The Book
A NEW & ANCIENT CODE OF CHIVALRY
I decided to write this work after my three-year old son watched the movie adaptation of the Tale of Despereaux, and he became fascinated with the idea of being a gentleman. The film taught him, through the unlikely hero (a tiny mouse) that a gentleman lives by a code of honor.
My son asked me to explain more about what makes a gentleman, and I began thinking about how I could pass on to my children the wisdom that I’ve learned from my mentors and teachers, as well as through what I have discovered through my own work as a scholar and teacher.
I’ve been able over the years to delve into chivalric literature and the evolution of nobility, and what I’ve uncovered from the tomes of history I share now with you, men and women of all ages, in this simple guide — a chivalric code drawn from the ancient text that over the centuries gave birth to the ideal of a Christian chivalry.
CHIVALRY
You see, to be a gentleman or gentlewoman is not about merely following some set of rules or book of etiquette. It is about pledging yourself to a code of honor, and striving to conform all aspects of your life to it.
Chivalry, the way of the Christian knight, both in its various historical manifestations, and in its eternal spirit, exists to guide men and women in how to live uprightly in the world — to conquer themselves and achieve self-mastery in service to a higher good.
BRAVERY
Know that it is battle that you are being called to. And this battle consists first and foremost in ruling over yourself, and then in bringing the peace of harmony with God into the world around you.
As a gentleman or gentlewoman, you are called to uphold justice and to resist injustice, to serve that which is holy in the world, without reservation and without salary, to care for the weak, the persecuted, and the wronged, to take care of creation as it groans, and of the bruised reed, because it is God’s will that it not be broken.
HONOR
Such a gentleman or gentlewoman is sent into the world to resist injustice and to preserve justice, to to care for the weak, the persecuted, and the wronged, to take care of creation as it groans, and of the bruised reed, because it is God’s will that it not be broken.
Such a chivalry means a responsibility, a responsibility he or she can only carry out by serving that which is holy in the world, the hidden Grail and the order that radiates out from it.
Thus, inspired by the need for a renewal of this kind of knighthood in our own day, and the desire to see my children become true gentlemen and gentlewomen, I compiled this new code of chivalry drawn from Saint Benedict’s Rule for Beginners — the original code of chivalry itself that has guided and directed the lives of countless men and women to become true gentlemen and gentlewomen for over 1,500 years, and continues to breathe new life into the world today.
— Dr. C. Mikael Thompson, Author
A Noble Calling
Thus, it is not enough to simply like the idea and consider yourself a gentleman, and make reference to the rules as a way of displaying status, or picking and choosing at whim. You will see that from the very start, becoming what you are made to be — beginning down this more noble way — requires the renunciation of your whims. This way of life must encompass everything, or not be taken up at all. Indeed, to become a gentleman you must promise to keep this code of chivalry in its entirety and carry out all the Lord’s commands. It is by your own honor that you will keep this noble identity and must always conduct yourself in a manner worthy of that dignity, for if you ever do otherwise, you will lose this status and the fellowship of true nobility.
FOR MEN
FOR WOMEN
“There must always be men and women who serve that which is holy in this world without reservation and without salary, caring for the weak, the persecuted and the insulted, renewing the authority of law and fighting against injustice. The knight exists for the sake of everyone; that is his or her proper position in the world.”
C. MIKAEL THOMPSON, PSY.D., MA
About the Author
Dr. Thompson is a moral psychologist and anthropologist, and a merchant adventurer on a quest to live a more noble life. For over ten years he's taught college and high school students about the principals for living well, within the contexts of teaching theology, philosophy, history, and literature. Some of his favorite classes have been teaching medieval chivalric literature and the spirituality of monasticism.
"I’ve been guided since I was a young child by the principles laid out in the Rule of St. Benedict, and recently completed a new translation of the ancient work. It also happens, that historically the code of chivalry for the knights of the middle ages was drawn from and explicitly modeled on the way of life of the Benedictine monks, and later by the mendicant friars. In this book, the text of the Introduction, the Conclusion, and the “Tools for Doing Good” are taken directly from the 1,500 year old text of St. Benedict's Rule for Beginners. The individual rules themselves, as well as the “Way of Perfection”, are principles drawn from or summaries of the more salient points enumerated by St. Benedict that serve as a firm foundation for a chivalric code to which a man or woman of our day can pledge themselves to uphold."
