# How Medieval Knights Trained

An episode of [Human History ASMR](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6793196842), 29 Sep 2026, 1 h 05 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75116749/how_medieval_knights_trained_human_voiced_no_ads.mp3

Journey into the demanding world of medieval knightly training and discover how young warriors were prepared for the realities of combat, horsemanship, warfare, and life within the medieval aristocracy. Long before entering battle, a future knight had to develop the physical skills, discipline, confidence, and social knowledge expected of a mounted warrior. Explore how training often began during childhood, when boys from noble families could be sent to serve as pages in another household. Learn how they were taught riding, hunting, manners, household duties, religious expectations, and the basics of handling weapons. As they grew older, many progressed to becoming squires, serving experienced knights while continuing their military education. Discover how medieval warriors practiced with swords, shields, spears, lances, bows, and other weapons, as well as the importance of wrestling and physical conditioning. Explore the role of mounted combat and learn why controlling a powerful warhorse was just as important as mastering a weapon. Training was not simply about strength—it required balance, coordination, timing, endurance, and the ability to fight while wearing heavy equipment. The episode also examines the realities behind the romantic image of the medieval knight. Explore tournaments, hunting, mock combat, military exercises, and the practical experience gained through campaigns and sieges. Discover how training varied according to wealth, region, period, and individual circumstances, and why not every knight received the same level of formal preparation. Beyond combat, learn about the wider education of a medieval knight. Explore the expectations surrounding loyalty, religion, diplomacy, leadership, courtly behavior, and the responsibilities of serving a lord. For many knights, becoming a successful warrior also meant learning how to manage lands, command soldiers, negotiate alliances, and operate within the complex social structure of medieval Europe. Drawing on medieval chronicles, manuscripts, archaeological discoveries, military treatises, tournament records, surviving weapons and armor, and modern historical scholarship, this episode separates what we know about knightly training from the myths created by later literature and popular culture. Narrated with a calm, human voice, this immersive journey is perfect for history enthusiasts, medieval history lovers, military history fans, documentary listeners, relaxation, or listening before sleep. Step into the training grounds of medieval Europe and discover how knights prepared for the dangers of war.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: I'm quite sure that no one would disagree that knights
[0:05] Speaker 1: are quintessential to medieval study, as much as crusades, castles,
[0:11] Speaker 1: and kings are. It's all important. But it's way too
[0:16] Speaker 1: often that we see knights in particular in this romanticized form.
[0:22] Speaker 1: And that's no fault of our own. Think about it.
[0:26] Speaker 1: Basically every non-literary mention of knights dresses them up in
[0:30] Speaker 1: this idealized view, and even some medieval sources engage in
[0:35] Speaker 1: a bit of that. But there is a truth behind
[0:39] Speaker 1: it all, and sometimes the truth is just as fascinating.
[0:46] Speaker 1: So today I invite you to look into how knights
[0:48] Speaker 1: actually prepared for that crescendo of battle, because after all,
[0:55] Speaker 1: no one is born with a sword in hand. In fact,
[0:59] Speaker 1: combat effectiveness, and not to mention chivalry, is forged through
[1:03] Speaker 1: a long process, and there's often quite a gritty one
[1:08] Speaker 1: at that. So we'll go through all those little details
[1:11] Speaker 1: of night training today, and by the end perhaps you
[1:15] Speaker 1: can decide for yourself if you would be signing up
[1:19] Speaker 1: for such a thing, if you were awarded the chance. Well,
[1:24] Speaker 1: before we begin, allow me to issue the customary welcome
[1:27] Speaker 1: to the channel. If you're new here, well, it's good
[1:31] Speaker 1: to meet you. And if you feel inclined, click the
[1:34] Speaker 1: subscribe button and leave your thoughts down in the comments. Now,
[1:38] Speaker 1: this video, along with all the other videos on the channel,
[1:42] Speaker 1: are 100% mid-roll and ad-free. And that's all made possible
[1:47] Speaker 1: by the generous contributions of those on Patreon, YouTube membership,
[1:52] Speaker 1: the occasional donation, and those who checked out the merch store.
[1:56] Speaker 1: So thank you once again for those who have Follow
[1:59] Speaker 1: those links, which you can find in the description and
[2:01] Speaker 1: pinned comment, if you feel like taking a look. Now,
[2:06] Speaker 1: with all that out of the way, let's get to
[2:08] Speaker 1: the topic at hand. How knights were trained across Europe.
[2:17] Speaker 1: But where does it all begin? Around the age of
[2:20] Speaker 1: seven or eight. That's your quick answer. About that time,
[2:24] Speaker 1: a noble-born lad was uprooted from his home and sent
[2:29] Speaker 1: to live in the household of a great lord or
[2:31] Speaker 1: perhaps a high-ranking knight. And when he got there, he
[2:35] Speaker 1: began service as what is called a page, that is P-A-G-E. Well,
[2:42] Speaker 1: this practice of fosterage had a few purposes. First of all,
[2:46] Speaker 1: it forged political and family alliances, ensured the boy's loyalty
[2:51] Speaker 1: to a patron, And most importantly, this would immerse him
[2:57] Speaker 1: in an environment where he could learn all the basic
[3:00] Speaker 1: skills and values expected of one who would become a
[3:03] Speaker 1: future knight. But he was certainly a long way from there.
[3:07] Speaker 1: Now there's an old medieval saying that says, what a
[3:12] Speaker 1: man learns in his youth, he will hold best in
[3:15] Speaker 1: his old age. I don't think anyone can argue with
[3:18] Speaker 1: that either. Makes sense. and so it was deemed pretty
[3:22] Speaker 1: important to begin a knight's education as soon as he
[3:25] Speaker 1: was old enough to ride a pony. But what was
[3:30] Speaker 1: life as a page like? Were you whisked away for
[3:33] Speaker 1: some exciting trip in some far-off land? Not quite. Life
[3:41] Speaker 1: as a page was a blend of menial service, a
[3:46] Speaker 1: little bit of play, and an introduction to arms. Of course,
[3:50] Speaker 1: all of this was under the watchful eyes of the
[3:53] Speaker 1: noble household. But pages performed humble tasks, mainly to hammer
[4:00] Speaker 1: home the point of humility and obedience. A young page
[4:06] Speaker 1: might be assigned to serve at table, carving meat and
[4:09] Speaker 1: pouring wine for the lord and his guests. The Chaucerian
[4:13] Speaker 1: image of the squire who, well, from the Chaucerian text, quote, uh,
[4:20] Speaker 1: was courteous, humble, and willing to serve and carved before
[4:24] Speaker 1: his father at the table, has its roots in the
[4:28] Speaker 1: real expectations placed on youth in knightly training. By attending
[4:33] Speaker 1: to the needs of his lords and ladies, the page
[4:36] Speaker 1: would learn proper etiquette and a bit of deference. They
[4:40] Speaker 1: were also instructed in polite speech, how to bow and
[4:44] Speaker 1: kneel properly, and how to behave with modesty and courtliness,
[4:50] Speaker 1: people writ class they were just becoming a part of.
[4:54] Speaker 1: Medieval courtesy manuals began appearing by the twelfth century, specifically
[4:58] Speaker 1: to guide the upbringing of noble children in such refined behaviour.
