A young knight therefore was asked to swear that he would be faithful as a servant to God and as a servant to his King. Furthermore, he promised to be generous to those whose need was greater than his own. He pledged his word that he would be humble in his personal behaviour and would never boast of his own accomplishments and that he would be a friend of all those who suffered, (with the exception of the Mohammedans, whom he was expected to kill on sight).
因此，一个年轻骑士起誓，他将永远做上帝忠实的仆人，同时也将终其一生忠心耿耿侍奉他的国王。此外，他还允诺向那些比自己更穷苦的人们慷慨解囊。他发誓要行为谦卑，言辞适当，永不夸耀自己的功绩。他将与所有的受苦大众做朋友，但穆斯林除外。他们是他一见到就该杀掉的凶险敌人。
Around these vows, which were merely the Ten Commandments expressed in terms which the people of the Middle Ages could understand, there developed a complicated system of manners and outward behaviour. The knights tried to model their own lives after the example of those heroes of Arthur's Round Table and Charlemagne's court of whom the Troubadours had told them and of whom you may read in many delightful books which are enumerated at the end of this volume. They hoped that they might prove as brave as Lancelot and as faithful as Roland. They carried themselves with dignity and they spoke careful and gracious words that they might be known as True Knights, however humble the cut of their coat or the size of their purse.In this way the order of Knighthood became a school of those good manners which are the oil of the social machinery. Chivalry came to mean courtesy and the feudal castle showed the rest of the world what clothes to wear, how to eat, how to ask a lady for a dance and the thousand and one little things of every-day behaviour which help to make life interesting and agreeable.
究其实质，这些誓词不过是把十诫的内容，以中世纪人民能够理解的语言通俗化地表达出来。围绕着它们，骑士们还发展出一套关于礼貌和行为举止的复杂礼仪。中世纪的骑士努力以亚瑟王的圆桌武士和查理曼大帝的宫廷贵族为榜样，正如普罗旺斯骑士的抒情诗或骑士英雄的史诗向他们述说的那样。他们期望自己勇敢如朗斯洛特，忠诚如罗兰伯爵。不管他们衣着多么简朴甚至褴楼，不管他们是不是囊中羞涩，腹中空空，但他们总是态度尊严，言语优雅，行为有节，保持着骑士的声誉。这样，骑士团 成了一所培养优雅举止的大学校，而礼貌仪态正好是保持社会机器正常运作的润滑剂。骑士精神意味着谦虚有礼，向周围世界展示着如何搭配衣着、如何优雅进餐、如何彬彬有礼地邀女士共舞以及其他成百上千日常生活的礼节。这些东西都有助于使生活变得更有趣，更宜人。