steps of Knighthood

The Steps of Knighthood in Middle Times


In the medieval times, many knights rode out to do battle. They made sieges on other castles, headlong charges into bloody battles, and defended their own castles against sieges. But knights weren't always so good at fighting. Knights had to pass long, hard, half boring hours of practice, practice, practice. First they had to be a page. If they did good they became a squire. If squires were worthy they were dubbed and became a knights.
PAGES

When a boy born by a knight turns six or seven he is sent from his home to a near by castle. There he is trained by the lord of the castle to become a knight. He is a page. A page helps his lord dress and put on armor. He plays many training games that include wrestling, piggy-back wrestling, sword practice with blunt wooden swords and tiny round shields called bucklers, and lance practice on a rolling log pulled by two other pages toward a quintain(A quintain is a target on one end of a swinging board. On the other end is a bag full of sand. When the lance hits the target the rider has to duck or the bag of sand will strike him on the back or the head.). A page rarely ever learned how to read or write because it wasn't thought to be very knightly. The ladies of the manor taught him table manners. (A manor is a castle.) The page waited on his lord and lady. It was his duty and privilege to accompany his lord and lady at all times. He learned how to hunt and hawk. When his lord's armor was rusty, the page rolled the armor in a barrel of sand so that the rust was gone. He was taught to be quick, graceful, and flexible. He received religious training from the chaplain. He sometimes received training-in-arms from the squires.
SQUIRESIf the page showed promise, then at the age of fourteen, he became a squire. A squire is a Knight's personal servant. In battle, a squire would bring his knight replacements of lances, swords, horses, or any item lost or damaged in battle. The squire had to become accustomed to heavy armor. A squire played games with real weapons against real knights! The squire learned to ride his war horse while keeping his weapon arm free. While he was a squire, he was allowed to carry a sword and a shield, which showed what rank he had achieved. The squire was taught not to kill many knights. Most knights held other knights for ransom. If he got through all of that, he was knighted or "dubbed". Before a squire was dubbed, he did lots of things in preparation. First, he prayed all night. He prayed without sleeping or eating. When morning came, he would take a nice, warm bath. Then he put on a special padded vest and hood so that his armor did not hurt him. Then he would have a page help him put on chain mail armor or plate armor. Then the almost knighted squire would put on a white tunic. The tunic was white because white is the color of peace. The tunic was so that his armor did not rust in the rust in the rain and sun. He knelt before his lord. Then his lord would slap him with his hand or the flat of the sword. As his lord was doing that, his lord would say, "I dub thee Sir Knight." Then the new knight would receive his sword, lance, and golden spurs. Each of the weapons had a good meaning. The lance had a saying. It was said, "As fear of the lance drives back the unarmed, so the knight drives back the enemies of the church." As for the sword, it was said that, "The two edges of the sword show that the knight serves God and the people." Then the knight was free to roam. He usually rode off on quests of adventure. He either stopped by the road and challenged any knight that passed by or he did battle for a damsel in need.
Knights existed between the year 800 a.d. and the year 1450 a.d. Knights were a great means of fighting until guns and cannons replaced them. Now knights have become almost a legend. Today we see knights in movies or books as a group of strong men who killed dragons and rescued princesses. If you want to learn more about what knights actually did, go to a library near you and you may be surprised to find a large selection of non-fiction books about knights that are more exciting than you ever dreamed!
A knight or chevalier was a professional soldier. He usually was responsible for his weapons, three horses, his attendants and his flag. The three horses each had their own use, one for battle, one for the route and one for luggage. He carried a lance for encounters and a sword for close fighting. He had several attendants, one to conduct the horses, another to handle the heaviest weapons, another to aid him in mounting his horse for battle, and the fourth to guard prisoners. A lance usually carried the flag of whom the knight was fighting. The flag was a distinctive mark of chivalry.
A knight had to pay for his own way. He had to take care of his horse and pay his attendants. Countries did not have any budget to pay the knights. Land was the only riches each Lord had. If he wished to raise an army he divided his land into military fiefs. Tenants were held to military service at their own expense for a number of days.
The knightly profession was the only career. Knighthood was not heraldry. Only the sons of a knight or Lord were eligible to its ranks. These boys were sent to the court of some noble where they were trained to use horses and weapons and were taught lessons of courtesy.
Knights are often awarded to specific orders, such as the Order of the Rose and the Most Noble Order of the Shimmering Pool, usually befitting their personality, accomplishmentss or the whim of the person bestowing the honor.
minor administrative officials, may oversee such activities as tax collecting, trade regulation, accounting for official funds, or other such tasks, usually in the direct or indirect service of nobility. They are still treated with much respect by commoners.
Goodman, Goodwifegenerally city inhabitants, all have considerable legal protection, the right to personal property, weapons, education, land, buildings, and may become officers of the militarymost adventurers, minstrels, traveling merchants, officers of private vesselsguildmembers tend to have more authority than otherwise
works land that he owns or rents, has rights to property, some legal protectiontreated as property of the lord, protections stem from value as property, usually free on a given holy day, and before sunrise and after sunset.almost no legal protectionsno rights or protections whatsoever
TITLES AND RANKS RoyaltyEmporer / EmpressKing / QueenGrand Duke / Duchess
PrincelyDuke / DuchessSovereign Prince / PrincessPrince / Princess
Peers & LordsDuke / DuchessMargrave / MarquessEarl / CountBaron / Viscount
NobilityBaroneteKnight of the Grand OrderKnight CommanderKnight OfficerKnight Lieutenant
GentryEsquireGentleman / Lady
CommonersBurghers
FreemanCraftsmen & Tradesmen
PeasantsPeasantSerf
SlaveOutcasts & Beggars Your Royal Majesty / HighnessEmpireKingdom, kings of independet realms are ranked above kings of imperial kingdomsGrand Duchy
Your Majesty, My Prince(ss)Duchy, usually referred to as Duke of SuchandsuchPrincipality, first child of a royal familyjunior offspring, usually without holdings
m'Lord / Ladydukes not decended from aristocracy are not considered princelyMargraviateCountyEstate, not necessarily hereditary, often has official responsibilities
Sir, m'Lord