[5:04] Speaker 1: And these guides were quite interesting, actually. They were often
[5:08] Speaker 1: written in verse for easy memorisation, not like a big
[5:13] Speaker 1: list of different things, but rather little rhymes and songs, mnemonics,
[5:20] Speaker 1: things like that, and they covered everything from table manners
[5:25] Speaker 1: to personal hygiene. There is one 15th century English book
[5:31] Speaker 1: of courtesy that even admonishes a page to quote, Purge
[5:36] Speaker 1: your nose of the vile matter inside each morning, and
[5:41] Speaker 1: be sure not to do this with your hand, warning
[5:45] Speaker 1: that nose-picking was pretty foul and uncourteous. While the young
[5:52] Speaker 1: reader is further instructed to walk politely and greet people
[5:56] Speaker 1: with a pleasant expression, certain onlookers will say, well, here
[6:00] Speaker 1: passes a good one. Instructions like this, they show how
[6:05] Speaker 1: seriously medieval society was taking the polishing of a young
[6:09] Speaker 1: nobleman's manners. The page's training in these early years was
[6:14] Speaker 1: thus as much about forming character and social graces as
[6:18] Speaker 1: it was about getting the foundation of martial skills. After all,
[6:24] Speaker 1: being a knight is not all about going out onto
[6:28] Speaker 1: the battlefield. Now, of course, pagers were not confined to
[6:33] Speaker 1: domestic chores alone. The martial aspect of their education began
[6:37] Speaker 1: in boyhood, yes, but it was in quite a rudimentary form.
[6:42] Speaker 1: Castle life provided ample opportunity for warlike play, Pages would
[6:49] Speaker 1: engage in mock combats with wooden swords and small shields,
[6:54] Speaker 1: enthusiastically sparring with one another in the courtyards. They learned
[6:58] Speaker 1: to ride by practising on ponies, and a strong emphasis
[7:02] Speaker 1: was placed on becoming a good horseman from an early age.
[7:07] Speaker 1: In noble households known for their martial reputation, a page
[7:10] Speaker 1: might even be assigned a page of stables role, or
[7:15] Speaker 1: a role as a page of the hounds role. Let's
[7:19] Speaker 1: take an example. The 14th century master of hunting, Gaston III,
[7:25] Speaker 1: nicknamed Fiobus, recommended that boys start training in the hunt
[7:29] Speaker 1: at age seven by serving as a page of the hounds. Well,
[7:34] Speaker 1: in this role, the page would essentially help care for
[7:37] Speaker 1: the lord's hunting dogs. He'd feed them, clean the kennels out,
[7:43] Speaker 1: and memorize each hound's name and temperament. thereby learning responsibility
[7:48] Speaker 1: and developing a bit of grit at the same time.
[7:53] Speaker 1: Seven-year-old with a part-time job, that's one way to grow
[7:56] Speaker 1: up quickly. But this was not merely make-work hunting. Well,
[8:03] Speaker 1: that was considered excellent preparation for war. There is a
[8:07] Speaker 1: bit of crossover of skills. Chasing a stag or wild
[8:11] Speaker 1: boar through a dense forest tested a youth's riding ability,
[8:15] Speaker 1: strength and courage. Medieval writers often commented that hunting was
[8:21] Speaker 1: a noble pastime that kept a young warrior fit and vigilant,
[8:26] Speaker 1: second only to warfare itself in the education of a knight.
[8:30] Speaker 1: But there wasn't always warfare on. You could always go hunting, though.
[8:37] Speaker 1: Education for pages could also include more scholarly pursuits. Well,
[8:42] Speaker 1: this would depend on the household, of course. And while
[8:45] Speaker 1: not all knights were able to read It became increasingly
[8:49] Speaker 1: common by the high Middle Ages for young nobles to
[8:53] Speaker 1: receive instruction in basic reading, writing, and a few languages,
[8:58] Speaker 1: whichever ones were relevant to diplomacy or war at the time.
[9:03] Speaker 1: He could learn to read prayers or biblical passages, since
[9:07] Speaker 1: piety was of course prized, or to recognize the names
[9:11] Speaker 1: of heroes in the songs and romances popular in noble courts.
[9:17] Speaker 1: There was evidence, too, that some pages were even taught
[9:20] Speaker 1: to compose their own music or verse— accomplishments that would
[9:24] Speaker 1: serve them well in later courtly society. The whole ideal
[9:30] Speaker 1: of it was a well-rounded gentleman in the making, hardy
[9:36] Speaker 1: and skilled in arms, but also conversant in polite letters,
[9:41] Speaker 1: and capable of appreciating a bit of music and literature.
[9:46] Speaker 1: By the end of his pagehood A boy was expected
[9:49] Speaker 1: to have built a foundation in horsemanship, basic weapon handling, manners, religion,
[9:56] Speaker 1: and of course loyalty. Can't go without those. loyalty. He'd
[10:02] Speaker 1: essentially been apprenticed to knighthood in all but name, closely
[10:07] Speaker 1: observing his elders and imitating their behaviours. And when the
[10:11] Speaker 1: boy reached his early teens, thirteen or fourteen years old,
[10:16] Speaker 1: it was time for the next stage. It was here
[10:22] Speaker 1: that the Page would advance to the rank of Squire.
[10:25] Speaker 1: And that's where the real combat training would begin in earnest.
[10:33] Speaker 1: So here we are at the age of 14, where
[10:36] Speaker 1: a Page who had proven himself dutiful and capable would
[10:39] Speaker 1: be promoted to the status of Squire. Now a Squire
[10:42] Speaker 1: was essentially, if we're going to boil it down, we
[10:46] Speaker 1: can say it's a Knight's Apprentice. In fact, the word squire,
[10:51] Speaker 1: from the word esquire, in French meaning shield-bearer, perfectly captures
[10:56] Speaker 1: the role. You see, a squire served as the personal
[11:00] Speaker 1: attendant and protege of a knight. He'd literally carry the
[11:04] Speaker 1: knight's shield and equipment, and shadowing him in both peace
[11:08] Speaker 1: and war. If the pages of years were about laying groundwork,
[11:15] Speaker 1: the squire stage was about intensive, on-the-job training, not just
[11:20] Speaker 1: in chivalry but in warfare too. A young squire was
[11:23] Speaker 1: typically assigned to a specific knight, often a renowned knight
[11:27] Speaker 1: or sometimes a relative who became his mentor. Under this mentor,
[11:33] Speaker 1: the squire's responsibilities grew heavier and his freedom grew broader.
[11:39] Speaker 1: You see, he was now expected not only to serve
[11:41] Speaker 1: but also to fight when needed and begin demonstrating those
[11:46] Speaker 1: qualities of knighthood The daily life of a squire was
[11:51] Speaker 1: different to that of a page. It was filled with
[11:54] Speaker 1: martial exercises and services. Every morning, a squire might assist
[12:00] Speaker 1: his knight in donning armour, learning first-hand how each piece, mail, hauberk, plate, breastplate, spur, sword-belt,
[12:08] Speaker 1: and so on, how it was all properly fitted and
[12:11] Speaker 1: cared for. Of course, armour was pretty expensive. so it
[12:18] Speaker 1: had to be properly cared for. And that was the
[12:21] Speaker 1: squire's job. He maintained his lord's weapons, keeping swords sharp
[12:26] Speaker 1: and lances repaired. Now there was also an intimate familiarity
[12:31] Speaker 1: with this too, with the equipment of war as a
[12:34] Speaker 1: crucial part of the education. Squires also continued to serve
[12:38] Speaker 1: at their lord's table, but now they served in a
[12:42] Speaker 1: bit of a higher capacity. They'd carve meat, pour wine
[12:47] Speaker 1: and manage the banquet hall. The combination of such service
[12:52] Speaker 1: with arms training produced a knight who could both fight
[12:56] Speaker 1: and feast with equal grace, as chivalric culture demanded. But
[13:03] Speaker 1: it was in the training grounds, lists, and the battlefield
[13:07] Speaker 1: that the squire truly came into his own. Under the
[13:12] Speaker 1: tutelage of the knight, a squire practiced every manner of
[13:16] Speaker 1: combat skill, Weapon training intensified. He drilled with the sword.
