This story exerted a profound impact on European history. From that time, the image of knight gradually became the embodiment of hero, which can be perfectly seen in the literary work Knighthood, Chivalry and Its Influence Today by Huang, Chunlei. In this work, she explained the real content of chivalry, which is still good and useful advice today. At the Middle Ages, Europe was in a leaderless and separate state for a long time after Roman Empire had broken up. In order to safeguard their own interests, the noble needed massive armies and groups of courageous and courteous knights. And country gentlemen expected that their sons would become outstanding some day. The emergence of knights met the very need of both sides. Knighthood was about more than fighting, and it was also about chivalry. And then chivalry was established firstly in France in the 11th century, later it spread very quickly to the other European countries, such as Britain, Germany and Spain. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, the chivalry only meant good horsemanship, but by 1100 it had become a whole new way of life. Knights were expected to be brave and honorable, to uphold the honor of women, and protect the weak and helpless, and so on. Here she introduced seven knightly cardinal virtues: modesty, justice, hope, nobility, generosity, courage and mercy.

Feng Ping, a Chinese scholar, showed us the significant influence of chivalry on modern people through her literary work: The Embodiments of Knight Spirit in Tom Jones. In this article, Tom Jones is really a romantic figure as he was. His knight spirit is prominent. He shows his supreme character in the book, which can be classified as chivalry. “Firstly, he is willing to fight for his course. Another embodiment of chivalry on Tom is that he is upright. Last but not least, Tom is willing to die for his lover.” (2012:164) Tom can be regarded as an ideal husband, romantic and considerate. We respect him, though he has his wildness in his character, no one is perfect; he is still shining for the embodying the Knight Spirit or Chivalry.

In author’s view, the age of knights has passed away, but chivalry is not dead. It was not something that is only known to literary scholars and history professors, but it still has its place in modern society. For example, the western society has formed the custom of respecting females, and today’ s gentlemen, especially the gentlemen in Britain, still keep very obvious knightly demeanors. And current events, such as terrorist attacks, corporate and political scandals and betrayals of public trust, have made people aware of the importance of ethical conduct and personal integrity. People are gradually recognizing that duty, heroism, honesty and self-respect are more valuable today than ever before. People are realizing that the 21st century needs a code of chivalry and knightly virtues.

2 Situations in Medieval Europe
During the Medieval times, there was no central government to keep the order. The only organization that seemed to unite Europe was the Christian Church. It continued to gain widespread power and influence. In the later Middle Ages, almost everyone in Western Europe was a Christian and a member of the Christian Church. Christianity took the lead in politics, law, art and learning for hundreds of years. It shaped people’s lives.

Feudalism was the system of loyalties and protections during the Middle Ages. As the Roman Empire crumbled, emperors granted land to nobles in change for their loyalty. These lands eventually developed into manors. A manor is the land owned by a noble and everything on it. A typical manor consisted of a castle, small village, and farmland. Two fundamental changes transformed rural society during the early Middle Ages. First, Roman slavery virtually disappeared. Second, the household emerged as the primary unit of social and economic organization.

2.1The Politics in Medieval Europe
In 476 AD, warriors attacked the city of Rome and ended more than 800 years of glory for the “eternal city”. Historians mark the fall of Rome as the end of ancient history. The next one thousand years were called the Middle Ages. The Latin term for the Middle Age is “medieval”. The beginning of the Middle Ages is often called the “Dark Ages”, because the great civilizations of Greece and Rome had fallen. In the latter part of the fourth century, the Huns swept into Europe from central Asia, robbing and killing as they came along, and large numbers of the half civilized Germanic tribes such as the Visigoths, the Franks, the Angles and Saxons, fled their homelands in northern Europe and were pushed to cross the Danube river into the territory of Roman Empire. Several decades later, the Western Roman Empire was wiped out by a Germanic general, and in its place were mushroomed a great many Germanic kingdoms, which in a few years were to grow into the nations known as France, England, Italy, Germany and Spain. Between the fifth and eleventh centuries, Western Europe was the scene of frequent wars and invasions. The political unity had given way to widespread destruction and confusion. Hunger and diseases killed many lives; towns and villages fell into ruin and great areas of land lay waste. 浅析欧洲中世纪骑士精神(3):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_12420.html