Loevestein Castle ( Dutch : Slot Loevestein [ˈslɔt ˈluvəstɛin] ) is a medieval castle in the municipality of Zaltbommel , Gelderland , the Netherlands .
139-581: The castle was built by the knight Dirk Loef of Horne (hence "Loef's stein" (stone) house) between 1357 and 1397. Until World War II Loevestein Castle was part of the Dutch Waterline , the main Dutch defense line that was based on flooding an area of land south and east of the western provinces. Currently the castle is used as a medieval museum and function centre. Loevestein is a water castle that
278-500: A coat of arms ), and indeed they played an essential role in the development of heraldry . As heavier armour, including enlarged shields and enclosed helmets, developed in the Middle Ages, the need for marks of identification arose, and with coloured shields and surcoats , coat armoury was born. Armorial rolls were created to record the knights of various regions or those who participated in various tournaments . Knights used
417-498: A blend of religious duties, love and military service. Ramon Llull 's Book of the Order of Chivalry (1275) demonstrates that by the end of the 13th century, chivalry entailed a litany of very specific duties, including riding warhorses, jousting , attending tournaments , holding Round Tables and hunting, as well as aspiring to the more æthereal virtues of "faith, hope, charity, justice, strength, moderation and loyalty." Knights of
556-504: A cultural center for master architects, sculptors, musicians, painters, and artisans of every kind...In its myth and message, Rome had become the sacred city of the popes, the prime symbol of a triumphant Catholicism, the center of orthodox Christianity, a new Jerusalem. It is clearly noticeable that the popes of the Italian Renaissance have been subjected by many writers with an overly harsh tone. Pope Julius II, for example,
695-499: A knight or a group of knights would claim a bridge, lane or city gate, and challenge other passing knights to fight or be disgraced. If a lady passed unescorted, she would leave behind a glove or scarf, to be rescued and returned to her by a future knight who passed that way. One of the greatest distinguishing marks of the knightly class was the flying of coloured banners, to display power and to distinguish knights in battle and in tournaments. Knights are generally armigerous (bearing
834-547: A knight". An Equestrian ( Latin , from eques "horseman", from equus " horse ") was a member of the second highest social class in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire . This class is often translated as "knight"; the medieval knight, however, was called miles in Latin (which in classical Latin meant "soldier", normally infantry). In the later Roman Empire, the classical Latin word for horse, equus ,
973-506: A major spectator sport but also played as a real combat simulation. It usually ended with many knights either injured or even killed. One contest was a free-for-all battle called a melee , where large groups of knights numbering hundreds assembled and fought one another, and the last knight standing was the winner. The most popular and romanticized contest for knights was the joust . In this competition, two knights charge each other with blunt wooden lances in an effort to break their lance on
1112-904: A man-at-arms, not all men-at-arms were knights. The first military orders of knighthood were the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Knights Hospitaller , both founded shortly after the First Crusade of 1099, followed by the Order of Saint Lazarus (1100), Knights Templars (1118), the Order of Montesa (1128), the Order of Santiago (1170) and the Teutonic Knights (1190). At the time of their foundation, these were intended as monastic orders , whose members would act as simple soldiers protecting pilgrims. It
1251-610: A medieval concept which has steadily evolved since the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the gradual rise of the Papacy more in religio-temporal implications practically during and after the reign of Charlemagne; and the concept let itself be lulled in the minds of the staunch believers to the archetype of a holy religious space inhabited by Christians, blessed by God, the Heavenly Father, ruled by Christ through
1390-474: A more realistic approach to warfare than the honor-bound code of chivalry. Soon, the remaining knights were absorbed into professional armies. Although they had a higher rank than most soldiers because of their valuable lineage, they lost their distinctive identity that previously set them apart from common soldiers. Some knightly orders survived into modern times. They adopted newer technology while still retaining their age-old chivalric traditions. Examples include
1529-575: A painting, from Eastern Christianity . Christianity has used symbolism from its very beginnings. In both East and West, numerous iconic types of Christ , Mary and saints and other subjects were developed; the number of named types of icons of Mary, with or without the infant Christ, was especially large in the East, whereas Christ Pantocrator was much the commonest image of Christ. Christian symbolism invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas. Christianity has borrowed from
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#17327730575071668-417: A radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in the ways of managing traditional means of production, and economic growth. The period saw major technological advances, including the adoption of gunpowder and the astrolabe , the invention of spectacles , and greatly improved water mills , building techniques, agriculture in general, clocks , and ships . The latter advances made possible
1807-509: A reward for extraordinary military service. Children of the nobility were cared for by noble foster-mothers in castles until they reached the age of seven. These seven-year-old boys were given the title of page and turned over to the care of the castle's lords. They were placed on an early training regime of hunting with huntsmen and falconers , and academic studies with priests or chaplains. Pages then become assistants to older knights in battle, carrying and cleaning armour, taking care of
1946-454: A strong impact on all other aspects of life: marriage and family, education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy, and the arts. Christianity had a significant impact on education and science and medicine as the church created the bases of the Western system of education, and was the sponsor of founding universities in the Western world as the university
2085-525: A tool and method for learning which places emphasis on dialectical reasoning . The Byzantine Empire , which was the most sophisticated culture during antiquity, suffered under Muslim conquests limiting its scientific prowess during the Medieval period . Christian Western Europe had suffered a catastrophic loss of knowledge following the fall of the Western Roman Empire . But thanks to
2224-479: A variety of weapons, including maces , axes and swords . Elements of the knightly armour included helmet , cuirass , gauntlet and shield . The sword was a weapon designed to be used solely in combat; it was useless in hunting and impractical as a tool . Thus, the sword was a status symbol among the knightly class. Swords were effective against lightly armoured enemies, while maces and warhammers were more effective against heavily armoured ones. One of
2363-492: A young man with weapons influenced the emergence of knighthood ceremonies, in which a noble would be ritually given weapons and declared to be a knight, usually amid some festivities. These mobile mounted warriors made Charlemagne's far-flung conquests possible, and to secure their service he rewarded them with grants of land called benefices . These were given to the captains directly by the Emperor to reward their efforts in
