Knights In The Middle Ages Essay

1774 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Feudalism and its impact

Knights were an important part of society and feudalism in the Middle Ages, knights were soldiers of the Lord or King and their first priority was to the person he served.Feudalism is the form of government and organization that held medieval society together and kept them from complete chaos. Knights upheld the laws and served their Lord, they made oaths and agreements and both the Lord and knight depended on each other. Feudalism made sure that everyone got what they needed by making oaths and agreements that keep loyalty to the Lord, so if you did something for someone they do something for you, and knights were a key part of feudalism because they kept law and order and protected the Lord.

Knights were the backbone of a Lord's army, they …show more content…

Peasants Were an essential part of feudal society because they paid for things like military and did the hard work for the higher class. Serfs did services for the Lord and in return he let them stay on the land and gave them protection.(S5 25)The Lord would exploit the serfs to gain military power and used the money to buy military equipment.(Newman, Simon. “Feudalism in the Middle Ages.”) Knights and nobles helped hold Feudalism together and keep it stable by upholding laws, making agreements of their own, and keeping loyalty to each other so that everybody gets something? A knight upheld the laws of his Lord and collected taxes and in return the Lord gave him land and treasure.(Smith, Cynthia. “The Central Middle Ages-The Military Elite.” 2)The Lord had duties to uphold, if a knight died, he must take care of the knights family as if they are his and had to offer shelter, protection, and land to everyone that is loyal to him. While he got protection, money, and power.(Smith, Cynthia. “The Central Middle Ages-The Military Elite.” 3) Feudalism made sure that everybody gets something and are taken care while giving some people more power than

Show More
Related

  • What Is The Social Structure Of Monty Python And The Holy Grail

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the middle ages, knights were viewed as those who would represent the greatest level of chivalry, considering it was part of their code. King Arthur talked to a peasant in the beginning of the film who expressed her said unhappiness about the government and her views did not align with King Arthur so he disapproved. The peasant described medieval Europe as a horrid place to live. There was also a lack of education among the peasants because in the British empire at that time, there were many small kingdoms owned by lords, under one king. All the peasants really knew was their own kingdom and their king, they were not really educated on the number or where other kingdoms were. During this time period, the peasants were viewed as the bottom of the food chain, and in the feudal system they were actually at the bottom. This meant that they had no real say in the government or how it was ruled, so this interaction did not seem accurate for the time period nor did it cause any impact because those who were high in the feudal system liked the strong divide between classes. The way of life during the middle ages was strongly influenced by past traditions and morals that had been passed down from generation to generation. One of these old traditions included

    Read More

  • DBQ On The Middle Ages

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    Feudalism dominated European social life during the Middle Ages (Doc.1). “Feudalism was a political, economic, and social system in which nobles were granted the use of land that legally belonged to the king” (Doc. 1) "Social" life in the Middle Ages was the only kind of life people knew. Whether nobility, craftsperson or peasant, your life is defined by your family, your community and those around you (OI). “The Church protected the Kings and Queens (OI).” “The King is above Nobles, Nobles above Knights, and the Knights are above serfs (Doc.1).”

    Read More

  • The Role Of Knight In Medieval Times

    307 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Medieval Times knights are the protectors. The knights fight for, and obey the king. And for that reason Knight’s are in high rankings in the class system, compared to the peasants and merchants. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, people are going on the pilgrimage to Canterbury for Salvation. The knight is Chaucer’s ideal of a night should be. The knight is a highly principled killer who travels the world and fights for what he believes in with unequivocal bravery and valor.

    Read More

  • Feudal System Dbq

    436 Words  | 1 Pages

    (Doc. 1) The knights would contribute the protection for the nobles as they gave the king money and knights. (Doc. 1). Another influence on the lives of the people was the Church. “The role of the Church was very large in Medieval

    Read More

  • Knight's Hypocrisy In Sir Gawain And The Green Knight

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the Medieval Times, knights hold high status and are seen as sovereign, yet their actions are contradicting. Knights stand for loyalty, justice, and chivalry; however, most are liars, cheaters, and foolish. Throughout medieval literature, authors create characters that contain both attributes and utilize literary elements to highlight this medieval crisis. Many Knights maintain a loyal and noble character because chivalry outlasts hypocrisy.

    Read More

  • The Knight And The Knights Wer Summary

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    The knights in shining armor were just that, chivalrous hard working men. They were trained as boys, and had a system of codes to follow. These codes include protecting the weak, to live by honor and glory, to guard the honor of other knights, to keep faith, protect the honor of other knights, always speak the truth, to fight for the welfare of all, to respect the honor of women, never refuse a challenge from an equal, and to never turn your back on a foe. The monks focused their life on God and their days were spent praying. Monks also had many chores like farming, washing clothes, writing manuscripts etc. They were to give up worldly goods and devote their live to discipline and god by undergoing three vows, the vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. Monks

    Read More

  • Medieval Era: Knights, Chivalry, and Morals

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    Can chivalry be in possession of someone who has little or no morals? In the Medieval era, there lived many knights. Whom of which lived their everyday life based on the quintessence of chivalry; fair play, courtesy, valor, loyalty, honor, largess, and piety. Without these admirable traits, the righteous knights like the ones from Chaucer’s “The Prologue” and “The Knight’s Tale” wouldn’t be able to call themselves knights in the first place. Unlike the other two knights, the knight from Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath Tale” doesn’t wield an ample amount of chivalry.

