Knights, as part of the warrior class, were responsible for defending both the land and those who lived upon it from foreign invaders. Knights were the military retainers of the ruling nobiles or lords, and their services were used by the lord as he saw fit. There were two levels of knights in this period, and these levels were defined by the ownership of land, where ".some were landless household knights, while others occupied alods rather than fiefs and thus owed no feudal service". These knights held a position in society which was above that of a peasant, but certainly below the ruling aristocracy.
As mentioned, knights were paid for their services. Payment was usually land in the form of a fief, but as time passed money became the prominent way of procuring knightly service. The term of this service usually ranged from forty days to on year. According to Graham A. Loud.
Military obligations in Anglo-Saxon England had ultimately rested on possession of land. What the Norman Conquest did was to replace a relatively uniform system of military obligation, based on one man serving for every five hides worth of land, with a series of arbitrary arrangements between the king and his tenants-in-chief (nobles who held fiefs directly from the king).
The lord would come to an agreement with the king, from whom he received his land, concerning the number of knights that he would pledge to the kings service. These agreements changed constantly due to the fact that the lords of the land were always changing as well. At times when heirs failed and the lord had only daughters to succeed him, then the fief changed hands and a new arrangement over knight service had to be negotiated. There is evidence that, in the eleventh century, after a knights forty days of unpaid service ran out, the knights might have received pay for continual services. This introduction of a financial element had the effect of belittling the value of the knight by placing the emphasis on the knight's fee.
In this paper I will discuss the origins, importance, and decline of knighthood. ... Shortly after knighthood declined. ... Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries a change took place between knighthood and feudalism. ... In the sixteenth century knighthood ended in the traditional sense. After this knighthood became an honorific status....
Knighthood was a trend that began during the 11th century as a professional association. It included only those who could afford to make and maintain the heavy capital investment required by mounted warfare - that is horse and armor fighting. Knights usually came from the nobles - the great land-o...
In Europe, things were organised supremely, the monarchy and knighthood saw to that. ... In Japan, things were also like this, but the Japanese had the Samurai, a class similar to the European knighthood, and one I find interesting to this day... ...
To understand such romance, one must know the definition of chivalry and knighthood. ... "Knighthood comes from the English word knight, which means household retainer." ... In the 12th century, chivalric codes were added to knighthood. ... Chivalry added discipline to knighthood. ... The decline of knighthood was from the 13th century on. ...
Malory set them as the ones who align paths for men to reach their knighthood, becoming end goals themselves and even objects within a system to be feared. ... Furthermore, this so called "power" ignites the flame of knighthood, because only through accomplishing quests set by these damsels would prove these men worthy of the title of a true knight. ... Women are seen to be the gatekeepers of knighthood, end goals themselves, and objects within a system to be feared. ...
Chivalry can be defined as the medieval system, principles, and customs of knighthood, the qualities idealized by knighthood, such as bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women. The act of placing a jacket over a puddle, pulling out a chair for a lady or opening a door, these are just a ...
The Knights of the Round Table were noble in their actions. Sir Launcelot is a prime example of nobility of the Round Table. Throughout his life, Launcelot has been unselfish, caring, and faithful to the knighthood. Launcelot was the greatest mounted warrior and was respected by all. The Knight...
It denotes a man of aristocratic standing and probably of noble ancestry, who is capable, if called upon, of equipping himself with a war horse and the arms of a heavy cavalryman, and who has been through certain rituals that make him what he is - who has been "dubbed'' to knighthood. ... Chretien de Troyes' primary focus on chivalry as a central tenet of knighthood addresses, but does not definitively explain, what the knight's identity and purpose are. What we are left with then is to make a kind of general statement about how knighthood is identified solely with positi...
What is the concept of knighthood all about? Knighthood exists in two places simultaneously--in the world and in our imagination. We can speak of ideals versus realities, probably the central problem with knighthood and the chivalric ideals. ... The Legend of King Arthur, one of the most enduring tales in recorded history, made knighthood in the middle ages very well known. ...