Step of Knighthood

Sangreal

The Sangreal - 1

The Sangreal in Arthurian Legend

The Sangreal is another name for the Holy Grail, a legendary sacred vessel associated with divine revelation, whose origins go back to the Last Supper. In Arthurian legend, the Grail quest represented a heroic and mystic adventure attempted by the Knights of the Round Table and was achieved by Sir Bors, Sir Percival, and Sir Galahad.

The Sangreal makes its appearance in Arthurian legend between about 1180 to 1240, from various sources:

• 'Le Conte del Graal' (or 'Perceval'), initiated by the French poet Chrétien de Troyes in a large collection of verses, c.1180 to 1240.

• The French poet Robert de Boron's 'Joseph d'Arimathea' and 'Perceval', c.1200.

• The German poem 'Parzival' by Wolfram von Eschenbach, c.1205 to 1215.

• Walter de Mapp's 'La Queste del Saint Greal', c.1220, one of a group of tales known as the Vulgate Cycle, believed to have been compiled by Cistercian monks. 'La Queste del Saint Greal' was later embodied almost entire as Sir Thomas Malory's characterisation of the Sangreal in 'Le Morte d'Arthur'.

• 'Le Morte d'Arthur' by Sir Thomas Malory, published by William Caxton in 1485.

'Le Conte del Graal' - the Sangreal according to Chrétien de Troyes

Chrétien de Troyes wrote a series of five Arthurian romances: 'Erec et Enide', 'Cliges', 'Le Chevalier de la Charrette' (Lancelot), 'Le Chevalier au Lion', and 'Le Conte del Graal' - "The History of the Grail". Earlier stories about King Arthur contain few knightly adventures, whereas here, the knights have become the heroes, reflecting the late twelfth century world with its gradually eroding monarchical power and increasing importance of knights, barons, and other noblemen.

'Le Conte del Graal' is the oldest of the Sangreal romances, and Chrétien refers to the story as the greatest ever told in any court. He tells of Perceval's growth from being a simpleton in boyhood to assuming knightly grace, but the crucial part appears to be as follows: after his knighting, Perceval sets out in search of further adventures and arrives at the castle of the Fisher King, who presides over an empty hall, large enough for four hundred men. The Fisher King presents Perceval with a sword that "could not break save only in one peril which no one knew save him who forged and tempered it." A procession comes through the hall. A squire carries a lance dripping blood onto the floor (the one with which Longius pierced Christ's side on the Cross?), followed by two more squires carrying ten-branched candlesticks. Then a beautiful damsel enters carrying a jewelled 'Graal' - the Sangreal - which blazes so brightly that it outshines and extinguishes the light from the candles and the stars. Behind is another damosel carrying a talleors: a casket or tabernacle. Perceval sees all this but does not to ask its meaning. The following day he finds the castle empty and it disappears altogether as he departs over the drawbridge.

Perceval visits a hermit for confession after five years of godless adventure. The hermit rebukes Perceval for not having asked about the Sangreal, despite the fact that he was merely following the teachings of a mentor (his mother?) not to enquire too much, and didn't know that he should ask or that he would incur guilt and reproach for not doing so. Then the hermit asserts that the Sangreal carried by the beautiful damsel did not contain a fish (as Chrétien implied it should) but simply a consecrated wafer intended for the King's father. Church orthodoxy prevented women from serving in such a priestly capacity, but the Grail Maiden passes without an explanation.

Undoubtedly Chrétien meant to relate the hero's second visit to the castle, when he would have put the question and received the desired information. But the poet did not live to finish his story. Whether the explanation of the Sangreal, taken up by others in four Continuations, is really what he intended it to signify remains open to question; in Chrétien's version the Sangreal has no pronounced religious character, but in the Fourth Continuation (Gerbert de Montreuil, c.1226 - 1230) - influenced by the works of Robert de Boron and the Vulgate version - there are references to Joseph of Arimathea.

