Every boy in childhood dreams of becoming a knight. But if in romantic works representatives of this class fought dragons and fought for the love of a beautiful lady, then in real life this path was much more prosaic. To become a knight, the boy had to bear years of service to his master. And only after reaching a certain age, the young man passed the rite of passage.
The emergence of the estate
Even in ancient Rome, such a layer of society as equites arose. It translates as horsemen. The estate had a privileged position. But the main influence on the appearance of chivalry was the invasion of the nomadic Huns in the process of the Great Migration of Nations. It was in the IV-VII centuries. The nomads had heavy weapons and long swords, and they became the prototype of the knightly image, which eventually spread throughout medieval Europe.
In Frankia, during the attack of the Arabs, foot troops fromfree peasants, they were unable to repulse the invaders. Charles Martell began to distribute church and crown lands to free, but landless, people for temporary or perpetual use. In return, they provided him with their horse service.
Since the 8th century, vassal relations began to spread, people in the service of the master had to swear allegiance to him.
In Germany, from the 11th century, a special estate was formed - the Dienstmanns. These people were higher in position than the townspeople and free villagers, but lower than the free knights. Unlike the latter, the dinstmanns could not leave the service at will.
In France, chivalry was one of the signs of noble birth, although occasionally it was possible to penetrate into the estate unfree citizens who had a granted plot of land. Such people belonged to the lower nobility.
In medieval England, only the king could knight, but only the fact of owning land was enough to award the title. Origin was of secondary importance.
Knightly education
Passing the virtue training is what it takes to become a knight. The upbringing of a warrior from a boy began at the age of 7 and ended at the age of 21. If the young man successfully served as a page, a squire and coped with all the tests offered to him, the overlord knighted him.
A member of the order had to be an impeccable master of swordsmanship and riding, falconry and swimming. The knights also had the gift of versification, playing chessand owned all the rules of court etiquette.
From an early age, the boy was brought up with such qualities as courage, valor, gallant attitude towards ladies. Young men were also instilled with a love of music, poetry, dance and religion.
Serving as a Page
Before becoming a knight, the boy had to go through several stages of serving the master. Initially, he became a page. Usually, a child was transferred to the service of the patron at the age of 7-8 years, and he remained there until 14.
Noble feudal lords acted as masters, some nobles even managed to arrange a child as a page to the king. To become practically a servant under a noble patron, the boys were required to have a good pedigree, which should have indicated at least 4 generations of nobility on the paternal side.
The pages lived on the full support of the master, who was also responsible for raising the boy.
The duties of the page included:
- On duty with the master.
- Accompanying him to various social events.
- Presence next to the master during military campaigns.
- Provision of various services of special importance, including personal and secret.
After reaching the age of 14, the young man left this step of preparation, the action was accompanied by a magnificent ceremony. Then he became a squire. The next stage began.
Squire
It's time to grow up. The second step of knightly education was serving as a squire to his master. This period began at age 14 and continued until21 years old. In the Middle Ages, from this age, a young man was considered an adult. The royal harness wearers held this position for life.
Only a young man of noble origin could also become a squire. In rare cases, a commoner could also be consecrated to this title. Also, citizens of an humble family were squires-sergeants under some gentlemen. This position was entrusted to them for the rest of their lives.
The squire served his overlord in everything. He was by his side at court, in tournaments and on the battlefield. The young servant monitored the condition of the weapons, armor and horse of his patron. During the battle, the squire gave weapons to the master, and also fought side by side with him.
The young man was fully supported by his overlord, the latter was obliged to teach him military affairs and all aspects of knightly education.
There was another way to become a knight in the Middle Ages. Not many succeeded. If a young man defeated a knight in battle, then he was initiated into the desired estate right on the battlefield, because in this case he covered his name with glory.