2502-457: Is a cognate of the German word Knecht ("servant, bondsman, vassal"). This meaning, of unknown origin, is common among West Germanic languages (cf Old Frisian kniucht , Dutch knecht , Danish knægt , Swedish knekt , Norwegian knekt , Middle High German kneht , all meaning "boy, youth, lad"). Middle High German had the phrase guoter kneht , which also meant knight; but this meaning
2641-553: Is any poetry that contains Christian teachings, themes , or references. The influence of Christianity on poetry has been great in any area that Christianity has taken hold. Christian poems often directly reference the Bible , while others provide allegory . Christian art is art produced in an attempt to illustrate, supplement and portray in tangible form the principles of Christianity . Virtually all Christian groupings use or have used art to some extent. The prominence of art and
2780-492: Is considered the height of temporal power of the papacy. The Corpus Christianum described the then-current notion of the community of all Christians united under the Roman Catholic Church . The community was to be guided by Christian values in its politics, economics and social life. Its legal basis was the corpus iuris canonica (body of canon law). In the East, Christendom became more defined as
2919-518: Is derived, had a political theory which we should do well to study; for their theory about a universal empire and a Catholic church was in turn the echo of a former age of reason, when a few men conscious of ruling the world had for a moment sought to survey it as a whole and to rule it justly. Developments in western philosophy and European events brought change to the notion of the Corpus Christianum . The Hundred Years' War accelerated
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#17327730575073058-618: Is generally granted by a head of state, monarch, or prelate to selected persons to recognise some meritorious achievement, as in the British honours system , often for service to the Church or country. The modern female equivalent in the English language is Dame . Knighthoods and damehoods are traditionally regarded as being one of the most prestigious awards people can obtain. The word knight , from Old English cniht ("boy" or "servant"),
3197-593: Is generally regarded as an institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting. Many clerics throughout history have made significant contributions to science and Jesuits in particular have made numerous significant contributions to the development of science . The cultural influence of Christianity includes social welfare , founding hospitals , economics (as the Protestant work ethic ), natural law (which would later influence
3336-661: The 2nd century , attributed to Ignatius of Antioch c. 107. Early Christendom would close at the end of imperial persecution of Christians after the ascension of Constantine the Great and the Edict of Milan in AD ;313 and the First Council of Nicaea in 325. According to Malcolm Muggeridge (1980), Christ founded Christianity, but Constantine founded Christendom. Canadian theology professor Douglas John Hall dates
3475-517: The Battle of Nancy , when Charles the Bold and his armoured cavalry were decimated by Swiss pikemen. As the feudal system came to an end, lords saw no further use of knights. Many landowners found the duties of knighthood too expensive and so contented themselves with the use of squires. Mercenaries also became an economic alternative to knights when conflicts arose. Armies of the time started adopting
3614-754: The Byzantine Empire 's gradual loss of territory to an expanding Islam and the Muslim conquest of Persia . This caused Christianity to become important to the Byzantine identity. Before the East–West Schism which divided the Church religiously, there had been the notion of a universal Christendom that included the East and the West. After the East–West Schism, hopes of regaining religious unity with
3753-600: The Church scholars such as Aquinas and Buridan , the West carried on at least the spirit of scientific inquiry which would later lead to Europe's taking the lead in science during the Scientific Revolution using translations of medieval works . Medieval technology refers to the technology used in medieval Europe under Christian rule. After the Renaissance of the 12th century , medieval Europe saw
3892-592: The Early Medieval period, any well-equipped horseman could be described as a knight, or miles in Latin. The first knights appeared during the reign of Charlemagne in the 8th century. As the Carolingian Age progressed, the Franks were generally on the attack, and larger numbers of warriors took to their horses to ride with the Emperor in his wide-ranging campaigns of conquest. At about this time
4031-742: The Greek and Roman Empires , as the centralized Roman power waned, the dominance of the Catholic Church was the only consistent force in Western Europe. Until the Age of Enlightenment , Christian culture guided the course of philosophy, literature, art, music and science. Christian disciplines of the respective arts have subsequently developed into Christian philosophy , Christian art , Christian music , Christian literature etc. Art and literature, law, education, and politics were preserved in
4170-487: The Knights of the Holy Sepulchre , Knights Hospitaller and Teutonic Knights . In continental Europe different systems of hereditary knighthood have existed or do exist. Christendom Christendom refers to Christian states , Christian-majority countries or countries in which Christianity is dominant or prevails. Following the spread of Christianity from the Levant to Europe and North Africa during
4309-524: The Late Antique period iconography began to be standardised, and to relate more closely to Biblical texts, although many gaps in the canonical Gospel narratives were plugged with matter from the apocryphal gospels . Eventually the Church would succeed in weeding most of these out, but some remain, like the ox and ass in the Nativity of Christ . An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly
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4448-662: The Ostrogoths , were mainly cavalry. However, it was the Franks who generally fielded armies composed of large masses of infantry , with an infantry elite, the comitatus , which often rode to battle on horseback rather than marching on foot. When the armies of the Frankish ruler Charles Martel defeated the Umayyad Arab invasion at the Battle of Tours in 732, the Frankish forces were still largely infantry armies, with elites riding to battle but dismounting to fight. In
4587-653: The Western Roman Empire disintegrated into feudal kingdoms and principalities , the concept of Christendom changed as the western church became one of five patriarchates of the Pentarchy and the Christians of the Eastern Roman Empire developed. The Byzantine Empire was the last bastion of Christendom. Christendom would take a turn with the rise of the Franks , a Germanic tribe who converted to
4726-655: The absolute king Henry VIII establishing the English church . In modern history , the Reformation and rise of modernity in the early 16th century entailed a change in the Corpus Christianum . In the Holy Roman Empire , the Peace of Augsburg of 1555 officially ended the idea among secular leaders that all Christians must be united under one church. The principle of cuius regio, eius religio ("whose
4865-414: The lance . Padded undergarment known as aketon was worn to absorb shock damage and prevent chafing caused by mail. In hotter climates metal rings became too hot, so sleeveless surcoats were worn as a protection against the sun, and also to show their heraldic arms . This sort of coat also evolved to be tabards , waffenrocks and other garments with the arms of the wearer sewn into it. Helmets of