The Sangreal and the link with Christ - Robert de Boron

In 'Joseph d' Arimathea' and 'Perceval' Robert de Boron presents the Sangreal as a chalice used by Christ at the Last Supper, at which he instituted the Eucharist, linking it with the sacrement of the altar. It passed to Joseph of Arimathea, the rich man who used it to collect Christ's blood when he took the body from the Cross and laid in the tomb.

The Sangreal was then brought by Joseph's brother-in-law, Bron, from the Holy Land to the West, to Britain. To be precise, it was taken to the 'Vales of Avalon' - possibly Glastonbury in central Somerset... Robert didn't say - where it became endowed with supernatural properties of a Christian kind. It was in 1191 at Glastonbury Abbey where the monks announced that they had discovered the grave of King Arthur and Guinevere in their burial ground. The bodies were supposedly marked with a cross inscribed (in Latin): "Here lies buried the renowned King Arthur in the Isle of Avalon". This created an international sensation, and along with it, an appetite for stories about King Arthur and his knights, and their adventures in the quest of the Sangreal.

In Robert's 'Perceval', the hero returned to the (sick) Fisher King's Castle (unlike in Chrétien's unfinished 'Le Conte del Graal'). The original Grail Maiden procession repeated itself, but this time Perceval's virtue shone through and he enquired "Sire, by the faith that you owe to me and that you owe to all men, tell me what one serves with these things that I see borne there?"

The Fisher King (another Bron) was miraculously restored to health, and said to Perceval "Dear grandson, know that this is the lance with which Longinus struck Jesus Christ on the cross, and this vessel that is called the Grail, know that this is the blood that Joseph caught from His wounds which flowed to the earth, and the reason that we call it the Grail is that it is agreeable to all worthy men and to all those who can stay in its fellowship; nor will it in its fellowship permit sin. And I will pray to Our Lord that He may guide me in whatever I can do for you." After an apparition by the Holy Ghost, Bron placed the vessel in Perceval's keeping and announced "Perceval is lord of the Grail by the choice of Our Lord." Thus Perceval became the Grail-Knight.

Incidentally, on this same day, King Arthur was at the Round Table that Merlin had founded, and they heard a "crash of such greatness that they were frightened most severely by it", and the stone which had split beneath Perceval when he had first sat in the empty Siège Perilous - the thirteeth seat symbolising the place of Judas at the Last Supper - was reunited. Merlin said to the King: "Arthur, know that in your time was fulfilled the greatest prophecy ever made; for the Fisher King is cured, and the enchantments have fallen from the land of Britain."

Percival visits the Grail Castle twice. The first time, in his youth, he remembers that he has been taught not to ask unnecessary questions, and when he witnesses the Sangreal he asks nothing. As a result, he fails and the world remains a wasteland. But he later finds the Grail Castle again, having achieved enlightenment, and is able to ask 'The Question', bringing healing and becoming the Grail-Knight.

The Sangreal in 'Parzival' - Wolfram von Eschenbach

According to Wolfram von Eschenbach, a German poet, the Sangreal was a wonder-working stone with celestial origins, not a vessel. He took up the Perceval theme in 'Parzival' (c.1205 to 1215), a long poem contained in 16 books which introduced the concept of the Sangreal into German literature. A simpleton, Parzival, sets out on his adventures without even knowing his own name - the classic fairy-tale motif of 'the guileless fool' - but who nonetheless, through innocence and artlessness, attains a goal denied to wiser men. Parzival's development from dunce to wise and responsible keeper of the Sangreal is a subtle allegory of man's spiritual development.

Wolfram's tale is especially interesting because it's almost devoid of any mention of the clergy. His Parzival finds grace through knightly prowess in pursuit of an agnostic, experiential faith rather than through any direct inspiration from Christ, the Last Supper, and so on. His Sangreal - the stone that fell from heaven - would eventually become, over the centuries, the philosopher's stone.

Also of interest is that Wolfram claims one of his sources as a Provençal poet, Guiot (Kyot), whose own source for the existence of the Sangreal was supposedly an Arabic manuscript in Toledo.

Rather outside the mainstream of Arthurian legend, 'Parzival' still contains elements common to many of the medieval Grail romances: the ignorant youth arrives at the Grail Castle where he fails to ask the healing question; he grows from folly to wisdom through experience, then returns to the domain of the Sangreal where this time he asks the question and heals the wounded king, demonstrating the spiritual leadership that will enable the knights to go out, redeem, and bring healing to the world.

The Sangreal in the Vulgate Cycles

'Lancelot en Prose' is a trilogy: 'Lancelot Propre', 'La Queste del Saint Graal', and 'La Mort de Roi Artu', written by Cistercian monks between 1215 and 1230. In the Vulgate Cycle proper, the Lancelot trilogy was preceded by two other stories: 'L'Estoire del Saint Graal' and 'Merlin'.

