Ceremonies and Duties of a Knight Introduction Knights were a important part in medieval times. They were used as protection on the manors to stop invading enemies. The worst hated were the Vikings.
Knights did more than just sit around and wait for someone to attack them.The trained for when there was going to be a battle and also taught soon to be knights. They also had tournaments for practice and entertainment. Probably the most common tournament known today is jousting. Jousting is where two opponents are on horses going as fast as they can with very big and long poles and try to hit there opponent off of their horse which is also moving and the opponent also has a pole.
In the tournaments they first used very sharp and pointy jousting sticks but too many people were getting hurt and no one thought it would be fun to enter a tournament where you get hurt so then everyone agreed to use blunt jousting sticks instead of using sharp pointy jousting sticks so that people wouldnt get hurt as bad. Jousting then lead to a ! game called tilting that became popular back in the 1400s. Two knights would be on horses heading towards there opponent in narrow lanes so the horses could not hit into the other horse. The knights would carry jousting sticks and try to hit there opponent of of their horse. There was also many other games that took place at the tournaments like sword fighting and many others.
* Training Before becoming a page you would learn take care of the woman in his family.Also during this time he learned how to take care of horses and how to ride a pony.To become a knight you would first have to go through many years of hard work. You would first start of at the age of seven as a page until your teens. During this time a page would learn how to fight with swords and play games that helped him learn strategy and skill. He would also learn how to hunt with birds like hawks and falcons. He also learned manners. When you became a squire you were mainly the knights servant.
A squire would also take care of prisoners in a battle. A squire had to help out his master. If your master went to war you would have to go to war with him. If your master was hurt you would have to dress his wounds.
Then if your master died you would have to make sure that your master had the proper burial grounds and funeral. Then i f your were very good and proved it to your master you might become ! a knight. But becoming a knight just didnt happen over knight. (That was a play on words.) Becoming a knight didnt happen until you were eighteen and that was only if you were one of the best pages and squires. Most squires were knighted at a time of peace but some squires were knighted on the battlefield i f they had shown great bravery.
The first knighting ceremonies were very simple but then later in time the ceremonies were more complex.For example, in early knighting ceremonies all a knight did was buckle the armor on the squire and he was knighted. In later ceremonies one knight would buckle on the armor and another knight would put on the spurs. The squire then knelt before the knight that was going to knight him. Then the knight would give the squire a blow to the back with his hand. Then the knight tapped the squire on the back again with his sword but he did not cut him because he used the side of the sword that wasnt sharp.
After that the knight said I dub you! knight and then he was a knight. When the knight tapped him with the side of the sword it was called the accolade which means neck from the French word col. When Christianity became more popular Christianity was linked in with knighthood. The night before a knight was going to be knighted he would place his armor on the alter and pray all knight. He also would confess, fast, and keep vigil. The next morning he would take a bath which was uncommon in the Middle Ages and put on special clothing.
* Cost of being a knight Back to the tournaments. If you lost to a good knight in one of the tournaments you were forced to give up your armor and horse. Horses and armor were very expensive. It cost $5.55 to have a horse. It cost $33.93 to have a knight and squire for one year at the beginning of the 14th century. At the same time for a okay castle it would cost $308.45.
The money produced by the Templar properties in Hertfordshire made $697.10. The knight would probably own his own armor. In the first half of the 13th century a good helmet would start at $190.72. With the accessories it would cost $2384 or 800 grams of gold.
But everyone thinks there were hundreds of thousands of knights in the Middle Ages. In a country called Essex which was a highly fuedilized country only had 24 active knights in the year of 1295. You may think that the horses, the knight and squire pair, and the castle were very cheap but remember that this was 697 years ago. The costs for this was calculated on May 19, 1997 so! your prices may be different.
Orders of being a knight Knights of the Middle Ages made groups of themselves called orders. They promised loyalty to there leader and made a military organization to defend their land against attacks. The Code of Chivalry Chivalry another name for a knights behavior did not happen until Christian ways became part of a knights life. A knight would love a church so much that he would die for the church if he had to. He used his strength to protect the weak.
Clothing In the 1100s knights wore a sleeved tunic reaching below his knees.Over the one tunic was another tunic that was sleeveless tunic and was open at the sides and was tightened with a belt.Over that he wore a cloak fastened at the shoulders and also wore long stockings with leather shoes. Then in the 1200s the under tunic came down to the ankles.The knight would also wear a surcoat was fur-like and had long sleeves and a hood that covered his head. In the 1300s clothes were more colorful and more complex.The tunic that used to come down to the ankles only came down to the lower back and had buttons going down the front.Every thing was tight on the suit.Decorative hats started to become popular. In the 1400s there was a ton of decorations.The surcoat was creased and edged with fur.They also started using shoulder pads.The shoes were so pointed hey curled up like one of those elf shoes and then had a chain that went from the point to the knights knee. Armor A knight would have a helmet that would cover his head and his nose.A knight would also wear a long leather or padded fabric garment.Over the garment was chain mail armor.Then in the 1300s knights started wearing a helmet that covered the entire head.They also wore plates of armor on there legs and arms and other places where the chain mail wasnt strong enough.The shield was much smaller so it could easily moved to protect the face and neck.The knights main weapon for fighting was the lance but the knights also used maces, swords, and battle axes. In the 1400s the armor would cover the entire body.They started using metal gloves and boots.The swords became less heavy.
Gunpowder became popular in the 1300s and a knights armor was so heavy that a knight would have to be lifted up onto his horse with a crane.If he fell off of his horse on battle he could not get up without help and the enemy would kill him. Because a knight had so much armor on the only way you could tell who he was was by his coat of arms.The knights coat of arms showed up on his shield and on his surcoat that was worn overtop of his armor.His horse also had a cloth which had his coat of arms on it.The knights lance had a small flag with his insignia called a pennon.His helmet had feathers or some other kind of light material on the top. Knights today Some of the clubs today include the word knight but I dont know why.So here all the places that involve the word knight.Most of these are Roman Catholic Clubs. The Knights of Columbus is a international organization.It was founded in 1882 by a Roman Catholic priest for insurance benefits for Catholic families.Now they sponsor welfare, educational, and religious programs.If you want to become a Knight of Columbus you must be 18 and be a practicing Catholic. The Knights of Columbus are located in the United States, Canada,Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Panama, Guam, and Guatemala.The Knights of Columbus also has the Colombian Squires Department which is a organization for Catholic boys from 13 to 18 years old. They also help unprivileged children and the handicapped orphaned and anyone else that needs help.They have a film library of about 12 million pages from books in the Vatican.They also offer scholarships and insurance.
The international headquarters are located at Columbus Plaza, New Haven, Conn. 06507. Knights of the Bath is one of the oldest orders of knighthood in England still around.It was founded by King George * in 1725 it originally had the king, a grand master, and 36 knights companions. Its name comes from a ceremonial bath , the symbol of purity. Ending Now that you have read this report you have found out that it was very had being a knight in the Middle Ages but in my opinion it is not as hard as being a kid in Middle School.