[13:23] Speaker 1: Not just wooden wasters now, but real steel. Although, that
[13:28] Speaker 1: being said, it was often blunted for practice, just in case.
[13:33] Speaker 1: He learned to parry, thrust, strike properly, sometimes under the
[13:38] Speaker 1: guidance of a master at arms, if one was attached
[13:41] Speaker 1: to the household. He also practiced with the lance, learning
[13:45] Speaker 1: to couch it under the arm and, charge at targets.
[13:49] Speaker 1: A common training device was the quintain, a rotating arm
[13:54] Speaker 1: with a shield on one end and a sandbag on
[13:57] Speaker 1: the other. If the squire struck the shield off center
[14:00] Speaker 1: with his lance, the sandbag would swing around and knock him,
[14:05] Speaker 1: teaching him to have a proper aim. Contemporary illustrations and
[14:10] Speaker 1: accounts frequently mention these young squires running at the quintain
[14:14] Speaker 1: as both training and sport. Squires also sparred with each
[14:19] Speaker 1: other on foot, using blunted swords or poleaxes, and wrestled
[14:25] Speaker 1: to improve their grappling skills. And you'd really want that
[14:29] Speaker 1: as a last resort. Grappling could be essential in the
[14:33] Speaker 1: crush of melee combat. But perhaps the greatest training area
[14:38] Speaker 1: for squires and young knights alike was the tournament. Now,
[14:43] Speaker 1: I've done a full video on knight tournaments, and if
[14:46] Speaker 1: you're interested, you might want to go and take a look.
[14:48] Speaker 1: but we'll just cover it briefly in the next minute
[14:51] Speaker 1: or two. You see, by the High Middle Ages, tournaments
[14:55] Speaker 1: were quite elaborate events that included jousts, that is, single
[14:58] Speaker 1: combats with lances on horseback, and melees, team battles with
[15:04] Speaker 1: dozens or even hundreds of knights. Initially, a squire might
[15:09] Speaker 1: only observe or help at tournaments, holding spare lances, armouring
[15:14] Speaker 1: his knight, tending to the injured combatants, but as he
[15:18] Speaker 1: grew in prowess he could participate especially in the melee.
[15:23] Speaker 1: Some squires were knighted on the tournament field itself after
[15:26] Speaker 1: a particularly valorous performance, and as one way of getting it,
[15:31] Speaker 1: certainly a memorable way of earning your spurs. The famous
[15:35] Speaker 1: 12th century knight, William Marshall, is a case in point.
[15:40] Speaker 1: As a young squire in the 1160s, he cut his
[15:43] Speaker 1: teeth in the rough and tumble of the French tournament circuit.
[15:48] Speaker 1: Serving the household of Henry the Young, King of England,
[15:52] Speaker 1: Marshall became something of a team captain in tournament outings.
[15:57] Speaker 1: Chronicles and his own biographers recount how William Marshall excelled
[16:02] Speaker 1: to the point of capturing dozens of rival knights in
[16:05] Speaker 1: his mock battles. By one later estimate, he took over
[16:10] Speaker 1: 500 of them captive over his career in tournaments, of
[16:13] Speaker 1: course earning pretty good ransoms for each. Well, this is
[16:18] Speaker 1: likely an exaggerated number. But even if it's a fifth
[16:22] Speaker 1: of that, it's pretty damn good. And in any case,
[16:26] Speaker 1: it speaks to the critical nature of tournaments, how important
[16:30] Speaker 1: they were for practising martial skills, but also gaining reputation
[16:34] Speaker 1: for yourself. Now, in the melee itself, squires learned the
[16:40] Speaker 1: chaos of real combat. Bands of armored horsemen charging, the
[16:45] Speaker 1: clatter of swords on steel, and the need for quick
[16:49] Speaker 1: thinking and cooperation with allies. A fourteenth-century depiction of a
[16:54] Speaker 1: tournament melee shows two massed groups of knights crashing together
[16:58] Speaker 1: while squires on the sidelines hold spare lances and watch
[17:02] Speaker 1: the fray with anticipation. And these experiences were worth any
[17:07] Speaker 1: number of drills, for they taught a youth how to
[17:10] Speaker 1: keep his head amidst that chaos of battle. And that's
[17:15] Speaker 1: not something you can learn from a book That's for sure.
[17:20] Speaker 1: But speaking of battle, real war eventually came. And when
[17:26] Speaker 1: it did, squires were expected to follow their lords into
[17:30] Speaker 1: combat as well. And this is where things got quite real.
[17:37] Speaker 1: Many a teenager found himself experiencing live battle before he
[17:42] Speaker 1: ever formally became a knight. Medieval chroniclers mention squires fighting
[17:47] Speaker 1: bravely alongside knights. For instance, at the Battle of Poitiers
[17:51] Speaker 1: in 1356, a 14-year-old Philippe, future Duke of Burgundy, stood
[17:58] Speaker 1: by his father, King Jean II of France, as a
[18:02] Speaker 1: dutiful squire amid the chaos of that defeat. Squires in
[18:06] Speaker 1: battle performed crucial support tasks too, bringing up replacement weapons
[18:11] Speaker 1: or horses, guarding prisoners, or even pulling wounded knights out
[18:16] Speaker 1: of the line of fire. There were effectively light auxiliary
[18:22] Speaker 1: troops to the heavily armoured knights. A chivalric convention noted
[18:27] Speaker 1: that by some writers it is fully fledged knights would
[18:30] Speaker 1: avoid deliberately targeting squires in battle if possible, seeking opponents
[18:36] Speaker 1: of equal rank for an honourable duel of combat. But squires,
[18:43] Speaker 1: on the other hand, earned quite a bit of prestige
[18:46] Speaker 1: if they managed to unhorse or capture an enemy knight.
[18:50] Speaker 1: This was concrete proof of skill that might hasten their
[18:54] Speaker 1: own path to true knighthood. Now beyond combat, the squire's
[19:00] Speaker 1: apprenticeship included lessons in leadership and lordship duties. A squire
[19:06] Speaker 1: often acted as a junior officer if his lord had
[19:09] Speaker 1: men-at-arms or archers in his retinue. He might be tasked
[19:13] Speaker 1: with relaying orders during a skirmish or organising camp. He
[19:17] Speaker 1: continued to learn courtly arts as well, dancing, music, perhaps
[19:22] Speaker 1: even composing a poem to impress a lady at court.
[19:25] Speaker 1: Nothing impresses a lady like a poem. Chaucer's fictional squire,
[19:30] Speaker 1: described as fresh as the month of May, could write skilfully,
[19:35] Speaker 1: compose songs, poems, joust, dance and draw. Relating that idea
[19:41] Speaker 1: that a young noble should be both martially adept and
[19:45] Speaker 1: also skilled in the arts. No bloody meatheads around here.
[19:49] Speaker 1: You've got to earn your spurs in all kinds. Well,
[19:54] Speaker 1: all these experiences were meant to prepare the squire for
[19:57] Speaker 1: the full responsibilities of knighthood. The length of squireship, of course, varied,
[20:02] Speaker 1: and there was no fixed graduation age. Things just happened
[20:09] Speaker 1: when they were ready to happen. But that being said,
[20:12] Speaker 1: some prestigious knights were actually knighted as early as 17
[20:17] Speaker 1: or 18. This was after proving themselves in battle, while others,
[20:22] Speaker 1: especially in peacetime, might remain squires until their mid-twenties. Traditionally,
[20:29] Speaker 1: 21 was the average age of knighthood, but this was
[20:34] Speaker 1: a guideline more than a rule. What mattered most was
[20:37] Speaker 1: that the youth had shown the skill, discipline, and the
[20:41] Speaker 1: virtue expected of a knight. When his lord or another
[20:44] Speaker 1: sponsor deemed that the timing was right, perhaps after a
[20:48] Speaker 1: noble feat or simply when reaching maturity, the squire would
[20:52] Speaker 1: be formally invested with the knighthood in a dubbing ceremony.