'L'Estoire del Saint Graal' is about the descendants of Joseph of Arimathea, who take the Sangreal with them to Britain where they build the Grail-castle in which the long line of Fisher Kings will live, as the keepers of the Grail. 'La Queste del Saint Graal' written by the one time Archdeacon of Oxford, Walter de Mapp (c.1220), is - as its title suggests - the story which deals most specifically with the quest of the Sangreal. The other three stories deal with general Arthur-related themes and are thought to be important sources for Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur a few hundred years later.

The Sangreal in Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur

The popularity of Arthurian legend stories waned in the fourteenth century, but during the second half of the fifteenth century, the English 'knight' Sir Thomas Malory wrote his masterpiece, Le Morte d'Arthur.

Malory wasn't an innovator like Chrétien and some of the earlier medieval writers - who were essentially his (French) sources - Le Morte d'Arthur is rather (amongst other things) an extensive recapitulation of previous medieval stories concerning King Arthur.

Le Morte d'Arthur was printed and prefaced by the 'father of British printing', William Caxton in 1485, as 21 books instead of Malory's original eight. The Sangreal is referred to in various places but it's in Book 17 that Sirs Galahad, Bors, and Percivale finally achieve it and heal the Maimed King at Castle Corbin.

Malory's story is unlike its French ancestors in that the narrative is less complex, less interwoven, contains less magic, and is thus more realistically detailed. Its sequential character gives the reader a sense of the cumulative significance of events, increasingly apparent in a rising tide of unavoidable disaster: the death of King Arthur and the end of the fellowship of the Round Table. As regards the Sangreal, this is important, because its status is never exalted beyond its place amongst other more Earthly events.

Here, the quest of the Sangreal - spelt "Sangrail" by Malory - has an air of a real expedition. In Book 13, all one hundred and fifty of the Round Table knights left on the quest. In short: Sir Percevale survived the quest with his viginity intact, in Book 14, but did not achieve it. Sir Launcelot failed the quest in Book 15, and Sir Bors achieved a victory over temptation in Book 16.

In Book 17 it becomes highly uncertain as to exactly who is the Maimed King, what sword goes where, exactly what the Sangreal is, and how anyone can tell when it is eventually achieved. Several cursory and puzzling references are made to events that that may or may not have been introduced earlier in the narrative. It's as if Malory was getting bored trying to make sense of his huge pile of assorted myth fragments and just threw everything in that was still left. Be that as it may, Galahad, Percivale, Bors, the Maimed King, and others finally found themselves gathered together at Castle Corbin, and at dinner, Joseph of Aramathie appeared, dressed as a bishop.

There followed a major scene, heavily based on the Christian mass, involving glowing babies turning into bread. Then Joseph left and Jesus came out of the holy vessel in person, and Galahad 'received his saviour'. After a mission briefing for his twelve new disciples, Jesus declared that the Sangreal would now leave Logris, never to return. He blessed them all and vanished, leaving behind some of his blood on the Spear of Longinus. Galahad did as he was told, and used the spear to heal the Maimed King, who then became a white monk.

Galahad, Percivale, and Bors then travelled by ship to the city of Sarras, where Joseph of Aramathie appeared again. Galahad was eventually made king, then died, finding 'the life of the soul', whereupon Percivale became a hermit, then soon died too. At the end of Book 17, at King Arthur's court, there was great joy at Bors' return from the quest, and he and Launcelot swore eternal friendship - "thus endeth the history of the Sangrail".

chivalry

The Code of Chivalry

I wanted to put these here because I think that there are some good ideals within the code of chivalry. Plus it's interesting to see how our ideas about chivalry and/or honor have changed with time. Sure, some of this is obviously outdated and probably not very useful, but some of it is still good advice; I'm sure you'll recognize which points are useful even today.
This page will probably not be updated any longer. I have moved, at least temporarily, to http://www.geocities.com/dronak/chivalry.html.

The Ten Commandments of the Code of Chivalry

From Chivalry by Leon Gautier

1. Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches, and shalt observe all its directions.
2. Thou shalt defend the Church.
3. Thou shalt repect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them.
4. Thou shalt love the country in the which thou wast born.
5. Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.
6. Thou shalt make war against the Infidel without cessation, and without mercy.
7. Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if they be not contrary to the laws of God.
8. Thou shalt never lie, and shall remain faithful to thy pledged word.
9. Thou shalt be generous, and give largess to everyone.
10. Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil.

The Code of Chivalry

From the Rifts: England Supplement

I'm pretty sure I got this list somewhere else, but I haven't found out where. Still, some reference is better than none, so thanks to Jeremy Treanor for giving me this one.

