THE VIRTUES OF THE KNIGHT ACCORDING TO RAMON LULL.

FOR R.P. FR + + LICENSE CARLOS ADRIAN

GRAND CHAPLAIN

INTRODUCTION.

In this article, we aim to analyze the morals of the knight according to Ramón Lull. This
The author writes a book entitled Book of the Order of Chivalry; princes and minstrels,
in which it sets out the doctrine on what chivalry is in itself. Although the book exposes
Clearly and distinctly all the doctrine as such, we want to study what type of morality is
It proposes for this state of life, although it is also clear that we want to analyze if it applies to
the current Order of Chivalry; thus, we want to answer Can morality be rescued?
proposal by Lull for the current cavalry? Our hypothesis is that if it is possible, this
we want to first demonstrate: briefly exposing the virtues that Lull proposes for the
gentleman, Theological and Cardinal virtues that in the end are for all of Christianity.
Next, we will address the problem that most orders are not submitted by
Canon to the Roman Catholic Church, this can provide a basis to abandon the background.
to give them another meaning, or to misinterpret their profession, however we will maintain that
they are still Christian orders. And finally a conclusion gathering the fruits of
analysis.

CHARITY, THE MORAL BACKGROUND OF THE KNIGHT.

As Saint Thomas Aquinas says in his book Preface to Politics, the operations of
human beings improve by moving from the simple to the complex. This means that
Perfection or a higher state is achieved after progressing from the lesser things.
perfect to the most perfect. Likewise, nature operates, for example, a tree
large leafy and full of fruits is something complex, and it was a perfection that it obtained since
that was a simple seed, or a being in potential. All beings in nature by
divine disposition arranges from potential to act, that is, from what can be and exist,
to the most finished and perfect in its order. The human being has an advantage that places him
in a privileged status and this is, to be creatures of God and then through the sacrament of
baptism to be children of God by adoption, in this way "For this, the practical reason of
man, by moving from the simple to the complex, also advances from the less perfect things to the
more perfect." (Saint Thomas Aquinas, Preface to Politics, Trans. Salvador Abascal,
Editorial Tradición, Mexico, 1982, p. 13). This means that man reaches a
superior perfection in moral and spiritual order.

Gentlemen must strive to attain such superior perfections in order

spiritual and moral. As Ramon Lull says in his cited book, knights are chosen by
the nobility of spirit. This is that it has undergone an education by its master that has
he has been a gentleman, and he has given himself the necessary tools, both intellectual and moral,
because Lull argues well that if those who hold the office of clergymen frequent schools
of training, they have books and teachers, similarly the knight is the squire in charge
of a knight who is his master, and therefore, teaches him the trades and virtues of the
cavalry. Within this education, the knight must consider the virtues
Theological and Cardinal virtues. These are necessarily acquired through baptism. And there are seven of them.
knowledge: Faith, Hope, Charity, Justice, Temperance, Fortitude, and Wisdom.
Faith is the virtue by which "(... ) the eternal life begins in us, making us assent to
understanding of things that we do not see" (Saint Thomas Aquinas, S.T. II-II, Q. 4, a.1 Sol). This
it means that we believe and with our will we assent that God is Three and One, that Jesus
he is God and true man, who died and rose for us, etc., it is not the result of a
reasoning to arrive at those conclusions but rather they are accepted by revelation, or as
we have said by faith, that is, to have the eternal realities secure. For Lull this is very
important because it says that the works of the knight would be vain if they are not by faith: “The
a knight without faith cannot be well accustomed" (Ramon, Lull, Book of the Order of
Chivalry; princes and minstrels, part 6, 3) It says that from this virtue the others emerge,
Hope and Charity. The first is defined as 'Faith precedes, absolutely, the
hope. The object of hope is indeed a hard and attainable future good
T., II-II, Q. 17, a 7. Sol) It is necessary for one to give birth to the other, it is not possible to believe in a
beautiful or affordable future, if the will is not firmly set on the things of God.
Therefore, this virtue allows the knight to face all kinds of adversities and come out unscathed.
for that belief. The second is the love of God, of our neighbor, and of ourselves. Saint
Pablo had spoken of how works without charity are vain and sound like a cymbal, for
that Lull also demands that in addition to faith, the knight have arduous charity, in fact,
It equates that one is not a knight if one does not have charity, it is as if a man did not have
the body would be purely spiritual. Another aspect of charity is to separate the virtues from the
vices, it is the virtue that organizes human beings also in community, Lull had already
explained for example, the charity that must exist between cleric and knight, since both
they speak of the same thing but in different orders, that is, the Gospel of Christ, one by the
science and knowledge, and the other achieves peace through strength. Charity then is the
moral foundation and background of the knight.

