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88-477: The soliferrum was forged from a single piece of iron which usually measured 1.5–2 m (4 ft 11 in – 6 ft 7 in) in length and around 1 cm (0.39 in) in diameter. This missile weapon had a narrow, barbed tip so it could pierce shields and armour . The tip of the soliferrum came in several forms. In its simplest form, it had only a sharpened tip but usually it had two small spikes or even more. These spikes had one or several hooks, so

176-500: 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

264-498: 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

352-435: A bulletproof glass viewing port. They are typically employed by specialist police, such as SWAT teams in high risk entry and siege scenarios, such as hostage rescue and breaching gang compounds, as well as in antiterrorism operations. Law enforcement shields often have a large signs stating "POLICE" (or the name of a force, such as "US MARSHALS") to indicate that the user is a law enforcement officer. Knight This

440-399: A fighting style where each incoming blow is intercepted with the boss in order to deflect it. The Normans introduced the kite shield around the 10th century, which was rounded at the top and tapered at the bottom. This gave some protection to the user's legs, without adding too much to the total weight of the shield. The kite shield predominantly features enarmes , leather straps used to grip

528-607: A gentle curve in cross section. The heater style inspired the shape of the symbolic heraldic shield that is still used today. Eventually, specialised shapes were developed such as the bouche , which had a lance rest cut into the upper corner of the lance side, to help guide it in combat or tournament. Free standing shields called pavises , which were propped up on stands, were used by medieval crossbowmen who needed protection while reloading. In time, some armoured foot knights gave up shields entirely in favour of mobility and two-handed weapons. Other knights and common soldiers adopted

616-499: 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

704-547: 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 ,

792-543: A little more difficult. The scutum originally had an oval shape, but gradually the curved tops and sides were cut to produce the familiar rectangular shape most commonly seen in the early Imperial legions. Famously, the Romans used their shields to create a tortoise-like formation called a testudo in which entire groups of soldiers would be enclosed in an armoured box to provide protection against missiles. Many ancient shield designs featured incuts of one sort or another. This

880-506: 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

968-904: 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

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1056-447: A metal boss, rim or banding. They were carried by foot soldiers, knights and cavalry. Depending on time and place, shields could be round, oval, square, rectangular, triangular, bilabial or scalloped. Sometimes they took on the form of kites or flatirons, or had rounded tops on a rectangular base with perhaps an eye-hole, to look through when used with combat. The shield was held by a central grip or by straps with some going over or around

1144-474: 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

1232-412: A rectangular "tower" shield. These shields were made primarily from a wicker frame and then reinforced with leather. Covering the body from head to foot, the figure-of-eight and tower shield offered most of the warrior's body a good deal of protection in hand-to-hand combat. The Ancient Greek hoplites used a round, bowl-shaped wooden shield that was reinforced with bronze and called an aspis . The aspis

1320-509: 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

1408-759: A single ox hide supported by a wooden spine. This was used in combination with a short spear ( iklwa ) and/or club . Other African shields include Glagwa from Cameroon or Nguba from Congo . Shields for protection from armed attack are still used by many police forces around the world. These modern shields are usually intended for two broadly distinct purposes. The first type, riot shields , are used for riot control and can be made from metal or polymers such as polycarbonate Lexan or Makrolon or boPET Mylar . These typically offer protection from relatively large and low velocity projectiles, such as rocks and bottles, as well as blows from fists or clubs. Synthetic riot shields are normally transparent, allowing full use of

1496-479: 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

1584-534: A weapon and so on. In prehistory and during the era of the earliest civilisations, shields were made of wood, animal hide, woven reeds or wicker . In classical antiquity, the Barbarian Invasions and the Middle Ages , they were normally constructed of poplar tree, lime or another split-resistant timber, covered in some instances with a material such as leather or rawhide and often reinforced with

1672-492: 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

1760-457: 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

1848-587: 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 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

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1936-618: 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"),