[20:57] Speaker 1: But before describing that moment, let's have a look in
[21:01] Speaker 1: a bit more detail at the various aspects of training.
[21:03] Speaker 1: After all, that's what we're here for, right? Both social,
[21:08] Speaker 1: physical and spiritual. We should touch upon them. It'll give
[21:13] Speaker 1: us a more broad picture of all aspects of the knight. Well,
[21:20] Speaker 1: the core of a knight's identity was that of a
[21:22] Speaker 1: horse-backed warrior, and the martial training of knights was accordingly
[21:27] Speaker 1: intense and pretty comprehensive. Now, physical training in the Middle
[21:31] Speaker 1: Ages lacked the scientific programs of modern athletes, but knights
[21:37] Speaker 1: intuitively developed regimens to maximize strength, Stamina and, of course,
[21:42] Speaker 1: combat skill. Now, much of this training was practical. You know,
[21:48] Speaker 1: things like riding and weapons practice. But some dedicated individuals
[21:54] Speaker 1: went on to remarkable lengths to condition their bodies for
[21:57] Speaker 1: the demands of armoured combat. Let's go through a few
[22:02] Speaker 1: of them now. One of the most illuminating accounts of
[22:06] Speaker 1: a knight's physical training comes from the early 15th century
[22:09] Speaker 1: biography of Scher. Sir Jean Le Manger, also known as Bossacard,
[22:16] Speaker 1: a famed French knight who served the Marshal of France. Now,
[22:20] Speaker 1: Bossacard's biographer describes how, as a young man, he imposed
[22:25] Speaker 1: on himself a rigorous daily regimen to reach peak fitness.
[22:30] Speaker 1: The text recounts that he would practice leaping onto a
[22:33] Speaker 1: horse while fully armoured, in other words, vaulting into the
[22:38] Speaker 1: saddle in full armour without using his hands, while his
[22:42] Speaker 1: feet required explosive leg strength and agility, proving that despite
[22:47] Speaker 1: the weight of the armour, which could be about fifty
[22:50] Speaker 1: to sixty pounds, a well-trained knight could be extraordinarily nimble,
[22:55] Speaker 1: if he was well-trained, that is. Well, at other times,
[23:01] Speaker 1: Bossacott would run long distances on foot in armour, deliberately
[23:07] Speaker 1: training himself to not get out of breath and endure
[23:11] Speaker 1: long efforts, effectively doing medieval cardio, I suppose, conditioning of sorts.
[23:19] Speaker 1: He would also have spent extended sessions striking a pell
[23:22] Speaker 1: that is a wooden post with an axe or mace
[23:25] Speaker 1: to toughen his arms and accustom himself to the fatigue
[23:29] Speaker 1: of swinging heavy weapons. So tireless was his practice that
[23:34] Speaker 1: his biographer says, you wouldn't find another gentleman in equal
[23:38] Speaker 1: physical condition at the time. Orsecourt even would perform a
[23:44] Speaker 1: somersault in full armour, apparently, though this might be apocryphal,
[23:49] Speaker 1: and apparently would dance in male shirts to demonstrate and
[23:53] Speaker 1: hone his balance and agility. And whenever he was indoors
[23:58] Speaker 1: at his lodging, he never rested idle. He would challenge
[24:02] Speaker 1: other squires, to games of casting spears or other tests
[24:06] Speaker 1: of war, effectively turning leisure time into training competitions as well.
[24:14] Speaker 1: This almost obsessive routine made Bossagon the paragon of knightly fitness.
[24:20] Speaker 1: It was recognized even then, however, that his training was exemplary,
[24:26] Speaker 1: certainly not typical, and not every young knight went to
[24:30] Speaker 1: such extremes. Yet its example illustrates the upper limits of
[24:35] Speaker 1: what some knights strove to achieve. It also dispels the
[24:40] Speaker 1: myth of that clumsy knight do, especially when they're wearing
[24:44] Speaker 1: their armour. In reality, successful knights were closer to well-conditioned athletes.
[24:52] Speaker 1: For most squires and knights, martial training was incorporated into
[24:55] Speaker 1: their daily life and duties. Horsemanship, that was the most important.
[25:02] Speaker 1: A knight had to practically live on the back of
[25:04] Speaker 1: a horse. They learned not only to ride, but to
[25:08] Speaker 1: fight from horseback at speed. Training a war horse was
[25:13] Speaker 1: itself an art, and knights often started with calmer horses
[25:19] Speaker 1: to practice controlling movement while wielding weapons. They practiced maneuvers
[25:24] Speaker 1: like wheeling, charging, and riding in close formation. Young knights
[25:29] Speaker 1: also practiced in hunts on horseback, chasing deer or boar
[25:33] Speaker 1: over rough terrain, which taught them how to handle a
[25:36] Speaker 1: horse in the unpredictable situations that battles would present. As
[25:41] Speaker 1: one medieval writer, the master of game Edward of Norwich,
[25:45] Speaker 1: put it, hunting made a man better at arms, because
[25:50] Speaker 1: it trained eyes, heart, and courage for war. Now as
[25:56] Speaker 1: for weapons training, that covered a wide array of arms.
[26:01] Speaker 1: The sword was the knight's constant companion. Squires would spar
[26:06] Speaker 1: with each other under supervision, learning various strikes and counters.
[26:13] Speaker 1: The medieval sword could be used in one hand or two,
[26:17] Speaker 1: but knights learned to wield it in both, and on
[26:20] Speaker 1: foot mounted. They also trained with lancers for the joust
[26:24] Speaker 1: and battlefield couch lance charge. Contemporary jousting manuals like those
[26:31] Speaker 1: of the late 15th century masters, show knights how to
[26:35] Speaker 1: aim for the opponent's shield or helm in a joust.
[26:38] Speaker 1: In earlier periods, before formal jousting was widespread, knights still
[26:43] Speaker 1: honed lance skills by charging at rings or dummies. Pole
[26:49] Speaker 1: arms such as spears, glaives or polaxes were taught especially
[26:54] Speaker 1: for foot combat in the later 15th centuries and 14th.
[26:59] Speaker 1: When plate armour became common at this time too, the
[27:02] Speaker 1: poleaxe became a favourite weapon for duels and close combat,
[27:06] Speaker 1: and knights trained accordingly, often in the competition called the bayorde,
[27:12] Speaker 1: or foot-combat barriers. And it is notable that by the
[27:18] Speaker 1: 14th century, specialised combat teachers and fencing masters had emerged,
[27:24] Speaker 1: and they sometimes wrote illustrated fight books. Well, these three dices,
[27:32] Speaker 1: such as that of Fiore dell'Eliberi or Hans Talofa from
[27:38] Speaker 1: 15th century Germany, are primary sources that reveal sophisticated fighting
[27:43] Speaker 1: techniques taught to knights and nobles. They include instructions on
[27:48] Speaker 1: how to grapple in armour, how to strike weak points
[27:52] Speaker 1: in an opponent's plate defence, and even how to fight
[27:55] Speaker 1: with daggers or wrestle if you had to. last resorts.
