The Adventures Of The Knight

The life of the medieval knight seems to have been an interesting one as history informs us, they enjoyed a number of privileges and served their time as horse soldiers. Horse mounted officers known as equites in medieval Rome were also revered. There's also a marked difference in the political structure of Ancient Rome and Europe. Feudalism is noted as having bestowed special status to the knight.

Following the demise of the Roman empire, Europe was left with little choice but to adapt to the changing environment. Kingdoms were constantly threatened by invasion from aggressive neighbors and nomadic tribes such as Vikings and Magyars and they struggled to survive.

This forced the leaders of Europe to establish armies from the ordinary men - mostly tenant farmers and peasants. These were used to defend their communities from the threats posed by hostile neighbors. Faced with this new challenge, the invaders became wise by establishing battalions of horse mounted warriors to counter the foot soldiers.

In response to the threat posed by the mounted warriors, western Europeans established their own Cavaliers, the challenge this brought to ordinary men is that they lacked the resources to maintain trained horses used for war and neither could they afford the purchase. Additionally, horsemanship skills called for frequent practice something that ordinary citizens didn't have time for since they had to fend for their families usually by tending the land.

Then knighthood emerged, a position born out the Roman practice of commendation. Roman soldiers attached themselves to officers of higher ranks and pledged military servitude in return for support which was granted in the form of something called benefice - usually land. Leaders of Europe especially Charlemagne adopted the Roman practice and also offered land together with servants or serfs to their finest warriors.

The warriors who were referred to as lords would then use proceeds from their land to purchase and maintain war horses and weapons and given his newly acquired status as a land owner; he had plenty of time to hone his horsemanship and weaponry skills to better serve his lord.

Since the warriors received large parcels of land, they were expected to create other warriors though a similar style of distribution until they were left with what was sufficient to support a knight, something close to 1500 acres, distribution depended much on the quality of the land in question and its food production capacity. The yearly budgetary allocation enough to sustain a Knight was 30 marks.

Therefore, Knighthood in Europe was created as a military and economic necessity. The Knight was basically a warrior, and in a number of ways he can be better described as a thug who was rewarded for his heroic pursuits. This also presented the Knight with some challenges, one of which meant that for him to sustain his lifestyle, he had to take his military service very seriously, and otherwise he risked falling out favor with his superiors. With time the success of a Knight depended more on strategy, ingenuity, and loyalty to his lord than mere brawl.