POETICAL KNIGHTS

Knighthood flourished in a calamitous age, when kingdoms were split into quarrelsome factions and the general populace was often ravaged by warfare, pillage, or disease. Against this backdrop of devastation, the chivalric code stressed order, loyalty, service, and charity. Unfortunately, the ideals of chivalry were so high that most knights fell woefully short in their conduct, and they often contributed to the general disorder. By the sixteenth century, nations were beginning to reunite under powerful monarchs, and the nature of warfare was changing. The knight in shining armor disappeared from the landscape—but gained immortality through poetry.