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H.E. Chancellor Boniface Benzinge visits with Dom Miguel de Braganza, Duke of Viseu
Learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Isaiah 1:17
In modern language the term knight may invoke the image of a heavily armed noble that is driving into battle or crusading on a fearsome war horse. To others, the word may conjure up the legends of King Arthur or concepts regarding chivalry and courtly etiquette. Indeed, the word chivalry, derived from the French chevalier, merely denotes a mounted warrior.
Certainly, the conception of knighthood and chivalry in their purely military contexts is no longer applicable in the modern period. Without question, the destructive implements and technologies of modern warfare spelled the end of dedicated cavalry formations on the battlefields of the First World War and pitched cavalry engagements have not been fought since the Russo-Polish conflict of 1920-21. Although the militaristic aspects of knighthood and chivalry might be consigned to the past and, as a term itself, knight now belongs to the realms of history and legend, the values imbued in knighthood and chivalry are just as relevant and necessary in the present as they were one millennium ago.
Although the advent of firearms and ballistic artillery brought the golden age of chivalry to an end, the concept of knighthood persisted as a means of state recognition and meritorious award. This comparatively new application of chivalry is most easily transferable to the modern period and can be recognized in the revived “chivalric” awards of secular states such as the Russian Federation Orders of Saint Andrew and Saint Vladimir or the English Order of Saints Michael and George. Nonetheless, despite widespread practice and acceptance, such a concept is foreign to the original chivalric tradition both in theory and application.
The idea of a knight as a specially trained warrior emerged in the Western feudal tradition that grew out of the remains of the Western Roman Empire . The institution of knighthood, implying membership in a recognized order of chivalry, was not established until several centuries later in response to the needs of poor and destitute Christians in the Holy Land . Membership in an order of knighthood or, more correctly, the assumption of chivalric orders, had as much to do with a commitment to God and humanity as it did with warfare and crusading. Initially, the traveling mendicant tradition, in conjunction with religious, medical and artistic principles, had more of an influence on the development of knightly orders than did the state of bearing arms. Knighthood was never seen as a means of recognition or a simple award for meritorious actions until the Baroque and Napoleonic periods -- when the age of crusading brotherhoods and the noble warrior class had long passed. In its purest form, knighthood was a station to which one ascended and a vocation that was assumed.
Possibly the oldest order of chivalry in the world, the roots of the Hospitaller Order reach back before the First Crusade (1096-1099) to the religious brothers who tended the pilgrim hospital of Saint John the Almoner in Jerusalem . These were initially Benedictines who subsequently adopted the rule of Saint Augustine . Indeed, all Knights of Saint John were monks first -- sworn to chastity, poverty and obedience. The founding precept of the order, and the basis for the hospitaller vocation, was that “a Christian must love Christ in other Christians.” Surgeon knights were integral to the initial cadres of knightly brethren and much daily work was devoted to the maintenance of the hospital and the care of the ill, aged and infirm. In England alone, the Order of Saint John maintained over 200 hospitals, providing food and shelter to pilgrims as well as locals without means.
The appealing tenets of the Hospitaller tradition led to the rise of other chivalric orders, such as the Teutonic Knights (Knights of the Hospital of Saint Mary of the Germans) and those of Saint Thomas Acon. Indeed, this English brotherhood was strictly a nursing order for more than one hundred years after its foundation, the military arm not developing until the brothers were forced to defend their installations from increasingly virulent Saracen assault. Hospitaller heroes included not only those famed warriors who conquered Jerusalem and defended Acre but also individuals who demonstrated an incomparable devotion to the sick and downtrodden. Saint Hugh of Genoa , a knight of Saint John , was renowned for his vigilant care of the terminally ill, performing unsavory duties such as washing the feeble and preparing corpses for proper burial. Another saint, Gerland de Pologne, was a tireless champion of the poor and a peace-loving man with a legendary talent for mending broken friendships.
Certainly, all these historic orders provided brave and fearsome defenders of Christendom as well as careful surgeons and competent hospital administrators. Yet, although the passing of history altered the ability of such knights to serve in combat, members never ceased to perform their vocation in a religious and hospitaller sense. Beginning in 1859, the Order of Saint John financed surgeries in Naples and by 1921 the organization was supporting hospitals and clinics in Rome , London , Paris and Jerusalem . During World War One, Saint John ran field hospitals and medical trains for both the Allies and Central Powers. In 1929, the Teutonic Brotherhood reorganized into a purely clerical organization, tending to their main responsibility, their spacious hospital in Carinthia .
Thus, one of the most significant remaining links in a chivalric chain the reaches back from the modern period to the time of the crusades is the hospitaller tradition. To this can be added the religious aspects of knighthood and also the concepts of dedication to oath and personal honor. Even in the present, assuming the responsibilities of knighthood usually involves taking an oath, oftentimes a declaration nearly identical to those sworn at the time of Richard Lionheart and Godfrey de Bouillon. The specific rules and oaths of individual orders may vary, but it is this assumption of sworn responsibility and sanctimonious devotion to the chivalric ideal that allows a connection between the modern knight and his armor-clad forbear.
Presently, modern knighthoods may be awarded in a variety of situations, but it is the voluntary assumption of the rule of chivalry that is most substantially rooted in the traditions of the institution. Even if ecumenical, there is something religious in assuming membership in a chivalric order. One must remember that it is the Order which is paramount here, akin to the ancient Cistercian or Augustinian Orders on which the knightly brotherhoods were founded. Entrance into modern knighthood demands the same rigorous dedication to the esteemed tenets of charity, obedience, humility, justice, marital chastity and charges one to be a defensor fidei (a defender of faith).
It is truly a personal journey, an individual crusade, fought not with the swords and armor of the crusaders of old, but with their same faith and conviction. The evils of poverty, illness, fear and persecution are still present in our midst and, although confronted many times, they remain to be vanquished. Through assumption of chivalric orders it is possible to challenge these evils by devotion to the principles of faith, charity and care for the unfortunate.
The opportunity to confront the continuous injustices present in our midst remains the same as it did in the golden age of chivalry. A clarion call, akin to a Bull of Pope Urban or a preaching of Saint Bernard, has been issued. The call goes out to all who will listen and never more has it been more imperative that a resounding answer issue forth. Just as in the past, forces are aligned against the human good, and the poor, sick and defenseless find themselves left to their own devices, neglected by the majority of the world. As Bishop Classe of Rwanda, a Knight of the Order of the Lion, once wrote: “Knowing that the vocation comes from God, we are too inclined to forget that it only flowers and bears fruit through the work of Man.”
To accept a modern knighthood without acting on the timeless precepts of the chivalric tradition is tantamount to divorcing oneself from the true nature of the office. Only by carrying out the precepts instilled in the founding charters of the original knightly orders can we truly claim to be modern knights and standard bearers of this exalted vocation. This is the précis of modern chivalry, this is the tradition that we must be charged to perpetuate.
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