19. Knights did not strictly adhere to a code of chivalry, which was in fact introduced to stem the savage violence caused by the mounted warriors in the first place.
Chivalry, derived from the French term for knight: “chevalier”, originated as a concept around the early 10th century CE. However, rather than an order of high-minded and honorable warriors, the notion was created by the Church in an attempt to regulate and forestall the rampant violence tearing throughout the Frankish state. Most knights were young men, trained in combat and well equipped in a world full of untrained, poorly equipped peasants and commoners. It is perhaps unsurprising that these individuals, with a lust for power and wealth, were inclined to using their positions to wreak havoc and torment upon the vulnerable in order to benefit themselves.
There is even some evidence that Pope Urban II’s call for the First Crusade was actually a response to the internal violence caused by knights, finding a solution by sending these violent young men away to foreign lands. Whilst there, among the chivalrous deeds of these knights was the massacre of tens of thousands of civilians during the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. Although some knights did indeed live up to lofty expectations, the overwhelming majority did not nor tried to. It was not until the late-Middle Ages, with the passing of knights from practical use, that they were subsequently romanticized in literature and culture and the myth propagated.