The knight is one
of the most recognizable images from the medieval period,
but becoming a knight was not as simple as putting on
a suit of armor.
When the Normans, led by William the Conqueror, invaded
England, they needed men to protect their lands. Initially,
young men took oaths to provide service and sometimes
fight for a lord or nobleman. Overtime, these men in service
began to amass wealth and acquire their own land allowing
them to pay for the supplies necessary to carry out military
campaigns and have their own men-at-arms. Before long,
knights were a class of nobility all to themselves.
A knight’s training began at an early age. At age
7 a boy would join with a knight becoming a page. This
page would serve the knight until he became a squire at
age 14. While the squire was still a knight’s assistant,
he would learn how to fight, wear armor and to act like
a knight. Then when the squire turned 21, he would become
a knight.
To be elevated to the status of a knight from the station
of a squire, a “knighting” ceremony would be
held. As knights were generally quite religious, the ceremony
began with a night long vigil in the castle where the
squire would remain in the chapel of the castle, praying
through the night. The following morning there would be
a bath for the candidate then, dressed in white, he would
attend mass and eat breakfast. Then before a group of
witnesses, with much ceremony, the squire would kneel
and be touched on the shoulders and head with a sword
by a knight or royal. This process, called “dubbing”
would raise the squire to the status of knight. A feast
would follow to celebrate the occasion. Knights could
also be made on the filed of battle where it was done
without ceremony or fanfare.
 Wealth, inheritance, marriage to nobility and the granting
of land were common rewards of knighthood. In return,
the knight served a certain number of days for his noble
each year. While there was much in the way of reward for
knights, sometimes the knight would pay for his status
with his life in battle. When the knight was not fighting,
they maintained their skills by competing in tournaments
and other competitions.
While many knights were secular, there were also fighting
religious knights, the Knights Templar or the Poor Fellow-Soldiers
of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon as they were known
were a religious sect of the Catholic Church who initially
were charged with protecting pilgrims on the way to the
Holy Land during the Crusades. However, their role expanded
as they amassed great wealth and power as an order pioneering
many modern day banking concepts such as lending, safety
deposit repositories and other transactions.
While the role of the knight as a nobleman declined, many
societies recognize the concept of the knight today and
the honor is still bestowed on many by the British Crown.
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