Norman Code of Chivalry

The Norman Code of Chivalry (Alexandrian:Le code de chevalerie normand) was a moral, religious, and social code of knightly and courtly conduct deeply embedded in the laws and customs of the Duchy of Normandie, as well as the practical outcome of those laws and customs in action. The code varied, but it often emphasized honour, courage, and service. The Norman Code of Chivalry was derived from similar codes of ancient Nazarene realms such as Franciana, Ibelin, and Baudrix, but, due to Normandie having been founded by warriors from Valtia, it was also influenced by Vanic Law. During its conversion to its current ceremonial form, all Vanic influences were erased and replaced with ancient Norman codes.

The three principal pillars of the Norman Code of Chivalry were faith, war, and love, and its merits and faults were a direct result of these. The whole duty of a gentle(wo)man was encompassed within the idea of Chivalry, which regulated their life from early childhood.

The principle of service to the Divine, to their liege, and to their sönggyðjurnar — a Valtian term roughly meaning "muse" or "lover" — underpinned everything. The knight's rule of service was governed by the Norman Code of Chivalry, whose three main elements were religion, military duty, and love. These elements, intimately connected with pride of birth, generated a character framed by honour and loyalty. This ancient code was commonly reduced into ten "Commandments":

• Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches, and shalt observe all its directions;

• Thou shalt defend the Church;

• Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them;

• Thou shalt love the country in which thou wast born;

• Thou shalt not recoil before the enemy;

• Thou shalt make war against the Infidel without cessation, and without mercy;

• Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if they be not contrary to the laws of the Divine;

• Thou shalt never lie, and shalt remain faithful to thy pledged word;

• Thou shalt be generous, and give largesse to everyone;

• Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.

The most important and sacred of these was the first Commandment. Thought of and interactions with the Divine filled knights’ hearts, and the main part of a Norman knight’s service was owed to the Church. They were raised in the use of her sacraments, obedience to her precepts, and reverence for her ministers. The Crusader, the Templar, and the Hospitaller were champions of the Church against the infidel.

A knight’s consecration to Chivalry followed the form of a sacrament, and defending the Holy Church was part of their initiation vow. War and its mimicry were their business; honour and faith were the sanction of their actions. Ever since the Treaty of Fyrisvellir — which ended the War of the Hands of Hallvarður between Valtia and the Kingdom of Franciana and made the Ancient Ways of Valtia co-equal in status with the established faith of Franciana — the term “Church” also included the Vanic Church.

With the Vanic Church established within the Kingdom of Franciana, of which Normandie was a fief, the doctrine of love gradually became an essential part of the Norman Code of Chivalry, expressed in social life and literature. Knighthood, once chiefly a matter of war and feudal dependence, gained dignity through romantic ideals. In all knights’ lives, tournaments held a principal place, and the laws and customs of the tournament were inseparable from the love of the sönggyðjurnar. Much leisure time was spent hunting, music, and practicing the “science” of gallantry and poetry. Chivalric literature — whether focused on love or deeds of arms — showed that the laws of gallantry were often more imperious than those of military honour.

The science of heraldry and the distinction of ranks on which it was founded taught knights to show reverence to their superiors and gentleness to their inferiors. Connected to heraldry and ceremony were the laws and customs of the feudal system, symbolically consecrated by solemn forms, the tenure of land by knight service, and consequent personal loyalty to their liege.

The height of the perfect knight, devoted to the Norman Code of Chivalry, was placed between 1250 and 1350. It was the age of knights errant and troubadours, welcomed throughout Reikistjarna, speaking the “lingua franca” common to the courts of Alexandria, Galatia, and Anglia. The romances, fabliaux, chansons de geste, and ballads of southern and central Gascony were recited and sung in the Providence Plantations. Celtic literature from Avalon, Gwent, and Airgíalla, as well as Teutonic legends of Dietrich the Great and the Niblungs, found their way to Verenea and Alexandria. The presence of Houses of Templars and Hospitallers in many countries further established an “international” Chivalry throughout Micras.

However, after the fall of Stormark in 1685 AN, the knights dispersed, and the formal practice of the Norman Code declined. In 1744, with Orton’s restoration of Normandie, the Code was ceremonially revived in parades and processions, though the actual military and social roles traditionally held by knights were taken over by the Normandokarum Fyrd.