Knights

By: Jeni Starley
Period 1

Knights began in medieval Europe. This term was used to refer to a mounted warrior of secondary noble rank. Young boys were expected to be knights just as their fathers and brothers had been. A knight began his training as a young boy of about 10 years old and worked as a page for an overlord. At about 15 or 16 the boy was raised to the rank of a squire. This rank began a period of trial for the young boy. Then, when the overlord considered the boy worthy the boy received his knighthood or accolade, which was a tap on the shoulder with a sword. A boy became a knight around the age of 18.

Knights were very highly trained soldiers who lived by thecode of chivalry. Examples of the code involved not picking onanything weaker or littler then themselves, protecting womenand children, and always being loyal. These were just a few of the laws that they lived by.

The knights armor changed dramatically through the years and by the end were very, very heavy. It was hard to believe that men could actually fight with all of this equipment. First they wore a quilted coat for padding and protection against the heat that would be made from the hot sun touching the metal. Then they wore chain mail and metal plates . Last of all they would wear full metal armor that equaled about 80-120 pounds. To tell the knights apart they would wear a coat of arms that had their names on it.

A quintain was used for training the knights. Other devices used back then for fighting included maces, battering ram, siege tower, and a battering ram.

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Created Dec 8 1994 by Aaron Rice (jar22@email.byu.edu)
a Timpview High School student
in partnership with the
David O. McKay School of Education
Brigham Young University