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

BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD: THE KNIGHT IN MEDIEVAL SOCIETY -•
were very important. From the 12th century the Bible was being translated from
Latin, much to the concern ol the Church who feared that this would lead to
misinterpretation and heresy. Partial translations and selections of stories like the
Morgan picture bible, a collection of images depicting key stories of the Old
Testament from the Creation to the reign of David, were also popular. From the
late 13th century an increasing number of psalters are to be seen in lay hands. These
texts, and the similar books of hours that appear in the 14th century, contained a
collection of the psalms, prayers, a liturgical calendar recording the key dates within
the Church year, and other miscellaneous religious texts, such as excerpts from the
Gospels, the litany ot the Saints and the Office ot the Dead. Like the illustrated
bibles, they reflected the laity's desire to incorporate aspects of the clergy's religious
practices within their own piety, which was increasingly personal and private.
Such texts were not solely used as a means of worship, they were also texts for
study. The knightly class was increasingly intellectually curious. Orderic Vitalis
records having discussions about scripture with local knights at his monastery of
St Evroult. Two of the largest heretical movements, the Cathar heresy of 13th-century
France and the Lollard followers of Wycliffe in 14th- and 15th -century England, were
able to flourish through the support of the nobility and knighthood.
It is hard to overestimate just how much a part ot life religion was. We have
already noted its impact on the chivalric ethos, how the Church tried to direct
knightly violence and how the knights might choose to think of the trials ot battle
and campaign as reflecting the suffering of Christ, but it was also very much a part
of their civilian life. Noble families often had strong ties to a particular monastic
community, making grants ot money or land to it or commissioning chantry chapels,
small side-rooms within a church, or even a separate collegiate church where priests
could pray for the soul of the donor and their family. Manors and castles invariably
had a chapel where the chaplain, another regular member of the noble domud, would
perform Mass. For the highest ranks of the nobility the chapel might adjoin their
private chambers with a separate entrance or a 'squint', a window allowing them to
view and participate in the rite without joining the general congregation of the
lesser members of their household. Many nobles obtained permission to travel with
portable altars so that they could celebrate Mass on campaign. The nobility and
knighthood went on pilgrimage; William Marshal was heading back from visiting
the Shrine of the Three Kings at Cologne when he met the eloping priest and lady,
and of course a knight heads up Chaucer 's pilgrim band on the road to Canterbury.
Not every knight who travelled to the Holy Land did so as part of a crusade. In
1418 the Marshal of Scotland, Sir Robert Keith, had to petition the Pope to be
absolved ot his pilgrimage vow because although he had vowed and planned many
189