Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

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circumstances he might be at a disadvantage. The armour he wore was purpose built and represented the finest in medieval engineering and craftsmanship. The knight had to be fit, to be sure, but his armour by no means rendered him immobile. The knight was the complete warrior of the middle ages. Not surprisingly, the popular image of the knight is an almost wholly martial one, but the knight was far more than just a warrior. The knight was a part of a martial elite largely because he and his companions formed the social and political elite too. This gave him not only the finances and resources to equip himself with the armour, weapons and mounts that made him so formidable, but also the leisure to be able to train and hone his skills in the hunt and on the battlefield. It also gave him a sense of his own superiority; the arrogance of the knight could lead him to achieve tremendous things but also to make tremendous errors. Understanding the knight's place in society and politics is a more difficult proposition than understanding his military function, but it is no less important. Not only could he be a landowner administering his own estates, he might also serve as a royal officer, acting as juror or judge or a commissioner performing administrative tasks that seem far removed from his martial background. Just as his martial appearance evolved so too did his social status. In the 1 1th century knights were little more than armed servants, their status low. By the 12th century they had risen up the ranks and every lord was a knight (even if every knight was not a lord). By the end of the 13th century the ordinary knight was being called upon to advise monarchs in parliaments. By the 14th century the distinction of the knightly class was already being eroded as lesser men - the esquires and gentry' — began to live, serve and behave as the knight did. By the 16th century these lesser men were being knighted, whilst others achieved the same status by service within royal households that now prized courtliness and political acumen over martial ability. The knight had a rich and vrbrant culture. He was both literate and intellectual. Many knights were writers, and have left us with tales of great deeds or chronicles of the events they had witnessed and people they knew. Others produced legal and religious discourses which show a contemplative and sensitive nature that belies the brutality of their vocation. Their money was spent on fine clothing, music and gardens as much as on fine arms, armour and horses. Of course there was a link between their cultural tastes and martial background. Many of the tales that they listened to were about the deeds of mythical heroes and champions performing great deeds of valour in battle. But these characters were lovers as well as fighters. The stories are often as much about the ladies they loved as about the battles they fought. They can have a religious element too. The Church increasingly sought to redirect and limit the violence and vanity of the warrior by shaping knightly culture in an image more pleasing to itself. INTRODUCTION - 9
KNIGHT The lists at the Eglinton Tournament, 1839. 'I am aware that it was a very humble imitation of the scenes which my imagination had portrayed, but I have, at least, done something towards the revival of chivalry,' said the 13th Earl of Eglinton, who organized this piece of romantic theatre that typifies the modern romantic image of knighthood. (Mary Evans Picture Library) 10 A KNIGHT BY ANY OTHER NAME The knight, therefore, performed a wide variety of functions and roles. But not all knights performed all functions, and some roles were also performed by those who cannot otherwise be considered knights. As a result how we define a knight is not
Page 1 and 2: The Warrior and World of Chivalry R
Page 3 and 4: iCS.
