With all of the changes to American gender roles over the last few decades, cries repeatedly go up about whether chivalry is officially dead.

Men, after all, rarely hold open doors women (other than for strangers walking into a department store), women routinely ask out men on dates and the thought of a man laying his life on the line for the sake of his woman’s honor – when she could have been the aggressor in the honor-harming incident – seems to fly in the face of modern reason.

Gallantry toward the fairer sex was just one part of a knight’s code of conduct. According to the epic poem, “The Song of Roland,” he was also expected to abide by several other principles. Among them:

To assist widows and orphans.

To despise – not merely refrain from – carrying out his duties merely for the reward of money.

To speak the truth at all times (which may or may not have pleased those women to whom he was attempting to show gallantry).

To finish whatever he had seen fit to start.

To always rise to the challenge from an equal.

To never turn his back on the enemy.

To protect weaker and defenseless beings.

To live in the fear of God and to support God’s church.

To hold back from random offenses (meaning, “Don’t do whatever you’d like, just because you can”).

To respect a woman’s honor.

To serve his superiors with faith and honor.

To turn away from meanness, unfairness and deception.

During the 14th century, the Duke of Burgundy chose several single words to describe the ideals that he believed knights should follow.

These were: Charity, Liberality, Sagacity, Faith, Truth, Prudence, Hope, Temperance, Valor, Justice, Diligence and Resolution.

King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table simplified the code: Honesty, Honor, Loyalty and Valor.

In essence, then, chivalry amounts to a good deal more than how a man behaves toward a woman. The code extends to all of humanity, to God and to himself, as well.

And while the current age does not appear to be filled with endless paragons of such virtues, none ever was.

The Knight’s Code was an ideal. As with any ideal, all will fall short. It is the striving that mattered “back then.” The same is true today.