5004-571: The state church of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica of 380. In terms of prosperity and cultural life, the Byzantine Empire was one of the peaks in Christian history and Christian civilization , and Constantinople remained the leading city of the Christian world in size, wealth, and culture. There was a renewed interest in classical Greek philosophy , as well as an increase in literary output in vernacular Greek. As
5143-427: The theological doctrines of Christianity. Scholasticism , which means "that [which] belongs to the school", and was a method of learning taught by the academics (or school people ) of medieval universities c. 1100–1500. Scholasticism originally started to reconcile the philosophy of the ancient classical philosophers with medieval Christian theology. Scholasticism is not a philosophy or theology in itself but
5282-482: The " Western World " has been intimately connected with the concept of "Christianity and Christendom"; many even attribute Christianity for being the link that created a unified European identity . Early Christianity spread in the Greek/Roman world and beyond as a 1st-century Jewish sect, which historians refer to as Jewish Christianity . It may be divided into two distinct phases: the apostolic period , when
5421-404: The 'inauguration of Christendom' to the 4th century, with Constantine playing the primary role (so much so that he equates Christendom with "Constantinianism") and Theodosius I ( Edict of Thessalonica , 380) and Justinian I secondary roles. "Christendom" has referred to the medieval and renaissance notion of the Christian world as a polity . In essence, the earliest vision of Christendom
5560-472: The 10th century. While the knight was essentially a title denoting a military office, the term could also be used for positions of higher nobility such as landholders. The higher nobles grant the vassals their portions of land ( fiefs ) in return for their loyalty, protection, and service. The nobles also provided their knights with necessities, such as lodging, food, armour, weapons, horses, and money. The knight generally held his lands by military tenure which
5699-580: The 11th to the 13th centuries, Latin Christendom rose to the central role of the Western world . The history of the Christian world spans about 2,000 years and includes a variety of socio-political developments, as well as advancements in the arts , architecture , literature , science , philosophy , politics and technology. The Anglo-Saxon term crīstendōm appears to have been coined in
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5838-678: The 12th century until its final flowering as a fashion among the high nobility in the Duchy of Burgundy in the 15th century. This linkage is reflected in the etymology of chivalry , cavalier and related terms such as the French title chevalier . In that sense, the special prestige accorded to mounted warriors in Christendom finds a parallel in the furusiyya in the Islamic world . The Crusades brought various military orders of knights to
5977-412: The 13th and the first half of the 14th century. Around 1350, square shields called bouched shields appeared, which had a notch in which to place the couched lance . Until the mid-14th century, knights wore mail armour as their main form of defence. Mail was extremely flexible and provided good protection against sword cuts, but weak against blunt weapons such as the mace and piercing weapons such as
6116-504: The 9th century by a scribe somewhere in southern England, possibly at the court of king Alfred the Great of Wessex . The scribe was translating Paulus Orosius ' book History Against the Pagans ( c. 416 ) and in need for a term to express the concept of the universal culture focused on Jesus Christ . It had the sense now taken by Christianity (as is still the case with the cognate Dutch christendom , where it denotes mostly
6255-514: The Catholic Church's hierarchy in the Renaissance became increasingly entangled with insatiable greed for material wealth and temporal power, which led to many reform movements, some merely wanting a moral reformation of the Church's clergy, while others repudiated the Church and separated from it in order to form new sects. The Italian Renaissance produced ideas or institutions by which men living in society could be held together in harmony. In
6394-576: The Christian faith and entered into communion with Rome . On Christmas Day 800 AD, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne , resulting in the creation of another Christian king beside the Christian emperor in the Byzantine state. The Carolingian Empire created a definition of Christendom in juxtaposition with the Byzantine Empire, that of a distributed versus centralized culture respectively. The classical heritage flourished throughout
6533-417: The Christian foundations of its culture, although formerly it had been so imbued with Christianity and had drawn from it such strength and vigor that the people of these nations in many cases owe to Christianity all that is best in their own tradition. Writing in 1997, Canadian theology professor Douglas John Hall argued that Christendom had either fallen already or was in its death throes; although its end
6672-469: The Church and protected by the Spirit-body of Christ; no wonder, this concept, as included the whole of Europe and then the expanding Christian territories on earth, strengthened the roots of Romance of the greatness of Christianity in the world. There is a common and nonliteral sense of the word that is much like the terms Western world , known world or Free World . The notion of "Europe" and
6811-684: The Church. The Catholic Church 's peak of authority over all European Christians and their common endeavours of the Christian community—for example, the Crusades , the fight against the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula and against the Ottomans in the Balkans —helped to develop a sense of communal identity against the obstacle of Europe's deep political divisions. The popes, formally just
6950-650: The Courtier , and Miguel de Cervantes ' Don Quixote , as well as Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and other Arthurian tales ( Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae , the Pearl Poet 's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , etc.). Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae ( History of the Kings of Britain ), written in the 1130s, introduced the legend of King Arthur , which
7089-513: The English rider : German Ritter , and Dutch and Scandinavian ridder . These words are derived from Germanic rīdan , "to ride", in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *reidh- . In ancient Rome , there was a knightly class Ordo Equestris (order of mounted nobles). Some portions of the armies of Germanic peoples who occupied Europe from the 3rd century AD onward had been mounted, and some armies, such as those of
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#17327730575077228-490: The English Vice-Admiral George Ayscue . In Alexandre Dumas, père 's novel La Tulipe Noire , the main character Cornelius Van Baerle is imprisoned at Loevestein. Knight This is an accepted version of this page A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or
7367-443: The Franks increasingly remained on horseback to fight on the battlefield as true cavalry rather than mounted infantry, with the discovery of the stirrup , and would continue to do so for centuries afterwards. Although in some nations the knight returned to foot combat in the 14th century, the association of the knight with mounted combat with a spear, and later a lance, remained a strong one. The older Carolingian ceremony of presenting
