Looking back: At knights in shining armour...

When reading about the great battles fought during ancient times in England, France, Germany and other countries, you may have often been fascinated by the gallantry (bravery) of various knights in shining armour.

Today we decided to enlighten you about the first knights and how people became knights in the days gone by. Even in these modern times you may be familiar with certain people who are ‘knighted’ by the Queen of England. They are not like the knights of ancient times at all, because, they are not necessarily people who have been in the battlefront.

In this day, those who are knighted by the Queen are generally those who have contributed greatly to society; two such people you would be aware of are Sir Elton John, the pop singer and the great scientist, the late Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Many people are knighted by the Queen every year and even in the past it was the king or queen who bestowed the knighthood on a person. So, let’s go back in time and find out some interesting facts about the knights of old...

When did knights live?

Knights, the noblemen who fought on horses and often lived in castles, were popular mostly during the early Middle Ages. Now, let us explain what the Middle Ages or the medieval era is.

The reason this particular time period is called the ‘Middle Ages’ is because it is between the end of the Roman Empire (in the fifth century) and the Renaissance (in the fifteenth century). The period does not have precise dates as such but, many historians say that the Middle Ages lasted from AD 500 to AD 1500.

Knights were a part of the feudal system and they helped kings win wars and govern their kingdoms. In a feudal system, the king owned all the land, but he distributed some of the land to his lords who were knights, as gifts. This gift provided the

knights with an income, but in return they had to fight for the king and help him run the kingdom.

Knights and feudalism came to be when Charlemagne, the king of the Franks, a people who occupied France and Western Germany at that time, created his empire in the ninth century. From his base at a place called Aachen, he started to build up a huge empire. In the year 800, he was given the title of Roman Emperor although the true Roman Empire had fallen some 300 years earlier.

How one became a knight

In order to become a knight, a young man had to belong to a noble family. He had to undergo long training before being knighted.

Generally, in the past, the son of a noble family did not attend school. Instead when he was about seven years old, he was sent away to be trained as a page in the household of another nobleman. Here, as a page, he was not only taught good manners, but also various skills such as carrying food to the table and serving the lord and lady of the house.

After being a page for sometime, he graduated as a squire when he became a teenager. A squire was a knight’s personal servant and helper. And what do you think a squire’s duties were? Looking after all the weapons and also tending to the horses. Most often the squire had to help his master, the knight, put on his armour. He may have also had to go into battle sometimes beside his lord in order to provide aid if the latter was wounded.

By doing all these things, the squire learnt how to behave as a knight.

A squire had to also be fit and strong and train for battle, especially know how to use a sword. So, he kept fit by practising sword play, wrestling, throwing the javelin and other sport activities. For practice, the squires often used a sword and a small round shield called a buckler.

Sometimes in order to build up strength, squires were given swords that were heavier than those actually used in battle. Pages and young squires however were given wooden swords with which to practise.

After serving as a squire for a certain period of time, he was ready to become a knight. The ceremony, at which a squire became a knight was known as dubbing. As religion played a big part in most people’s lives in the Middle Ages, a squire often spent the whole night before the dubbing ceremony at prayer in the castle chapel. This vigil was a sign that he would take his vows seriously to serve the king faithfully for the rest of his life.

During the dubbing ceremony, the squire knealt in front of his lord or the king who tapped him on the shoulder with his sword. Then the new knight was presented with a sword and spurs. Often a grand celebration was held afterwards in honour of the new knight.

In general, chivalry was a code of conduct all knights were meant to follow. Knights and squires were supposed to behave well, be considerate especially to women and courteous to all. They had to treat even their enemies with respect. But, not everyone lived up to this ideal.

Knights and horsemanship

Whether fighting, hunting or travelling, a knight spent much of his time on horseback. In fact, the horse was a knights’s most valued possession. He learnt to care for his mount when a page, while he learnt how to fight on horseback using a sword and lance, as he got older and became a squire.

Most knights had several horses that were used for different tasks. The horses used for war were known as destriers. A knight had one or two such warhorses. They were large, powerful stallions that could carry their owners swiftly into battle. The name destrier was derived from the Latin word for right, perhaps because the horse was led with its right leg into battle.