Page 5 and 6: First published in Great Britain in
Page 9: 8 THERE CAN BE NO WARRIOR QUITE SO
Page 13 and 14: 12 KNIGHT THE AGE OF THE MEDIEVAL K
Page 15 and 16: 14 KNIGHT CHRONOLOGY What follows i
Page 17 and 18: 1202-04 The Fourth Crusade. Origina
Page 19 and 20: France. There are several key campa
Page 21 and 22: KNIGHT Opposite: The top left corne
Page 23 and 24: Given these apparent similarities i
Page 25 and 26: KNIGHT Opposite: Carolingian soldie
Page 27 and 28: 26 KNIGHT the incomes to afford to
Page 30 and 31: CHAPTER ONE ARMS AND ARMOUR
Page 32 and 33: iblical subjects in contemporary cl
Page 34 and 35: terms (after all the compiler of th
Page 36 and 37: padding being used to protect the t
Page 38 and 39: which had been developing along the
Page 40 and 41: Greek Corinthian helmet. Sallets co
Page 42 and 43: stopped the wearer's head from bein
Page 44 and 45: decorating. The shield was held by
Page 46 and 47: there may be others which cannot be
Page 48: made stronger without a huge increa
Page 51 and 52: normal sharp points. Some tournamen
Page 53 and 54: hen in March of 1095 Pope Urban II
Page 55 and 56: loricati and armati, mail-clad' or
Page 57 and 58: KNIGHT The fluting on this gothic a
Page 59 and 60: skirt, the underlying mail chausses
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60 KNIGHT weapon impacts on real ar
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The knight would have different hor
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Windsor Park in 1278. In the 1322 i
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CONTRARY TO THE POPULAR IMAGE KNIGH
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KNIGHT The high pommel and cantle o
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eins. It is clear that it is intend
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KNIGHT Combat in a 13th-century Ger
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it seems clear that retinues would
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... teams of equal numbers first ru
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earlier, Wace writes that the Norma
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KNIGHT Knights awaiting the start o
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A similar device, but for mounted c
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hedgerows, barns, hills and the tow
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English knights at a disadvantage a
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imit^S^VWSEqVES'BRrrANNLVSWXAElATK
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CHAPTER THREE CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE
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the raising of a royal field army t
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separate organizations drawn from s
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not that behind; presumably the sti
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With its snub nose and double chin,
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supported by Geoffrey de Brabant. T
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THE ARMY ON THE MARCH Many of the i
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with limited objectives, if any, be
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• * / h M / Images of the battle
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of wine, dozens of herds of live ca
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have seen, were self contained, wit
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made this a practical proposition.
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crusaders even threw the heads of c
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BATTLE In comparison to sieges and
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of Northallerton in 1138 the priest
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A 15th-century depiction of Agincou
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dttrnutir.'Xaefatrami r^Wuutrma era
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himself as a scholar. Similarly, th
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numerous nobles, gleaming with gold
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of his charge, the savagery and pow
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fought in 1461, showed a blade woun
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and facing a renewed attack in thei
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(as opposed to rebellion) was consi
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the survival of a number of great h
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THE MODERN USE OF THE WORD CHIVALRY
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shame, striving with the skill of y
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KNIGHT The Song of Roland is the ea
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KNIGHT Roger Mortimer, one of the f
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hen the theologians Augustine of Hi
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Hastings a set of penances was impo
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KNIGHT In a treaty on virtue and vi
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exposing his body to execute and ac
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160 KNIGHT A royal crusader, marked
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'WMItwm^.i CHIVALRY: THE KNIGHTLY C
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Indeed similar conversations were p
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marriage, such quarterings could be
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These were not individual symbols i
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Ulrich von Lichtenstein, depicted i
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were believed to be culturally infe
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eturned. In 1139, during the war be
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from sacking the town for much the
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THE KNIGHT WAS DEFINED BY HIS MARTI
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182 KNIGHT The seal of Henry II of
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squire was closer to the knight tha
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KNIGHT The royal court was a curiou
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ill-educated and uncultured individ
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0younger son of a minor nobleman wh
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KNIGHT Devotional works were not al
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KNIGHT Games like chess and backgam
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the tips of their toes where the bo
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he Black Prince's reputation as a c
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KNIGHT The secular orders each had
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BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD: THE KNIGHT
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BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD: THE KNIGHT
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would become over-tired. The quarry
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CHAPTER SIX THE DEATH OF KNIGHTHOOD
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men had been adopting them without
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KNIGHT By the time the Landsknecht
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e struggles between the Italian cit
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only for the tournament and pageant
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JtoimP^
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224 aketon arret de la cuiradde ave
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226 KNIGHT pell poleyn quintain rer
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228 KNIGHT The Rule of the Templars
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Liddiard, R. (ed.), Anglo-Norman Ca
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Cuhna, E. and Silva, Ana Maria, 'Wa
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Sherborne, J. W., 'Indentured retin
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KNIGHT champions 82 Chandos, Sir Jo
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KNIGHT Knights Templar, Order of 13
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KNIGHT sumptuary law (1363) 183-4,
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Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

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