Medieval Knights: What Are Medieval Knights?

By the time of the Crusades in Medieval Europe, Knights were nothing out of the ordinary. A knight's training began at around four or five. It involved them learning how to ride a pony. Around the age of eight, the young trainee would be sent to be a page for a lord or a relative with influence. At this point, they would refine their swordsmanship, improve their horse skills, and would be taught more about their religion. At the age of 14, pages were eligible to become a squire, where they continued their sword fighting skills. They would accompany a knight into a battle, care for him, care for his horses, and would simply hope to be chosen to

The first recognized group of knights evolved during the Crusades. There was several different groups of them including the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, the Order of the Temple of Solomon, and the Order of St. Lazarus. While they were all considered knights each group had a different task and set of goals to accomplish. Not all of them fought in battles and saved princesses and kingdoms. For example, the Order of St. Lazarus had the unique duty of protecting the leper hospitals. Knights served more like the police officers and army of today combined under one category. The closest they became to the ideal

The word knight got this name from the Old English word cniht. The Knight’s duty were very similar to the samurai's. They were hired to protect land and the people that owned the land. They also had a code like the samurai. This code stuck them to their duties and made sure that they kept their morals. Knights controlled land and the land was managed by the peasants of the kingdom. It was the peasants who mostly fought the battles instead of the knights. The knights led the peasants into the battle they fought.

To be a knight, his fitness level had to be exceptional enough to last through a long, intense battle. Knights had to face a variety of challenges and were expected to handle them as any knight would. For example, some battles would last long periods of times, so these knights were expected to handle different weather changes, tiredness, and hungriness. The most important qualification that a knight had to have was modeling bravery due to the extreme battles that would be fought. Through these long battles, knights had to stay positive and not give up for what they are fighting for.

Knights are one of the most mistaken figures of the medieval era due to fairytales and over exaggerated fiction novels. When medieval knights roamed the earth, it was known that they were only human and, like humans, had faults. These knights did not always live up to the standards designated by society. However, in The Canterbury Tales, the knight is revealed as a character that would now be considered a knight in shining armor, a perfect role model in how he acts and what he does. Modern day people see them as chivalrous figures instead of their actual role as mounted cavalry soldiers. As time passes, the idea of what a knight is changes from a simple cavalry soldier to a specific type of behavior.

At first knights and soldiers in the armies were of little social status. “Many knights in fact possessed little more than peasants” (Spielvogel 244). War was looked as kind of a barbaric act in the beginning and many knights could be found fighting each other. While some of this was tolerated, as they were seen as “defenders of society”, the Catholic Church decided that there should be some ground rules. At the start of the eleventh century, the church urged knights to take an oath to protect churches, and to not harm noncombatants. These rules allowed for battles to follow a civil path and to be carried out in a noble way.

In ancient times there was a hierarchy and as a knight, everything was done to serve the lord of the realm. To be a knight is to have honor and uphold oneself in a manner that's respectable. A knight is a representative of his kingdom and his lord, and he must conduct himself in a manner that is pleasing to his king. A knight must also seek out glory for his kingdom. So to obtain riches, land, or conquer

“The Knights Tale” is the first tale in Geoffrey Chaucers “The Canterbury Tales”. The story introduces various typical aspects of the knighthood such as chivalry, ethical dilemmas, and courtly love. Knights all have this characteristic which they call the code that they portray through out the tale. In Geoffrey Chaucers “The Knights Tale” is an effort on the knight’s part to preserve a virtuous code.

In warfare today weapons have improved in accuracy and ease of use. With the simple pull of a trigger a soldier can take down his/her intended target. Rather than knights trying disarm their objective with a sword. With the ability to shoot long range it removes the necessity to ride horses, while in battle, to move quicker and more efficiently. However, the way one trains to defend for the common good is similar. Comparatively both knights and soldiers have to go through some degree of training to reach their rank. Although, to be a knight the men must have been born into nobility and women could not fight. While anyone over the age 18 can fight in current day. However, to be knight a young boy would start learning at the age of seven and would continue learning up to the age of 21. Where a soldier today will start training and only train for a couple months to possibly a year.

Since governments were powerless to deal with invasions, a political and military system called feudalism was formed to death with murderous raids. Under feudalism, monarchs gave much of their land to provide warriors on horseback (knights in shining armor) to combat the invaders. The key military weapon from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries were the armored knight on horseback, this struggle was to protect nobles, lands, and horses. The castle was developed to perform that function for the kingdom and the monarchy too. To protect themselves from sudden raids these strongholds were the first castles. Feudalism and castles were established all over Europe. As the outside threats faded, nobles fought power struggles with each other and with monarchs anxious to restore central authority into the Kingdom. A castle was a fortified home. It was designed to be defended by a small group of soldiers. The medieval castle provided a base the local countryside,

Knights, were from the medieval era. At age twelve or thirteen a boy born in to nobility would become a squire. They became assistants to knights, they would look after the knight's armor and weapons. They would be able to follow the knight in to battle and learn the use of the weapons. When the knights were in tournaments, the squire was the only person allowed to help him. Once the squire was old and skilled enough, he would become a knight himself.

The medieval period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century, which was a time of war, destruction and death. Knights and Samurai were two highly ranked warriors during the Medieval period. Knights were highly skilled warriors, who were brave and noble who fought to protect their kingdom. The life of a Medieval Knight was a preferable life than a Samurai because Knights had no punishment for not following the code of Chivalry and were more protected in battle. A Knights protective armour, experienced training, well-paid finances and code of conduct are what made a Knight so successful.

The knights were the warriors of the time period in between the fall of Rome and the beginning of the Renaissance, also known as the Middle Ages. Knights had to undergo years of training starting as a young boy. Though they were well trained, knights still needed protection. To protect themselves, knights would wear complex armor that usually took over an hour to put on, and often needed the help of his squire. In order to fight well, weapons were essential. A knight’s weapons were sharp and durable. Horses were also crucial to the survival of a knight. France, England, and Germany yielded many famous knights throughout history.

To become a knight in the Medieval world, it had taken a lot of training.Their training had started when the knight was seven years old. While there training,they would have to spend time with the ladies of the castle. They were called pages.In this time the women's if the castle taught the page how to dance, play songs, and sing.After seven years of being a page, the page becomes a squire. They would practice on how to fight, and learn how to take care of horses. After this around there early twenties, they could be crowned knight.Becoming a knight had taken a long period of time, but came with great rewards.The Church was able to say anything and make it a religious order.When the Black Plague had hit, and the Flagellant movement had started

Before the comparison battle can begin, we must learn of the now ancient background of the knightly system and how it came to be. The biggest contributor and kick start of knighthood was Duke William of Normandy. “After the