7506-650: The Middle Ages in both the Byzantine Greek East and the Latin West. In the Greek philosopher Plato 's ideal state there are three major classes, which was representative of the idea of the "tripartite soul", which is expressive of three functions or capacities of the human soul: "reason", "the spirited element", and "appetites" (or "passions"). Will Durant made a convincing case that certain prominent features of Plato's ideal community where discernible in
7645-663: The Northern Dutch and the Spanish during the Eighty Years' War : on December 9, 1570, it was taken by the Geuzen ; ten days later by the Spanish again; and on June 25, 1572, it was retaken by the Dutch. From 1619 the castle became a prison for political prisoners . One famous inmate was the eminent lawyer, poet and politician Hugo de Groot ( Hugo Grotius ) often presented as the "father of modern international law", who
7784-434: The Renaissance Popes, whose inability to govern the Church by showing personal example of high moral standards set the climate for what would ultimately become the Protestant Reformation. During the Renaissance, the papacy was mainly run by the wealthy families and also had strong secular interests. To safeguard Rome and the connected Papal States the popes became necessarily involved in temporal matters, even leading armies, as
7923-440: The Seraphim , the Spanish Order of Santiago , and the Norwegian Order of St. Olav . There are also dynastic orders like the Order of the Golden Fleece , the Imperial Order of the Rose , the Order of the British Empire and the Order of St. George . In modern times these are orders centered around charity and civic service, and are no longer military orders. Each of these orders has its own criteria for eligibility, but knighthood
8062-418: The Southern Hemisphere in general, by 2010 about 157 countries and territories in the world had Christian majorities . Western culture , throughout most of its history, has been nearly equivalent to Christian culture , and many of the population of the Western hemisphere could broadly be described as cultural Christians . The notion of " Europe " and the " Western World " has been intimately connected with
8201-403: The Treaty of Westphalia (1648), or arguably, including the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession in this period, with the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. In the 18th century, the focus shifts away from religious conflicts, either between Christian factions or against the external threat of Islamic factions. The European Miracle , the Age of Enlightenment and the formation of
8340-454: The Virgin , parts of the Old Testament, and, increasingly, the lives of popular saints . Especially in the West, a system of attributes developed for identifying individual figures of saints by a standard appearance and symbolic objects held by them; in the East they were more likely to identified by text labels. Each saint has a story and a reason why he or she led an exemplary life. Symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout
8479-410: The West were ended by the Fourth Crusade , when Crusaders conquered the Byzantine capital of Constantinople and hastened the decline of the Byzantine Empire on the path to its destruction . With the breakup of the Byzantine Empire into individual nations with nationalist Orthodox Churches, the term Christendom described Western Europe, Catholicism, Orthodox Byzantines, and other Eastern rites of
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#17327730575078618-411: The Western world. Rome in the Renaissance under the papacy not only acted as guardian and transmitter of these elements stemming from the Roman Empire but also assumed the role as artificer and interpreter of its myths and meanings for the peoples of Europe from the Middle Ages to modern times... Under the patronage of the popes, whose wealth and income were exceeded only by their ambitions, the city became
8757-412: The awe in which lay sinners held them.... After the collapse of Charlemagne's empire , the southern remnants of the Holy Roman Empire became a collection of states loosely connected to the Holy See of Rome . Tensions between Pope Innocent III and secular rulers ran high, as the pontiff exerted control over their temporal counterparts in the west and vice versa. The pontificate of Innocent III
8896-512: The best quality of parchment, called vellum , traditionally made of unsplit calfskin , though high quality parchment from other skins was also called parchment . Christian art began, about two centuries after Christ, by borrowing motifs from Roman Imperial imagery , classical Greek and Roman religion and popular art. Religious images are used to some extent by the Abrahamic Christian faith, and often contain highly complex iconography, which reflects centuries of accumulated tradition. In
9035-410: The bishops of Rome, claimed to be the focus of all Christendom, which was largely recognised in Western Christendom from the 11th century until the Reformation, but not in Eastern Christendom. Moreover, this authority was also sometimes abused, and fostered the Inquisition and anti-Jewish pogroms , to root out divergent elements and create a religiously uniform community. Ultimately, the Inquisition
9174-611: The code of chivalry as unrealistic idealism. The rise of Christian humanism in Renaissance literature demonstrated a marked departure from the chivalric romance of late medieval literature, and the chivalric ideal ceased to influence literature over successive centuries until it saw some pockets of revival in post-Victorian literature. By the mid to late 16th century, knights were quickly becoming obsolete as countries started creating their own standing armies that were faster to train, cheaper to equip, and easier to mobilize. The advancement of high-powered firearms contributed greatly to
9313-403: The common stock of significant symbols known to most periods and to all regions of the world. Religious symbolism is effective when it appeals to both the intellect and the emotions. Especially important depictions of Mary include the Hodegetria and Panagia types. Traditional models evolved for narrative paintings, including large cycles covering the events of the Life of Christ, the Life of
9452-460: The concept of "Christianity and Christendom"; many even attribute Christianity for being the link that created a unified European identity . Historian Paul Legutko of Stanford University said the Catholic Church is "at the center of the development of the values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilization." Though Western culture contained several polytheistic religions during its early years under
9591-501: The conquests, and they in turn were to grant benefices to their warrior contingents, who were a mix of free and unfree men. In the century or so following Charlemagne's death, his newly empowered warrior class grew stronger still, and Charles the Bald declared their fiefs to be hereditary, and also issued the Edict of Pîtres in 864, largely moving away from the infantry-based traditional armies and calling upon all men who could afford it to answer calls to arms on horseback to quickly repel
9730-468: The constant and wide-ranging Viking attacks, which is considered the beginnings of the period of knights that were to become so famous and spread throughout Europe in the following centuries. The period of chaos in the 9th and 10th centuries, between the fall of the Carolingian central authority and the rise of separate Western and Eastern Frankish kingdoms (later to become France and Germany respectively) only entrenched this newly landed warrior class. This
