The Medieval Period in England

The Middle Ages come into being around A.D. 500, which was after the western half of the Roman Empire collapsed. They lasted to about A.D.1400 and are referenced to as a period of time that experienced violence by Barbaric invasion, feudalism, disease, and strong feelings for faith. The Dark Ages, the Age of Feudalism and the Age of Faith are all appropriate titles, however the label that best fits is the Age of Faith because of the political, economic and social influence the church held.

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

Ian Mortimer uses his book The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century to describe how one might live in the fourteenth century. This book covers a wide range of topics from what one might see and smell when approaching a city, to what one might wear, to how to stay alive. Mortimer’s clever use of a travel guide inspired book lends itself to a much wider audience. The evidence presented in this book is both engaging and intriguing, and provides easy reading for academics and non-academics both.

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.

In The Canterbury Tales, the knight is a modern type of knight. Although the description of this character’s personality is vague, it is not hard for modern day people to visualize him. In the prologue, it mentions that the knight follows the five basic ideals that a good knight should possess: “chivalry, Truth, honour, generousness, and courtesy” (Chaucer 4). The knight fought in the Crusades, wars in which Europeans traveled by sea to non-Christian places and tried to convert people’s culture by brute force, which was considered noble and brave hearted. From his love of the five basics ideals previously mentioned to his impressive military career, the knight is a perfect example of how a knight should be represented. Indirectly, the tale is discussing both the knight and the idea of how a knight should be. The tale does not describe much about the knight as in physical appearances and characteristics of this knight but as the tale comes to an end, the book starts to unfold how this story connects with this character. The tale itself is not important yet it’s what the tale represents that is important, such as pursuing courtly love, risking death, and respecting women. All of the previously mentioned attributes are ones that knights should possess to achieve expected standards.

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

As the Roman empire fell, a new era unfolded. This era was known as The Middle Ages, also referred to as the Dark Ages. The Middle Ages was the time period between the fall of Rome and the beginning of the Renaissance. Starting in 476 AD and ending in 1500 AD, this time period was long, cruel, and consisted of many different events. The Middle Ages was a dark time because of the Viking raids, bubonic plague, cruel punishments, and a feudalistic society.

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.

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.

In medieval Europe it was a dangerous and fearless time, as being a knight you weren’t the most outstanding class in the feudal system but you got well looked after.

It was not easy to become a knight. They started off by becoming a page. A noble's son could start training to be a knight when he was seven years old. Nobles' sons had to train with weapons of course, but they also had to learn how to ride a horse, how to behave towards their liege lords and ladies, and even about music and the other arts. It was just like going to school, only their teachers were the squires. Once they reached a certain point in their training, they would be appointed as a squire. A squire, who was generally a teenager, had a different set of duties. They had to teach the pages of course, but they also had to wait on the knights. They continued their training in battle, but also were assigned to a specific knight who completed their training. As a squire you went into battle with the knight and fought at his side. This

Ideas that have been taught in many societies since the first civilizations of Mesopotamia to the world now are duty, loyalty and bravery. No period relied on these ideas more than the Middle Ages time of Europe. The European societies were based on the nature of feudalism. Feudalism worked if everyone in the society did their duty and gave loyalty to everyone above the on the social latter. The knight was the backbone of the feudal society. He was the protector of the heavenly Lord, their lady and the earthly lord. The roles and duties of the knight are quotes as, “the most noble knight under Christ, And the loveliest lades that lived on earth ever, and he the comeliest king, that the court holds.” (P. 26) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight gives a perspective to view life from the courtly aspect of the European feudal

The Medieval Squire was a servant to a knight during the Middle Ages. The role to a squire was one of the most important steps to Knighthood and started when a page reached the age of fourteen years old. The duties of a Squire were to learn about Chivalry, the rules of Heraldry, horsemanship and practise the use of weapons and the skills required of a Knight. It was also their duty to enter into the social life of the castle and learn courtly etiquette, jousting, music and dancing. The Squire served in this role for seven years and became a Knight at the age of twenty-one. In time of war Squires accompanied Knights on the battlefield, leading and tending the horses and dressing them in the Medieval Knights

By The Middle Ages, one understands a relatively long historical period extending from the end of the Roman Empire to the 1500's. The conquest of The Roman Empire by Germanic tribes, and synthesis of Germanic and Roman ways of life formed the civilization which we call medieval (medieval-from Latin words; medium (middle) and aevum (age)). Medieval civilization was greatly influenced by the Muslims in Spain and The Middle East, and by Byzantine Empire and Christians in Southeast Europe.