Chivalry
Next in line - entry into the class of warriors. The master himself, another feudal lord, or the king could knight the young man. At what age could a squire become a knight? Most often, this event occurred when a young man reached 21 years old, but it happened earlier if he deserved to be initiated into something outstanding.
The initiation rite requiredpreparation, and the procedure itself was magnificent and festive.
Accolade
This is the name of the ceremony of entering a squire into a knightly order. Initially, the initiation had a mystical character. A young man, before becoming a knight, had to bathe, put on a white shirt, a scarlet cloak, and golden spurs. He was girded with weapons by the master or one of the elders of the order, he also gave the initiate a cuff along with verbal instructions. In the life of a knight, this palm strike should have been the only one he would leave unanswered. There was also a variation of the initiation, when instead of girdling the master hit the young man with the flat side of the sword, first on the right shoulder, then on the left.
How did they become knights in the Middle Ages, if there was a war, and there was no time to prepare? A young man who distinguished himself in battle was awarded the title in the middle of the field after the battle. This was done by his overlord or another noble feudal lord. The squire was hit on the shoulders with a flat sword and a short prayer was read.
Church initiation ceremony
Later, the initiation ceremony took on a religious connotation. A young man dressed in white robes prayed all night in the church. The next morning, he had to endure the liturgy, as well as confess and take communion with his confessor.
He laid his weapons on the altar, it was also blessed by the clergy. After this procedure, the spiritual mentor handed the sword to the initiate or girded him. The knight swore an oath to defend his faith, to help the weak and disadvantaged, to preserve honor. Whenthe initiation ceremony was conducted by the church, it was understood that the young man would become a knight of the faith and would zealously protect it. Usually they tried to time the ceremony to some religious holiday or other important event.
What did you have to do to become a knight after the end of the church initiation? This was followed by the secular stage of the ceremony. The new knight had to prove his strength, dexterity and accuracy. He jumped into the saddle without touching the stirrup with his hands, and galloped, hitting the effigy with a spear.
When a young man successfully passed all the tests, the overlord arranged a big feast in honor of his newly converted knight, which lasted several days. Usually these large expenses were reimbursed to the master by his vassal, the father of the young man initiated into the order.
Symbols and paraphernalia
After the young people became knights, they received their individual coat of arms if they were the first of their kind to enter the order. The sign usually depicted various animals and symbols that in some way had an association with the genus of the young man. The most commonly used colors were gold, silver, red, green and black. The coat of arms remained one for life and was inherited.
Sometimes the knight's patron allowed him to use his coat of arms or add some new symbols there. This was done in the case when the hero was distinguished by a special feat in battle.
Also, each knight had his own motto, it was placed on the coat of arms and revealed the essence of the image. In most cases forwarriors, this phrase was also used as a battle cry.
Deprivation of knighthood
Along with the possibility of becoming a knight, there was also the possibility of being expelled from the order, bringing disgrace to one's name and entire family. If a person violated the knightly code or behaved in a manner inconsistent with his title, the reverse procedure was carried out on him.
The ceremony was accompanied by the singing of psalms for the dead. Having exposed his shield with the coat of arms on the scaffold, parts of the weapons and vestments were taken off from the knight himself. After the man was undressed and dressed in a long shirt, the shield was broken into three parts. The former warrior was lowered from the gallows, passing a loop of rope under the armpits, after which, under the ridicule of the crowd, they were taken to the church. There, a memorial service was held for him.
If his crime was serious, then the sentence was death. After the mass, the exile was handed over to the executioner. In an easier case, the knight was deprived of all titles, awards, lands, and his name and all his descendants were covered with shame. In some way, death was a more benign punishment, because the pardoned disgraced knight was forced to live in poverty and contempt for the rest of his life.
How did they become knights in the Middle Ages? It was necessary to go through many years of training and have a noble rank. But all this did not mean that a man would have the necessary moral virtues. No matter how idealized chivalry was, often among the members of the class there were greedy and cruel people who did not disdain robbery and murder.
