Forms: 3–4 chy-, chivalerye, -ie, 4 chevalerie, chyualrie, 4–5 chiualrye, 4–6 cheuelry(e, chevelry, Sc. chewalry, 4–7 chevalrie, -ry, chyualry(e, chivalrie, 5 cheyvalery(e, chevallry, 6 chevalree, 7 chivaldry, -altry, 5– chivalry. [ME., a. OF. chevalerie (11th c.), chivalerie = Pr. cavalaria, Sp. caballería, Pg. cavallería, It. cavalleria knighthood, horse-soldiery, cavalry, a Romanic deriv. of late L. caballerius (Capitularies 807):—L. caballāri-us rider, horseman, CAVALIER: see -ERY, -RY. (The same word has in later times come anew from It. into Fr. and Eng., as cavalerie, CAVALRY.)]
1. collect. Knights or horsemen equipped for battle.
† a. The contemporary name for the ‘men-at-arms,’ or mounted and fully armed fighting-men, of the Middle Ages. Obs. (In OF. chevalier translates miles, chevalerie = militia.)
c. 1300. K. Alis., 1495. He schipeth into Libie, With al his faire chivalrie.
c. 1320. Sir Beues, 2217. Þai wolde after vs … Wiþ wonder-gret cheualrie, And do vs schame and vileinie.
1393. Gower, Conf., II. 252. A parte of the chivalrie With him to suppe in compaignie Hath bede.
c. 1400. Melayne, 203. With fourty thowsande chevalry Of worthy men of Were.
1485. Malory, Arthur, I. xiv. (Globe), 39/2. The eleven kings with their chivalry never turned back.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. ccxxvii. 302. Sir John Mountfort … had … taken all the cheualry of Bretayne.
† b. as collective sing. A body of men-at-arms.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, IV. 187. King Eduard … gaderit a gret cheuelry.
† c. Applied by early translators to the horsemen (ἴππος, equitatus, equites) of ancient Greece and Rome, for which CAVALRY is the modern equivalent. Obs.
1529. Rastell, Pastyme (1811), 15. Lucius Tarquinius … captayn of cheualry.
1552. Lyndesay, Monarche, 4030. Prince Tytus, with his Chewalrye.
c. 1580. Sidney, Psalms XX. vi. Let trust of some men be In chariots, and some in chivalry [hi in curribus et hi in equis].
1581. Marbeck, Bk. of Notes, 651. Hermogenes master of the Chiualrie, was slaine.
1796. Potter, Antiq. Greece, I. xxvi. (1715), 181. The chivalry shall be detacht out of the most puissant and wealthy Athenians.
† d. Rarely applied to CAVALRY in the ordinary modern sense. Obs.
1560. Whitehorne, Arte of Warre, 59 a. Many haue accustomed to vse certain fotemenne lighte armed, to faighte emong horsemen, the whiche hath been to the chiualrie moste greate helpe.
1693. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), III. 65. The elector of Bavaria had remounted his chivalry.
e. As a historical term for the mediæval men-at-arms. Occasionally applied poetically or idealistically to ‘cavalry’ or ‘horsemen’ in general, esp. when chivalrous gallantry is attributed.
1556. Chron. Gr. Friars (1852), 13. The lordes and chevaltre of France … wolde have stoppyd [Hen. V.] the kynges waye, that he shulde not passe to Callys.
1570. B. Googe, Pop. Kingd., I. (1880), 5. Able … to decke the fieldes with lustie cheualrie.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., II. iii. 20. And by his Light Did all the Cheualrie of England moue To do braue Acts.
1667. Milton, P. L., I. 307. The Red-Sea Coast, whose waves orethrew Busiris and his Memphian Chivalrie. Ibid., 765. At the Soldan’s Chair Defy’d the best of Panim Chivalry To mortal Combat.
1776. Gibbon, Decl. & F., I. xv. 518. A valorous knight, who charged at the head of the Spanish chivalry … against the Moors.
1802. Campbell, Hohenlinden. Wave, Munich! all thy banners wave, And charge with all thy chivalry!
1836. W. Irving, Astoria, II. 311. They met with some of the ‘chivalry’ of that noted pass.
1843. Prescott, Mexico, V. ii. (1864), 281. Cortez and his chivalry rode down the whole extent of the great street.
f. In more extended and complimentary sense: Gallant gentlemen.
