 The Technology of Warfare Changes  Leather saddle and stirrups enable knights to handle heavy weapons

Chainmail Plate Armour Gambeson, a padded jacket worn alone or in combination with chainmail

 The Warrior’s Role in Feudal Society  By 1000s, western Europe is a battleground of warring nobles  Feudal lords raise private armies of knights  Knights rewarded with land; provides income for needed weapons  Tried to capture enemy & hold knights ransom

 One had to be “well-born” (Son of a Noble)

 A Knight’s Training  Age 7: Page – personal servant of the Lord

 A Knight’s Training  Age 7: Page – personal servant of the Lord  Age 15: Squire – assistant to a Knight -- learn to handle: sword, lance, axe, bow & arrow

 A Knight’s Training  Age 7: Page – personal servant of the Lord  Age 15: Squire – assistant to a Knight -- learn to handle: sword, lance, axe, bow & arrow  After you “prove yourself in battle” (around age 21) you could become a knight

 Ceremony  Lord (or King) touches your shoulder 3 times with sword and says, “I dub thee knight.”

 Ceremony still done today!

 A Knight’s Training  Knights gain experience, show off, and make money in tournaments -- competitions and mock battles

 Melee:

 Two groups of knights assembled in an open field  Both parties rode toward each other and fought anyone who came into range.  The aim of the melee was to capture an opposing knight and hold him for a ransom. A typical ransom included the cost of a suit of armor or a horse.

 Quintain:  objective was to direct strokes at specified areas on a hanging post or shield.  practice their aim with a lance, sword or battle axe.

 Jousting:

 “unhorse” opponent with a lance

 Discuss Coats of Arms soon

 The Code of Chivalry  By 1100s knights obey a code of chivalry—a set of ideals on how to act  They are to protect weak and poor; serve feudal lord, God, chosen lady "Stitching the Standard" by Edmund Blair Leighton: the lady prepares for a knight to go to war

 Brutal Reality of Warfare  Castles are huge fortresses where lords/ Kings live

 Brutal Reality of Warfare  Attacking armies use wide range of strategies and weapons

Siege Warfare

Medieval mangonel, a type of catapult

Replica battering ram at Château des Baux, France

Medieval moveable siege tower

 Epic Poetry  Epic poems recount a hero’s deeds and adventures  The Song of Roland is about Charlemagne’s knights fighting Muslims

 Love Poems and Songs  Knights’ duties to ladies are as important as those to their lords  Troubadours—traveling poet-musicians—write and sing short verses Above and right: troubadours portrayed in illumined texts.

 Status of Women  According to the Church and feudal society, women were inferior to men  Noblewomen  Can inherit land, defend castle, send knights to war on lord’s request  Usually confined to activities of the home or convent  Peasants Women  Most labor in home and field, bear children, provide for family  Poor, powerless, do household tasks at young age