The cardinal virtues are those by which human beings acquire moral life. If
the laypeople use it in their daily lives, even more so the knights. Lull explains that the
Justice is the foundation of chivalry, this is because it is a virtue that regulates the
excesses, and that aims for the proper management of things, in this case, the
A gentleman must have the virtue of caring for and protecting the cities and their nobles.
justice as a bulwark and anchor of protection, for that is why the Angelic Doctor says very well:
Therefore, the act of justice, related to the subject matter and the subject, is expressed when
it is said that it gives its right to each one; because, as Isidore says in the book Etymologies,
"It is called just because it preserves the right" (S. T. II-II., Q. 58, a. 1. Sol) To order and arrange
things according to their right are the proper and ultimate end of justice. Natural philosophers such as
Aristotle, Plato, and Cicero valued it greatly; for example, Plato said that the
Justice was the virtue that harmonized the other three: temperance, courage, and wisdom. And it was the
what the Philosopher King possessed, Aristotle mentions in his Nicomachean Ethics in the same way, it is
give each person what they deserve, and true friendship was based on justice. That is why Lull
It also mentions that the knight must be clothed with justice and relates it to his way of being.
this office. Regarding prudence: 'Prudence is a virtue by which man
distinguish between good and evil, providing him with the wisdom of goodness, and teaching him to be
enemy of evil." (Lull,Ibid.,p. 35). This virtue helps the knight to move within the
Good. If justice already indicates that one must compensate others legally, prudence will say
that one must stay away from evil, and every work that is unworthy of the condition of a knight. Already
Aristotle had mentioned that virtue should move in the right mean. They are works
defective or those that do not lead to happiness, those that achieve defect or excess of the
action, Lull says that certain disordered vices do not combine with the profession of a knight, and
Make an argument that, through contrasts, demonstrates the necessity of the virtue of strength.
It is not possible for this to reside only in the nobility of spirit, but it implies something more.
Thus, greed goes against the nobility of the spirit. This virtue aims for the soul
superior lord over the inferior soul, Saint Thomas Aquinas distinguishes two aspects of
lower soul: the irascible and the concupiscible. In the former reside passions such as anger,
fear, etc., and in the second, lust, greed, etc., as is well mentioned if the
Virtues order or arrange things towards perfection, then strength must
to arrange for the higher soul an empire that dominates the lower one. The knight in this must
to strive to conquer disordered passions, or better said, the ways that
they lead to hell: "they are races by which man goes to infernal torments without
Finally, it is worth knowing that, for being gluttonous, lustful, greedy, lazy, proud, envious
and wrathful, he abandons the fortress." (Lull, Ibid., p. 36). We conclude that if the intellect
inferior will then dominate the human person, and if a
The gentleman falls into that; due to his condition and order, he will descend the stairs to hell.

Temperance is a virtue that prepares one to achieve the mean. Lull says that this is
there is a balance between two extreme vices: superabundance and excessive smallness. This is
nature of virtues in general is not to go to extremes, for example, not to fall into the
extreme lack of food, nor in gluttony. Nor in other aspects of
concupiscible or irascible intellect. That is to say, to live a moderate life, that organizes and
Arrange the life of the knight within the discipline that is required of him. And so Lull concludes the
chapter where it explains what the morality of the knight is: "It is customary for a knight to hear
mass and sermon, to worship, to pray and to fear God. By such a custom, the knight remembers that he has
to die, and the vile nature of this world; and asks God for heavenly glory, and fears the punishments.
hellish; and for this uses the virtues and customs specific to the order of
cavalry." (Lull, Ibid., p. 39). In a nutshell, the knight is a Catholic Christian who
it is practical and consistent with what it says it does.

THE MORAL OF LULL FOR THE KNIGHT OF TODAY.

The morality of chivalry according to Lull is Christian morality. It is to live the seven infused virtues.
through baptism in our daily tasks as gentlemen, therefore, these virtues
the theological and cardinal virtues should be the guideline for all spiritual and secular activities, but
I will pose the question raised in the introduction: Can the proposed moral be rescued?
Lull for the current cavalry? It will be easy to answer by doing a brief analysis of the
current moral context. The morality of this century is characterized by moral philosophy as
emotivist by some authors such as Alasdair MacIntyre mainly, others like the
procedural disconnection of the self, according to Charles Taylor, the hypothesis of these authors is
that the morality and the vocabulary that supports it is fragmented, this means that words
like justice, temperance, fortitude, wisdom, agathos, honor, etc., have an aspect
distinct semantic, this means that justice does not mean the same as in the age
media, nor that honor is at the top of the value scale, because it lost its
meaning, all this happens because the social context that sustained it has changed: 'The
Modern freedom was achieved when we managed to escape the moral horizons of the past.
People used to see themselves as part of a greater order. In some cases, it was about
a cosmic order, a 'great chain of Being', in which human beings occupied the place
that corresponded to them alongside the angels, the celestial bodies, and the creatures that are
our counterparts on Earth. This hierarchical order was reflected in the hierarchies of the
human society. People often found themselves confined to a place, a role and a
a specific position that were strictly theirs and that was almost unthinkable
stepping aside. Modern freedom came about thanks to the discrediting of such orders." (Charles
Taylor, The Ethics of Authenticity, Paidós Editions, Spain, 1994, p. 38). The social order
hierarchical era due to a cosmic order, thus, the current knight is not in the
medieval context that supports this moral. Posing it this way, this diagnosis would seem to us
pessimistic for our company to recover what Lull proposes.

