free,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Angels alone that soar above,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy such Liberty. (https:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/44657\/to-althea-from-prison) Today\u2019s image is of Richard Lovelace (https:\/\/anthonyhowelljournal.com\/2022\/01\/21\/richard-lovelace-on-poetry-competitions\/<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s word of the day, thanks to Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary), is chivalry. Pronounced \/ \u02c8\u0283\u026av \u0259l ri \/, chivalry is a noun that means \u201cthe sum of the ideal qualifications […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[826,238,395,284,827],"class_list":["post-7039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-of-the-day","tag-chivalry","tag-dictionary","tag-etymology","tag-linguistics","tag-richard-lovelace","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7039"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7042,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7039\/revisions\/7042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}