The Hundred Years' War

When you think of knights you think of King Arthur, Castles, or even swordplay. As you might assume, in order to be a knight, you would be sworn in. This is correct but in order to be sworn in you must go through steps that can be rather ambitious for a young boy. Knights had a full life consisting of tournaments, swordplay, living in castles, and most of all wars. (The Medieval Castle 1-3) A knight by definition, a man given a rank of honor by a king or queen because of his special achievements. (www.dictionary.cambridge.org). Feudalism played a big part during the Middle Ages. Also a lot of weapons were developed and looked upon more closely. The history of knights started normally. (The Medieval Castle 1-3) Knights were an important attribute to the medieval period because of their predominant features that made them continue to be historically evident.

Medieval Knights are still today one of the most popular and a well known portion of the Middle Ages. They would help guard empires and villages from attack. Knights were always well equipped. Their weapons included a regular medieval sword, a dagger (smaller version of a sword), and a mace. Knights are known to ride a lot on horses when in tournaments or battle. During tournaments, they would go at each other on horseback with long swords. Whoever falls off their saddle first, wins the match.

In the early Middle Ages, knights wore a lot of chain metal because it was the only source of defense besides using the weapon. Plate metal came later and was surprisingly flexible for the soldier. When knights fought on horseback they got land from the king in return. The land that the knights owned was either reserved for them or relocated to the castle. The armor for knights was very different for different countries. English knights had the English Field Armor. Indian knights had the Rajput Armor. The English Armor had a strong advantage because the Indians had cloth coats to arm themselves and the English knights had Pauldron all around the knight's body. Pauldron was a type of plate metal that can withstand many types of physical blows of a mace without reaching the inner body. A lot of the time, they had arrow arches above the castles so there would be less of a chance of the army intruding into the castle without the knights to see them first. Unfortunately this method was died out in castles one the swords and maces became more powerful. (The Medieval Castle 1-3)

In order to become a knight it took steps. At the age of eight you would be a page. Learning about strengthening the body, wrestling and learning to ride horses were the biggies. A basic school education would be required along with being able to fight with a sword and a spear. When you turn fifteen or sixteen you would earn the right to be a squire. A knight would be assigned to you and you would be the servant for the knight. You would clean him, make him food, and assisted the knight on the battlefield. This in return would show you what it is like to fight thousands of soldiers at once. Once the knight knows that you have been successful being a squire, he will check off for you to go to the dubbing service. The squire would kneel in front of the king or queen and get a sword placed on each soldier. Before this, you would lay in a bath for a number of hours to become pure and have all past mistakes gone. The last part is mandatory. They would have to ride on horseback with a sword successfully. Sometimes, if the squire was not able to meet all the requirements to become a knight, they would be a valor. A valor would stand by the knight always to give him encouragement for the upcoming battle.

Knights were also told not to talk too much or boast because some knights let out a lot of vital information about planned attack and invasion of another colony. A lot of parents of the knights did not give them much money to go on in life. They just thought of them as workers instead of being able to fight for a right. Being humble was a priority. The lord made sure that the knights had good manners. When knights were in battle, they sometimes put armor on their horses. They would put it around the head of the horse for the most part. All the armor and metal that a knight had on usually weighed about sixty pounds. Sometimes a knight would decorate the shield they use in battle. Sometimes they would put a family symbol or a religious symbol. When the lord did not fine out, the knights would steal goods and items from villages that they invaded. Being the wealthiest of soldiers back then, this is how they got so much merchandise. The code of Chivalry was not followed as much as it intended. Knights would burn down churches in other villages if it was not the same religion or of non importance to the knight. Some would even go as far was rape young peasant women. Most knights would be killed for this or taken away of the rights that were given to him by the lord. The did all this because although they did not talk much, knights thought too heavily upon themselves and thought they were better than everyone because of their wealth or religion. This would sometimes make other soldiers like archers and foot soldiers very angry. If a battle had aroused the knights would usually win. As you might assume, knights used swords during wars. They did, but not only swords. An average knight's artillery consumed of battle hammers, metal axes, and maces. Each was used more in a different type of battle. Close combat would use the maces and if it was long combat they would use metal axes and knives

that they keep at their side. As I said before, knights thought heavily upon themselves and would throw their knife at an enemy that was in far distance. They thought they could just buy another one when needed. Most of the time they only threw knives if they were in dire straits. Knights got a lot of practice from not only battles so much but from games. There would be tournaments and a group of soldiers would fight an opposing group of soldiers and thought if they used blunt and wooden weapons people would not get hurt. This was not the case. (Martin, Scott 1)

When the rulers exchanged land and paid for the weapons and armor for the knights, they would also pay for the taxes and other expenses. The land that the lords gave the nights was commonly called fiefs (bases). One of the reasons that the knights wanted such a large piece of land to themselves is because it took a lot of maintenance to keep all the chivalry in good condition. If the knight lost his trust to the king, then the land would be taken away. Knights would also have the option of farming a little bit in their patches of land and sell anything grown. A code of conduct needs to be followed for knights to fight on the battlefield. They did this because the knights were the only force that decides peace and battles. They had to have the right equipment, good sword,

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