9869-423: The country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of knighthood may have been inspired by the ancient Greek hippeis (ἱππεῖς) and Roman equites . In the Early Middle Ages in Western Christian Europe, knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages , knighthood was considered a class of petty nobility . By the Late Middle Ages , the rank had become associated with
10008-456: The creation of international law ), politics, architecture, literature, personal hygiene , and family life. Christianity played a role in ending practices common among pagan societies , such as human sacrifice , slavery , infanticide and polygamy . Christian literature is writing that deals with Christian themes and incorporates the Christian world view. This constitutes a huge body of extremely varied writing. Christian poetry
10147-407: The decline in use of plate armour, as the time it took to train soldiers with guns was much less compared to that of the knight. The cost of equipment was also significantly lower, and guns had a reasonable chance to easily penetrate a knight's armour. In the 14th century the use of infantrymen armed with pikes and fighting in close formation also proved effective against heavy cavalry, such as during
10286-442: The design and construction of buildings and structures in Christian culture . Buildings were at first adapted from those originally intended for other purposes but, with the rise of distinctively ecclesiastical architecture, church buildings came to influence secular ones which have often imitated religious architecture. In the 20th century, the use of new materials, such as concrete, as well as simpler styles has had its effect upon
10425-471: The design of churches and arguably the flow of influence has been reversed. From the birth of Christianity to the present, the most significant period of transformation for Christian architecture in the west was the Gothic cathedral . In the east, Byzantine architecture was a continuation of Roman architecture . Christian philosophy is a term to describe the fusion of various fields of philosophy with
10564-470: The devil and not God, and needed reforming. In the course of the 12th century, knighthood became a social rank with a distinction being made between milites gregarii (non-noble cavalrymen) and milites nobiles (true knights). As the term "knight" became increasingly confined to denoting a social rank, the military role of fully armoured cavalryman gained a separate term, " man-at-arms ". Although any medieval knight going to war would automatically serve as
10703-426: The early Roman Empire , Christendom has been divided in the pre-existing Greek East and Latin West . Consequently, internal sects within the Christian religion arose with their own beliefs and practices, centred around the cities of Rome ( Western Christianity , whose community was called Western or Latin Christendom ) and Constantinople ( Eastern Christianity , whose community was called Eastern Christendom ). From
10842-563: The early 16th century, Baldassare Castiglione ( The Book of the Courtier ) laid out his vision of the ideal gentleman and lady, while Machiavelli cast a jaundiced eye on "la verità effetuale delle cose"—the actual truth of things—in The Prince , composed, humanist style, chiefly of parallel ancient and modern examples of Virtù . Some Protestant movements grew up along lines of mysticism or renaissance humanism ( cf. Erasmus ). The Catholic Church fell partly into general neglect under
10981-427: The elbows and shoulders were covered with circular pieces of metal, commonly referred to as rondels , eventually evolving into the plate arm harness consisting of the rerebrace , vambrace , and spaulder or pauldron . The legs too were covered in plates, mainly on the shin, called schynbalds which later evolved to fully enclose the leg in the form of enclosed greaves . As for the upper legs, cuisses came about in
11120-413: The empire of universal peace, all-permeating rational art, and philosophical worship, is mentioned no more. An unformulated conception, the prerational ethics of private privilege and national unity, fills the background of men's minds. It represents feudal traditions rather than the tendency really involved in contemporary industry, science, or philanthropy. Those dark ages, from which our political practice
11259-653: The end of Christendom came about because modern governments refused to "uphold the teachings, customs, ethos, and practice of Christianity". He argued the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (1791) and the Second Vatican Council 's Declaration on Religious Freedom (1965) are two of the most important documents setting the stage for its end. According to British historian Diarmaid MacCulloch (2010), Christendom
11398-487: The first apostles were alive and organizing the Church, and the post-apostolic period , when an early episcopal structure developed, whereby bishoprics were governed by bishops (overseers). The post-apostolic period concerns the time roughly after the death of the apostles when bishops emerged as overseers of urban Christian populations. The earliest recorded use of the terms Christianity (Greek Χριστιανισμός ) and catholic (Greek καθολικός ), dates to this period,
11537-568: The first form of medieval horse coverage and was used much like the surcoat. Other armours , such as the facial armouring chanfron, were made for horses. Knights and the ideals of knighthood featured largely in medieval and Renaissance literature , and have secured a permanent place in literary romance . While chivalric romances abound, particularly notable literary portrayals of knighthood include The Song of Roland , Cantar de Mio Cid , The Twelve of England , Geoffrey Chaucer 's The Knight's Tale , Baldassare Castiglione 's The Book of
11676-565: The forefront of defending Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land . In the Late Middle Ages, new methods of warfare – such as the introduction of the culverin as an anti-personnel, gunpowder-fired weapon – began to render classical knights in armour obsolete, but the titles remained in many countries. Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519) is often referred to as the "last knight" in this regard; however, some of
11815-399: The fourth century by which governments upheld and promoted Christianity." Curry states that the end of Christendom came about because modern governments refused to "uphold the teachings, customs, ethos, and practice of Christianity." British church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch described (2010) Christendom as "the union between Christianity and secular power." Christendom was originally
11954-760: The great colonial empires , together with the beginning decline of the Ottoman Empire , mark the end of the geopolitical "history of Christendom". Instead, the focus of Western history shifts to the development of the nation-state , accompanied by increasing atheism and secularism , culminating with the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars at the turn of the 19th century. In his 1964 encyclical letter Ecclesiam Suam , Pope Paul VI observed that One part of [the] world ... has in recent years detached itself and broken away from
12093-568: The great patron of arts Pope Julius II did. During these intermediate times, popes strove to make Rome the capital of Christendom while projecting it through art, architecture, and literature as the center of a Golden Age of unity, order, and peace. Professor Frederick J. McGinness described Rome as essential in understanding the legacy the Church and its representatives encapsulated best by The Eternal City : No other city in Europe matches Rome in its traditions, history, legacies, and influence in
12232-474: The history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem , in order to identify them. The study of these forms part of iconography in Art history . Christian architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Christianity to the present day, influencing
