There are many legends about the knights of the Middle Ages, and sometimes they are opposite in meaning. Some legends admire their courage and noble attitude towards beautiful ladies, while others, on the contrary, talk about their ignorance.
However, in any case, the facts from the life of medieval warriors are very interesting, and you will learn about them from our article.
First of all, it is worth mentioning the growth of the knights.
They were quite short by modern standards, about 160 cm. And the reason for this is not at all that tall men were not accepted into the ranks of the “armed forces”. In those days, such growth was at an average level, because the people of the Middle Ages were shorter than our contemporaries. However, such “little” knights fought very effectively, demonstrating enormous strength on the battlefield.
One of the main secrets of the military victories of medieval knights was crossbows, that is, short bows with arrows or lead bullets that hit the target with a high degree of probability.
It turns out that the profession of a knight during the Middle Ages was not cheap.
After all, what is a knight without armor, weapons or a war horse? All this cost a lot of money, so a clever scheme was invented to obtain it. The monarchs provided the knights with plots of land with the right to lease the land. For this, the warrior was obliged to arrive to participate in the battle at any moment.
Armor served as an important indicator of a knight's wealth. The richer they were, the higher the status of a particular warrior. Interestingly, they were made individually for each person, and they served as a kind of symbol of knightly dignity. If it happened that a knight was deprived of his rank, then all his uniform was removed during a special ceremony.
And although individual representatives of the knightly army were not without some vices, there was a Code of Honor that was required to be observed. He touched on various aspects of life, not only military exploits. Mandatory observance of fasts, gallantry towards a beautiful lady, love for the homeland, absence of lies and generosity - apparently, these requirements created a rather attractive image of a courageous defender.
The time of medieval chivalry still excites people's minds. How noble warriors lived is known only from historical chronicles or romantic literature of that time. But over the past few centuries, the facts have become distorted, and the concept of chivalry has become overgrown with many myths. This review presents the 5 most popular misconceptions about medieval knights.
Speaking about the Middle Ages, people got used to thinking that knights, clad in armor, could not even move on their own, and if they fell, it was not possible to get up without outside help. There is a small bit of truth in this statement. Knights wore heavy armor only during tournaments to avoid injury. But at any other time, and even more so in battles on the battlefield, the armor of knights did not exceed 20 kg. If he walked along the streets of cities in peacetime, then the helmet, mittens and shins were removed, fortunately everything was on convenient fastenings.
2. Knights in armor are invulnerable
The myth of the invulnerability of knights in armor is more inspired by romantic literature. At the dawn of chivalry, it was really difficult to kill a warrior; more often than not, he was stunned. But with the advent of crossbows, more powerful bows with armor-piercing arrows, no armor could save the knights.
3. Knights neglected hygiene
Many people think that the knights stank terribly because they often walked under themselves because of their armor. In the Middle Ages, the issue of maintaining hygiene was generally acute, so noble warriors behaved the same as everyone else. But this did not mean at all that they did not care about going to the toilet. The armor was made in such a way as to simplify the natural physiological procedure as much as possible.
There were no pants in the modern sense then. The knights wore shossa - high stockings that were attached to the belt. Later, in the 15th century, a braget appeared - a folding flap at the front. And the unpleasant smell from warriors is easy to explain: if you put on all the knight’s uniform and pick up a sword and wave it for at least half an hour, then the smell of sweat mixed with dirt will not take long to appear.
4. Thousands of armies of knights
Another misconception about knights is their large number. In the 13th century, England and France accounted for just under 3,000 knights. Despite such a small number, the knightly cavalry, clad in armor, was a serious type of army. The infantry consisted of commoners, the archers provided cover, and the knights, lined up in a wedge, were the main striking force.
Another important factor in the relative small number of knights was the limited number of fighting hardy horses capable of carrying metal armor and a rider in armor. Closer to the 13th century, knights acquired a high social status, so they were in no hurry to admit just anyone into the circle of the chosen ones.
5. Knights “went on to exploits” alone
In knightly novels, the plot of a knight traveling alone to achieve feats is very popular. But this misconception did not correspond to reality. Every noble warrior had with him a so-called “spear” - a small group consisting of squires, pages, archers, and swordsmen. And since all this “retinue” was of ignoble blood, they could not be considered people. So it turns out that the knight allegedly traveled alone.
