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

As we shall see, the social and military position of the knight would continue to
develop through the rest of the tenth and into the 11th century before it displayed all
of the aspects which we might expect of it. But then, as we have already said, the knight
evolved, developed and changed throughout his existence.
The knight and the culture that surrounded him also spread beyond the land of his
origins in northern and central France. In some cases this occurred through settlement,
as with the creation of the so-called Latin kingdoms in the Holy Land lollowing
the First Crusade, when European noblemen carved out European-style lordships
for themselves. In other cases there was an imitation and adoption of knightly culture.
In regions like southern France and Spain, for example, the warrior elite had began
to take on aspects of the culture of their northern French neighbours, combining
it with their own to create a knighthood with very particular regional flavour.
In 12th-century Scotland the monarchs imported Norman nobility from England,
planting them in lowland lordships. In the highland areas the nobility and warriors
remained distinctly Gaelic, and it was not until the 15th century that the knightly
culture really took hold. There was a similar distinction in Ireland, between the
'English' lordships on the east coast, formed following the invasion of Anglo-Normans
under Richard de Clare, second Earl of Pembroke (known as 'Strongbow'), in support
of the king of Leinster in 1169, and the Gaelic lordships in the Irish interior.
Although the pace might vary, throughout Europe there was a continuous
expansion and evolution of knights and knighthood. Nowhere is this process of change
more obvious than in their arms and armour, to whrch we now turn.
INTRODUCTION -
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