• Live to serve King and Country.
• Live to defend Crown and Country and all it holds dear.
• Live one's life so that it is worthy of respect and honor.
• Live for freedom, justice and all that is good.
• Never attack an unarmed foe.
• Never use a weapon on an opponent not equal to the attack.
• Never attack from behind.
• Avoid lying to your fellow man.
• Avoid cheating.
• Avoid torture.
• Obey the law of king, country, and chivalry.
• Administer justice.
• Protect the innocent.
• Exhibit self control.
• Show respect to authority.
• Respect women.
• Exhibit Courage in word and deed.
• Defend the weak and innocent.
• Destroy evil in all of its monstrous forms.
• Crush the monsters that steal our land and rob our people.
• Fight with honor.
• Avenge the wronged.
• Never abandon a friend, ally, or noble cause.
• Fight for the ideals of king, country, and chivalry.
• Die with valor.
• Always keep one's word of honor.
• Always maintain one's principles.
• Never betray a confidence or comrade.
• Avoid deception.
• Respect life and freedom.
• Die with honor.
• Exhibit manners.
• Be polite and attentive.
• Be respectful of host, women, and honor.
• Loyalty to country, King, honor, freedom, and the code of chivalry.
• Loyalty to one's friends and those who lay their trust in thee.

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Rules of Courtly Love

I wanted to put these here because I think that there are some good ideas in these sets of rules. It's also interesting to see how our ideas about love have changed with time (OK, so we don't exactly have the idea of courtly love around anymore, but still). Some of this is certainly outdated and probably not very useful, but some of it is still good advice; I'm sure you'll recognize which points are useful even today. Both lists apparently come from the same source, The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus. Thanks to Mark Lipsman for pointing out an error (now corrected) in point 2 of the second list below.

The Twelve Chief Rules in Love

From The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus

1. Thou shalt avoid avarice like the deadly pestilence and shalt embrace its opposite.
2. Thou shalt keep thyself chaste for the sake of her whom thou lovest.
3. Thou shalt not knowingly strive to break up a correct love affair that someone else is engaged in.
4. Thou shalt not chose for thy love anyone whom a natural sense of shame forbids thee to marry.
5. Be mindful completely to avoid falsehood.
6. Thou shalt not have many who know of thy love affair.
7. Being obedient in all things to the commands of ladies, thou shalt ever strive to ally thyself to the service of Love.
8. In giving and receiving love's solaces let modesty be ever present.
9. Thou shalt speak no evil.
10. Thou shalt not be a revealer of love affairs.
11. Thou shalt be in all things polite and courteous.
12. In practising the solaces of love thou shalt not exceed the desires of thy lover.

The Art of Courtly Love

From The Art of Courtly Love by Andreas Capellanus

1. Marriage is no real excuse for not loving.
2. He who is not jealous cannot love.
3. No one can be bound by a double love.
4. It is well known that love is always increasing or decreasing.
5. That which a lover takes against the will of his beloved has no relish.
6. Boys do not love until they reach the age of maturity.
7. When one lover dies, a widowhood of two years is required of the survivor.
8. No one should be deprived of love without the very best of reasons.
9. No one can love unless he is propelled by the persuasion of love.
10. Love is always a stranger in the home of avarice.
11. It is not proper to love any woman whom one would be ashamed to seek to marry.
12. A true lover does not desire to embrace in love anyone except his beloved.
13. When made public love rarely endures.
14. The easy attainment of love makes it of little value: difficulty of attainment makes it prized.
15. Every lover regularly turns pale in the presence of his beloved.
16. When a lover suddenly catches sight of his beloved his heart palpitates.
17. A new love puts an old one to flight.
18. Good character alone makes any man worthy of love.
19. If love diminishes, it quickly fails and rarely revives.
20. A man in love is always apprehensive.
21. Real jealousy always increases the feeling of love.
22. Jealousy increases when one suspects his beloved.
23. He whom the thought of love vexes eats and sleeps very little.
24. Every act of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved.
25. A true lover considers nothing good except what he thinks will please his beloved.
26. Love can deny nothing to love.
27. A lover can never have enough of the solaces of his beloved.
28. A slight presumption causes a lover to suspect his beloved.
29. A man who is vexed by too much passion usually does not love.
30. A true lover is constantly and without intermission possessed by the thought of his beloved.
31. Nothing forbids one woman being loved by two men or one man by two women.

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Links for More Information

• A Code of Chivalry -- Modern, based on the "Old Code" by Brian R. Price
• Glencove Castle -- has links to lots of information on chivalry and medieval times
• The Order of the Knights of Dawn -- "a chivalry order of modern times", they promote the values of medieval Knighthood in a more modern way
• Heraldry on the Internet -- Lots of good info and links. Not exactly chivalry, but it's related and I enjoy it. :)
• A Heraldic Primer from the SCA, partly under construction.
• Tempus Peregrinator's Little Heraldry Book

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Note regarding Coats of Arms for a family surname: if you go by the usual rules, only the direct male descendants of a man who bore Arms are allowed to use those Arms (and some rules are even more strict than that). The family arms that are relatively easily found are just Arms that belonged to someone with the same surname as you in the past. This also why you can find different Arms for the same family name. There is no genealogical link implied by family arms and so technically you can't use those Arms as your own and have them recognized by the heraldry world as yours. I have found three different Arms for the Marshall name so far; here are pictures for the interested: coat 1 version 1, coat 1 version 2, coat 2, and coat 3. Thanks to Greg Marshall for pointing out that the first coat is English (not Irish like I thought), the second belongs to Marshall Sellaby, County Durham, and Chelsea, Middlesex, and the third is that of a gentleman or esquire as indicated by the helm. If I can't find an ancestor with Arms to claim for my own, which will probably be the case, then I will look into having Arms created and registered for my use, most likely by the American College of Heraldry. If I do that at some point, I will try to make sure I get an image of those Arms up here.

