Sir Elliot

I finally saved up enough empty milk cartons to make Elliot a suit of armor. (In case you were wondering, it took 3; 2 gallon jugs and 1 half-gallon.)I was really happy with how it turned out. So was Elliot. He has really been needing some boy dressups! And he loves being a knight. He knows that he should fight bad guys and be chivalrous. We have been studying chivalry this week in school. You might be interested to know the origins of chivalry:

You see, it seems that great lords amassed many knights to help them fight battles, but during the times of peace, the knights got bored and/or greedy. They began to misuse their power. They roamed around the countryside, fighting the serfs for sport and stealing from the wealthy for treasure. This was obviously a problem.

So the kings and great lords and bishops put their heads together and came up with the ideals of chivalry. In the feudalistic system, a knight swore fealty to a lord whom he served. Well, chivalry says that he must swear to serve God as well. He must only use his great strength to help the weak, never to hurt them. The weak included monks, women, the poor, and especially widows and orphans. Chivalry also dictated that a knight must always treat noble ladies with the respect they deserved. He must court her if he loved her and wanted to win her affection. And that meant writing her poetry, singing her songs, etc. Also, about the same time, tournaments began to be organized, to give the knights an opportunity to practice the art of warfare in the time of peace. So there you have it. Chivalry came about because of the standing armies that were required to be maintained by all lord and kings under a feudal system, which I'll have to get into more...later!