    Read More

  • Knights and Thier Role In Medieval Society

    456 Words  | 1 Pages

    Knights and their role in medieval society. Knights were an integral part of medieval society. They originally began with primitive warriors such as the Mongols who fought on horseback for added speed and power, but quickly advanced to chivalrous gentleman such as the Normans. Much has been written about medieval knights, with the most famous being a series of legends about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Arthur and his knights were the ultimate example of what a perfect knight should have been.

    Read More

  • Chivalry In The Knight's Tale Essay

    1744 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the tale, The Knight’s Tale, Chaucer made sure not to deviate away from what he saw during his time because some qualities emerged as prominent figures. The Knight’s Tale made sure to exemplify the idea of courtly love and what it truly means to be a knight who follows the code of chivalry. Some of the qualities of being chivalrous is being generous, honest, courageous, and supporting the notion of justice, which the readers can see that Chaucer understood the significance of the noble behavior and how that affected people at that time. Furthermore, the article, “The Canterbury Tales for Poetry of Students” highlighted how the noble life of the chivalry was a momentous part of the tale since the tale was “a comment on the possibilities

    Read More

  • Wilchester Manor Research Paper

    699 Words  | 2 Pages

    Feudalism was not just a system where the top people and can tell what the bottom people to do. Below, you can see a representation of what happens in a feudal system. The king gives lends land to the barons in exchange for knights to protect the king. The barons lend land to the knights in exchange for protection of the barons. The Knights lend land to the peasants in exchange for labour and food. In feudalism, a person could almost never change position from their position. If a person was born as a peasant then they can not change ever. Even if they were really

    Read More

  • Summary and Analysis of The Knight's Tale

    2300 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Knight begins his tale with the story of a prince named Theseus who married Hippolyta, the queen of Scythia, and brought her and her sister, Emelye, back to Athens with him after conquering her kingdom of Amazons. When Theseus returned home victorious, he became aware that there was a company of women clad in black who knelt at the side of the highway, shrieking. The oldest of the women asked Theseus for pity. She told him that she was once the wife of King Cappaneus who was destroyed at Thebes, and that all of the other women with her lost their husbands. Creon, the lord of the town, simply tossed the dead bodies of the soldiers in a single pile and refused to burn or bury them. Theseus swore vengeance upon Creon, and immediately ordered his armies toward Thebes. Theseus vanquished Creon, and when the soldiers were disposing of the bodies they found two young knights, Arcite and Palamon, two royal cousins, not quite dead. Theseus ordered that they be imprisoned in Athens for life. They passed their time imprisoned in a tower in Athens until they saw Emelye in a nearby garden. Both fall immediately in love with her. Palamon compares her to Venus, and he prays for escape from the prison, while Arcite claims that he would rather be dead than not have Emelye. The two bicker over her, each calling the other a traitor. This happened on a day in which Pirithous, a prince and childhood friend of Theseus, came to Athens. Pirithous had known Arcite at Thebes, and on his request Theseus set Arcite free on the promise that Arcite would never be found in Theseus' kingdom. He now had his freedom, but not the ability to pursue Emelye, and lamented the cruelty of fate...

    Read More

  • A Knight's Tale Research Paper

    729 Words  | 2 Pages

    Romance has come a long way in the last few hundred years. Many things have changed but yet, some things have stayed the same. During the medieval times romance was also known as chivalry, a code of conduct for Knight’s. Today most people would claim that chivalry is dead. In a lot of ways romance has stayed the same since the medieval time period.

    Read More

  • How Does Sir Lancelot Show Loyalty In Le Morte D Arthur

    637 Words  | 2 Pages

    During The Middle Ages, there was a lack of central government, so in order to keep the peace; Medieval Europe was required to create their own. Within this new government, there were four main socials classes; known as Kings, Nobles, Knights, and Peasants. They were all critical parts of the society, but one group specifically was the most essential to the feudal system, and they were the knights. During this Era, they were required to Abide by a Code of Chivalry in order to be sworn in as a knight. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur Sir Lancelot is one of the main knights of King Arthur. By examining Sir Lancelot’s desire for peace, reluctance to shed Christian blood, and devotion towards King Arthur, his courageous and heroic qualities, it is clear that he is the epitome of an honorable knight.

    Read More

  • A Knight's Dream Research Paper

    478 Words  | 1 Pages

    A Knight’s Dream I believe in Fantasy so I can open doors into new worlds. Nothing amounts to the worlds I’ve visited through fantasy. I always wish that I could go visit Middle-Earth or other worlds I’ve seen in books, video games and movies. Fantasy worlds are always beautiful with a heavy emphasis on “beauty can be dangerous”.

    Read More

  • Becoming A Knight Essay

    1509 Words  | 4 Pages

    Do you remember as a kid you dressing up as a knight, imagining saving someone from a castle from a dragon? Haven’t you always been fascinated by the image of the "Knight in shining armor?" Who hasn't wondered what it was really like to live the life of a knight? Sadly real knights from the Middle Ages aren’t about rescuing people from dragons. This guide will teach you all about how to be a successful knight in European history, the Middle Ages, or Medieval period, lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. A knight was a male warrior during Medieval Times that served a lord under the code of chivalry, much like samurai with their code of bushido. This code made knights follow a set a rules, and described qualities they should possess. (Hopkins, Knights) For example he is to be fearless and valiant while having qualities such as being loyal, generous, and polite. Women couldn’t become knights because the only purpose they had at that time was: to marry well, be loyal to their husband, and to have sons. (Edge, Arms & Armor of the Medieval Knight) stated that

    Read More

More about Knights In The Middle Ages Essay

Open Document