Knighthood emerged as early as the eight century with the invention of the stirrup. In the twelfth century, with the rise in power of the nobility, knighthood became a military institution that only included wealthy noblemen and the descendants of knights. Knighthood became a highly professional and social institution until it gradually came to an end in the fifteenth century with the invention of new military technology.
The Emergence of Knighthood
The military trend of knighthood emerged in the eighth century with the invention of the stirrup, which made mounted soldiers much more powerful. “The stirrup turned cavalry into the most important element of medieval armies,” says historian Francois Velde.
Since horses, armour and equipment were expensive, only those soldiers who could afford to maintain heavy capital investment required by mounted warfare were able to become knights. The boundaries of knighthood was quite fluid in that it included the sons of large land owners, small land owners, free men, craftsmen, and any man who could afford the expenses of mounted warfare.
Knighthood and Nobility
All of this changed in the twelfth century with the rise of class distinctions. “Feudal power and privilege were the prerogatives of a class of noblemen whose rights and status soon became hereditary. So was the status of knight once this too became a recognized order,” says historian Aldo Scaglione. The boundaries of knighthood became less fluid and much more rigid, being restricted to only the high nobles or those descendents of knights. Nobility and knighthood gradually became one distinct class after they started to undergo a slow process of merging which began around 1150.
Knighthood increasingly became a professional estate tied to the exercise of the art of warfare and the official recognition of ritual dubbing. In the thirteenth century, nobles that were descendants of knights inherited the title. However, they did not become knights until they were formerly dubbed.
The ceremonial dubbing of knights, a common practice dated back to the early twelfth century, was more than a ritual. The ceremonial dubbing symbolized a set of attitudes which were related to the status of knighthood. It also marked the official recognition of a special and admirable status of these mounted soldiers.
Knights and Chivalry
In the course of the twelfth century, a social and ethical dimension was added to the professional aspect of knighthood. The strong influence of Cluny monks, who tried to give an ethos to justify savage warfare, “lead to the rise of the definition of the miles Christi, the true soldier who followed a certain code of behaviour, which we now call chivalric,” says Velde. Romantic literature and poems written in the second half of the twelfth century provided a model for the knightly community and also glorified knights.
The courts of princes and kings were meeting centers for knights where they were given the opportunity to prove their loyalty, learn the princely behaviour of the king and apply that behaviour to their everyday lives. Self-control, love, kindness, humility and consideration of others were moral conducts that were required of knights.
The End of Knighthood
New and advanced changes in warfare in the late thirteenth century brought a decline in knighthood as a military institution. As kings turned to other sources of manpower, they relied less on knights. The development of gunpowder and more powerful archery meant that the use of cavalry to charge enemy lines and gain a swift victory became less possible. Consequently, the use of cavalry came to an end.
Even though knighthood came to an end, its chivalric ideals continued to endure for many years. The French king Francois I was knighted on the battlefield after his first victory at Marignano in 1515. Tournaments were a favourite entertainment at the French Court for much of the sixteenth century. Many soldiers also continued to practice the ethics and live in accordance to a moral code like knights did in the centuries before them.
Sources
Scaglione, Aldo. Knights at Court: Courtliness, Chivalry & Courtesy from Ottoman Germany to the Italian Renaissance. Berkely: University of California Press, 1991.
Velde, Francois. “Knighthood and Chivalry,” (1996, accessed 14 March 2009).
