sed was what the soldier of God swore
to do; and first in the list of those needing his defence were women.
The knight was not only the sworn defender of woman from all physical
wrong and oppression, but he must guard the honor of her name. Courteous
and gentle he must be toward women himself, and from others less gentle
he must compel at least outward respect. In the statutes of many an
order of knighthood we find provisions like those set forth by Louis de
Bourbon when, in 1363, he established the order of the Golden Shield:
"He enjoined (the knights) to abstain from swearing and blaspheming the
name of God; above all, he enjoined them to honor _dames et
damoiselles_, not submitting to hear ill spoken of them; because from
them, after God, comes the honor men receive; so that speaking ill of
women, who from the weakness of their sex have no means of defending
themselves, is losing all sense of honor, and shaming and dishonoring
oneself." It was also about this time that Marshal Boucicaut established
the order of the Knights of the Green Shield, fourteen in number, whose
special purpose was the defence of women, and on whose shields was a
blazon representing a woman clothed in white. This same sentiment we
find persisting even in Brantome: "If an honest woman would maintain her
firmness and constancy, her devoted servitor must not spare even his
life to defend her if she runs the least risk in the world, whether of
her honor or of evil-speaking; even as I have seen some who have stopped
all the wicked tongues of the court when they came to speak ill of their
ladies, whom, according to the devoirs of chivalry, we are bound to
serve as champions in their affliction."

The devotion to woman which we find becoming the dominant feature of the
chivalrous ideal rises at times to sheer extravagance, mere moonshine
madness. A knight vows devotion to his lady-love; to prove that he is
the truest lover in the world and she the fairest dame, he wears a patch
over one eye and engages in mortal combat with anyone who ventures to
smile at this absurdity. Another takes his station on the highway and
compels every passing knight to joust with him, because he has vowed to
break three hundred lances in thirty days in the honor of his lady. Or
there is Geoffrey Rudel, who falls in love with the Countess of Tripoli
on hearsay; they say she is the most beautiful and lovable woman in the
world; therefore he loves her, and therefore he goes on