Franciscan Knighthood

Yvain, The Knight of the Lion, written by 12^th century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, is romance of a knight errantry that is exiled from his lady and is required to perform a number of heroic deeds before regaining her love.  While reading this poem, I drew connections between the themes of the poem and the Franciscan values I learned about in my Introduction to Liberal Arts Studies class in fall 2013.  These values are community, compassion, peacemaking, and reverence for creation.

Community involves celebrating the dignity of every individual because we were each created in the image and likeness of God.  From this concept of community flow the ideas of hospitality, courtesy, and cooperation.  This value of community is exemplified in the poem by Lunette, Laudine’s servant.  In the poem, Yvain has slain Laudine’s husband Esclados, and proceeds to hide in their castle.  Lunette keeps him hidden and provides him with food, water, and other necessities as described in the following quote:

     The girl returned, as fast
     As possible, with a roasted fowl
     And a cake and a tablecloth
     And a full jug of wine
     Made from good grapes, and a white
     Goblet covering it, and invited him
     To dine.
She shows great hospitality and kindness, which encourages Yvain to fall in love with Laudine, whom he eventually reveals himself to.

The value of compassion involves putting others ahead of ourselves by listening, recognizing their needs, serving humbly, and working for the dignity of every person.  Yvain displays the characteristics of compassion during his quest to win back his wife, Laudine.  Along the way, Yvain runs into various damsels in distress who he pledges to assist.  Among the deeds he did were slaying a giant terrorizing a castle and saving Lunette from being burned at the stake.  Yvain recognized the needs of these young women and because he was a knight, went out of his way to assist them.

Peace can only be achieved through an attitude expressed through words and actions that can only be sustained through a deep spirituality.  Peacemaking renounces all forms of dominance over another – reconciliation and justice are equal partners.  Yvain exhibits peacemaking by assisting the various castles that he rests at.  In each case, he usually offers help to a lady in distress and in doing so, brings about justice to the castle.  In one instance, a giant is terrorizing a castle by taking a king’s sons until he releases his daughter to him.  Yvain arrives at the castle and slays the giant so the king can keep his daughter and his sons are returned to him.

Reverence for creation involves recognizing that all creation is a reflection of the truth, beauty and goodness of God.  Yvain demonstrates this by saving the lion from the snake.  He debates which creature to save in the following excerpt:

     He asked himself which
     Of the two he ought to help,
     Then told himself to help
     The lion, for a venomous and treacherous
     Beast should not be permitted to do evil.
The lion then shows his appreciation for Yvain by assisting him in his battles and demonstrating the goodness of creation.