12371-472: The horses, and packing the baggage. They would accompany the knights on expeditions, even into foreign lands. Older pages were instructed by knights in swordsmanship , equestrianism , chivalry, warfare, and combat (using wooden swords and spears). When the boy turned 14, he became a squire . In a religious ceremony, the new squire swore on a sword consecrated by a bishop or priest , and attended to assigned duties in his lord's household. During this time,
12510-411: The ideals of chivalry , a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter or a bodyguard for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback . Knighthood in the Middle Ages was closely linked with horsemanship (and especially the joust ) from its origins in
12649-417: The importance of Christian faith in every area of a knight's life, though still laying stress on the primarily military focus of knighthood. In the early Renaissance greater emphasis was laid upon courtliness. The ideal courtier—the chivalrous knight—of Baldassarre Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier became a model of the ideal virtues of nobility. Castiglione's tale took the form of a discussion among
12788-412: The instruments and opportunities of culture, and ruled with almost unlimited sway half of the most powerful continent on the globe. The clergy, like Plato's guardians, were placed in authority... by their talent as shown in ecclesiastical studies and administration, by their disposition to a life of meditation and simplicity, and ... by the influence of their relatives with the powers of state and church. In
12927-497: The knight of the early periods usually were more open helms such as the nasal helmet , and later forms of the spangenhelm . The lack of more facial protection lead to the evolution of more enclosing helmets to be made in the late 12th to early 13th centuries, this eventually would evolve to make the great helm . Later forms of the bascinet , which was originally a small helm worn under the larger great helm, evolved to be worn solely, and would eventually have pivoted or hinged visors,
13066-523: The late medieval era were expected by society to maintain all these skills and many more, as outlined in Baldassare Castiglione 's The Book of the Courtier , though the book's protagonist, Count Ludovico, states the "first and true profession" of the ideal courtier "must be that of arms." Chivalry , derived from the French word chevalier ('cavalier'), simultaneously denoted skilled horsemanship and military service, and these remained
13205-405: The latter half of the period in which they ruled [800 AD onwards], the clergy were as free from family cares as even Plato could desire [for such guardians]... [Clerical] Celibacy was part of the psychological structure of the power of the clergy; for on the one hand they were unimpeded by the narrowing egoism of the family, and on the other their apparent superiority to the call of the flesh added to
13344-595: The leadership of the church as an institution . This model of church-state relations was accepted by various Church leaders and political leaders in European history . The Church gradually became a defining institution of the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313 proclaiming toleration for the Christian religion, and convoked the First Council of Nicaea in 325 whose Nicene Creed included belief in "one holy catholic and apostolic Church". Emperor Theodosius I made Nicene Christianity
13483-889: The legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table . Today, a number of orders of knighthood continue to exist in Christian Churches, as well as in several historically Christian countries and their former territories, such as the Roman Catholic Sovereign Military Order of Malta , the Protestant Order of Saint John , as well as the English Order of the Garter , the Swedish Royal Order of
13622-1133: The master of the ceremony would dub the new knight on the shoulders with a sword. Squires, and even soldiers , could also be conferred direct knighthood early if they showed valor and efficiency for their service; such acts may include deploying for an important quest or mission, or protecting a high diplomat or a royal relative in battle. Knights were expected, above all, to fight bravely and to display military professionalism and courtesy. When knights were taken as prisoners of war, they were customarily held for ransom in somewhat comfortable surroundings. This same standard of conduct did not apply to non-knights ( archers , peasants , foot-soldiers , etc.) who were often slaughtered after capture, and who were viewed during battle as mere impediments to knights' getting to other knights to fight them. Chivalry developed as an early standard of professional ethics for knights, who were relatively affluent horse owners and were expected to provide military services in exchange for landed property . Early notions of chivalry entailed loyalty to one's liege lord and bravery in battle, similar to
13761-596: The media, style, and representations change; however, the unifying theme is ultimately the representation of the life and times of Jesus and in some cases the Old Testament . Depictions of saints are also common, especially in Anglicanism , Roman Catholicism , and Eastern Orthodoxy . An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration. The earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from
13900-455: The mid 14th century. Overall, plate armour offered better protection against piercing weapons such as arrows and especially bolts than mail armour did. Plate armor reached his peak in the 15th and 16th centuries, but was still used at the beginning of the 17th century by the first Cuirassiers like the London lobsters . Knights' horses were also armoured in later periods; caparisons were
14039-570: The most iconic battles of the Knights Hospitaller , such as the Siege of Rhodes and the Great Siege of Malta , took place after his rule. The ideals of chivalry were popularized in medieval literature , particularly the literary cycles known as the Matter of France , relating to the legendary companions of Charlemagne and his men-at-arms , the paladins , and the Matter of Britain , relating to
14178-454: The most popular was the hounskull , also known as the "pig-face visor". Plate armour first appeared in the 13th century, when plates were added onto the torso and mounted to a base of leather. This form of armour is known as a coat of plates , and was initially used over chain mail in the 13th and 14th centuries, at the time of Transitional armour . The torso was not the only part of the knight to receive this plate protection evolution, as
14317-469: The nobility of the court of the Duke of Urbino, in which the characters determine that the ideal knight should be renowned not only for his bravery and prowess in battle, but also as a skilled dancer, athlete, singer and orator, and he should also be well-read in the humanities and classical Greek and Latin literature. Later Renaissance literature, such as Miguel de Cervantes 's Don Quixote , rejected
14456-435: The opponent's head or body or unhorse them completely. The loser in these tournaments had to turn his armour and horse over to the victor. The last day was filled with feasting, dancing and minstrel singing. Besides formal tournaments, there were also unformalized judicial duels done by knights and squires to end various disputes. Countries like Germany , Britain and Ireland practiced this tradition. Judicial combat
14595-476: The organization, dogma and effectiveness of "the" Medieval Church in Europe: ... For a thousand years Europe was ruled by an order of guardians considerably like that which was visioned by our philosopher. During the Middle Ages it was customary to classify the population of Christendom into laboratores (workers), bellatores (soldiers), and oratores (clergy). The last group, though small in number, monopolized
