Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Manliness
MICHAEL P. FOLEY
became a new Western ideal. This is obvious when we consider two areas typically
associated with manly life: chivalry and sports.
Chivalry
Chivalry began as an attempt by the Church to curb the anarchy and bloodshed of feudal
conflict in the Middle Ages, but it ended as something much more. The so-called Truce of
God limited violence by prohibiting, on pain of excommunication, armed engagement every
Thursday through Sunday and during the holy seasons of Advent and Lent. This pious
restraint was sharpened by the Crusades, which upheld a new code of knighthood aimed
not at personal glory (Achilles again) but the protection of the weak and oppressed. When
a knight was consecrated or "dubbed," the bishop prayed that he would become a defender
of "churches, widows, orphans, and all those serving God." This was obviously the
instantiation of an important biblical virtue (Judas Maccabeus, the Old Testament prototype
of the medieval knight, is described in II Maccabees 2:38 as providing for the widow and
orphan), as was the care extended to another group: women.
When St. Paul tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the
Church (Eph. 5:25), he is essentially telling them to put the welfare
of their spouses high above their own, even to the point of death.
Though the chivalrous regard for the welfare of women would later become subject to all
sorts of romantic distortions (hence the parodies of love-stricken knights in Chaucer and
Cervantes), even here there lies the kernel of a uniquely Christian insight. When St. Paul
tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church (Eph. 5:25), he is essentially
telling them to put the welfare of their spouses high above their own, even to the point of
death.
Today the concept of "ladies first" is more often than not condemned as quaint or
chauvinist, but when it is properly understood and practiced it reflects this Christ-like
conversion of male power and aggression to the selfless service of others. It presupposes
that if a Christian man is designed to rule, he is to exercise that rule paradoxically by
serving, just as Christ exercised his lordship paradoxically by humbly washing the feet of
his apostles (John 13:4-16). This insight is well-reflected in the famous medieval legend of
the Holy Grail as told by Chrtien de Troyes. When Perceval the knight is about to part
from his mother, her last words to him are: "Should you encounter, near or far, a lady in
need of aid, or a maiden in distress, make yourself ready to assist them if they ask for your
help, for it is the most honourable thing to do. He who fails to honour ladies finds his own
honour dead inside him."
Over time, several customs developed from this transfiguration of male honor. Simple
gestures such as opening doors or pulling out a chair for a lady bespeak a gentleman's
humble respect for women and a recognition of his responsibilities. Particularly noteworthy
in this regard is the practice of tipping one's hat to a lady. Given that a man's hat is a
traditional symbol of his rank and authority, the gesture is essentially a ritual
acknowledgment of the fact that his position is in some crucial respects ordered to the
service and regard of women.
Sports
It is generally not the function of a religion to create new forms of competition, yet the
Judeo-Christian proclamation of the sanctity of human life led to far-reaching changes in
the way that Westerners played games. After the Roman Empire embraced Christianity, a
successful war was waged against the old athletic festivals and gladiator games, all of
which were inherently tied to death cults, animal sacrifice, and even human sacrifice. But
the Church never opposed athletic competition per se, and so the field was cleared for new
and more wholesome forms of sport to emerge. Of course, this is not to say that the
games were more effete. The proto-Christian Duke in "The Knight's Tale" by Chaucer turns
a battle into a tournament in order to prevent the loss of life, but this does not stop bones
from being "bashed" and "bursts of blood in streams of sternest red" (l. 1752).
sports (he himself had won many a prize in his youth), Didon encouraged athletic
competition at his school as a way of building character. It was at a sports meeting in 1891
that he ended a speech to his pupils with the stirring admonition: Citius, fortius, altius. The
motto was eventually adopted by the father of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin,
with one exception. While Fr. Didon had placed the word fortius, or "stronger," in the
middle of the phrase to stress the moral significance of athletics, Coubertin ominously
changed the word order to stress the "freedom of excess," which he praised over and
against "the unnatural utopia of moderation."
Conclusion
Coubertin's misappropriation of Fr. Didon's motto is also fairly emblematic of the plight of
Christian manhood in the modern age, which is one of the reasons why we even need to
speak of the Catholic contribution to manliness as if it were something forgotten.
Nevertheless, the testimony of Our Lord shall not be effaced. Jesus Christ the New Man
gave us a counterintuitive yet ultimately greater model of manhood, one that has the
chutzpah to beat down one's own vainglory for the greater glory of God and for the sake of
defending His most helpless creatures. The result is a blend of solicitude, gentleness, and
toughness that makes Achilles' egotistical bravado look puerile. And for that we can be
profoundly grateful.