1816. Byron, Ch. Har., III. xxi. There was a sound of revelry by night, And Belgium’s capital had gathered then Her Beauty and her Chivalry, and bright The lamps shone o’er fair women and brave men.
a. 1839. Praed, Poems (1864), II. 408. When Loveliness and Chivalry Were met to feast together.
1883. W. H. Brewer in Daily Tel., 10 July, 5/3. The galloping turf was [fit] for the chivalry of the South.
† 2. As at one time the ‘chivalry’ constituted the main strength of a mediæval army (the archers, slingers, etc., being mere subordinate adjuncts), the word had sometimes the value of ‘army,’ ‘host.’
1382. Wyclif, Gen. xxi. 33. Phicol, the prince of his chyualrye [Vulg. princeps exercitus ejus]. Ibid. (1388), Jer. xix. 13. Thei sacrifieden to al the chyualrie [1382 knyȝthed] of heuene.
1450–1530. Myrr. Our Ladye, 275. All the chyualry of heuen prayseth her.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 94/3. A grete companye of cheualrye of heuen.
3. The position and character of a knight, knighthood. † a. generally. Obs.
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 216. Þo hii seye her kyng aslawe, flour of chyualerye!
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 1818, Lucrece. Whi hast tow don dispit to chiualrye? Whi hast thow don this lady vilanye?
1393. Gower, Conf., III. 237. How this king in womanhede Was falle fro chivalerie.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, Her., A iiij b. Foure vertues of cheualry.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., To his Bk. To him that is the President Of Noblesse and of chevalree.
1601. Weever, Mirr. Mart., C iiij. Great Bolingbrooke this type of chiualrie.
1606. Shaks., Tr. & Cr., I. ii. 249. Braue Troylus the Prince of Chiualrie.
1700. Dryden, Fables, Pal. & Arc., I. 101. He swore That by the faith which knights to knighthood bore, And whate’er else to chivalry belongs.
1779–81. Johnson, L. P., Butler, Wks. II. 185. Pedantic ostentation of knowledge which has no relation to chivalry.
† b. In early use, esp. Bravery or prowess in war; warlike distinction or glory. Phrase, To do chivalry. Obs.
1297. R. Glouc. (1724), 211. He bed hym sywy, trwelyche to do chyualerye.
c. 1325. Chron. Eng., 225, in Ritson, Metr. Rom., II. 279. Hy weren men of Chevalerie.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, II. 345. Thai saw Thar fayis ridand … Willful to do chewalry.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prol., 45. Fro þe time þat he ferst bigan To riden out, he louede chyualrye Trouthe and honour fredom and curtesye.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 5985. Thurghe Achilles chiualry hom cheuyt the worse.
c. 1475[?]. Sqr. lowe Degre, 1054. He hath bene in Lombardy And done he hath great chyvalry.
1480. Caxton, Chron. Eng., ccxxvi. So through Godde’s helpe he had then the victory and bare thens a glorious chyvalrye.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, XI. Prol. 1. Hie renowne of Martis cheuelrie.
1534. Whitinton, Tullyes Offices, I. (1540), 28. The desyre of fame by chyualry [studium bellicæ gloriæ].
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., I. i. 203. You shall see Iustice designe the Victors Chiualrie. Ibid., II. i. 54. This England … Renowned … For Christian seruice, and true Chiualrie.
1652. Brome, Joviall Crew, Prol. No Power can redresse Th’ Afflicted Wanderers, though stout Chevalry Lend all his aid for their delivery.
c. The military art (of the middle ages), knightly skill and practice in arms and martial achievements. arch.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 76. Chyualry or knyghtehoode, milicia.
1475. Bk. Noblesse, 21. Vegecius in his boke of Chivalrie [Institutio Rei militaris].
1481. Caxton, Myrr., I. v. 29. It happed neuer … that clergye cheualrye & laboures of therthe myght be well knowne by one only man. Ibid. (1489), Faytes of A., I. i. 1. Experte in tharte of chyualrye.
1551. Robinson, trans. More’s Utop., II. ix. (Arb.), 157. The resydewe of the daye they passe ouer in playes and exercise of cheualrye [exercitio militaris disciplinæ].