A knight controlled his horse with both his feet and hands. He placed his feet in a stirrup and used them to grip his mount. This way his hands were free to hold the reins or wield a sword or lance.

As the leather reins were connected to a ‘bit’ that was placed in the horse’s mouth, the knight was able to make his horse go slow, fast or turn a corner by changing the tension of the reins. As it was just as dangerous for a horse in battle as it was for the rider, some knights had special armour made for their warhorses.

Horse armour was usually made up of a shaffron or head-piece and a crinet, a series of metal plates that covered the neck. However, as plate armour was expensive, the rest of the horse was left unprotected.

Apart from the warhorses, a knight had a powerful horse known as the courser for hunting and another horse for travelling. Pack horses were also kept in a knight’s stable. They were used to carry luggage when the knight and his family were travelling, or when some items had to be sent across the country.

Armour and weapons

Knights went into battle well protected. In the early Middle Ages, knights wore something known as mail, or chain mail as it was sometimes called. It was a form of armour made up of thousands of tiny linked metal rings.

By varying the number of rings in a row, the armourer (skilled craftsman who made both armour and weapons) could shape mail into garments such as shirts, head coverings, leg-guards and even mittens.

Mail was popular until plate armour became fashionable in the late thirteenth century. Knights preferred plate armour to mail because it protected them much better from blows from swords and arrows, while allowing them to move with great freedom. But, as a full suit of plate armour was expensive, not everyone could afford such a suit.

Plate armour was the strongest armour of all. At a glance it seemed really heavy, but a full suit weighed little more than 20 kilograms. Comparatively a mail shirt alone could weighs 14 kilograms.

Many of the main sections of a suit of plate armour such as the part protecting the arms were made up of several smaller pieces of metal. They were joined together by flexible leather links or sliding rivets so that they could move backwards and forwards with ease.

Now if you are wondering how a knight managed to get into his suit of armour, let us explain.... Generally, the knight wore a padded jacket called an arming doublet before wearing the plate armour.

The doublet had sections of mail sewn under the arms and in other places to protect areas where there were gaps between the plates. There were also leather thongs on the padded undergarment and certain sections of the plate armour were attached to these leather thongs.

The rest were attached with leather straps and buckles, which fitted around the knight’s legs or waist. As attaching the plates was tricky business, the squire had to assist him to wear the plates.

Apart from the plates of armour worn on the body, the knights also wore special headgear to protect themselves. Helmets changed in design just like clothes. In the late fourteenth century knights often wore a helmet with a pointed visor and a collar of mail called the basinet. It offered excellent protection. But by the mid-fifteenth century, they started to wear lighter helmets known as barbutes.

Want to know about the weapons he used? A knight’s favourite weapon was the sword which could be used either on foot or from a horse. However, it was not the only weapon he used.

Having undergone training in the art of fighting for several years, he was adept at using other hand weapons such as the battle-axe, long bow and arrows, crossbow, lance, dagger, flail and mace. The mace was especially fearsome because it had raised metal ridges or spikes on it.

The flail consisted of a wooden handle linked by chain to a spiked metal ball (like the mace). A knight normally used the flail when fighting on foot. A lance which was a heavy weapon like a pole was wielded by mounted knights charging at speed. It could kill a man with a single thrust.

Usually, after the charge the knight discarded the lance and used his sword - a better weapon for close quarters fighting; a two-edged sword was used for cutting and slashing blows.

This type of weapon was effective against an enemy not wearing protective gear. In order to do serious injury to an opponent wearing mail, a knight needed a sword or dagger with a narrow, sharp point to get through one of the gaps between the metal rings.

The most feared sight on a medieval battlefield was considered to be a line of enemy knights charging directly at their opponents. Well armoured and wielding weapons mounted on powerful warhorses, they would indeed have been a sight to behold!

Now that you know who knights were and a little about their lifestyles, do you think you would have liked to live in that era and become a brave knight in shining armour?