Custom and Convention
‹ 8 · Outline
9.Codes peculiar to a class or calling
9a.Chivalric customs and the law of arms
See also: Chivalry 2a · Madness 6a · Memory and Imagination 5b · Hospitality 6d
Plutarch, CoriolanusVol. 12
- p. 152–154Romans made verbal wills naming heirs before battle.read · scan
Jean Froissart, The Chronicles of FroissartVol. 35
- p. 44–45Prince holds that churchmen treating for peace should bear no arms and be indifferent, by the right order of arms.read · scan
- p. 48Yielding as prisoner, with rescue or no rescue, follows the usage of arms.read · scan
- p. 48–50Law of arms binds the captive knight to his captor, who tends him and takes ransom of six thousand nobles.read · scan
- p. 50–51King yields by giving his gauntlet, and asks for the prince, in the manner of arms.read · scan
- p. 87–88Custom of ransom and courteous parting after victory, 'God thank you'.read · scan
- p. 93Scots treat captives as brethren and set them to ransom, following the usage of chivalric war.read · scan
- p. 94Yielding, ransom and sworn parole follow chivalric custom; Redman is trusted to return to Edinburgh.read · scan
- p. 97Scots' usage of blowing horns to dismay enemies and rejoice themselves; captives and captors dine together courteously.read · scan
- p. 98–99Wounded prisoners are released on parole to return or pay ransom, according to knightly covenant.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 105–106Arthur's court keeps the old custom of seeing an adventure before eating on feast days.read · scan
- p. 122–123Galahad keeps the custom of hearing mass before leaving any castle.read · scan
- p. 138–139The yeoman refuses to lend his lord's horse, while Percivale offers to be a true knight in return, showing chivalric bargaining.read · scan
- p. 143–145She appeals to the duty of a Round Table knight never to fail a disinherited gentlewoman.read · scan
Miguel de Cervantes, The History of Don Quixote of the Mancha, Part IVol. 14
- p. 24He follows the old romance of Sir Launcelot as the model for how knights should be attended.read · scan
- p. 24–28He believes he cannot lawfully pursue adventures until dubbed knight, bound by the customs of chivalry.read · scan
- p. 29He insists on the ritual of watching armour in a chapel before dubbing, and the host mocks him by feeding his humour.read · scan
- p. 29The host prescribes knightly practice and the ceremony of dubbing, mocking it while confessing his own roguish past.read · scan
- p. 29–31Rules of knight-errantry: how provisions were carried, and the ritual of watching arms before dubbing.read · scan
- p. 33–34The innkeeper's mock knighting ceremony parodies chivalric ritual, improvised from an account book, with a blow and sword-girding by inn girls.read · scan
- p. 57–58Quixote defends the custom of knights-errant rewarding squires with islands, and worries whether any authority allows a squire on an ass.read · scan
- p. 60Knights-errant by custom never complain of wounds; Quixote finds no rule in knighthood forbidding complaint.read · scan
- p. 62–63Knightly rules of conduct bind squires until they are dubbed knights.read · scan
- p. 75Quixote models his conduct on chivalric romances' precedents like Mambrino's helmet, while Sancho warns such oaths harm health and conscience.read · scan
- p. 76Quixote insists knights-errant by custom eat little and coarse fare, as books record, and forbids Sancho to overturn knight-errantry.read · scan
- p. 76Sancho, unlettered, does not know the laws of knighthood; Quixote explains knights' customary fare of fruits and herbs.read · scan
- p. 92Don Quixote explains knight-errantry as an institution with its traditions, from King Arthur's Round Table to Amadis of Gaul.read · scan
- p. 93–95Quixote defends commending oneself to one's lady as a received use of errant chivalry.read · scan
- p. 95Love of a lady is held essential to legitimate knighthood; a knight without one is a bastard, entering like a thief.read · scan
- p. 115–116Quixote appeals to the customs of knights-errant sleeping in deserts as authority for how one should act.read · scan
- p. 126Quixote protests that the officer's rude speech breaches the custom of courtesy toward knights-errant.read · scan
- p. 130Quixote claims the custom of knights-errant exempts them from paying for lodging, while the innkeeper insists on his due.read · scan
- p. 131Sancho refuses payment, appealing to the ancient customs of knights-errant that exempt squires from paying at inns.read · scan
- p. 161–162Quixote cites books of chivalry to prescribe the respectful manner squires owe knights, such as Gandalin speaking cap in hand.read · scan
- p. 162–163Quixote insists on the distinction between master and man, knight and squire, drawn from chivalric precedent.read · scan
- p. 168They debate what the laws and practice of chivalry allow regarding taking horses and exchanging harness from the vanquished.read · scan
- p. 168–169Squires must keep within squire-like limits, as chivalric custom requires.read · scan
- p. 291–292Quixote invokes the ancient custom of knights and ladies rewarding messengers of good tidings with a rich jewel.read · scan
- p. 292Sancho remarks that the jewel custom belongs to past times; now the reward is bread and cheese.read · scan
- p. 349Quixote's claim that the statutes of chivalry exempt knights from paying is set against the hostess's ordinary expectations.read · scan