1611. Bible, Pref., 2. He excelled in feates of chiualrie.
1616. Bullokar, Chiualrie, Knighthood, the Knowledge of a Knight or Nobleman in feats of armes.
1618. Bolton, Florus (1636), 104. Spaine, that brave martiall Countrey, ennobled for Chevalry [viris armisque nobilem].
1655. trans. Sorel’s Com. Hist. Francion, I–III. 73. My greatest pastime … was to read the feats of Chivaldry.
1805. Scott, Last Minstrel, 8. The last of all the Bards was he, who sung of Border Chivalry.
fig. 1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VI. 49. [They] þat gooþ to holy chevalrie [ad sacram militiam].
d. Knighthood as a rank or order. arch.
c. 1450. Merlin, xii. 186. Who so myght take ordere of chiualrye moste in eny wise be a gode knyght.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 336/4. Thenne the quene … made them alle to swere this newe chyualrye.
1608. Shaks., Per., II. ii. 29. His device, a wreath of chivalry.
1625. Bacon, Ess., Greatness Kingd. (Arb.), 491. There be now, for Martiall Encouragement, some Degrees and Orders of Chiualry; which neuerthelesse, are conferred promiscuously, vpon Soldiers, and no Soldiers.
1663. Butler, Hud., I. 2/18. Never bow’d his stubborn knee To any thing but Chivalry.
1796. H. Hunter, trans. St.-Pierre’s Stud. Nat. (1799), III. 488. That an order of Chivalry might be instituted, in imitation of the Civic Crown.
† 4. A feat of knightly valor; a gallant deed, exploit. Obs. or arch.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 4578. He smot of is heued as liȝtliche as it were a stouple · Þat was is laste chiualerye.
c. 1375. Barbour, Bruce, VI. 12. How ony man sa suddandly Micht do sa gret a cheuelry.
c. 1450. Merlin, xiv. 220. Many feire chivalryes shewed on the oo parte and on the tother.
1485. Caxton, Paris & V., 16. Eche of you do Valyantly hys armes and hys chyvalryes.
1580. Sidney, Arcadia (1622), 136 (J.). Actes more daungerous, though lesse famous, because they were but private chivalries.
1823. Lockhart, Anc. Span. Ball., Introd. p. xxii. In the … chivalries celebrated in the Castillian Ballads.
5. The knightly system of feudal times with its attendant religious, moral, and social code, usages, and practices. Age of chivalry: the period during which this prevailed.
1765. Percy, Reliq., III. Prelim. Ess. p. vii. They animated themselves by singing … the exploits of Roland, the great Hero of Chivalry.
1774. Warton, Eng. Poetry, I. i. 65. The ideas of chivalry, the appendage and the subject of Romance, subsisted among the Goths.
1790. Burke, Fr. Rev., 113. The age of chivalry is gone…. The unbought grace of life, the cheap defence of nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprize is gone!
1823. Byron, Juan, XIII. xi. Cervantes smiled Spain’s chivalry away.
1829. Arnold, in Life & Corr. (1845), I. 255. If I were called upon to name what spirit of evil predominantly deserved the name of Antichrist, I should name the spirit of chivalry—the more detestable for the very guise of the ‘Archangel ruined,’ which has made it so seductive to the most generous minds.
1841–4. Emerson, Ess. Hist., Wks. (Bohn), I. 12. The student interprets the age of chivalry by his own age of chivalry.
1855. Milman, Lat. Chr., VII. vi. Chivalry … left upon European manners … a punctilious regard for honour, a generous reverence for justice, and a hatred of injustice.
1857. Buckle, Civiliz., I. ix. 579. In the eleventh century there arose the celebrated institution of chivalry, which was to manners what feudalism was to politics.
1876. Freeman, Norm. Conq., V. xxiv. 482. Chivalry, in short, is in morals very much what feudalism is in law; each substitutes purely personal obligations, obligations devised in the interests of an exclusive class, for the more homely duties of an honest man and a good citizen.
6. The brave, honorable and courteous character attributed to the ideal knight; disinterested bravery, honor and courtesy; chivalrousness.
1790. Burke [see 5].
1822. K. Digby, Broadst. Hon. (1829), 89. Chivalry is only a name for that general spirit or state of mind which disposes men to heroic and generous actions.