2024-421: Is the bullet-resistant ballistic shield , also called tactical shield. These shields are typically manufactured from advanced synthetics such as Kevlar and are designed to be bulletproof , or at least bullet resistant . Two types of shields are available: Tactical shields often have a firing port so that the officer holding the shield can fire a weapon while being protected by the shield, and they often have

2112-517: 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

2200-592: 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

2288-493: The High Middle Ages for purposes of battlefield identification. Even after the introduction of gunpowder and firearms to the battlefield, shields continued to be used by certain groups. In the 18th century, for example, Scottish Highland fighters liked to wield small shields known as targes , and as late as the 19th century, some non-industrialized peoples (such as Zulu warriors) employed them when waging wars. In

2376-580: 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 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

2464-662: 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

2552-475: The buckler , giving rise to the term " swashbuckler ". The buckler is a small round shield, typically between 8 and 16 inches (20–40 cm) in diameter. The buckler was one of very few types of shield that were usually made of metal. Small and light, the buckler was easily carried by being hung from a belt; it gave little protection from missiles and was reserved for hand-to-hand combat where it served both for protection and offence. The buckler's use began in

2640-414: 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

2728-472: 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

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2816-412: 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

2904-781: The 20th and 21st century, shields have been used by military and police units that specialize in anti-terrorist actions, hostage rescue, riot control and siege-breaking. The first prototype of the shield was believed to be created in the Late Neolithic Age . However the oldest surviving shields date to sometime in the Bronze Age . The oldest form of shield was a protection device designed to block attacks by hand weapons, such as swords, axes and maces, or ranged weapons like sling-stones and arrows. Shields have varied greatly in construction over time and place. Sometimes shields were made of metal, but wood or animal hide construction

2992-650: 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

3080-513: 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

3168-443: 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

3256-788: The Iberian peninsula under Roman rule until the end of the 3rd century and it coexisted with the falarica (the Iberian pilum ). This article related to weaponry is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry like spears or long ranged projectiles such as arrows . They function as means of active blocks, as well as to provide passive protection by closing one or more lines of engagement during combat. Shields vary greatly in size and shape, ranging from large panels that protect

3344-466: The Middle Ages and continued well into the 16th century. In Italy, the targa , parma , and rotella were used by common people, fencers and even knights. The development of plate armour made shields less and less common as it eliminated the need for a shield. Lightly armoured troops continued to use shields after men-at-arms and knights ceased to use them. Shields continued in use even after gunpowder powered weapons made them essentially obsolete on

3432-1384: 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 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

3520-504: The battlefield. In the 18th century, the Scottish clans used a small, round targe that was partially effective against the firearms of the time, although it was arguably more often used against British infantry bayonets and cavalry swords in close-in fighting. During the 19th century, non-industrial cultures with little access to guns were still using war shields. Zulu warriors carried large lightweight shields called Ishlangu made from

3608-567: The body. Many had a strap called a guige that allowed them to be slung over the user's back when not in use or on horseback. During the 14th–13th century BC, the Sards or Shardana , working as mercenaries for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II , utilized either large or small round shields against the Hittites . The Mycenaean Greeks used two types of shields: the "figure-of-eight" shield and

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3696-670: 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

3784-603: 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

3872-528: 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

3960-407: 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

4048-407: The density of the weapon's iron shaft, its small diameter and its narrow tip gave the soliferrum excellent armor-piercing capacity at close range and enabled it to penetrate even heavy shields. Ancient Iberian warriors were heavy users of javelins, casting this ranged weapon by volleys in order to disorganize an enemy formation before advancing to close combat with mêlée weapons. The Iberian warrior

4136-470: 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

4224-427: 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

4312-568: 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

4400-472: 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,

4488-417: 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

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4576-497: 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,

4664-545: 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 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,

4752-523: 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

4840-1133: 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

4928-455: 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

5016-454: 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

5104-469: 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

5192-435: 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

5280-459: 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

5368-482: 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

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5456-412: 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