14734-788: The period AD 400 to 600, primarily produced in Ireland, Constantinople and Italy. The majority of surviving manuscripts are from the Middle Ages , although many illuminated manuscripts survive from the 15th century Renaissance , along with a very limited number from Late Antiquity . Most illuminated manuscripts were created as codices , which had superseded scrolls; some isolated single sheets survive. A very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive on papyrus . Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment (most commonly of calf , sheep, or goat skin), but most manuscripts important enough to illuminate were written on
14873-459: The primary elements of a knight's armour was the shield , which could be used to block strikes and projectiles. Oval shields were used during the Dark Ages and were made of wooden boards that were roughly half an inch thick. Towards the end of the 10th century, oval shields were lengthened to cover the left knee of the mounted warrior, called the kite shield . The heater shield was used during
15012-427: The primary occupations of knighthood throughout the Middle Ages. Chivalry and religion were mutually influenced during the period of the Crusades . The early Crusades helped to clarify the moral code of chivalry as it related to religion. As a result, Christian armies began to devote their efforts to sacred purposes. As time passed, clergy instituted religious vows which required knights to use their weapons chiefly for
15151-643: The process of transforming France from a feudal monarchy to a centralized state. The rise of strong, centralized monarchies denoted the European transition from feudalism to capitalism . By the end of the Hundred Years' War, both France and England were able to raise enough money through taxation to create independent standing armies. In the Wars of the Roses , Henry Tudor took the crown of England. His heir,
15290-412: The protection of the weak and defenseless, especially women and orphans, and of churches. In peacetime, knights often demonstrated their martial skills in tournaments, which usually took place on the grounds of a castle. Knights could parade their armour and banner to the whole court as the tournament commenced. Medieval tournaments were made up of martial sports called hastiludes , and were not only
15429-605: The region is, his religion") established the religious, political and geographic divisions of Christianity, and this was established with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, which legally ended the concept of a single Christian hegemony in the territories of the Holy Roman Empire, despite the Catholic Church 's doctrine that it alone is the one true Church founded by Christ. Subsequently, each government determined
15568-632: The religion itself, just like the German Christentum ). The current sense of the word of "lands where Christianity is the dominant religion" emerged in Late Middle English (by c. 1400 ). Canadian theology professor Douglas John Hall stated (1997) that "Christendom" [...] means literally the dominion or sovereignty of the Christian religion." Thomas John Curry , Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles , defined (2001) Christendom as "the system dating from
15707-588: The religion of their own state. Christians living in states where their denomination was not the established one were guaranteed the right to practice their faith in public during allotted hours and in private at their will. At times there were mass expulsions of dissenting faiths as happened with the Salzburg Protestants . Some people passed as adhering to the official church, but instead lived as Nicodemites or crypto-protestants . The European wars of religion are usually taken to have ended with
15846-407: The squire was eligible to be knighted. The accolade or knighting ceremony was usually held during one of the great feasts or holidays, like Christmas or Easter , and sometimes at the wedding of a noble or royal. The knighting ceremony usually involved a ritual bath on the eve of the ceremony and a prayer vigil during the night. On the day of the ceremony, the would-be knight would swear an oath and
15985-457: The squires continued training in combat and were allowed to own armour (rather than borrowing it). Squires were required to master the seven points of agilities – riding, swimming and diving, shooting different types of weapons, climbing, participation in tournaments, wrestling , fencing , long jumping , and dancing – the prerequisite skills for knighthood. All of these were even performed while wearing armour. Upon turning 21,
16124-723: The teachings of the Church, in an environment that, otherwise, would have probably seen their loss. The Church founded many cathedrals , universities , monasteries and seminaries , some of which continue to exist today. Medieval Christianity created the first modern universities . The Catholic Church established a hospital system in Medieval Europe that vastly improved upon the Roman valetudinaria . These hospitals were established to cater to "particular social groups marginalized by poverty, sickness, and age," according to historian of hospitals, Guenter Risse. Christianity also had
16263-441: The tenets of the all encompassing order the Church had brought and as the repository of the legacy of classical antiquity : The enterprise of individuals or of small aristocratic bodies has meantime sown the world which we call civilised with some seeds and nuclei of order. There are scattered about a variety of churches, industries, academies, and governments. But the universal order once dreamt of and nominally almost established,
16402-425: The transmutation of the term "knight" from the meaning "servant, soldier", and of chevalier "mounted soldier", to refer to a member of this ideal class, is significantly influenced by the Crusades , on one hand inspired by the military orders of monastic warriors, and on the other hand also cross-influenced by Islamic ( Saracen ) ideals of furusiyya . The institution of knights was already well-established by
16541-544: The true pope. The Avignon Papacy developed a reputation for corruption that estranged major parts of Western Christendom. The Avignon schism was ended by the Council of Constance . Before the modern period, Christendom was in a general crisis at the time of the Renaissance Popes because of the moral laxity of these pontiffs and their willingness to seek and rely on temporal power as secular rulers did. Many in
16680-484: The values of the Heroic Age . During the Middle Ages, this grew from simple military professionalism into a social code including the values of gentility, nobility and treating others reasonably. In The Song of Roland (c. 1100), Roland is portrayed as the ideal knight, demonstrating unwavering loyalty, military prowess and social fellowship. In Wolfram von Eschenbach 's Parzival (c. 1205), chivalry had become
16819-597: Was 'killed' by the First World War (1914–18), which led to the fall of the three main Christian empires ( Russian , German and Austrian ) of Europe, as well as the Ottoman Empire, rupturing the Eastern Christian communities that had existed on its territory. The Christian empires were replaced by secular, even anti-clerical republics seeking to definitively keep the churches out of politics. The only surviving monarchy with an established church, Britain,
16958-500: Was a servant on horseback. A narrowing of the generic meaning "servant" to "military follower of a king or other superior" is visible by 1100. The specific military sense of a knight as a mounted warrior in the heavy cavalry emerges only in the Hundred Years' War . The verb "to knight" (to make someone a knight) appears around 1300; and, from the same time, the word "knighthood" shifted from "adolescence" to "rank or dignity of
