;pWoman'sview wrote: Chivalry was born in Christian Europe. The idea of a noble knight who risk it all to win the fair maiden. He was manly, she was pure and enshrined feminine virtues.
The idea of "gentleman" is a Christian ideal, enshrining a man with a sword and great power but chooses to use his power to protect the weak. "Lady" is another concept of Christian Europe, where a woman was raised to be virtuous holding a high standard, and lived her whole life pure till she was married, and faithful to one man after that.
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The concept of chivalry existed in different forms in different cultures throughout history, including pre-christian Europe. For example Arthurian tales include a lot of pre-christian Celtic and Pagan elements, such as sacrificing valuables in a lake (or bog) -- Excalibur & the "lady of the lake". In China the concept of chivalrous hero Youxia (knight-errand) was popular from 2200BC and later merged into the modern Wuxia genera. If you're interested, you can read the translated edition of Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh).The Arab wrote: Chivalry was not "born in Christian Europe." Christian Europe was a savage backwater, a war-torn feudal society of inequity, slavery, and subjugation of women as mere chattel for centuries. People lived in filth, squalor, and ignorance in Christian Europe while Muslim and Jewish scientists in the surging Arab Empire applied scientific methods, cured diseases, wrote books and poetry, promoted knowledge and wisdom. Women were literally chattel and bought and sold in Christian Europe. It was only after coming in contact with Arab civilization and the Arab Empire, through trade and contacts and through the Crusades, that the Christian knights encountered a dazzling civilization and culture, where women were respected and honored, Arab poetry exhorting love and beauty of women, the Arab concept called "Furrisiyah" -- "chivalry" is a direct emulation of the Arab Furrisiyah (horsemanship)
The development of the high medieval notion of chivalry is directly related to European contact with the Muslim notion of furusiyya during the crusades. Charles Reginald Haines noted key traits "such as loyalty, courtesy, munificence...are found in eminent degree among the Arabs." Medieval Spain, which he calls the "cradle of chivalry", could bear that pre-modern title, due to the direct impact of Arab civilization in Al-Andalus. "Piety, courtesy, prowess in war, the gift of eloquence, the art of poetry, skill on horseback, dexterity with sword, lance, and bow" was expected of the elite Moorish knight.[3] Richard Francis Burton, attributing the origins of chivalry".
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