Knight

In Medieval times, a knight was a mounted warrior in the service of a Lord. The word 'knight' is derived from the German word 'knecht', which means 'servant'.

In later periods, being made a knight was a great honour. A knight's behaviour, both in battle and normal life, was guided by a code of conduct.

In classical chivalry, the knight was accompanied by a squire, a page and a man-at-arms, the whole then being known as a lance. From this comes the phrase free-lance, meaning a lance which was not in fealty to a superior lord. A knight was, in general, in command only of his own lance, and took orders from a marshall. A number of knights were reckoned to be sufficiently experienced to command other knights: they did so as the marshall's delegate. If a knight rose sufficiently to be viewed as capable of being given a command of his own, it was customary then to make him a knight-banneret -- he was then allowed his own small banner, with his arms upon it, to fly before his sub-division of the army.

In some countries knighthood also indicated that one was of noble birth. In other countries (such as England), the title was not hereditary.

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See Also:

• Chivalric Orders
• Chivalry
• Master at Arms