KNIGHTS during a period of widespread violence and political upheaval when land equaled wealth and power With land and people to work the land an individual could grow food raise animals and extract resources like timber or metals Any excess resources could be sold for profit People fought each other to take and keep land In the early Middle Ages anyone who owned land needed a fighting force to protect the land Knights served as soldiers and protectors Medieval European society was organized in a feudal system a type of political system Within this system most people fell into three main categories lords vassals and serfs Lords owned land and property and often held a title of nobility such as duke or baron among others Even a king was a lord one who controlled all the land that he ruled over and granted titles of nobility to those who served him faithfully Vassals were individuals who pledged their loyalty and services to a lord In exchange the lord would promise his vassals protection a place to live or even land of their own Lower ranking lords often pledged their services to higher ranking lords and all lords were the vassals of their king Serfs were peasants who worked the land or were servants in the lord's house A knight served as a vassal He received land or other favors from his lord in exchange for his military service as a warrior Knights might eventually become landowners either in recompense for their service or by inheriting Many of the noble lords in medieval Europe were knights themselves or had been Knights in their youth As a result a single warrior class with clear social divi sions within it emerged to lead Euro pean
CHAPTER 1 A GooD KNIGHT n order to become a knight young men and boys trained for more than a decade beginning their education as young as seven years old Boys who were set to become knights were sent to the castle of a nobleman who was himself a skilled knight often their fathers lord For several years a prospective knight served as a page to the lord and his lady He waited on them at the dinner table and accompanied them to various formal functions He received Christian religious instruction from the chaplain and began to train in military matters with the squires He carried messages from the castle But his most important training at this age was learning how to ride a horse SQUIRES KNIGHTS IN TRAINING After a few years these young men graduated to the rank of squire Squires were truly knights in training They took lessons in han dling weaponry and wearing the heavy armor required for knights Squires also served as aids to knights preparing for battle They helped the knights put on their armor which by the late Middle Ages was made from heavy metal plate The squire also ensured that his knight's sword and other arms were sharp and polished At this stage a young knight in training also received his first taste of combat though generally not as a warrior A squire accompanied
This illustration from the early thirteenth century Codex Manesse shores a knight and his squire The squire cares for his master's horse as the knight prepares to fight 10
his knight into battle to aid in the conflict should his lord be out matched and to lend his horse should his master lose his own The squire also had the distasteful duty of picking up a fallen knight or removing him from the field of battle if he had been killed or wounded Practicing to become a knight required tremendous skill and repetition in various military arts such as the proper use of the lance and sword both on horseback and on foot Squires spent several hours a day learning to ride horses and fight It took years for squires to master effective use of weaponry while galloping on horseback A squire would begin his training by riding ponies and fighting with wooden weapons before he graduated to a horse and real blades He learned to carry a lance and practiced jousting by thrusting lances through a wooden ring hung from a rope as he sped by on horseback He was taught to properly care for horses and to train horses for battle But warfare training was only one aspect of a squire's educa tion He also learned to read and write acquired basic math skills and was taught the essential tenants of Christian theology And a knight in training was versed in courtly manners His time as a page and squire taught him the customs and rituals of court life and he was also exposed to tales of chivalry Some of these tales were written down but most people in the Middle Ages heard them told aloud by travelling players and troubadours These chivalric stories told of knights who exercised modesty and self control despite their physical strength and power 11
