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

KNIGHT
Pillaging and looting were
an inevitable aspect of
warfare, and even the
most chivalrous were not
above indulging. (© British
Library)
174
chivalry and knighting him. This story may have had a basis in fact; it was recorded
in one eyewitness account of the siege of Acre that a knight Henry of Tolon, who had
been accused of being overly familiar with the Muslims, had knighted Saladin. Richard
the Lionheart knighted Saladin's nephew, the son of Al-Adil his brother and emissary
to the Christians, after the two men struck up a friendship and mutual respect during
iheir negotiations. The gesture was returned by Al-Adil in August 1192 when he sent
two Arab stallions to Richard during his defence ol Jaffa after hearing that there was
a shortage of horses amongst the crusaders. He did so 'as a token of his admiration' in
order that Richard might continue the fight on horseback.
The idealism of chivalry was tempered by the pragmatism of the warrior and the
practicalities of waging war. The strong current of Christian piety that ran through
high medieval chivalry and the Church's influence in its tenets and development should
have ensured that churches remained sacrosanct and the defenceless protected. Even
a cursory study of medieval campaigns shows that this was far from the case.
Churches were repositories of wealth and as such were a great temptation to
armies. For many commanders they were sources of revenue essential for keeping
their armies in the field. During his campaign against his father in 1183 Henry the
Young King stripped the altars, statutes and reliquaries ol several abbeys in the
Limoges region to pay for his mercenary troops. It was not just the Church's own
wealth and relics that were on offer. Churches were usually the strongest and most
easily defended building in a region, and during times of strife it was normal for people
to seek shelter for themselves and their goods, making use ot this strength and also
relying on the sanctuary power of the Church. The Council of Lillebonne in 1080
allowed refugees to build homesteads in churchyards, so long as they left when peace