Knights of the Middle Ages

Knights became important in the Middle Ages as warriors recruited by their lords for military service. They were equipped with defensive garment, armor and weapons, and they were trained to fight on horseback since they were children. They also took part in jousts and tournaments in order to exercise their fighting skills and to show their battle skills.

Knights were part of the nobility of the Middle Ages. Nobles lived much more comfortably than peasants, but their lives were not glamorous. Some knights inherited or were given castles which had been built for security but not for comfort.

It is supposed that some medieval stories are based on the lives of the courageous warriors who lived in those times no matter whether they died during a battle or whether they won. Authors took them as an ideal exemplar and they added several elements to make the knight superior. However, the perfect knight is just a character of medieval stories, a product of the author?s imagination or inspiration, perhaps taking a real knight of those times as a model.

This work aims to describe the most important characteristics of the life of the medieval knight and his role in the society of the Middle Ages. Afterwards, a comparison between these characteristics and the description of the figure of the knight found in medieval literature as an ideal and model man will be established, highlighting their beliefs and values.

The word Knight is the modern form of several old terms. Among these, the primary equivalent comes from Old English cniht, which means boy or youth, secondly, from German, two terms are closely related, the first one being knecht, translated as servant, and the second one, ritter, which means rider. Lastly,...

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...yday life, the knight was supposed to follow the code of chivalry and exalt his moral virtues, humility was one of them, for example. However, he was engaged in battles and tournaments seeking for honour, prestige and power. There was no other alternative, he ?had to? win, and in this way, he would have the respect and admiration of others. A well-known surname, an expensive armour, good weapons and a trained horse were not enough. In knighthood, it was extremely important that a knight would become popular and have a high social standing.

It might seem that a knight?s life was full of adventures and excitement, though it was not really like this. The way towards knighthood was not so simple as it involved a permanent dedication and commitment since early stages and knighthood itself meant facing sacrifices, dangerous situations, defeats and even death.