[28:01] Speaker 1: While these manuals came in after the heyday of the
[28:04] Speaker 1: classic knight, they showed that knightly martial education could be
[28:07] Speaker 1: quite technical. A master like Fiore de Liberi noted that
[28:13] Speaker 1: he trained several noblemen in combat arts, and that a
[28:17] Speaker 1: knight should be well-rounded in unarmed combat and wrestling in
[28:21] Speaker 1: addition to weapon use, because in the scrum of battle,
[28:25] Speaker 1: or perhaps a tournament melee contest, Well, it often closed
[28:30] Speaker 1: into a grappling range. And if that happened, well, you
[28:34] Speaker 1: best know what you're doing. Of course, strength and endurance
[28:40] Speaker 1: were cultivated through regular physical labor and drills. Knights did
[28:44] Speaker 1: not go to the gym like we do in a
[28:47] Speaker 1: modern sense. At least, I hope you've been going to
[28:51] Speaker 1: the gym. But training activities were their workouts, essentially. We
[28:57] Speaker 1: hear of squires lifting stones, climbing ladders or castle walls
[29:01] Speaker 1: by hand, and engaging in mock wrestling bouts. Some knights
[29:06] Speaker 1: practice swimming in armour, or crossing rivers on horseback to
[29:10] Speaker 1: build confidence. The rule of the Knights Templar, a 12th
[29:15] Speaker 1: century military order, implied regular exercise, as it praised discipline
[29:21] Speaker 1: and warned against idleness. in his treatise, In Praise of
[29:29] Speaker 1: the New Knighthood, St. Bernard of Clairvaux lords the disciplined
[29:34] Speaker 1: regiment of the Templar Knights, noting approvingly that, quote, in
[29:39] Speaker 1: the first place, discipline is in no way lacking, and
[29:43] Speaker 1: obedience is never despised among the warrior monks. While Bernard's
[29:49] Speaker 1: work is more of a spiritual exhortation than a training manual,
[29:54] Speaker 1: it certainly draws a contrast between the hardened, austere life
[29:59] Speaker 1: of the holy knights and the indulgence of secular knights. Now,
[30:04] Speaker 1: but secular knights, too, they recognize the need for self-discipline.
[30:09] Speaker 1: Geoffroy de Charnay, a fourteenth-century French knight, celebrated as a
[30:15] Speaker 1: true and perfect knight, nonetheless, wrote that those who seek
[30:19] Speaker 1: honor and chivalry must tirelessly pursue challenges and endure hardships,
[30:25] Speaker 1: in Charny's Book of Chivalry. Yes, he literally wrote the
[30:30] Speaker 1: book on it. He encourages young men to test themselves
[30:33] Speaker 1: in jousts, tournaments, and real warfare. Really, in as many
[30:39] Speaker 1: circumstances as possible, from jousting in public festivals to campaigning
[30:43] Speaker 1: in foreign wars. Since only through varied experience could a
[30:48] Speaker 1: knight attain prudence and hardiness that distinguished the great from
[30:52] Speaker 1: the average. and implicit in Chani's advice, is the idea
[30:58] Speaker 1: that a knight's training never really stopped. Even after they
[31:02] Speaker 1: were dubbed a knight, one had to continue honing one's craft,
[31:07] Speaker 1: and suffer great pains and labours, achieving that glory to
[31:10] Speaker 1: serve the common good. That was what it was all about.
[31:17] Speaker 1: But being a knight, it's not just about the fighting.
[31:20] Speaker 1: It's a real social station, After all, knights were minor nobles,
[31:26] Speaker 1: and you bloody well better act like one, or else.
[31:31] Speaker 1: Threats aside, they were inspected to conduct themselves as gentlemen,
[31:37] Speaker 1: and often to serve in a lord's court. And of course,
[31:40] Speaker 1: if you're doing that, you better be polite. Don't you think?
[31:44] Speaker 1: Thus an integral part of knightly training involved education in
[31:47] Speaker 1: the courtly arts, manners, and intellectual skills. All the ingredients...
[31:53] Speaker 1: for a young aristocrat. From his Fagewood onward, the future
[31:59] Speaker 1: knight was drilled in the complex code of courtesy and
[32:03] Speaker 1: etiquette that governed interactions among the medieval elite. And we've
[32:07] Speaker 1: already seen how pages learned basic manners, how to bow,
[32:11] Speaker 1: address their superiors, behave modestly, and so on. As the
[32:16] Speaker 1: youth matured, those lessons expanded, and he was taught the
[32:21] Speaker 1: art of conversation, also when to speak and remain silent,
[32:27] Speaker 1: the proper way to greet lords and ladies of various ranks,
[32:31] Speaker 1: and the ceremonial protocol for occasions like banquets, hunts, and
[32:35] Speaker 1: religious feasts. For example, a young squire would learn how
[32:39] Speaker 1: to enter a hall with grace, how to kneel and
[32:43] Speaker 1: kiss the hand of a high-born lady, and how to
[32:46] Speaker 1: perform services with elegance, carving meat with precision, presenting wine
[32:51] Speaker 1: without spilling it, etc., The importance of such training is, well,
[32:58] Speaker 1: it's underscored by the proliferation of courtesy books that we've
[33:01] Speaker 1: spoken about. We have texts like The Book of Courtesy,
[33:06] Speaker 1: or the English Babby's Book, compiling rhyming maxims for noble
[33:11] Speaker 1: youths on the proper behaviour. And one popular admonition was
[33:16] Speaker 1: to avoid boorish habits. Now, what do they mean by that? Well, quote, straight.
[33:24] Speaker 1: from the text. Do not scratch yourself in public, nor
[33:29] Speaker 1: spit across the table, nor speak with your mouth full. Yeah,
[33:36] Speaker 1: that sounds pretty boorish to me. A knight's comportment had
[33:40] Speaker 1: to reflect refinement and self-control, qualities thought to distinguish true
[33:45] Speaker 1: nobles from the common soldiery. Education in music, dance, and
[33:54] Speaker 1: the arts also featured highly in knightly upbringing. A well-bred
[33:58] Speaker 1: knight was expected to be able to dance gracefully. Many
[34:02] Speaker 1: learnt to play a musical instrument too, like the lute
[34:05] Speaker 1: or a harp, or at least to appreciate and patronise minstrels.
[34:11] Speaker 1: Troubadour poetry and songs of chivalry were the pop culture
[34:15] Speaker 1: of high medieval courts, and a budding knight had to
[34:18] Speaker 1: be familiar with the themes of courtly love and knightly virtue.
[34:23] Speaker 1: Thus it was not unusual for knights themselves to compose verses.
[34:29] Speaker 1: Knights like Thibault de Champagne or like Ulrich von Lichtenstein
[34:36] Speaker 1: were celebrated for blending arms with arts. While these were exceptional,
[34:42] Speaker 1: of course, their fame reinforced the ideal that a knight
[34:46] Speaker 1: should strive to be, if not a poet, at least
[34:49] Speaker 1: a cultivated audience for poetry. able to exchange witty compliments
[34:55] Speaker 1: or recite a romantic stanza to a lady. Even the
[34:59] Speaker 1: ability to write letters or keep a journal could be
[35:02] Speaker 1: quite valuable, especially for knights who might serve as officials
[35:06] Speaker 1: or need to correspond during campaigns. And speaking of which,
[35:12] Speaker 1: literacy among knights, that would vary by era and also region.
