In the UK, a title of honour granted as a reward for services, permitting the use of Sir with one's name; originally (in the Middle Ages) men who formed an elite cavalry (Fr Chevalier, Ger Ritter). The ideal of knighthood involved the maintenance of personal honour, religious devotion, and loyalty to one's lord. This ideal was most nearly achieved at the time of the Crusades (11th13th-c).
For other uses of "Knights", see Knights (disambiguation).Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the High and Late Middle Ages, the principal duty of a knight was to fight as, and lead, heavy cavalry (see serjeanty); By extension, "knight" is also used as a translation of the names of other honourable estates connected with horsemanship, especially from classical antiquity.
The history of knighthood involves, therefore, the history of the social institution, which began somewhat differently in the various European regions;
Knighthood is designated by the title Sir (e.g.
Etymology
The word knight derives from Old English cniht, meaning page boy, or servant (as is still the case in the cognate Dutch knecht, German Knecht and Danish knægt for servant), or simply boy.
In this respect English differs from most other European languages, where the equivalent word emphasizes the status and prosperity of war horse ownership. Similarly, the Greek ἱππεύς (hippeus) is commonly translated knight; A survival is the modern given name Philip, whose etymology means lover of horses.
An Equestrian (Latin eques, plural equites) was a member of the second highest social class in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. the medieval knight, however, was called miles in Latin, (which in classical Latin meant "soldier", normally infantry), until the Renaissance revival of eques. This formed the basis for the word knight among the romance European languages: Spanish caballero, French chevalier, Portuguese cavaleiro etc.
Origins of European knighthood
Knighthood as known in Europe was characterized by two elements, feudalism and service as a mounted combatant.
Some portions of the armies of Germanic tribes (and super-tribes, such as the Suebi) which occupied Europe from the third century had always been mounted, and sometimes such cavalry in fact composed large majorities, such as in the armies of the Ostrogoths.
As the eighth century progressed into the Carolingian Age, however, 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. Although in some nations the knight returned to foot combat in the fourteenth century, the association of the knight with mounted combat with a spear, and later a lance, remained a strong one.
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.
The resulting hereditary, landed class of mounted elite warriors, the knights, were increasingly seen as the only true soldiers of Europe, hence the exclusive use of miles for them.
The medieval institution
In the early Middle Ages the term knight designated a professional fighting man in the emerging feudal system. Eventually, on the Continent of Europe, only those men could be knighted whose fathers or grandfathers had been knights; and the knightly families became known as the nobility. (In the British Isles, "nobility" is more restricted, to the Peerage.)
From the 12th century, the concept continued being tied to cavalry, mounted and armoured soldiers. When the young man had completed his training he was ready to become a knight, and would be honoured as such in a ceremony known as dubbing (knighting) from the French "adoubement". It was expected that all young men of noble birth be knights and often take oaths swearing allegiance, chastity, protection of other Christians, and respect of the laws laid down by their forebears, though this varied from period to period and on the rank of the individual.
From the time of Henry III of England, a knight bachelor was a member of the lower nobility, preceded by the knight banneret, a commander of ten or more lances who could lead his men under his own banner, but who did not have the rank of baron or earl. The knights bachelor did not wear any insignia until 1296.
The concept, together with the notion of chivalry came to full bloom during the thirteenth century, the apogee in the power and influence of the mounted knight on the battlefield, particularly in France, whose knighthood had the most redoubtable battlefield reputation. The English introduced foot service for the knight in the early Hundred Years War, to support their longbowmen and to combat the depleted French knights whose charge managed to reach the English lines through the deadly hail of longbow arrows. This tactic spelled disaster for the formerly unstoppable French cavalry charge, and the French knights soon followed suit in dismounting for combat, fighting primarily on foot from roughly 1350 to 1430. (Perhaps not coincidentally, the chess piece was named in this period of increased mounted service, around 1440.)
The French knight, now known as a man-at-arms (gendarme) would fight mounted through the Italian Wars and beyond, and the knights of other nations would follow his lead. Eventually mounted service no longer required knighthood, but the cavalry always contained large numbers of aristocrats, even into the twentieth century, carrying on the tradition of mounted service by the knight.
Becoming a knight
The process of training for knighthood began before adolescence, inside the prospective knight’s own home, where he was taught courtesy and appropriate manners.
A page became a squire when he turned 14 years of age, being assigned or picked by a knight to become his personal aide. He also acted as a personal servant to the knight, taking care of his master’s equipment and horse. The knight acted as a tutor and taught the squire all he needed to know to become a knight. As the squire grew older, he was expected to follow his master into battle, and attend to his master if the knight fell in battle. Some squires became knights for performing an outstanding deed on the battlefield, but most were knighted by their lord when their training was judged to be complete.
A squire could hope to become a knight when he was about 18 to 21 years old. Once the squire had established sufficient mastery of the required skills, he was dubbed a knight. He was then bathed, and in the morning he was dressed in a white shirt, gold tunic, purple cloak, and was knighted by his king or lord. A squire could also be knighted on the battlefield, in which a lord simply performed the accolade, i.e.
The night before his knighting ceremony, the squire would take a cleansing bath, fast, make confession, and pray to God all night in the chapel, readying himself for his life as a knight. Then he would go through the knighting ceremony the following day. Knights followed the code of chivalry, which promoted honour, honesty, respect to God, and other knightly virtues. Knights served their lords and were paid in land, because money was scarce.
