Knighthood ATOS 12.58

Knighthood

Source: Wikipedia

A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a monarch or other political leader for service to the Monarch or country, especially in a military capacity. Historically, in Europe, knighthood has been conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as a fighter for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback. Since the early modern period, the title of knight is purely honorific, usually bestowed by a monarch, as in the British honor system, often for non-military service to the country. Modern knighthoods are typically awarded in recognition for services rendered to society, which are not necessarily military in nature. The British musician Elton John, for example, is a Knight Bachelor, thus entitled to be called Sir Elton. The female equivalent is a Dame.

Some orders of knighthood, such as the Knights Templar, have become the subject of legend; others have disappeared into obscurity. Today, a number of orders of knighthood continue to exist in several countries, such as the English Order of the Garter, the Swedish Royal Order of the Seraphim, and the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. Each of these orders has its own criteria for eligibility, but knighthood is generally granted by a head of state to selected persons to recognize some worthy achievement.

The first military orders of knighthood were of Knights Hospitaller and of the Holy Sepulchre, both founded at the First Crusade of 1099, followed by the Knights Templar (1119) and the Order of Saint Lazarus (1098). At the time of their foundation, these were intended as monastic orders, whose members would act as simple soldiers protecting pilgrims. It was only over the following century, with the successful conquest of the Holy Land and the rise of the crusader states, that these orders became powerful and prestigious.

The ideal of chivalry as the ethos of the Christian warrior, and the transmutation of the term knight from the meaning "servant, soldier", and of chevalier "mounted soldier," to refer to a member of this ideal class, is significantly influenced by the Crusades, on one hand inspired by the military orders of monastic warriors, as seen retrospectively from the point of view of the beginning Late Middle Ages, and on the other hand influenced by Islamic (Saracen) ideals of furusiyya.

Artistic representations such as the miles christianus allegory from the mid 13th century, show a knight armed with virtues and facing the vices in mortal combat. The parts of his armor are identified with Christian virtues, thus relating essential military equipment with the religious values of chivalry:

The helmet is spes futuri gaudii (hope of future bliss),

the shield is fides (faith),

the armor is caritas (charity),

the lance is perseverantia (perseverance),

the sword is verbum Dei (word of God),

the banner is regni celestis desiderium (desire for the kingdom of heaven),

the horse is bona voluntas (good will),

the saddle is christiana religio (Christian religion),

the saddlecloth is humilitas (humility),

the reins are discretio (discretion),

the spurs are disciplina (discipline),

the stirrups are propositum boni operis (proposition of good works),

and the horse's four hooves are delectatio, consensus, bonum opus, consuetudo (delight, consent, good work and exercise).

Knights were expected, above all, to fight bravely and to display military professionalism and courtesy. When knights were taken as prisoners of war, they were customarily held for ransom in somewhat comfortable surroundings. This same standard of conduct did not apply to non-knights (archers, peasants, foot-soldiers, etc.) who were often slaughtered after capture, and who were viewed during battle as mere impediments to knights' getting to other knights to fight them.