[35:20] Speaker 1: But by the 14th century at least, many knights in
[35:22] Speaker 1: Western Europe could read to some extent. They might read
[35:27] Speaker 1: romances and epics that recounted heroic deeds, stories of King
[35:32] Speaker 1: Arthur's round table, Charlemagne's paladins, or those classical heroes, which
[35:39] Speaker 1: both entertained and subtly instructed them and guided them in
[35:43] Speaker 1: those old chivalric values. Now one charming image is of
[35:48] Speaker 1: a castle's great hall in the evenings, and Ike and
[35:51] Speaker 1: his family perhaps listening as a book of chivalry is
[35:54] Speaker 1: read aloud by a cleric, or by one of the
[35:57] Speaker 1: educated ladies, the young squires hanging on every word, as
[36:02] Speaker 1: Gawain and Lancelot exemplify their courage and courtliness. Literary exposure
[36:09] Speaker 1: like that was all part of the moral and cultural education,
[36:13] Speaker 1: very important, a practical but crucial aspect of a knight's
[36:19] Speaker 1: learning was also heraldry, a system of coats of arms
[36:23] Speaker 1: and insignia that identified noble families and individuals. In battle
[36:28] Speaker 1: or tournament, recognising the blaisons, that is, the colourful emblems
[36:33] Speaker 1: on the shields, surcoats and banners, could mean the difference
[36:36] Speaker 1: between friend or foe, and knowing whom to challenge and
[36:41] Speaker 1: whom to avoid. Thus squires were often taught to read
[36:45] Speaker 1: a coat of arms like a second language, They memorized
[36:49] Speaker 1: the arms of the great lords and knights of their region,
[36:52] Speaker 1: and of major kings and princes of Christendom. They learned
[36:56] Speaker 1: the language of heraldry, the meaning of colors and symbols
[37:01] Speaker 1: as being tinctures and charges, at least to a basic degree.
[37:07] Speaker 1: Many would design their own coat of arms to be
[37:10] Speaker 1: assumed at knighthood, so they studied what combinations were honorable
[37:14] Speaker 1: and distinct. In some accounts, Older knights or heralds would
[37:20] Speaker 1: quiz their squires, asking whose banner was whose, or which
[37:24] Speaker 1: lord uses what kind of symbolism. And, of course, the
[37:29] Speaker 1: squire was expected to answer correctly. The pageantry of tournaments,
[37:35] Speaker 1: when knights paraded with banners and crests, provided a living
[37:39] Speaker 1: classroom for his knowledge. The order of the garter's ceremonies,
[37:44] Speaker 1: in fourteenth-century England, for instance, involved elaborate heraldic display. A
[37:50] Speaker 1: squire assisting at such events would learn all the symbolism
[37:54] Speaker 1: and formalities. By mastering heraldry, a knight demonstrated that he
[37:59] Speaker 1: understood and respected the hierarchical and honor-bound nature of his society.
[38:05] Speaker 1: It was essentially the visual language of chivalry. But we
[38:12] Speaker 1: should note that knightly education for social and intellectual skills
[38:17] Speaker 1: was not something restricted to males only. We had high-born
[38:22] Speaker 1: ladies playing their own roles in instructing young boys in
[38:26] Speaker 1: refined behaviour. Chronicles often mention that a page would learn
[38:31] Speaker 1: courtesy and gentleness from the lady of the house. The
[38:36] Speaker 1: lady or other noblewoman might teach the page courtly speech,
[38:40] Speaker 1: or how to act around women, even skills like reading
[38:45] Speaker 1: or singing. This female influence helped ensure knights were not
[38:51] Speaker 1: purely rough warriors, brutes out to just smash people's heads
[38:56] Speaker 1: in and cave people in half with hatchets, but also
[39:00] Speaker 1: deferential and gracious to women, an expectation of chivalric culture.
[39:06] Speaker 1: And indeed, by the late Middle Ages, the concept of
[39:09] Speaker 1: courtliness had merged with chivalry. If you want to be
[39:14] Speaker 1: a true knight, You had to act bravely on the
[39:17] Speaker 1: field of battle, but gently and with honour off the battlefield. Well,
[39:26] Speaker 1: in the household of a great prince or king, education
[39:30] Speaker 1: could be even more formal. Let's take the Burgundian court
[39:34] Speaker 1: of the 15th century. They established the Order of the
[39:37] Speaker 1: Golden Fleece, which, among other things, encouraged knights to pursue
[39:41] Speaker 1: knowledge and good governance. A young noble in that milieu
[39:47] Speaker 1: might attend lessons with tutors in languages, learning Latin or
[39:52] Speaker 1: the vernacular literature, for example, in history and law, too,
[39:56] Speaker 1: especially if he might one day govern lands, and in
[40:00] Speaker 1: rudiments of philosophy or theology, too, sharpen his mind and
[40:04] Speaker 1: piety up. The famous knight, Sir Thomas Mallory, though writing
[40:10] Speaker 1: in prison later, had clearly absorbed enough education to translate
[40:16] Speaker 1: the whole cycle of Arthurian legends into English, and Don
[40:21] Speaker 1: Luis Abata de Cardenas, a 16th century Spanish knight, wrote
[40:26] Speaker 1: treatises reflecting on knightly behaviour. And these are just a
[40:31] Speaker 1: few examples, but they show that knights were not expected
[40:35] Speaker 1: to be illiterate brutes at all. They didn't want to
[40:38] Speaker 1: be either. Many of them strove for some level of learning.
[40:44] Speaker 1: Of course, some strove a bit more than others. In
[40:48] Speaker 1: any case, By the time Esquire was ready to be knighted,
[40:53] Speaker 1: he ideally could read and perhaps write, was fluent in
[40:57] Speaker 1: the polite dialect of his region's aristocracy. By the way,
[41:01] Speaker 1: French was the international language of chivalry in the high
[41:04] Speaker 1: Middle Ages, so even English knights often spoke it at court.
[41:09] Speaker 1: He also knew how to comport himself at any high
[41:12] Speaker 1: social event, and could identify his peers by their heraldic
[41:16] Speaker 1: arms at a glance. a later medieval document describing the
[41:20] Speaker 1: perfect courtier, the Book of the Courtier, 1513, by Castiglione.
[41:26] Speaker 1: Slightly post-medieval, but we'll get away with it, as long
[41:30] Speaker 1: as you don't tell anyone. Distilled the expectations that had
[41:33] Speaker 1: been in place for knights and nobles for centuries. Grace, ease,
[41:40] Speaker 1: and skill in arms and gentler pursuits alike. That's a
[41:44] Speaker 1: real knight. Well, let's get to the next section. We've
[41:52] Speaker 1: all heard of chivalry, right? And we all know that
[41:55] Speaker 1: it's central to that concept of knighthood. That code of
[42:00] Speaker 1: conduct blended in with martial values and moral and religious ideals.
