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

squire was closer to the knight than he was to the ignoble. The Poll Tax ot 1379 had a
similar demarcation. Like 'knight', the term 'squire' had begun as a title of servitude,
but became an honorific, indicating a nobility and standing in society.
POLITICAL AND JUDICIAL FUNCTIONS
Knighthood had always had the connotation of service, but that service was not wholly
restricted to wielding lance and sword. The household knight might serve in his lord's
domus, his civilian household, as well as his familia, the military one, especially if the
lord was ot royal blood. Just as there were the military ranks of marshal and constable,
so too were there civilian positions, such as that of the chamberlain, the man who was
in overall charge of the civilian household and its finances, or the seneschal, who
was primarily concerned with the management of servants and the organization
of feasting and ceremonial events. Jean de Joinville, the lord who recorded Louis IX's
ill-fated crusades into Egypt, was the king's seneschal, for example, and clearly a man
ot no mean estate. Other duties and positions might also be undertaken by those of
knightly rank. A wide range of administrative posts fell to the knightly classes, such
as foresters, who managed the private hunting parks of the nobility and kings, or local
administrators such as the sheriff, hailli, or bailiff (the latter the equivalent of the
sheriff in northern France, confusingly known as a seneschal in the Languedoc region
of southern France).
Even if the knight had no specific title or function within the domus, that did not
mean he had no role to play in its activities. Those present in the household would be
asked to bear witness to the documented business of their lords. These witness lists to
charters can be an important and informative source in their own right, indicating
who was present in a particular court and, because the witnesses are listed in order of
precedence, their standing.
In his letter to William V, Count of Aquitaine, describing the duties lords and
vassals owed to each other, Bishop Fulbert of Chartres noted that it was the duty of
the vassal to support his lord not only in arms but also through consilium, his advice.
Effectively the vassal might be called upon to offer his opinion on any matter his lord
cared to question him on. Amongst the magnates of the realm this was not just a duty
but a right. In England the leading barons and the senior churchmen expected to
receive a personal summons from the king to attend court (an honour, as we have
seen, accorded to some amongst the knights banneret). Their status and honour
demanded that their voice be heard. This might explain why the command ot
medieval armies appears so chaotic and collegiate; the great men were used to being