1855. Milman, Lat. Chr., VII. vi. All the noble sentiments, which blended together are chivalry.
1862. Trollope, Orley F., xl. (ed. 4), 289. He felt himself bound … to cling to her himself. Such was the special chivalry of the man.
1874. Sidgwick, Meth. Ethics, III. viii. § 2. 302. Generosity or Chivalry towards adversaries or competitors seems to consist in shewing as much kindness and regard for their well-being as is compatible with the ends and conditions of conflict.
1885. L. Stephen, in Athenæum, 28 Nov., 696/3. Chivalry of feeling, as I understand the word, means a refinement of the sense of justice—an instinctive capacity for sympathizing with every one who is the victim of oppression.
7. Flower of Chivalry: in various senses: a. Flower or fairest type of knighthood, or of feudal chivalry; b. The prize or highest honor of knightly prowess; c. the choice portion of a force of armed knights.
1297. [see 3 a].
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knightes T., 124. And in his hoost of Chiualrie the flour.
c. 1440. Partonope, 1227. The rereward … wherin the floure Is herbowred of his Cheualrye. Ibid., 1902. This hethen kyng … Which of chevalry beryth the flour Of alle the sette in hethen lay.
1494. Fabyan, VII. ccxxxiv. 269. The kynge … with the flowre of that Chyualry of Fraunce set forthward.
c. 1500. Lancelot, 2181. The flour of knychthed and of chevalry.
1587. Thynne, Holinshed, in Animadv. (1865), Introd. 77. Which duke [Black Prince], being the flower of Chivalrie in his time.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. viii. 26. Flowre of chevalrie.
1700. Dryden, Fables, Pal. & Arc., I. 120. His host, the flower of Grecian chivalry.
1795. Southey, Joan of Arc, xii. 517. Our English swords … Cut down the flower of all their chivalry. Ibid. (1821), Vis. Judgem., viii. He of the sable mail, the hero of Cressy, Flower of chivalry.
1833. Longf., Coplas de Manrique, xxxix. When all the flower of chivalry Was in his train.
† 8. Old Law. Tenure by knight’s service (abolished in 1662, and since only Hist.). Guardian or warden in chivalry: The guardian of a minor holding by knight’s service. Obs. exc. Hist.
[1292. Britton, III. ii. § 1. Plusours maneres de tenures dount touz les plus sount de chevalerie et de graunt serjaunties.]
1574. trans. Littleton’s Tenures, 10 b. And them [xx. acres of lande] hath and occupieth as warden in chivalry duringe the chyldes nonage.
1641. Termes de la Ley, 57 b. The services are all by Littleton divided into two sorts, Chivalry and Socage; the one martiall and military, the other clownish and rusticall.
1765. Blackstone, Comm., II. v. Incident to the tenure in chivalry.
1876. Green, Short Hist., ix. 607. The conversion of lands held till then [12 Car. II. cap. 24] in chivalry into lands held in common socage.
† 9. Court of Chivalry (curia militaris): a court formerly held before the Lord High Constable and the Earl Marshal of England, having cognizance of matters relating to deeds of arms out of the realm. When deprived of its criminal jurisdiction it continued to judge civil cases concerning points of honour and family distinction. Obs.
1616. Selden, trans. Fortescue, xxxii. So as the Cognisance of it belong to the jurisdiction of the said Court of Chivalry. Note: That Court … hath long been discontinued…. The Court of Chivalrie, wherein all matters of Armes, Treason committed beyond Sea, Warre, and the like, which could not be tried at the Common Law, were determinable.
1644. Coke, On Litt., IV. xvii. The Honorable Court of Chivalry before the Constable and Marshall … this Court is the fountain of the Marshall law.
1863. H. Cox, Instit., II. ii. 321, footnote.
¶ 10. improperly. Team of horses. [cf. cheval.]
1863. Worsley, Poems & Transl., Phaethon, 12. Nor even thus … had curbed That chivalry divine.
11. Comb., as chivalry-play, -ribbon, -romance.
1827. Carlyle, Misc. (1857), I. 52. The Sentimentalists, the Chivalry-play writers. Ibid. (1839), Chartism, iii. 121. Chivalry-ribbons, and plebeian gallows-ropes.
1849. Southey, Comm.-pl. Bk., Ser. II. 230. The chivalry-romances are all battles.