[42:06] Speaker 1: It has to have all three of them, though. Otherwise,
[42:09] Speaker 1: it's not really chivalry. A knight was expected not only
[42:13] Speaker 1: to excel in combat and courtly manners, but also to
[42:16] Speaker 1: embody certain ethical principles. We're talking loyalty, mercy, bravery, protection
[42:22] Speaker 1: of the weak. Of course, devotion to God. Training for knighthood, therefore,
[42:30] Speaker 1: placed heavy emphasis on moral and spiritual instruction. Medieval society,
[42:36] Speaker 1: especially the church, was quite aware that knights were essentially
[42:40] Speaker 1: professional warriors. And, well, all that could be quite violent
[42:47] Speaker 1: and unruly. So, of course, a concerted effort was made
[42:51] Speaker 1: to instill in him a sense of higher purpose and
[42:54] Speaker 1: Christian value. From childhood, our aspiring knight would have been
[43:00] Speaker 1: exposed to religious education. In a noble household, a chaplain
[43:05] Speaker 1: or priest was usually tasked with the spiritual welfare of
[43:08] Speaker 1: the Lord's family and pages. A young page learned his prayers,
[43:13] Speaker 1: the Pater Nostra, Ave Maria, and the Creed, likely as
[43:18] Speaker 1: soon as he could speak. Well, he attended daily Mass
[43:23] Speaker 1: in the castle chapel, serving perhaps as an altar boy,
[43:27] Speaker 1: which taught him reverence and familiarity with the liturgy. Obedience
[43:32] Speaker 1: to the church and respect for clerics were drilled in
[43:35] Speaker 1: as fundamental duties. This was reinforced by the broader social
[43:40] Speaker 1: movement of the peace and truth of God in earlier centuries,
[43:45] Speaker 1: where church councils demanded that knights swear to protect non-combatants,
[43:51] Speaker 1: and refrain from violence on holy days. Now, while a
[43:56] Speaker 1: young lad might not know the details of such decrees,
[44:00] Speaker 1: he grew up in a climate where the church tried
[44:02] Speaker 1: their best to channel all that knightly aggression towards a
[44:05] Speaker 1: more righteous cause. And the most righteous cause, of course,
[44:10] Speaker 1: is the defense of Christendom. One of the most powerful
[44:15] Speaker 1: influences on a knight's moral outlook was the literature of
[44:18] Speaker 1: chivalric romances and epics, as we touched upon earlier. Now,
[44:23] Speaker 1: these stories often carried clear moral messages. The hero knight
[44:28] Speaker 1: defeats evil. It might be dragons, it might be pagan warriors,
[44:35] Speaker 1: it might be just a bunch of wrongdoers. But in
[44:38] Speaker 1: any case, it was to exemplify virtues like honour, fidelity
[44:42] Speaker 1: and compassion, For instance, let's look at the epic Song
[44:46] Speaker 1: of Roland, circa 1100. It presents the ideal knight as
[44:51] Speaker 1: fiercely loyal to his lord, willing to die rather than
[44:56] Speaker 1: be dishonoured. It's really a good read. You should, uh... Yes,
[45:02] Speaker 1: that's your homework. Go and read the Song of Roland. Well,
[45:06] Speaker 1: the Arthurian romances introduce concepts like chivalry in the service
[45:11] Speaker 1: of justice and the protection of the innocent Sir Lancelot
[45:16] Speaker 1: sparing a beaten opponent, or perhaps Sir Gawain showing courtesy
[45:20] Speaker 1: to a lady, even under magical testing. Young squires absorbed
[45:26] Speaker 1: these tales eagerly, and they served as both entertainment and
[45:30] Speaker 1: moral case studies. A knight was to model himself not
[45:35] Speaker 1: on the mere brawlers, but on paragons like Sir Galahad
[45:38] Speaker 1: the Pure Knight, Ogier the Dane, the loyal paladin of Charlemagne,
[45:45] Speaker 1: At least, that was the aspiration. Not many could really
[45:49] Speaker 1: live up to Lancelot and Galahad. After all, they're stories.
[45:56] Speaker 1: But at least they had something to aspire to. And
[46:00] Speaker 1: we should all have that, I suppose. Anyway, apart from
[46:04] Speaker 1: informal influences, there were formal exhortations and treatises that directly
[46:09] Speaker 1: instructed knights in virtue... One significant text is the Orden
[46:15] Speaker 1: de Chevalerie, which is the Order of Knighthood, a 13th
[46:19] Speaker 1: century French poem in which a captured Christian knight explains
[46:24] Speaker 1: the meaning of knighthood to a Muslim emir. Sounds good,
[46:29] Speaker 1: but it's a fictional scenario. In any case, in doing so,
[46:34] Speaker 1: he allegorizes every part of the knighting ceremony as a
[46:38] Speaker 1: moral lesson. For example... The ritual bath a squire takes
[46:43] Speaker 1: before being knighted is said to symbolize the purification of
[46:47] Speaker 1: his soul. The white garment he dons signifies purity and chastity.
[46:53] Speaker 1: The knightly sword has two edges, one representing justice and
[46:57] Speaker 1: the other loyalty. The spurs remind him to never flee
[47:02] Speaker 1: from the enemy and so on. This kind of symbolic
[47:05] Speaker 1: interpretation was apparently common knowledge in chivalric circles by the
[47:10] Speaker 1: 14th century. it essentially transformed the practical ritual into a
[47:19] Speaker 1: sermon on knightly duties. The fact that such a poem existed,
[47:24] Speaker 1: and was later translated and even printed by William Morris
[47:27] Speaker 1: in the 19th century, shows how seriously the knights and
[47:30] Speaker 1: their contemporaries took the ethical dimension of knighthood. A knight
[47:35] Speaker 1: wasn't just a fighter, but he was a warrior of
[47:39] Speaker 1: God in the ideal sense, a protector of the innocent.
[47:45] Speaker 1: an upholder of righteousness. Another influential treatise was Raymond Lull's
[47:51] Speaker 1: Book of the Order of Chivalry, that was written about 1275. Lull,
[47:59] Speaker 1: a Catalan philosopher and one-time aspiring knight, wrote this as
[48:04] Speaker 1: a dialogue between an ageing knight and a squire. It
[48:08] Speaker 1: describes what chivalry is and the qualities that a knight
[48:13] Speaker 1: must have and how a squire should be examined and knighted.
[48:18] Speaker 1: Lull emphasizes that love of God and the common good
[48:21] Speaker 1: must motivate the true knight. Before knighting a squire, he says,
[48:26] Speaker 1: an examiner should question the candidate on his morals and faith.
[48:31] Speaker 1: Ask him if he loves and fears God, for no
[48:34] Speaker 1: man's worthy of knighthood who does not. A squire should
[48:38] Speaker 1: also be made to vow that he would defend the
[48:41] Speaker 1: Christian faith, administer justice and always correct his own faults,
[48:47] Speaker 1: before judging others for theirs. Which is, well, I think
[48:52] Speaker 1: even non-Christians can follow that advice. Lull goes so far
[48:57] Speaker 1: to insist that a knight who is a wicked robber
[49:01] Speaker 1: or traitor betrays chivalry itself, that he ought to be
[49:06] Speaker 1: punished by his fellow knights. This is a reminder that
[49:11] Speaker 1: knights were expected to police their own conduct, and each other.
[49:17] Speaker 1: Being admitted to the Order of Chivalry was like joining
[49:19] Speaker 1: a brotherhood with very high standards. A corrupt knight tarnished
[49:25] Speaker 1: the honour of all. According to such ideals, that was
[49:30] Speaker 1: the situation, and therefore the training of a knight had
[49:34] Speaker 1: to include a formation of a conscience. We can imagine
[49:38] Speaker 1: a squire's lord or a resident priest imparting these lessons
[49:42] Speaker 1: during long evenings of campaign or the quiet of winter months.
[49:47] Speaker 1: And indeed, several knightly vows from this era include promises
[49:50] Speaker 1: to defend the poor, widows, orphans, and to fight injustice.