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James Marshall
marshall@astro.umd.edu (plain ASCII text only, please, here's why)
This page was last updated on April 9, 2002.

This page has been accessed 434,360 times since 13-Oct-96 CronCount
(actually it's since 3-May-1997, because that's when this page was created)

View standard disclaimer for my personal web pages.

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knighthood

Knight
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The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince.

For the chess piece, see knight (chess).

The term knight from the High Middle Ages referred to armed equestrians of royalty and high nobility, in particular heavy cavalry. From the 13th century, the rank of some knights became hereditary. Concurrently, Militant monastic orders were established during the time of the crusades, and from the 14th century imitated by numerous chivalric orders. The British honours system originates with the chivalric Order of the Garter, and has diversified into various other orders since the 17th century.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 History
* 2 Early heavy cavalry
* 3 Becoming a Knight
* 4 Knighthood and the Feudal system
* 5 Chivalric code
* 6 Military-monastic orders
* 7 Chivalric orders
* 8 Honorific orders
* 9 External links
* 10 Literature

[edit]

History


The word knight derives from Old English cniht, meaning page boy, or servant (as is still the case in the cognate Dutch and German knecht), or simply boy. Knighthood, as Old English cnihthad, had the meaning of adolescence, i.e. the period between childhood and manhood. The sense of (adult) lieutenant of a king or other superior dates to ca. 1100. From the time of Henry III, a knight bachelor was a member of the lower nobility, preceded by the knight banneret, a commander of ten or more lances who could lead his men under his own banner, but who didn't have the rank of baron or earl. The knights bachelor did not wear any insignia until 1296. The verb "to knight", i.e. to bestow knighthood, dates to that time (the late 13th century).
Two late 13th / early 14th century knights, wearing full mail armour and great helms at a joust (Codex Manesse).

During the 14th century, the concept became tied to cavalry, mounted and armoured soldiers, and thus to the earlier class of noble Roman warriors known as equites (see esquire). Because of the cost of equipping oneself in the cavalry, the term became associated with wealth and social status, and eventually knighthood became a formal title. The concept, together with the notion of chivalry came to full bloom during the Hundred Years' War. During the same period, however, the importance of heavy cavalry was rendered obsolete by improved pikemen and Longbow tactics (a bitter lesson for the nobility, learned throughout the 14th century at battles like those of Crécy, Bannockburn and Laupen), so that during the 14th century, the notion of chivalry became a nostalgic reconstruction almost as soon as it came into fashion. The "knights in shining armour" of the 15th and 16th centuries, by that time in full plate armour, were mostly confined to the jousting grounds, and the romantic Pas d'Armes. The chess piece was named in this period, around 1440. Via the transitional Cuirassiers of the 16th century, cavalry resurfaced once again in light, unarmoured form, in the 17th century, but by now useless for attacking entrenched infantry, and not any longer associated with knighthood. Knighthood as a purely formal title bestowed by the British monarch unrelated to military service was established in the 16th century.
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Early heavy cavalry
The oldest known relief of a heavily armoured cavalryman, from the Sassanid empire, at Taq-i Bostan, near Kermanshah, Iran (4th century)

The origin of heavily armoured cavalry (Cataphractes) lies in Sassanid Persia, and medieval chivalry absorbed many Persian traditions in the course of the Perso-Byzantine wars. For example, Ammianus Marcellinus, a Roman general and historian, who served in the army of Constantius II in Gaul and Persia, fought against the Persians under Julian the Apostate and took part in the retreat of his successor, Jovian. He describes the Persian knight as:

"All their companies clad in iron, and all parts of their bodies were covered with thick plates, so fitted that the stiff joints conformed with those of their limbs; and forms of the human faces were so skillfully fitted to their heads, that since their entire bodies were covered with metal, arrows that fell upon them could lodge only where they could see a little through tiny openings opposite the pupil of the eye, or where through the tips of their noses they were able to get a little breath."

"The Persians opposed us serried bands of mail-clad horsemen in such close order that the gleam of moving bodies covered with closely fitting plates of iron dazzled the eyes of those who looked upon them, while the whole throng of horses was protected by coverings of leather."

An Equestrian (Latin eques, plural equites) was a member of one of the two upper social classes in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. This class is often translated as Knight or Chevalier. The social position of knights and equestrians, however, was extremely similar, equestrians being the nearest Roman equivalent to Medieval nobility, the tax farming system closely approaching feudalism without actually being identical due to inherent differences in the social structure.