In various traditions, knighthood was reserved for people with a minimum of noble quarters (as in many orders of chivalry), or knighthood became essentially a low degree of nobility, sometimes even conferred as a hereditary title below the peerage.
Meanwhile kings strove, as an expression of absolutism, to monopolize the right to confer knighthood, even as an individual honour.
Knighthood as a purely formal title bestowed by the British monarch unrelated to military service was established in the 16th century. (However, military knights remained among the Knights of Malta until 1798.) The British title of baronet was established by James I of England in 1611 as an inheritable knighthood, ranking below Baron (the lowest Peerage title).
Knighthood and the feudal system
Originally, any knight could make a knight; although there was greater honor in being knighted by more prestigious knights. There was an instance of three knights of Beauvais who needed a fourth knight to witness their contract; so they knighted a passing peasant and made him witness. Unfortunately, knighting serfs was already illegal there, and they were mulcted of a heavy fine.
Once eligibility for knighthood became a monopoly of the nobles, or knightly class, they actually assumed knighthood less and less often.
The king, however, could order his subjects to become knights, and dispense with the laws against knighting the ignoble. So knights were most often made by the king, or his deputies; in the late Middle Ages, sovereigns began to forbid their subjects to make knights, as they forbade them other military preparations.
By about the late 13th century, partly in conjunction with the focus on courtly behavior, a code of conduct and uniformity of dress for knights began to evolve. Knights were eligible to wear a white belt and golden spurs as signs of their status. Moreover, knights were also required to swear allegiance to a superior in the feudal pyramid — either to a liege lord or to a military order.
In theory, knights were the warrior class defending the people of feudal Christianity and bound by a code of chivalry. Knights served mightier lords, usually as vassals, or were hired by them. In reality, rules were often bent or blatantly broken by knights as well as their masters, for power, goods or honour. So-called robber knights or robber barons even turned to organized crime, some based in a castle.
In times of war or national disorder the monarch would typically call all the knights together to do their annual service of fighting. Sometimes the knights responding to the call were the nobles themselves, and sometimes these men were hired by nobles to fight in their stead;
As time went by, monarchs began to prefer standing (permanent) armies led by officers rather than knights, because they could be used for longer periods of time, were more professional and were generally more loyal. This was partly because those noblemen who were themselves knights, or who sent knights to fight, were prone to use the monarch's dependency on their resources to manipulate him. This move from knights to standing armies had two important outcomes: the implementation of a regular payment of "scutage" to monarchs by noblemen (a money payment instead of active military service) which would strengthen the concept and practice of taxation; and a general decrease in military discipline in knights, who became more interested in their country estates and chivalric pursuits, including their roles as courtiers.
The Knights of Malta also dropped their traditional role of heavy cavalry as they moved from one island fortress to another across the Mediterranean Sea.
In some countries, knighthood was merged into the nobility, remaining only as a low or genetic noble title; thus the aristocratic estate's chambers in the diets of the realms of Sweden and Finland were each called House of knights.
Hereditary knighthoods in Great Britain and Ireland
There are traces of the Continental system of hereditary knighthood in British usage, however. There were three hereditary knighthoods in the Kingdom of Ireland:
Knight of Glin, the Black Knight, (Fitzgerald of Limerick) Knight of Kerry, the Green Knight, (Fitzgerald of Kerry) The White Knight, (FitzGibbon), now extinct. Baronets are entitled to the style Sir, are entitled to all privileges to which knights are entitled and rank above all the orders of knighthood except the Garter and the Thistle.Malta was a British possession, and the crown recognizes Maltese hereditary knighthoods.
Chivalric code
In war, the chivalrous knight was idealized as brave in battle, loyal to his king and God, and willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Towards his fellow Christians and countrymen, the knight was to be merciful, humble, and courteous. Towards noble ladies above all, the knight was to be gracious and gentle. Knights Templar, founded 1118, disbanded 1307. Teutonic knights, founded ca.
Chivalric orders
After the Crusades, the military orders became idealized and romanticized, resulting in the late medieval notion of chivalry, as reflected in the Arthurian romances of the time. The creation of chivalric orders was fashionable among the noblesse in the 14th and 15th centuries, as remains reflected in contemporary honours systems, and the term order itself, notably the Order of Saint George, founded by Charles I of Hungary in 1325/6, Order of the Dragon founded by Serbian knight Milos Obilic in 1385,the Order of the Garter, founded by Edward III of England in ca.
Honorific orders
From roughly 1560, purely honorific orders were established, designed as a way to confer prestige and distinction, unrelated to military service or chivalry in the more narrow sense.
Accompanying the title is the given name, and optionally the surname. Wives of knights, however, are entitled to the honorific "Lady" before their husband's surname.
State Knighthoods in the Netherlands are issued in three orders, the Order of William, the Order of the Dutch Lion, and the Order of Orange Nassau. Additionally there remain a few hereditary knights in The Netherlands.
In Italy, the Cavalieri is an honour equivalent to a knighthood.
Modern ranks
Within most Continental European orders, and many other orders, the following rankings (or similar rank structures) exist:
Knight or Chevalier Officer Knight Commander (or simply Commander) Grand Officer Knight Grand Cross (or Grand Cordon)Within the British honours system, and some members of the Commonwealth of Nations, the following rankings (or similar rank structures) exist:
Member Officer Commander Knight Knight Commander Knight Grand Cross
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