I like chivalrous generals. I'm playing the Turks right now and I don't use governors for the extra income anymore. My experience is they get more bad than good traits, especially while sitting in cities, so I don't bother. I use my generals mainly for leading my armies and as a powerful unit in battle. But, in this campaign, I've started putting my chivalrous generals on the cities/castles that need a population boost. It helps them tech up much faster.