The Order of the Chivalry is a one of the three “Great Peerage” Orders in the SCA, comprised of heavy fighters who have been recognized by the King and Queen for martial prowess and chivalric behaviour both on and off the field.

The Order of the Chivalry, sometimes simply called “The Chivalry” (or, more informally, “The Chiv”) is divided into two branches: The first (and largest) comprised of Knights, who are required to swear fealty to the Crown, and Masters-of-Arms, who are not required to do so. Knights wear an unadorned white belt and gold chain; Masters-of-Arms wear a white baldric. Despite the differing requirement of fealty of the two branches of the Order, they are equal in rank on the Order of Precedence.

The office of Master-of-Arms was established in the SCA as a response to real-world religious restrictions on the swearing of oaths; orthodox Jews, Mennonites, and certain Mormon sects are restricted from swearing any sort of fealty, for example. In addition, are are any number of personal (or at least persona-related) reasons why an individual might not wish to do so. In any case, when a candidate for the Order of the Chivalry is put “on vigil”, they are permitted to choose which title they prefer with no questions asked.

Technically the Crown has sole discretion and authority over choosing those who will be elevated to the Order of the Chivalry; in practice, however, the Crown relies heavily on the Order's recommendations for elevation.

The actual “Knighting” ceremony is one of the few honours in the SCA that is not entirely bestowed by the Crown; if the sitting monarchs are not themselves members of the Order of the Chivalry, a member of the Order is required to participate in the actual Knighting as Corpora states that “only a knight can make a knight.” All members of the Order of the Chivalry, therefore, are in direct lineage to the first Knight in the SCA, one Sir Siegfried von Hoflichskei who was a mundane knight and one of the original attendees at the 1966 May Day Party which became the start of the SCA.