Having a multitude of chivalric orders. Of Saint Stanislaus, Of Saint Lazarus, Of

Constantinople, of the Sovereign and Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem, etc., only us
we will focus on the latter, since all follow the same principle, that is, heirs of
a medieval past and that currently do not find themselves in full communion with Rome.
This is an important point because it would add a supposed freedom, as mentioned
Taylor has apparently broken with a hierarchy; however, at its essence, they are Christian.
The only Order under Rome by canon is the Knights of Malta, as they are legislated.
according to the Canon, and this is in summary, that the professed take the three monastic vows
traditional, only that they do not have a communal life. Hence, sometimes confusion arises.
Are they Orders yes or no? In the sense of Monastic Order they are not, but in the sense that
they are a community with rules and statutes; it is an Order. The meaning of the word already disposes.
hierarchy, obedience, etc., therefore, we believe that if these orders are not subject to
Canon in Rome is not a reason or sufficient justification for them to distance themselves from their Christian essence.
catholic, since it is regulated in its own statutes, we read in its second article:“The
An order firmly consolidated in the religious and military spirit of its origins has as
vocation today: - The extension of the Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ in society by
the fulfillment of the evangelical precepts and the practice of works of justice and
mercy. - The defense of the Faith, of the Holy Church and of Christian Civilization. The
maintenance of the presence and influence of Christians in the Holy Land. The service of
the disinherited, of the poor and sick. - The spiritual building of its members. -
Defense of the innocents unjustly accused. - Alongside the imperious duties of their
traditional vocation, the Order also proposes to carry out the census, the restoration,
maintenance and the study of monuments and archives that provide evidence of their
ancient fervor and its spiritual permanence. It also promotes historical studies,
heraldic, genealogical, philosophical, and religious that refer to their past, to their vocation
present and to his spirituality." (Statutes, 1990, a. 2) In conclusion, the order provides for the
experience of its spirit and tradition, isn't that what we just read in what Lull
Is it proposed? It's evident that it is.

The order suggests that we live according to Christian morals. But as we analyze it, it is
difficult living in a social order that has abandoned its Catholic Christian context,
replaced by a detached context, as Taylor calls it: "To the discredit of those
orders have been called "disenchantment" of the world. With this, things lost
its magic." (Taylor,Ibid.,p. 39)., or as Max Weber also calls it the "Iron Cage",
so many terms we can apply, however, the order is looking for what the same
Taylor calls for an ethics of authenticity, focusing on two main points: A creation and
self-discovery, and B opening up horizons of meaning and self-definition in the dialogue.
This can also be called self-determined freedom, which is the same as showing
to the world the action of the work of the order, and from each particular sphere link the
belief with action, that is, living those virtues in all aspects of life, life
familiar, the work, the Church, the same order, but with this dialogical aspect, confronting
The very reality alongside other realities will allow a reaffirmation of one’s own aspect.
chivalrous, to cement those values in the members and in those who observe us as
an integral part of that order. Thus, the values that Lull proposes are perfectly
valid for today, and they are totally recoverable in the orders of chivalry, since
its Christian substance or background has not ceased even though they are not under the Roman canon.

CONCLUSION.

The morality proposed by Lull for the current chivalry is recoverable. Since we have
arguing that the proposal of the Order embodies this Christian experience, preserving its
original link with the past, and in a disconnected world, or one that has left behind order.
hierarchical, in light of this the ethics of authenticity proposes a moral model that is preserved
within the same disconnected context. Thus, this dialogue of the knight unfolds.
medieval with the postmodern world without losing its essence, but rather it is reinforced, since the
The dialogical aspect allows for confronting those realities and establishing that stance. Since the
The work of establishing a Christian society will not come except through the action of gentlemen.
Christians who act, who coexist, who carry the gospel with their demeanor and life. And for that
we must promote and cultivate the theological and cardinal virtues.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

From Aquino, Saint Thomas, Preface to Politics, Translated by Salvador Abascal, Editorial
Tradition, Mexico, 1982.

Summa Theologia II-II, BAC Editorial, Spain, 2001.

TAYLOR, Charles, The Ethics of Authenticity, Paidós Editions, Spain, 1994.

LULL, Ramón, Book of the Order of Chivalry; princes and minstrels, N.D, N.E, N.A.

Praise be to God