The word "knight" comes from it. Ritter, which originally meant "rider". Knighthood as an estate arose among the Franks in connection with the transition in the 8th century from the people's foot army to the cavalry army of vassals. Initially, any farmer with a horse and ammunition could become a knight, and only after a few centuries knighthood began to be passed on as a title by inheritance. Later writers and bards poeticized the refined courtly chivalry, but the realities were completely different.
Where did the knights live? Of course, in beautiful and impregnable castles! These structures may have been impregnable, but there is no need to talk about their beauty. The average knight's castle was somewhat like a landfill, a barn, and the home of a Neanderthal. Pigs and other domestic animals walked around the courtyards of the fortresses, and garbage and sewage were scattered around. The rooms were lit with torches, and not with the beautiful torches hung on the walls in Hollywood films. They burned with large firebrands, spreading smoke and stench. The skins of killed animals hung here and there on the walls. Why not a cave of a primitive man?
Again, cinema and literature claim that knights were protectors of the weak and disadvantaged. In fact, they were robbers and robbed everyone who came into their field of vision. Residents of the surrounding villages, which belonged to the knights, feared their masters like fire. After all, the feudal lords in armor stripped them to the skin, leaving them without the most necessary things - for example, without grain reserves. The knights did not disdain simple road robbery.
Any medieval knight would cause a modern man to burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter if he dismounted from his horse. After all, a man’s height at that time was no more than 160 cm.
The knights did not have a beautiful appearance either. At that time people suffered from smallpox as often as people suffer from chickenpox today. And after this illness, as you know, ugly traces remained.
The knights did not shave and washed extremely rarely. Their hair was a breeding ground for lice and fleas, and their beards were generally a garbage dump of the remnants of past dinners. The mouth of the average knight reeked of garlic, with which he fought off the “aroma” of never brushed teeth.
Most of the knights were illiterate and not trained in manners. Since most of the time was devoted to military science, robberies, drinking and other important things.
The knights treated women extremely poorly. Commoners were simply dragged into the hayloft at the first opportunity, and they were polite to the ladies of their hearts until these ladies became their wives. After which they often beat them. And sometimes they simply beat women off each other - naturally, without asking their permission.
The German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and the then Pope Urban largely put an end to the excesses of the knights. And then after they “turned the arrows” on “the infidels desecrating the Holy Sepulcher” and organized the first crusades. Like, instead of killing and robbing Christian brothers, we need to unite against a common enemy. The knights heeded this call, although they hardly became any nobler because of it.
The invention of firearms and the creation of a standing army by the end of the Middle Ages turned feudal knighthood into a political class of untitled nobility.
Dear girls, does your lover look like a knight? And thank God!
The romantic image of knights developed in the minds mainly thanks to literature and cinema. In fact, medieval knights had little in common with how they are now imagined. For the most part, these were the same warriors, just richer and more noble, but they still remained warriors - experienced, fearless, and sometimes even cruel. Although, of course, the human personality always plays a primary role in who this person will be.
- Chivalry dates back approximately 1,200 years ago, in the 8th century, with the rise of mounted troops of nobles swearing allegiance to their ruler.
- When the Crusades began, mounted knights easily broke the resistance of the Saracen Arabs, who could do nothing to oppose the armored horsemen. However, they quickly learned and invented weapons capable of penetrating this armor.
- Plate knightly armor, an integral element of the knightly image, became widespread only in the Middle Ages, around the 14th century (see).
- The most common weapons of knights were spears and heavy swords. Moreover, the latter were rarely sharpened to a razor sharpness - why sharpen a sword if it will still quickly become dull on enemy armor? Therefore, knights wielded swords like axes, relying more on physical strength than on fencing skill or the sharpness of the blade.
- Knight's spears were so massive and heavy that they were used only for ramming at full gallop.
- Crossbowmen, unlike archers, had every chance of hitting an armored knight with an arrow, so the knights themselves despised this weapon as “cowardly,” and the church even banned it.
- Noble children, destined to become knights by their fathers, usually began intensive daily training at the age of 6-7, practicing with weapons every day.
- According to surviving historical evidence, the total cost of a knight’s equipment was equal to the cost of approximately 50-100 bulls in different centuries. Therefore, only rich knights could afford full armor, and those who were poorer made do with more affordable chain mail armor.