Up to the 5th century, Sarmatian cavalry units were stationed in Britain as part of the Roman army (see Roman departure from Britain), allowing for a direct influence of Roman Cataphractes on Migration Age Europe. According to a theory of Littleton and Thomas (1978), the legend of King Arthur, the prototypical knight of High Medieval literature, was directly inspired by these Sarmatian troops (however, it is most likely that the only reason we view Arthur and his retainers as knights was simply because the Arthurian Cycle became popular in a time in which knighthood was predominant).
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Becoming a Knight

During the High Middle Ages, it was technically possible for every free man to become a knight, but the process of becoming (and the equipping of) a knight was very expensive; thus it was more likely that a knight would come from a noble (or wealthy) family.

The process of being knighted began before adolescence, inside the prospective knight’s own home, where he was taught courtesy and appropriate manners. Around the age of 7 years, he would be sent away to train and serve at a grander household as a page. Here, he would serve as a kind of waiter and personal servant, entertaining and serving food to his elders. He would learn basic hunting and falconry, and also various battle skills such as taking care of, preparing, and riding horses, as well as use of weapons and armour.

At about fourteen years of age, the page was assigned to a knight to serve as his personal companion and aide, as a squire. This allowed the squire to observe his master while he was in battle, in order to learn from his techniques. He also acted as a servant to the knight, taking care of his master’s equipment and horse. This was to uphold the knight’s code that promoted generosity, courtesy, compassion, and most importantly, loyalty.

Once the squire had established sufficient mastery of the required skills, he was dubbed a knight. There was no set age for this, but it usually occurred between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one. In the early period, the procedure began with the squire praying into the night. He was then bathed, and in the morning he was dressed in a white shirt, gold tunic, purple cloak, and was knighted by his king or lord. As the Middle Ages progressed, the process changed. The squire was made to vow that he would obey the regulations of chivalry, and never flee from battle. Then women would buckle on his armour. A squire could also be knighted on the battlefield, in which a lord simply struck him on the shoulder and said, “Be thou a knight”.
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Knighthood and the Feudal system

Knighthood was closely connected with the feudal system. Originating largely in what later became known as France, this was a social organisation in which warfare and the protection of the common people became the specialised skill of a select group. Instead of having them paid in cash — of which everyone, even the monarch, was short — they were paid in land. These rather extensive pieces of land were the fiefs. Though a fief did not have to be land — it could be any payment — it is generally thought of as the land that the knights were given as payment for service to the king. The knights were economically supported by peasants who worked to produce food and ideologically supported by the contemporary church.

Sometimes these knights were the noble themselves and sometimes men they hired, because noblemen were disinclined or unable to fight. In times of war or national disorder the monarch would typically call all the knights together to do their annual service of fighting. This could be against internal threats to the nation or in defensive and offensive wars against other nations.

As time went by, monarchs began to prefer standing (permanent) armies because they could be used for longer periods of time, were more professional and were generally more loyal; partly because those noblemen who were themselves knights, or who sent knights to fight, were prone to use the monarch's dependency on their resources to manipulate him. This move from knights to standing armies had two important outcomes: the regular payment of "scutage" to monarchs by noblemen (a money payment instead of actually going to fight as a knight) which would strengthen the concept and practice of taxation, and a general decrease in military discipline in knights, who became more interested in their country estates and chivalric pursuits, including art and sport.

Originally, knighthood could be bestowed on a man by a knight commander, but it was generally considered more prestigious to be dubbed a knight by the hand of a monarch or royalty; the monarch eventually acquired the exclusive right to confer knighthoods. By about the late 13th century, partly in conjunction with the focus on courtly behavior, a code of conduct and uniformity of dress for knights began to evolve. Knights were eligible to wear a white belt and golden spurs as signs of their status. Moreover, knights were also required to swear allegiance — either to a liege lord or to a military order.

Knights had servants: pages and squires.
Knight in war harness, after a miniature in a psalter written and illuminated under Louis le Gros.
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Chivalric code

For more details on this topic, see chivalry.

The Knightly Virtues treated in the High Medieval chivalric romances, in essence an idealized warrior code imbued with Christian virtues, was acted out by the various chivalric orders of the 14th century and became proverbial in Early Modern times. At its center are notions of courage, loyalty and courtly love. Don Quixote of the early 17th century satirizes the clash of such grand ideals of privileged nobility with the more prosaic post-medieval reality.
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Military-monastic orders

For more details on this topic, see Military order.

* Knights Hospitaller, founded during the First Crusade
* Order of Saint Lazarus established ca. 1100, abolished 1830
* Knights Templar, founded 1118, disbanded 1307
* Teutonic knights, founded ca. 1190, ruling Prussia until 1525

Other orders were established in the Iberian peninsula in imitation of the orders in the Holy Land, in Avis in 1143, in Alcantara in 1156, in Calatrava in 1158, in Santiago in 1164.
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Chivalric orders

For more details on this topic, see Chivalric order.