5544-481: The shield tight to the arm. Used by foot and mounted troops alike, it gradually came to replace the round shield as the common choice until the end of the 12th century, when more efficient limb armour allowed the shields to grow shorter, and be entirely replaced by the 14th century. As body armour improved, knight 's shields became smaller, leading to the familiar heater shield style. Both kite and heater style shields were made of several layers of laminated wood, with

5632-421: The shield without obstructing vision. Similarly, metal riot shields often have a small window at eye level for this purpose. These riot shields are most commonly used to block and push back crowds when the users stand in a "wall" to block protesters, and to protect against shrapnel , projectiles like stones and bricks , molotov cocktails , and during hand-to-hand combat . The second type of modern police shield

5720-708: 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 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

5808-407: 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

5896-457: 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,

5984-522: 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 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

6072-425: 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

6160-404: The user's arm and one or more being held by the hand. Often shields were decorated with a painted pattern or an animal representation to show their army or clan. It was common for Aristocratic officials such and knights , barons , dukes , and kings to have their shields painted with customary designs known as a coat of arms. These designs developed into systematized heraldic devices during

6248-703: The user's whole body to small models (such as the buckler ) that were intended for hand-to-hand-combat use. Shields also vary a great deal in thickness; whereas some shields were made of relatively deep, absorbent, wooden planking to protect soldiers from the impact of spears and crossbow bolts, others were thinner and lighter and designed mainly for deflecting blade strikes (like the roromaraugi or qauata ). Finally, shields vary greatly in shape, ranging in roundness to angularity, proportional length and width, symmetry and edge pattern; different shapes provide more optimal protection for infantry or cavalry, enhance portability, provide secondary uses such as ship protection or as

6336-484: 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

6424-439: The weapon would be hard to extract after it had penetrated an enemy's body. The central part of the soliferrum was usually thickened to facilitate the grip of the weapon. Sometimes there were moldings of about 10 cm (3.9 in) long in the middle of the weapon to further improve the grip and thus prevent the weapon from slipping in sweaty or bloody hands. The soliferrum was an extremely effective heavy javelin. The weight and

6512-500: 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

6600-634: Was also the longest-lasting and most famous and influential of all of the ancient Greek shields. The Spartans used the aspis to create the Greek phalanx formation. Their shields offered protection not only for themselves but for their comrades to their left. Examples of Germanic wooden shields circa 350 BC – 500 AD survive from weapons sacrifices in Danish bogs. The heavily armored Roman legionaries carried large shields ( scuta ) that could provide far more protection, but made swift movement

6688-459: 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

6776-591: 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

6864-492: 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 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

6952-440: Was done to accommodate the shaft of a spear, thus facilitating tactics requiring the soldiers to stand close together forming a wall of shields . Typical in the early European Middle Ages were round shields with light, non-splitting wood like linden , fir , alder , or poplar , usually reinforced with leather cover on one or both sides and occasionally metal rims, encircling a metal shield boss . These light shields suited

7040-601: 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",

7128-433: 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

7216-643: Was much more common; wicker and even turtle shells have been used. Many surviving examples of metal shields are generally felt to be ceremonial rather than practical, for example the Yetholm-type shields of the Bronze Age , or the Iron Age Battersea shield . Size and weight varied greatly. Lightly armored warriors relying on speed and surprise would generally carry light shields ( pelte ) that were either small or thin. Heavy troops might be equipped with robust shields that could cover most of

7304-413: 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

7392-531: 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

7480-413: 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

7568-465: 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

7656-507: 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 ,

7744-589: Was typically buried with his soliferrum and all his other weapons. Archeological findings suggest that the soliferrum first appeared in the regions of Aquitania and Languedoc , north of the Pyrenees , during the 1st millennium BC. From there, the weapon was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by migrating Celts and it was in Iberia that the soliferrum achieved its fame. The soliferrum remained in use in

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