- It was the knights who brought the custom of washing to medieval Europe, borrowing it from the Saracens. Before this, nobles usually washed no more than 3-4 times a year.
- Some chronicles indicate that mounted knights on heavy horses clad in armor at full gallop broke through the adobe walls of Saracen fortresses (see).
- The era of heavily armored knights ended soon after the invention of firearms. There was simply no point in them - armor, a horse and training were very expensive, but any soldier had the opportunity to shoot such a valuable combat unit with a musket.
- Usually a knight, going to battle, took with him three horses and from 1 to 3 squires. The latter did not participate in the battle, remaining in the rear and guarding the horses and luggage.
- The first knightly tournaments, where noble nobles could demonstrate their skills, appeared in the 11th century.
- The knight could not put on and take off his armor on his own - pages and squires helped him with this. And the vesting procedure itself could take up to an hour.
- In the modern world, knighthood is an honorary title in some countries, particularly in Great Britain.
“There are still a lot of knights in our time!” - we pronounce this phrase when we want to compliment a gallant, selfless and fearless person. However, we hardly think about what the knights were really like and what they had to go through. We offer several interesting facts from the life of medieval horse warriors.
Crossbow
At one time, knights represented incredible power and strength on the battlefield, and no one could surpass them. And the secret of the warriors lay in the use of such a weapon as a crossbow. A short, powerful bow, equipped with a wooden stock with a groove for arrows or lead bullets, was one of the types of throwing weapons most widely used in the army of the state of the Teutonic Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary in both Prussia and Livonia (Livonia). The crossbow was quite easy to use and was distinguished by its particularly accurate arrow flight (at a distance of up to 300 meters).
Spiral staircases
The history of the spiral staircase begins in the times of medieval castles and knights, where such a staircase structure served not so much to save space and move between floors, but to perform an important strategic and military function - protection from castle invaders. Once the enemy army entered the fortress, it was extremely difficult for its soldiers to move along the narrow and curved stairs, and everyone who walked up it was easy to destroy one by one.
Money matters
It turns out that being a knight was very expensive for warriors. Armor, weapons, horse, servants - all this cost a huge amount of money. The ruler was forced to provide them with everything they needed. For this purpose, a special system was invented, according to which the ruler gave the knights a small plot of land that could be rented to other people. Thus, being a landlord, the knight could use the money he received to buy everything he needed, and since the land was provided by the ruler, the warrior had to be ready to fight in the army at any time.
Knightly virtues
All persons calling themselves knights were ordered to comply with the Chivalric Code of Honor, which stated that a knight should never, under any circumstances, associate with the enemy. He must also be gallant towards the noble lady and protect her from all sorts of dangers. In addition, the knight kept fasts, attended daily mass, and made offerings to the church. However, secular ideals of knightly behavior instantly disappeared on the battlefield - in battle it was impossible to remain gallant and not die.
Origin of chivalry
It is believed that chivalry originated during the era of the Roman Empire and traces its roots to the Catholic knightly order Ordo Equestris, founded by the Holy See.
Armor
Not a single knight would have thought of entering the battlefield without armor, which was made individually for each warrior. High quality armor was not only the key to success in battle, but also a symbol of status - the better the armor, the more influential the knight was considered.
Duel of knights
In fact, in those days there were not many wars for knights to constantly participate in battles. Therefore, knightly tournaments began to be organized as exercises in combat tactics. It is noteworthy that the focus was always on the hand-to-hand combat of the warriors.
Knight Training
Training a knight was quite a difficult process. Future warriors began to be trained from the age of 7 for 14 years. During this time, the boy became a squire to the knights of the overlord's court. At the age of 21, the rite of knighting took place - it consisted of tests of physical, military and moral maturity at tournaments, duels and feasts.
Crusades
As you know, the Crusades were undertaken in order to liberate the Holy Land from Muslims. Many believe that there were only a few of them, although in fact their number was about ten and they lasted for almost 200 years. Unfortunately, they ended in failure for the knights, as the Holy Land eventually fell into the hands of the Saracens.
Modern knights
Since 1560, knighthood essentially ceased to exist, but knightly tournaments continued to be held as a tradition of instilling the knightly spirit in young warriors. Nowadays, some famous people have been awarded knighthood, such as Elton John, Juji Dench and Sir Paul McCartney, although they did not have to wear armor or fight with swords.
