The Dark Ages: Knighthood During The Medieval Ages

The Dark Ages Beginning in the 5th century, knighthood was introduced as a way of honor, chivalry, and courage. Men from all over Europe desired to become knights to bring fame and fortune to themselves and their families. To become a knight was to be granted an honorable title by someone of high power, to give allegiance to the Monarch or country. Becoming a knight was a very long and tedious process. It starts at the young age of 7 and does not end until being knighted at 21 years. At 7 years old, young boys are sent to the castle or the home of a noble for training and education, learning the basics of a knight such as chivalry and loyalty. A squire is what they would become as soon as 14 years of age is reached; assigned to be trained and to learn to officially become a knight by serving a knight up until 21 years of age. At 21 the long journey is finally complete and the squire is granted knighthood by another knight or if he is lucky, a noble. As it says, “After
The knights lived with their weapon, never leaving it. Knights were not allowed in public without their weapon on their side. There are many designs and types of weapons used in the medieval times, one of the most popular and well known is the sword, generally consisting of a double edged blade with a hilt or pommel on the end. Swords are sharp and good for stabbing and slicing, but, there are also blunt weapons used such as clubs, maces, flails, and war hammers. Pole arms, spears, pikes, , lances, quarter staves, halberds; these are also some of the many types of weapons used. Heavy artillery such as trebuchets and ballista’s were used as siege weapons to overthrow a castle’s defenses. Some of the most important weapons were the bow and crossbow due to their longer ranged capabilities. For several years, “traditional long bows… [Were] used for thousands of years for mining, hunting, and for warfare” (Marshal