[49:56] Speaker 1: And don't forget, upholding the Church. Now, speaking of the Church,
[50:03] Speaker 1: they tried to harness knightly fervor through the ideal of
[50:06] Speaker 1: crusade and military religious orders. A young knight in training in, say,
[50:13] Speaker 1: the thirteenth century, would likely hear inspiring tales of the
[50:16] Speaker 1: Knights Templar or the Knights Hospitaller, warriors who took monastic
[50:21] Speaker 1: vows and fought in the Holy Land. And this presented
[50:25] Speaker 1: a powerful model of pious knighthood. Knights Templar followed a
[50:29] Speaker 1: strict rule, partly written by Saint Bernard, that forbade luxury
[50:34] Speaker 1: and required constant readiness for battle against the infidels. While
[50:39] Speaker 1: not every secular knight would follow such austere rules, I mean,
[50:43] Speaker 1: they're all human after all, the existence of these orders
[50:46] Speaker 1: raised the prestige of virtues like chastity, sobriety, and absolute
[50:51] Speaker 1: obedience within knighthood. There's a well-known passage from St. Bernard's
[50:57] Speaker 1: exhortation to the Templars that contrasts them with worldly knights
[51:01] Speaker 1: who dress in silks and seek glory. Bernard praises the
[51:05] Speaker 1: Templars for their humility and discipline, noting, quote, They come
[51:09] Speaker 1: and go at the bidding of their superior. They shun
[51:13] Speaker 1: idle chatter and frivolous display. Whereas, of course, the secular
[51:19] Speaker 1: knights often succumb to pride and sin. Well, pretty harsh criticisms.
[51:26] Speaker 1: A class system among knights as well. But such criticisms
[51:30] Speaker 1: by churchmen would ultimately filter down, often via sermons, and
[51:35] Speaker 1: would be part of a knight's moral diet. especially when
[51:39] Speaker 1: clergy had a captive audience of a gathered army before battle,
[51:44] Speaker 1: or perhaps during the long ceremony leading to knighthood. And
[51:50] Speaker 1: here's another vivid element of knightly moral training, the vigil
[51:55] Speaker 1: and fast. That preceded the dubbing ceremony. On the night
[52:01] Speaker 1: before being made a knight, and I had two knights, yes,
[52:06] Speaker 1: The squire was expected to keep a vigil of prayer,
[52:09] Speaker 1: typically in a church or chapel, sometimes all in white
[52:14] Speaker 1: and his weapons laid on the altar. It was essentially
[52:19] Speaker 1: a crash course in spiritual focus. He would confess his
[52:23] Speaker 1: sins and cleanse himself in ritual bath, as we mentioned,
[52:27] Speaker 1: and he prayed for guidance to live up to that
[52:30] Speaker 1: very strict ideal. Chronicles report, that some squires even heard
[52:37] Speaker 1: sermons on chivalry that night from a bishop or priest,
[52:42] Speaker 1: reminding them of their vows to God. And it's not
[52:45] Speaker 1: hard to imagine the psychological impact. You see, after years
[52:49] Speaker 1: of training, difficult training, the final hours before knighthood were
[52:55] Speaker 1: spent in a kind of soul-searching and communion with the divine.
[53:00] Speaker 1: It impressed upon the candidate, that his sword was to
[53:05] Speaker 1: be made in the service of good, and always, of course,
[53:09] Speaker 1: under God's authority. But, of course, if you have watched
[53:15] Speaker 1: my other knight videos, the reality often fell short of
[53:19] Speaker 1: the ideal. Knights could be greedy. They could be brutal.
[53:24] Speaker 1: They could be neglectful of their supposed duties. They could
[53:29] Speaker 1: be human. the very existence of so many treatises scolding
[53:34] Speaker 1: bad knights, like Shani's laments about the soft, greedy, and
[53:40] Speaker 1: sexually loose aristocrats of his day, tells us that not
[53:45] Speaker 1: all trainees took their moral lessons to heart. Yet, the
[53:50] Speaker 1: persistence of the teachings in the training process had a
[53:53] Speaker 1: cumulative effect on civilizing the martial class to at least
[53:58] Speaker 1: some degree. perhaps probably the best degree they could get.
[54:03] Speaker 1: In any case, by the late Middle Ages, knights who
[54:06] Speaker 1: egregiously violated the code, such as by cowardice, treason or sacrilege, well,
[54:13] Speaker 1: they could face public shame or even expulsion from noble orders.
[54:18] Speaker 1: And how were you meant to recover from that? The
[54:22] Speaker 1: training and rites they underwent had planted the concept of honour,
[54:26] Speaker 1: so deeply that fear of anonymity, or anonymity rather, often
[54:32] Speaker 1: curbed their worst impulses. Often, not all the time, but
[54:38] Speaker 1: often enough. And even a warlike king like Edward III
[54:42] Speaker 1: of England, informing the Order of the Garter, insisted on
[54:46] Speaker 1: high moral character. and deference to the Order's spiritual patron,
[54:52] Speaker 1: that being St. George, also the patron saint of England,
[54:56] Speaker 1: by the way. So I suppose we can say that
[55:01] Speaker 1: though through family, piety, household instruction, chivalric literature, church influence,
[55:09] Speaker 1: and a bit of symbolic ceremony, a young knight was
[55:12] Speaker 1: taught to see himself as part of a greater Christian mission,
[55:16] Speaker 1: and to hold himself to those standards of virtue, Now
[55:20] Speaker 1: this did not make the knights into saints, quite far
[55:24] Speaker 1: from it, and there's no way that knights would be
[55:27] Speaker 1: really going for that kind of thing, but it did
[55:31] Speaker 1: differentiate knighthood as an ethical calling, rather than just being
[55:36] Speaker 1: a man of arms, another sword-wielding, screaming maniac in the line.
[55:44] Speaker 1: Now the phrase often used was that knights were to
[55:48] Speaker 1: be champions of Christendom, protectors of the faith and of
[55:54] Speaker 1: the defenceless. As the 14th century French song of Girard
[55:59] Speaker 1: put it, To God and the people a knight owes
[56:04] Speaker 1: his sword. So, what do you think? You think you'd
[56:11] Speaker 1: be up for the challenge? It's easy to say that.
[56:17] Speaker 1: It's one thing to say you've got the skills to
[56:20] Speaker 1: be a knight. But it's another thing to actually use them.
[56:24] Speaker 1: You have to comment if you get the reference. Well, everyone,
[56:28] Speaker 1: we've reached the end of another video. And if you're
[56:32] Speaker 1: still here with me, congratulations. You have entered the bonus round.
[56:41] Speaker 1: To which you get a nice little joke. Isn't that nice?
[56:44] Speaker 1: A little bonus. Now here's a joke for you. Why
[56:49] Speaker 1: were the Dark Ages so dark? Because there were so
[56:56] Speaker 1: many nights. That was the joke. I'd like to thank
[57:04] Speaker 1: my top dear patrons and supporters. Keeping everything ad-free. Kimberly, Christine, Sally, Ember, Susan, Carrie, Charlene, Lynn-Therese, Katiana, Nicholas, Ulf, Anir, Alexander, Charles, Christine, Dr. Neuronerd, Erin, Jaden, Jim, Jeffrey, Jessica, Madeline, Melissa,
[57:25] Speaker 1: Orthodox Review, Scott, Shell, Wendy, Josie, Sarah, Ryan, Thor, Cameron, Stefan, Kevin, HMSHH, Crystal, Dalvery, Anthony, Lucy, Brandon, Gugububonic, Nicholas, Craig, Neftis, Alexander, Gokhan, Dorsey, Benita, Claire, Courtesy, Carol, Robert, Mary, Bridget, Nefertari, Yvette,
[57:54] Speaker 1: Miss Mochi, Eleven, Alison, Free American, Jennifer, Brittany, David, and Cody.
[58:07] Speaker 1: All right. Well, yeah, that's it for me. We had
[58:11] Speaker 1: a good time. And I hope you learned a lot
[58:14] Speaker 1: about knights. And I want to say good night to you.
[58:18] Speaker 1: Lots of love to you all. And I'm going to
[58:21] Speaker 1: have a little bit of toast before bed. A little
[58:25] Speaker 1: glass of milk. Who knows? I'll see you in the
[58:29] Speaker 1: next video. Farewell for now.

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