After the failure of the crusades, the crusading orders became idealized and romanticized, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, as reflected in the Arthurian romances of the time. D'Arcy Boulton (1987) classifies the chivalric orders of the 14th and 15th centuries into the following categories:

1. Monarchical Orders, with the presidency attached to a monarch, such as the Order of the Garter and the Order of the Golden Fleece
2. Confraternal Orders:

* Princely Orders, founded by princes; most of these were founded in imitation of the Golden Fleece, after 1430.
1. Order of Saint George, founded by Charles I of Hungary in 1325/6
2. Order of Saint Catherine, founded by Humbert, Dauphin du Viennois in ca. 1335
3. Order of St. Anthony, founded by Albrecht I of Bavaria in 1384
4. Society of the Eagle, founded by Albrecht von Habsburg in 1433
5. Society of Our Lady (also known as the Order of the Swan), founded by Friedrich II of Brandenburg in 1440
6. Order of Saint Hubert, founded by Gerhard V of Jülich and Berg in 1444
7. Order of the Crescent, founded by René d'Anjou in 1448
8. Society of Staint Jerome, founded by Friedrich II of Wettin in 1450
* Baronial Orders, like the Order of Saint Hubert (Barrois, (1422)) and the Noble Order of Saint George of Rougemont (Franche-Comté, 1440)

3. Fraternal Orders, formed ad-hoc for a certain enterprise

1. the Compagnie of the Black Swan, founded by 3 princes and 11 knights in Savoy (1350)
2. the Corps et Ordre du Tiercelet, founded by the vicomte de Thouars and 17 barons in Poitou (1377–1385)
3. Ourdre de la Pomme d'Or, founded by 14 knights in Auvergne (1394)
4. Alliance et Compagnie du Levrier, founded by 44 knights in the Barrois (1416–1422), subsequently converted into the Confraternal order of Saint Hubert (see above).

4. Votive Orders, temporarily formed on the basis of a vow; these were courtly chivalric games rather than actual pledges as in the case of the fraternal orders; three are known from their statutes

1. Emprise de l'Escu vert à la Dame Blanche (Enterprise of the green shield with the white lady), founded by Jean le Maingre dit Boucicaut and 12 knights in 1399 for the duration of 5 years
2. Emprise du Fer de Prisonnier (Enterprise of the Prisoner's Iron), founded by Jean de Bourbon and 16 knights in 1415 for the duration of 2 years
3. Enterprise of the Dragon, founded by Jean comte de Foix for 1 year.

5. Cliental Pseudo-Orders, without statutes or restricted memberships, these were princes' retinues fashionably termed "orders"

1. Ordre de la Cosse de Genêt (Order of the Broom-Pod), founded by Charles VI of France ca. 1388
2. Order of the camail or Porcupine, created by Louis d'Orléans in 1394
3. Order of the Dove, Castile, 1390
4. Order of the Scale of Castile, ca. 1430
5. Order of the Thistle of Scotland

6. Honorific Pseudo-Orders, without statutes, these were honorific insignia bestowed on knights on festive occasions, consisting of nothing but the badge

1. Order of the Holy Sepulchre, bestowed to knights who made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, since the 15th century.
2. Knights of Saint Catherine of Mount-Sinai, similar to the above, bestowed from the 11th to the 15th century
3. Order of the Golden Spur, a papal order
4. Knights of the Bath, in England. (recreated in 1725)

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Honorific orders

From roughly 1560, purely honorific orders were established, designed as a way to confer prestige and distinction, unrelated to military service or chivalry in the more narrow sense. Such orders were particularly popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, and knighthood continues to be conferred in various countries:

* The United Kingdom (see British honours system) and some Commonwealth countries;
* Most European countries, such as The Netherlands (see below).
* Malaysia — see Malay titles;
* Thailand;
* The Holy See — see [1].

There are other monarchies and also republics that also follow the practice. Modern knighthoods are typically awarded in recognition for services rendered to society, services which are no longer necessarily martial in nature. The musician Elton John, for example, is entitled to call himself Sir Elton. The female equivalent is a Dame.

Accompanying the title is the given name, and optionally the surname. So, Elton John may be called Sir Elton or Sir Elton John, but never Sir John. Similarly, actress Judi Dench D.B.E. may be addressed as Dame Judi or Dame Judi Dench, but never Dame Dench. Wives of knights, however, are entitled to the honorific "Lady" before their husband's surname. Thus Sir Paul McCartney's wife is styled Lady McCartney, not Lady Paul McCartney or Lady Heather McCartney. The style Dame Heather McCartney could be used; however, this style is largely archaic and is only used in the most formal of documents.

State Knighthoods in the Netherlands are issued in three orders, the Order of William, the Order of the Dutch Lion, and the Order of Orange Nassau. Additionally there remain a few hereditary knights in The Netherlands.
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External links

* "Rock Carvings of the Sassanian Kings"
* History of Orders of Chivalry. Heraldica. URL accessed on June 18, 2005.
* Almanach de Chivalry