Knights

**Knights... ** What is a Knight you may ask yourself, but this will be your answer to many questions about Knights and what actually happened during the times of them. These paragraphs will tell you about weapons, armor, origins, ranks, what you have to do to become a knight, and much more. For the main topic, a Knight is a person of noble birth trained to arms and chivalry.

**__Ranks of a Knight__ **


 * The Ranks that Knights use are completely different from any Military there is today. Ranks Start at a Knight, a basic fighting of any medieval army. Baronets are next, same thing as a Knight, but can pass their title down to their son. Barons are the next rank, the lowest rank of Nobility. A Viscount is addressed by title and last name. Counts were the personal retainer of the Emperor. A Margrave is a nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Dukes are the highest rank below the monarch. Grand Dukes are not used anymore as a title, but it was a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Arch Duke Title was also never really used in the Medieval Times. It was a rank above Grand Duke and under King. Kings, a Head oh State, The idea of kingship was something that the Romans vehemently avoided. An Emperor was the rarest of titles other than the aberration archduke. In the Roman world there was only one Emperor, and that term was never really considered to be the prime title of the head of the Empire. **

__**Knights and their weapons.**__

Middle age knights had various weapons. Their favorite weapon of choice was the sword. There were the Great swords and the Shining swords, which knights would often use as well. The Great sword was designed for being held with two hands, and weighed about thirty-two pounds. The Shining sword was made for royalty and was made of copper. A knight could also use a knife or a dagger. These were used for fast strikes against an opponent head on and could knock them out instantly. One of perhaps the most famous swords is Excalibur, which was pulled from a stone by King Arthur. Knights impacted the middle ages by spreading the awareness of chivalry. Knights promised to be courteous to women, express loyalty to their king, and to defend the weak. Another way knights showed chivalry was to serve god at all times.

Knights used even more weapons than just the sword and the dagger. They also used lances, maces, and flailk. Broad sword, Falchion sword, Great sword, Long sword are the few swords they use also. The lance was a long, strong, spear-like weapon, designed for use on horseback. Maces were a steel ball on a wooden handle, to an elaborately spiked steel war club. And finally a flail was a jointed weapon consisting of a spiked or knobbed steel head joined by a chain to a short wood handle. Many of these weapons were used in jousting tournments. This was a form of entertainment for rich nobles and for knights to show there combat skills. You had unhorse the other knight and penetrate through his armor.



__**What Knights Wear.**__

During the middle ages Knights wore armour Suits. There are several types of protective armour. The most common is chain armour. Chain armour has several interlocking rings woven painstakingly by hand to form a shirt, coif, or leggings. It is very hot and unconfortable. Plate armour is most secondly used. Under the heavy metal are pads called gabesons. Gabesons were used to help ease the weight.



**__Becoming a Knight.__**

There were only a few ways in which a person could become a knight. The first way was the normal course of action for the son of a noble. When a boy was eight years old he was sent to the neighboring castle where he was trained to become a knight. The boy was usually the son of a knight and they trained most of the time to strengthening his body, wrestling and riding horses. He also learned how to fight with a spear and a sword. He practiced against a wooden dummy called a Quintain**.** The Quintain was essentially a heavy sack or dummy in the form of a human. It was hung on a wooden pole along with a shield. The young page had to hit the shield in its center. When hit, the whole structure would spin around and around. The page had to maneuver away quickly without getting hit. The young man was also taught more civilized topics. He would be taught to read and write by a schoolmaster. He could also be taught some Latin and French. The lady of the castle taught the page to sing and dance and how to behave in the king’s court.In the medieval days of their knights was one type of fighting men in the middle Ages it was Knights, foot soldiers, andarchers.

*During mideveal times there were three different types of knights: Knights, Foot Soliders and Archers. (Sara Jones)



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