- p. 443–444Quixote speaks and acts in the formal phrases and rules of knight-errantry.read · scan
- p. 467Quixote reasons that chivalry's enchantments differ from those of former ages.read · scan
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in FranceVol. 24
- p. 212Chivalric manners mitigated ferocity and ennobled, and kept freedom alive within subordination.read · scan
- p. 213–214Chivalric manners and opinion gave modern Europe its character, softening power and obedience; the new reason strips away these illusions.read · scan
Friedrich von Schiller, Letters upon the Aesthetic Education of ManVol. 32
- p. 292–293Chivalrous manners correct nature's injustice, making weakness sacred and sparing the disarmed.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 447–448Codes of chivalry and duelling treatises serve as authority on conduct.read · scan
John Ruskin, Sesame and LiliesVol. 28
- p. 142–143Chivalry as historical institution defending faith, law and love.read · scan
Ernest Renan, The Poetry of the Celtic RacesVol. 32
- p. 156Arthur's court is an ideal of chivalry, civility and beautiful manners, loved throughout the world.read · scan
- p. 157Round Table embodies medieval ideals of heroism, modesty and love in a polished society.read · scan
- p. 158Chivalrous gallantry arose from a turn of imagination common to twelfth-century European peoples, changing European taste.read · scan
9b.Customs of trades, ships and colleges
See also: Labor 8b
Buddhist WritingsVol. 45
- p. 740The ceremony follows ancient custom precisely: fixed seating, quorum of ten priests, and set days for ordination.read · scan
Paul, The First Epistle of Paul to the CorinthiansVol. 45
- p. 505Paul corrects the Corinthians' disorderly, divisive and selfish practice at their common meal.read · scan
Benvenuto Cellini, The Autobiography of Benvenuto CelliniVol. 31
- p. 37Trade custom divides gains between workman and master.read · scan
- p. 58The banquet's jesting penance and mock honours show the club's customs of festive pranks.read · scan
- p. 289The French custom of drinking together after a casting is observed with a collation.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 277Feasting customs of artificers and husbandmen at bridals, purifications and trade-company dinners; each contributes a dishread · scan
Edward Haies, Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Voyage to NewfoundlandVol. 33
- p. 278Fishermen choose a weekly admiral in turn with feasts, a customary arrangement.read · scan
Benjamin Franklin, His AutobiographyVol. 1
- p. 44–45Workmen's beer habit and the bien venu fee are enforced by shop custom; Franklin yields to live in peace.read · scan
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVol. 10
- p. 68Breaking the masters' tacit combination is unpopular and reproachful among neighbours and equals.read · scan
- p. 123–124Apprenticeship durations differ between England and France, with Paris requiring companionship.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 110–111Landlord states the inn trade's rule of not prying into customers' affairs, only that they be honest paying fellows.read · scan
John Henry Newman, The Idea of a UniversityVol. 28
- p. 54Hazing initiation of freshmen with mock ceremony and bath; same customs in medieval and modern universities.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 5Notes that discipline, habits and customs of a man-of-war differ from those of the merchant service.read · scan
- p. 7–8Sailor's dress and gait are signs that betray the landsman; the greenhorn cannot pass as a jack tar.read · scan
- p. 16Describes duties, regulations and customs of an American merchantman.read · scan
- p. 24Old usage of crossing the line and becoming a son of Neptune, with the initiation ritual now seldom allowed.read · scan
- p. 52Christmas brings no holiday at sea, only plum duff, and the crew insists on its customary molasses.read · scan
- p. 53Sailors' ways, speech and customs can only be learned by living in the forecastle; steerage men remain mongrels outside the crew's fellowship.read · scan
- p. 74Sunday liberty-day is the customary sailors' day of rest, and they feel hardly used when denied it.read · scan
- p. 113Sailors' custom of treating all round in turn; refusing to drink with shipmates is a high affront, and one must not put on gentleman's airs.read · scan
- p. 114Order of treating by seniority is rigid; drinking with one and not another is taken as insult.read · scan
- p. 156The beach community treats "Sail ho!" as a cry for anything unusual, even a woman on the road.read · scan
- p. 177Ship's customs differ from the Pilgrim's; naval usages such as holystones nicknamed prayer-books.read · scan
- p. 207Sailors' practice of exchanging books between ships in foreign ports, and the customary rivalry of boat crews rowing ashore.read · scan
- p. 229Sailors' ritual of washing and rigging up for shore leave; the mayordomo refuses payment as the Lord's gift yet accepts a gratuity.read · scan
- p. 248Shipboard code of overstrained manliness and strict discipline shapes conduct, forbidding speech at work and sympathy.read · scan
- p. 298Serving grog breaks the dreary watch and gives sailors something to look forward to.read · scan
- p. 328–329Captain leaves execution of work to the mate by a fixed custom, almost like law, and the mate guards his authority.read · scan
