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

3.  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

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

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

6.  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

7.  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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRUe-gz690

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

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

10.  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.

11.  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.

12.  Coats of Arms – like a # on a jersey in football  Got to know who you are for cheering in tournaments https://www.yo utube.com/wat ch?v=c4SJ0x R2_bQ

13.  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

14.  Brutal Reality of Warfare  Castles are huge fortresses where lords/ Kings live ▪ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PtAlUKX4PY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PtAlUKX4PY

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

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

17.  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.

18.  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

19.  As time went on and gunpowder and stronger foot soldiers were developed, the need for knights declined.  By the 16 th century the knight had been deemed all but useless, giving a so called “end” to the chivalric ways of the knight.