Chivalry
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Chivalry. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
shiv'al-ry, a medieval system of military service. The term is akin to chevalier and cavalry, meaning fundamentally a horseman. Chivalry consisted essentially of the order of knighthood to which ordinarily no one could gain admission unless of good blood and fit character and training. He must then be admitted by a knight in regular standing. Customarily a boy of good family was sent to live in the family of some nobleman at the age of twelve. At first he was a page, and was required to wait on the ladies; then he became a squire and waited on a knight. He practiced in the tilt yard, learning the use of armor and the sword, the management of a horse, and the handling of a lance. It was his duty as a squire to follow his knight to battle, carrying his shield. At the proper age, especially if distinguished by some act in battle, he was knighted, or admitted to the order. This was a religious ceremony, including fasting, receiving the sacrament, and taking upon himself solemn vows to honor and defend women, to protect orphans, to tell the truth, to refrain from slander, and to be loyal to his king and to the church. At the close of the ceremony, he knelt a squire, received a blow on the side of the neck or on the shoulder from the flat of a sword, and rose a knight. Not infrequently, a king might confer the honor of knighthood on the field of battle as a reward for bravery. SirWalter Scott was a great admirer of chivalry. His hall at Abbotsford was hung with armor and mementos of this age. His tales are full of descriptions of knightly encounters and of the customs of chivalry. Although he paints in bright colors, his writings may be regarded as a trustworthy reflection of the best side of chivalry. Spenser's Faerie Queene dwells upon the same tales of knightly adventure and courtesy. The knight's armor rendered him a power for good or evil among common men. If he lived up to his vows he was a helper of the needy, a friend of the oppressed. Too often, however, knighthood served as a protection in the commission of the vilest acts. Says the historian Freeman,--"Chivalry was above all else a class spirit." See Armor ; Cervantes ; Spenser ; Feudalism ; Castle
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the uses and customs pertaining to the order of knighthood. From the 9th to the 12th century, a "miles," that is, one bearing a designation which in classical times meant simply a soldier, and in the mediæval period a knight, was one who held land in fee from a superior, and was in consequence bound to render him military service. When a young man who was heir to these responsibilities came of age enough to formally pledge himself to discharge them honorably, a ceremony of investiture took place. The Church, as was natural and right, sought to add solemnity to the interesting event, and made the investiture of a youthful knight an imposing religious ceremony, holding up, moreover, before him a high moral and religious ideal to which he was exhorted to aspire. Mercy to vanquished foes and purity in the youthful knight's relations to women were earnestly pressed upon him; and there was undoubtedly more of both than if the Christian Church had not interfered. Yet withal the ages of chivalry were marked to a frightful extent by cruelty and impurity. While the Church counseled and poets celebrated the religious and moral elevation of the true knight, that individual himself manifested little of either; his principles and his practice were wonderfully different. Chivalry declined and fell with the feudal system, of which it was a normal growth. The institution of the military orders, the Knights Templar, the Knights of St. John, and the Teutonic Knights, was an interesting development of medieval chivalry. CHLORAL (C2HCl₂O or CCl..CO.H= trichloraldehyde), a colorless, odorous, oily liquid, boiling at 94°. It is obtained by passing chlorine gas through absolute alcohol. With water it forms a crystalline compound called hydrate of chloral, CCl3.HC (OH) 2.