Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie died in 1972. He once wrote “Women do not find it difficult nowadays to behave like men, but they often find it extremely difficult to behave like gentlemen.”

How true.

But can’t the same be said of men?

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The word behave is only about 500 or 600 years old.  But it is based on such a logical concept that according to The Oxford English Dictionary it appeared in Old English, died out, and then reappeared. Plus an unrelated but almost identical word also exists in German.

The word behave contains the word have.

When you “have” something you control it, and when you control yourself, you behave.  It isn’t just conceptual, the etymology of behave really does point back to the word have.

Self control and good behavior are fitting concepts for the document in which this word first came into English.  Or perhaps I should say “second came into English.”

The document is called Le Bone Florence of Rome and is a poem dated about 1440.

It’s a lesser example of what is called Courtly Poetry; the best example of which is said to be Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

This Courtly Poetry came out of the idea of chivalry and courtly love that you might associate with knights in shining armor.

Under such ideals a knight would fight for his lady, and love her; but only in an “honorable” way.  She was chaste and unobtainable for him. In this way a lady inspired her lord’s subordinate knights to fight on his behalf, but without actually having to get involved with all of them.

In the passage that concerns us, this lady Florence is said to be an example of how others can “learn her to behave her among men.” That is, in a chaste and honorable way.