A Good Knight

Milun, a lay written by Marie de France in the twelfth century, is a story of a good

knight that has a long and illicit affair with a noble lady. So, the question becomes how can a

knight be good while acting in such a manner? The answer being that while Milun is a good

knight he is not the ideal knight that would be seen by other writers, such as Sir Gawain in Sir

Gawain and the Green Knight. According the Constance Brittain Bouchards Strong of Body,

Brave and Noble, an ideal knight is a gentle admirer of women [] loyal vassal [] devout

and humble Christian, and a powerful and independent fighter who had killed a hundred foes

among others (Bouchard, pg. 110). In the twelfth century, however, there was no single code of

chivalry that every knight honored, many did not honor any of the ideals listed. By leaving out

some of the qualities that would make Milun and his son trademark chivalric knights but having

other noble virtues they are still good knights and more realistic men.

What makes Milun a good knight can be seen best by looking to the actions of his son

who followed in his footsteps. Upon learning about his father when he came of age, Miluns son

immediately decided that a knights worth was based on his actions and not how he was raised or

the deeds of his father (308-11). In a time when everything of importance was passed down from

father to son, this idea would be both novel and a virtue upon success. This also symbolizes the

virtue of pride. Miluns son, much like his father, wants to be known as a great man for the

deeds he does. Pride, however, is usually seen as a sin. Marie shows pride as both a virtue and a

sin in this lay. It is a virtue while Milun and his son are doing great deeds and winning renown

but the darker side of pride comes out when Milun hears of a great knight and becomes jealous

saying that he will joust with this knight, / in order to do some harm to him and his reputation

(353-54). Milun let his pride get the better of him when some unknown knight took his title of
knight without equal. By saying that pride is a virtue but showing that it can be a virtue and a

sin, Marie makes Milun more of a realistic man while maintaining that he is still a good knight.

A less contentious virtue is strength. Miluns strength takes many forms from the strength

of his love and devotion, to his strength of character, but he is better known for his prowess in

battle. In this lay prowess in battle is shown through the winning of tournaments. In medieval

tournaments jousting was chief among the competitions. Miluns son, just like his father before

him, was judged the best combatant in every joust he entered (325-26). This virtue is one of

the trademark virtues of a chivalric knight but was also one of the most important for an actual

knight. If a knight was bad at fighting, then they were just a bad knight and tended not to live

long. By using this virtue Marie once again marries a good chivalric knight with a more realistic

one.

Another chivalric virtue is generosity. Miluns son was counted as generous because he

spend lavishly and gave a lot to poor knights (323-29). While this was a chivalric virtue, its

roots lay more in reality. In the age of feudalism, to obtain loyalty, or fealty, more well to do

personages would give money, gifts, or even land to people. Miluns son is no different, he

bought their loyalty to him and thus retained them in his service (329). Actions like this were

expected and became so common place that they became virtues in medieval literature. By

giving Milun and his son the virtue of generosity Marie furthers her depictions of a good knight

with what twelfth century culture saw as realistic.

The last virtues are courtesy and courtliness. In middle to late medieval literature

courtesy and courtliness are near enough the same. One of the virtues Milun was lauded with is

being courteous while Miluns son is stated to have excel[led] in refined and honorable

behavior (334). However, in the earlier medieval ages knights were of lower birth and would
not have had such refined manners. It wasnt until the twelfth century that service knights and

nobles started to merge, becoming almost synonymous in the thirteenth century (Bouchard,

pg.23-24). Marie points out this merging of the words and castes by using time. Milun, a knight,

is courteous while his son, who was raised by a noble lady and dubbed a knight, is courtly.

While it might be romanticized a little, this would be a closer version of reality in a time when

the two castes were merging together.

Marie chose virtues that would depict good knights while lessening other virtues to help

make her knightly characters seem realistic for the readers of her work. Milun was a good knight

because he was generous and strong, courteous and proud and his son for the same reasons

(14). What they were not known for was their devoutness. As can be seen towards the end of the

story Milun is a Christian but he doesnt exhibit the devoutness that was usually associated with

priests like Sir Gawain did. Much of the same could be said for other virtues. Instead Marie put

emphasis on virtues that were seen more regularly, particularly battle prowess and etiquette.
 Work Cited Page

Bouchard, Constance Brittain. Strong of body, brave and noble: chivalry and society in medieval France.

Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1998.