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

duties of the knight, and he might feel
obliged to do so wherever he came across
wrongdoing. The History of William
Marshal records how the knight met a
couple on the road whilst on his way back
from pilgrimage to Cologne. The couple
turned out to be a monk and the sister of
a Flemish nobleman eloping. Determining
that they were set in their plans, William
asked how they intended to live but, when
the monk revealed that they had a purse
of money and were going to loan it at
profit, committing the grave sin of usury,
Marshal confiscated the money and sent
them on their way. The tale has something
of the medieval romance about it, with
William cast in the role of one of Arthur's
knights, righting wrongs and preserving
the divine order of society. That the money
he confiscated was spent on a fine meal for
his household and friends during which he
told the tale of how he got it, also suggests
BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD: THE KNIGHT IN MEDIEVAL SOCIETY -•
a less lofty motive behind the act, and reminds us that the knight might equally be
seen as little better than a highway robber.
For the knight service was an honour, a right and a burden, both sought out
and avoided. It was also an inevitable consequence of his position in society. As a
landholder he had the duties and privileges of lordship. As a member of a community
of warriors whose ethos focused on concepts of honour, and whose bearing of arms
imparted dignity, his word inevitably had greater weight.
LITERACY, LEARNING AND PIETY
Whilst much of the day-to-day administration and bureaucracy of both the manorial
and royal courts was conducted by clerks trained for the role in church and grammar
schools, monastic communities, universities or within the court itself, the judicial and
administrative functions the knight might be found performing also required a degree
of literacy and education. Indeed, whilst it is popular to perceive the knight as an
The King of France in
Parlement, surrounded by
his noblemen and bishops.
(© British Library)
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