Knights

At the age of seven, the sons of knights began to study the art of war and proper conduct. They first learned how to ride a horse and practiced fighting with toy weapons. When they reached the age of twelve or thirteen, they were trained to take part in exercises on horseback and were introduced to real weapons. After training, they would become a squire, a knight's servant. The squire would graduate to knighthood in about his early twenties. To become a knight the squire would kneel in fidelity before the lord of his knight, and the lord would hit the squire on each shoulder with his sword. Toward the latter part of the middle ages, the ceremony became much more elaborate involving, in some cases. an all-night vigil wearing special robes and armor. Most knights drifted throughout the kingdom, while a handful were granted land and a title. They participated in tournaments and fought in wars. They would make money at the tournaments and they would, on occasion, go on a crusade. The goal of a knight was to receive a fief from a lord or to marry an heiress. The knights were prominent figures in rural life and often times married the daughters of prosperous peasants.

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