- p. 329–330Shipboard customs have the force of prescriptive law; the captain broke usage though his authority is absolute.read · scan
- p. 330The steward claims custom that he waits on nobody but the captain, but omits the mate's title.read · scan
- p. 334–335Sleeping on deck is winked at, tolerated only if leave is not asked; unwritten shipboard usage.read · scan
- p. 361Footnote describes sailors eating from a common kid with their own knives, a practice by custom of choice.read · scan
- p. 363–364Crews are of many nations, some ignorant of the language and used only to force, complicating discipline.read · scan
9c.Evil customs and taboos
See also: Chivalry 5b
Plato, PhaedoVol. 2
- p. 45–46The annual pilgrimage to Delos is a continuing custom which pollutes-free the city from executions.read · scan
Tacitus, GermanyVol. 33
- p. 110Cattan custom of growing hair and beard until an enemy is slain, and wearing an iron ring.read · scan
Pliny the Younger, Letters of PlinyVol. 9
- p. 327–329Waters of the lake are held sacred and no vessels sail there.read · scan
Saint Augustine, The Confessions of St. AugustineVol. 7
- p. 26Nightly street sports were their pestilent custom.read · scan
- p. 70Custom upholds outrages punishable by law, so students do as lawful what eternal law forbids.read · scan
Chapters from the KoranVol. 45
- p. 979Pagan Arab practices of mutilating cattle and slaves are condemned as altering God's creation.read · scan
- p. 985Old Arab practices of divorce by formula and treating adopted sons as real are forbidden.read · scan
- p. 989–990Verse abrogates strict Arab restrictions on relations with adopted children, which caused scandal.read · scan
- p. 1005–1006Editor's note: Mohammed forbade pagan Arab camel customs as idolatrous superstition.read · scan
The Destruction of Dá Derga's HostelVol. 49
- p. 202–203The bull-feast and its spell of truth are ancient customs for choosing a king.read · scan
- p. 203–204Tabus (geasa) are imposed on the reign as conditions of his kingship.read · scan
- p. 204–205List of tabus binding the king's reign, and a blessed reign of plenty and peace.read · scan
- p. 205–206Tabus bind the king and their breaking brings ruin.read · scan
- p. 208–209Further tabus of Conaire are broken as the churl Fer Caille and plunderers approach.read · scan
- p. 241–242Fer caille with his pig and wife is one of Conaire's tabus, a forbidden ill omen.read · scan
Stories from the Thousand and One NightsVol. 16
- p. 59House rule inscribed on the door: speak not of what does not concern thee.read · scan
- p. 266The country buries a living spouse with the dead one; Sindbad calls the custom vile.read · scan
- p. 266The king defends live burial of spouses as ancestral custom that keeps them together in life and death, applying it even to foreigners.read · scan
- p. 268Sindbad's wife dies and he is forcibly buried alive by custom, despite protesting he is a foreigner.read · scan
Sir Thomas Malory, The Holy GrailVol. 35
- p. 124Galahad sets out to destroy the wicked custom of the Castle of Maidens, a cursed place without pity.read · scan
- p. 124The brothers' evil custom at the castle must be sworn away and the old customs restored by the landholding knights.read · scan
- p. 163–164The usurping gentlewoman's evil customs and killing of kinsmen led the king to expel her.read · scan
- p. 192–194The castle's cruel custom of exacting a maid's blood is challenged by the knights, who insist a maid is free wherever she goes.read · scan
- p. 194–195The castle's custom of bleeding maidens originated to cure the lady, and the knights are told its cause.read · scan
William Harrison, A Description of Elizabethan EnglandVol. 35
- p. 272Old Britons' abstinence and superstitious food taboos gave way after the Romans; diet now unrestricted save by lawread · scan
William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkVol. 46
- p. 118Hamlet binds his friends to secrecy with an oath upon his sword, while the ghost cries 'Swear'.read · scan
Blaise Pascal, ThoughtsVol. 48
- p. 243Sacrifices allowed to redirect an evil custom after the golden calf.read · scan
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's ProgressVol. 15
- p. 240–241Common people think a place haunted by fiends when the trouble comes from their own deeds.read · scan
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust, Part IVol. 19
- p. 155–157Village norms: mothers confine girls at night, wreath torn from unmarried mothers.read · scan
Alessandro Manzoni, I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)Vol. 21
- p. 107–108Villagers' superstition about a haunted house lets the conspirators hide there undisturbed.read · scan
- p. 512–513Traditional European ideas of magical arts and poisoning ointments, held in earlier plagues, supplied a ready explanation.read · scan
Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the BeagleVol. 29
- p. 218Cannibalism in war and killing of old women in famine, reported as tribal practice, shown as horrifying custom.read · scan
- p. 433–434Sacred burial rocks that natives will not approach; land title illustrated by sticks; custom of carrying food away to eat.read · scan
Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the MastVol. 23
- p. 40Sailors bid on the dead man's clothes yet are reluctant to wear them on the same voyage.read · scan
‹ 8 · Outline