![]() ![]() When a squire has travelled much and been part of feats, if he has enough to provide for himself or if he is part of a great and wealthy house, he must advise his commander or a valiant knight at the beginning of a battle and request to be dubbed in the name of God and saint George. » Et s’il advient qu’il soit noble homme ou vaillant et qu’il soit povre, le prince ne le doit laisser estre fait chevalier s’il ne lui donne de quoy il se puisse vivre honnestement pour l’onneur de l’ordre de chevalerie. Et celui doit tirer son espee et le doit faire chevalier en disant : « Je te fay chevalier ou nom de Dieu et de saint Gorge, pour la foy et justice loyaulment garder, et à juste querelle soustenir loyaulment à ton povoir, en gardant l’Eglise, femmes, veusves et orphelins. 3r-4v):Įscuier quant il a bien voyagie et esté en plusieurs fais d’armes et qu’il a bien de quoy maintenir | son estat ou qu’il soit de grant hostel et de riche et qu’il se tienne en une rencontre ou bataille doit adviser le chief ou ung vaillant chevalier de la compaignie et lors doit venir à luy et lui demander et requérir chevalerie ou nom de Dieu et de saint Gorge. In a 15th century manuscript that describe how emperors and kings must be enthroned to power, we also find a paragraph on the making of knights ( Paris, BnF, MS fr. Wealth became a capital requirement for anyone to be elevated to knighthood. Knighthood became an exclusive caste, limited to those who were descended from knights and had the means to maintain the status.” The social expectations of knights and the public responsibilities that they were expected to take on exceeded their means. By the mid-thirteenth century in England and northern France, warriors of lesser means could no longer afford to undergo the public ritual that would make them knights. As the defining characteristics of knighthood developed, the numbers of those entering this elite class of men declined. Initially, dubbing was simply a ceremony in which the lord presented his warriors with weapons and armor, but during the twelfth century the ceremony expanded to include a blessing of the new knight’s sword. ![]() Knightly status became a sort of institution, with its own literature, ideals of behaviour, and rituals, such as the tournament and the ceremony of dubbing into knighthood. Knights regarded knighthood as a separate order in society. Kings and other rulers made increasing use of knights as administrators. As church attitudes toward violence changed and certain sorts of warfare became theologically acceptable, the warrior rose in status, provided he fought for the right cause. The latin word used for a knight from the eleventh century on was ‘miles,’ which in classical Latin meant a soldier and by the tenth century a servant. The words used to designate members of this group indicate that the origins of this class lay with the armed and mounted servants who formed a lord’s entourage, or comitatus. The concept of the knight as a distinct elite group of warriors began to emerge in the eleventh century. “All knights were warriors, but not all warriors were knights. At this point, I’d like to quote the Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology (2010, vol. The behaviour expected from a knight, in and out of the battlefield, was codified to an extent that made it impossible for anyone to be randomly dubbed. Moreover the idea of knighthood was the object of more and more sophisticated theories. To be made a knight became a very pricy thing. The knights therefore improved their physical protection and adopted the plate armour, which kept on being improved generation after generation. Crossbow became deadlier and firearms made their introduction. The techniques of warfare would however evolve drastically from the 13th to the 15th century. The dubbing ceremony gains in complexity and the multiplication of knights give them the feeling to belong to a social order apart from the rest of society. Therefore the knight becomes really distinct from the vassal. In the 12th century we observe ceremonies of mass promotions to knighthood. This would also serve as a rite of passage into adulthood and to some extent, we can trace that rite all the way back to Germanic tribes (Keen, 1984, 66-67). Originally it constituted in very little: a lord gave arms and armours to his vassals to help him into battle. ![]() The dubbing ceremony came into fashion in the 11th century. The short answer is that any knight could dub a squire to elevate him to knighthood. ![]()
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