17097-419: Was a vision of a Christian theocracy , a government founded upon and upholding Christian values , whose institutions are spread through and over with Christian doctrine . In this period, members of the Christian clergy wield political authority . The specific relationship between the political leaders and the clergy varied but, in theory, the national and political divisions were at times subsumed under
17236-459: Was because governing power and defense against Viking , Magyar and Saracen attack became an essentially local affair which revolved around these new hereditary local lords and their demesnes . Clerics and the Church often opposed the practices of the Knights because of their abuses against women and civilians, and many such as St. Bernard de Clairvaux were convinced that Knights served
17375-572: Was built between 1357 and 1368. It was built in a strategic location in the middle of the Netherlands , where the Maas and Waal rivers come together (just west of current day villages of Poederoijen and Brakel , in the municipality of Zaltbommel , in Gelderland ). At first it was a simple square brick building, used to charge toll from trading vessels using the rivers. By 1372, the castle
17514-591: Was called a knight bachelor while a knight fighting under his own banner was a knight banneret . Some knights were familiar with city culture or familiarized with it during training. These knights, among others, were called in to end large insurgencies and other large uprisings that involved urban areas such as the Peasants' Revolt of England and the 1323–1328 Flemish revolt . A knight had to be born of nobility – typically sons of knights or lords. In some cases, commoners could also be knighted as
17653-635: Was done away with by order of Pope Innocent III. Christendom ultimately was led into specific crisis in the late Middle Ages , when the kings of France managed to establish a French national church during the 14th century and the papacy became ever more aligned with the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation . Known as the Western Schism , western Christendom was a split between three men, who were driven by politics rather than any real theological disagreement for simultaneously claiming to be
17792-482: Was gradual and not as clear to pin down as its 4th-century establishment, the "transition to the post-Constantinian, or post-Christendom, situation (...) has already been in process for a century or two", beginning with the 18th-century rationalist Enlightenment and the French Revolution (the first attempt to topple the Christian establishment). American Catholic bishop Thomas John Curry stated in 2001 that
17931-601: Was in decline by about 1200. The meaning of cniht changed over time from its original meaning of "boy" to "household retainer ". Ælfric 's homily of St. Swithun describes a mounted retainer as a cniht . While cnihtas might have fought alongside their lords, their role as household servants features more prominently in the Anglo-Saxon texts. In several Anglo-Saxon wills cnihtas are left either money or lands. In his will, King Æthelstan leaves his cniht, Aelfmar, eight hides of land. A rādcniht , "riding-servant",
18070-433: Was measured through military service that usually lasted 40 days a year. The military service was the quid pro quo for each knight's fief . Vassals and lords could maintain any number of knights, although knights with more military experience were those most sought after. Thus, all petty nobles intending to become prosperous knights needed a great deal of military experience. A knight fighting under another's banner
18209-643: Was not only an effective secular leader in military affairs, a deviously effective politician but foremost one of the greatest patron of the Renaissance period and person who also encouraged open criticism from noted humanists. The blossoming of renaissance humanism was made very much possible due to the universality of the institutions of Catholic Church and represented by personalities such as Pope Pius II , Nicolaus Copernicus , Leon Battista Alberti , Desiderius Erasmus , sir Thomas More , Bartolomé de Las Casas , Leonardo da Vinci and Teresa of Ávila . George Santayana in his work The Life of Reason postulated
18348-413: Was of two forms in medieval society, the feat of arms and chivalric combat. The feat of arms were done to settle hostilities between two large parties and supervised by a judge. The chivalric combat was fought when one party's honor was disrespected or challenged and the conflict could not be resolved in court. Weapons were standardized and must be of the same caliber. The duel lasted until the other party
18487-474: Was only over the following century, with the successful conquest of the Holy Land and the rise of the crusader states , that these orders became powerful and prestigious. The great European legends of warriors such as the paladins , the Matter of France and the Matter of Britain popularized the notion of chivalry among the warrior class. The ideal of chivalry as the ethos of the Christian warrior, and
18626-413: Was replaced in common parlance by the vulgar Latin caballus , sometimes thought to derive from Gaulish caballos . From caballus arose terms in the various Romance languages cognate with the (French-derived) English cavalier : Italian cavaliere , Spanish caballero , French chevalier (whence chivalry ), Portuguese cavaleiro , and Romanian cavaler . The Germanic languages have terms cognate with
18765-531: Was serving a controversially imposed life sentence from 1619, over his involvement in the controversies over religious policy of the Dutch Republic . In 1621, his wife Maria van Reigersberch , who was also staying at the castle, hid with him in a book chest that was regularly brought for them. He subsequently became the Swedish Ambassador to France for 10 years. Another high-profile inmate was
18904-526: Was severely damaged by the war, lost most of Ireland due to Catholic–Protestant infighting, and was starting to lose grip on its colonies. Changes in worldwide Christianity over the last century have been significant, since 1900, Christianity has spread rapidly in the Global South and Third World countries. The late 20th century has shown the shift of Christian adherence to the Third World and
19043-465: Was to be important to the development of chivalric ideals in literature. Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur ( The Death of Arthur ), written in 1469, was important in defining the ideal of chivalry, which is essential to the modern concept of the knight, as an elite warrior sworn to uphold the values of faith , loyalty , courage , and honour . Instructional literature was also created. Geoffroi de Charny 's " Book of Chivalry " expounded upon
19182-507: Was too weak to fight back and in early cases, the defeated party were then subsequently executed. Examples of these brutal duels were the judicial combat known as the Combat of the Thirty in 1351, and the trial by combat fought by Jean de Carrouges in 1386. A far more chivalric duel which became popular in the Late Middle Ages was the pas d'armes or "passage of arms". In this hastilude ,
19321-590: Was under control of the Counts of Holland . In the 16th century (around 1575, on orders given by William the Silent ) it was expanded to a larger fortress surrounded by earthen fortifications with two (later three) stone bastions on the northern side, two moats , an arsenal , and housing for a commander and soldiers. The castle was also part of the Hollandic Water Line. It changed hands twice between
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