Analysis On The Richard Lionheart's Chivalric Prowess

Richard Lionheart is one of the most legendary kings in the history of the United Kingdoms.His lifetime was the period in which the chivalrous spirit was worshiped and respected mostly in the Medieval Western Europe.As the second son of King Henry II,Richard spent his childhood with his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine,who custodied him and educated him to receive the typical education of Medieval Knight, and he was trained thoughout a long time warfare to grow up to be a real knight.After he was becoming the King of England,religious fanaticism and sense of honor urged him to take part in the third Crusades.He fought several Battles against Saladin,King of Egypt.These battles demonstrated that an excellent knight should have the chivalric prowess and a strong sense of honor.His accidental death at the Castle of Limoges was caused by his adventurous personality that he enjoyed in his whole life. His story and the famous nickname "Lionheart" had been passed by one generation to another through the church chroniclers and troubadour's songs.It led him became a legend of the history in Western Europe.Although Richard's contemporary historians as well as future generations of historians has varied criticisms on his performance, but they all acknowledged that he was a "Roi-Chivalry",who owned the quality of brilliant and brave.He was the flower of chivalry in the West.Chivalric prowess was the core element of Medieval Knight,it descended from the heroic quality of the Germanic people who extremely thirst to the honor,as well as the traditional spirit of barbarian's brave fighting.When the medieval feudal society began,this traditional martial spirit was affected by several factors,such as religion,war fashion,the chivalry literature to shape a unique spirit of chivalric prowess.Chivalric prowess was interrelated with the other virtues of the chivalrous spirit,including loyalty,generosity and the pursuit of honor.especially the sense of honor,it's also the quality of the core of chivalric prowess.Richard Lionheart as a Roi-chivalry,not only made himself as an ordinary knight to fight bravely on the battlefield,at the same time;as a feudal lord to let his knight troops fighting,so generosity was also an important quality,because the medieval knight's bravery had been influenced by many benefits of reality.During the same period with Richard Lionheart,a lot of the medieval knights showed the quality of bravery in tournaments and battlefields which was not only an important military value,but also the main way to earn honor,wealth and even love.Loyalty is a quality and behavior that medieval knights urged to fulfill the obligations for their lords and to protect their own interests.And the chivalric prowess reflected inevitably in the medieval knight's action of loyalty.Richard Lionheart as the shinning model of the chivalrous spirit that respected by future generations,his life experience and the development of his own prowess had the universality among the ordinary medieval knights.As the medieval chroniclers documented,as well as the legendary literary descripted by the future generations,because of the incentive on the benefits and realistic sense of honor,Richard Lionheart and his knights in different occasions showed the same bravery,such as sacrificing himself to rescue his lord,safeguarding the helpless,as well as the devoutness of valour which fighting for the Christ.There is also a valour such as the pursuit of vanity for the personal heroism and reckless defiance of the order.Chivalric prowess of the medieval knights represented by Richard Lionheart had the profound influence on the gentility of the United Kingdom and citizen's characters. Such as the courage to take risks,intense sense of honor,the gentleman quality to safeguard the helpless and fighting fiercely in the sport games,all of these qualities and extensions were the sublimation and extension of the chivalric prowess.