2006-12-05 01:58:32 · 6 answers · asked by hellspawn2389 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Royalty
The process of training for knighthood began before adolescence, inside the prospective knight’s own home, where he was taught courtesy and appropriate manners. Around the age of 7 years, he would be sent away to train and serve at a grander household as a page. Here, he would serve as a kind of waiter and personal servant, entertaining and serving food to his elders. A page was usually the son of a vassal, who sent him to his or another lord’s castle to become a page. For seven years a page was cared for by the women of the house, who instructed him in comportment, courtesy, cleanliness, and religion. He would learn basic hunting and falconry, and also various battle skills such as taking care of, preparing, and riding horses, as well as use of weapons and armour.
A page became a squire when he turned 14 years of age, being assigned or picked by a knight to become his personal aide. This allowed the squire to observe his master while he was in battle, in order to learn from his techniques. He also acted as a personal servant to the knight, taking care of his master’s equipment and horse. This was to uphold the knight’s code that promoted generosity, courtesy, compassion, and most importantly, loyalty. The knight acted as a tutor and taught the squire all he needed to know to become a knight. As the squire grew older, he was expected to follow his master into battle, and attend to his master if the knight fell in battle. Some squires became knights for performing an outstanding deed on the battlefield, but most were knighted by their lord when their training was judged to be complete.
A squire could hope to become a knight when he was about 18 to 21 years old. Once the squire had established sufficient mastery of the required skills, he was dubbed a knight. In the early period, the procedure began with the squire praying into the night, known as vigil. He was then bathed, and in the morning he was dressed in a white shirt, gold tunic, purple cloak, and was knighted by his king or lord. As the Middle Ages progressed, the process changed. The squire was made to vow that he would obey the regulations of chivalry, and never flee from battle. A squire could also be knighted on the battlefield, in which a lord simply performed the accolade, i.e. struck him on the shoulder saying “Be thou a knight”.
The night before his knighting ceremony, the squire would take a cleansing bath, fast, make confession, and pray to God all night in the chapel, readying himself for his life as a knight. Then he would go through the knighting ceremony the following day. Knights followed the code of chivalry, which promoted honour, honesty, respect to God, and other knightly virtues. Knights served their lords and were paid in land, because money was scarce.
2006-12-05 02:22:26 · answer #1 · answered by Ty L 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are over 1000 knights in the UK. Their lives are very disparate - many are in the military or civil service, and their lives are different from knights like Paul McCartney, Elton John and Cliff Richard. You should narrow the parameters of your question.
2006-12-05 10:21:27 · answer #2 · answered by Dunrobin 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As the King say's
Once a King always a King
But once a Knight is Enough.
2006-12-05 10:09:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
a knight's lives for their master... they live for protecting the honor of their master and fight for their names... Knights live a life of nobility, courage, strength and shows a great deal of being a good gentleman
2006-12-05 10:02:09 · answer #4 · answered by (,") Verns (",) 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they were considered very wealthy and got a lot of good stuff
2013-11-05 19:49:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
sorry.....was way before my time....
2006-12-05 10:00:18 · answer #6 · answered by Blondie B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