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

1367 before unfurling his banner for the first time, thus showing himself as a banneret
capable of supporting a retinue, despite the fact that he had been commanding his
retinue since the start of the campaign and had been a banneret tor over six years,
having received the estate ot Saint-Saveur-le-Vicomte in 1360. Certain ot the secular
orders of chivalry that grew up in the 14th century, when setting the criteria for the
various augmentations of their badges in recognition of valorous deeds of arms, often
made a point of stipulating that only in engagements where banners were raised were
the achievements valid. The Order of the Knot, created in Naples around 1350,
instructed that its members were to wear a badge of a tied knot until they had
participated in a battle in which banners were raised, against a force of at least 50
enemy, and were either the first to attack the enemy, capture their banner or beat it to
the ground, or capture the captain. After this achievment, they were entitled to wear
the knot untied.
Whilst Froissart might have been wrong in his assertion that the Black Prince and
several of his followers were knighted on the field of Crecy (in fact they had been
knighted in the church of St Vigor at Ouettehou shortly after the English army had
landed on French shores: an equally auspicious moment), it does show that the eve of
battle was considered to be a most appropriate time to dub new knights. The romances
are full of such occurrences but it also happened in reality. Guy de Namur, the leader
of the Flemish rebels at Courtrai and son of the Count of Flanders, was said to have
knighted 30 of the leaders of the urban militias on the eve of the battle. This was
topped by King James of Portugal who, on the eve of his battle against the Castihans
at Aljubarotta in 1385, knighted 60 Portuguese and English squires.
The Church was involved in the spiritual well-being of the warriors. Priests would
perform the Eucharist for troops, ensuring they were shriven in case of their death on
the field and also to fortify them for the coming battle. Most of the lordly retinues
contained priests, the chaplains who would have been a regular part of the lord's
household, and the Church routinely gave dispensations permitting knights to make
use of temporary altars so that they could celebrate Mass whilst on campaign. Joinville
tells us that during Lent of 1250 he was so sick, with both scurvy and a fever, that he
was bedridden. His priest, who seems to have been no less sick, came to his bedside
to celebrate Mass. Even here there might be practical considerations: the 12th-century
writer William of Newburgh records how Henry I hired a priest as his personal
chaplain after being impressed by the speed with which he said Mass. According to
the Norman sources, the priests who had accompanied William's army spent the night
before the battle of Hastings in vigil and prayer for victory.
Such prayers and rituals continued onto the day of battle. As the armies formed up
priests would move amongst the troops offering blessings and comfort. At the battle