PRECISELY, A knight was a military warrior. The old ‘citizens' force’ of antiquity had been transformed into regimented and well defined rank of armed forces. This trend was reinforced by the appearance in the eighth century of the stirrup, which made mounted men much more powerful and turned cavalry into the most important element of existing militaries. Emergence of new rank of order of army had separated society into two paths one as a mounted soldier who could afford to buy and sustain a horse and the equipment (armour, weapons) to go with it. And other those who were too poor to provide or sustain this basic requirement became mere peasants, attached to the land.
The feudal society of tenth century had seen the emergence of two classes one who were free to offer military services as knight to his lord and second class who were not free could afford their crops and labour to meet the needs of their lords. Thus, a man who held his estate in knight's fee owed service as a knight to his lord. The lords commanded their liege to form sizable army by calling knights to join the liege.
The development of Knighthood
Knighthood was originally association of rich land and estate owners who could afford to maintain the rank of knights with their money. The trend was fast catching up as nobility for rich and influencing people including the small land owners freemen, craftsmen etc. Till the feudal era, the rules and attainment of knighthood were quite fluid and any person could afford to attain the noble rank of knight by arranging horse, arms and equipments. In Flanders, there is a famous case of a family of servile (ie, unfree) origin who entered into knighthood and became castellans in the 12th century.
12th century witnessed the emergence of new dimensions of knighthood with the development of defined code of conduct and basic literature .The knightly soldier needed to obey the code and ethos of the noble title which we call now as chivalric. The strong influence of cluny monks had glorified the noble title of knighthood to great extent.
Knighthood and nobility
The late 12th century saw the merger of two streams of society-noble class with knightly class. And nobles became knights with increasing frequency. It was more seen in the elite class where the knowledge of knighthood was not important but knighthood was awarded as mark of honour to rich class. The French prince (future king Louis VI) was knighted without the knowledge of his father who remains distrustful of a rather heterogeneous professional class, but thereafter every French king is knighted (Favier 1993).
New dimension was added to knighthood with heredity gifted with strict and restrictive rules by way of legal imposition. In the late 13th century, a decision of the Parliament in Paris forbade the count of Artois from making unfree men into knights without the king's consent; interesting to note, the two men who had been so knighted were allowed to remain knights subject to the payment of a fine. This century also witnessed the era of purchasing the knighthood- new form of access.
In England, the evolution was different: those who held land in knight's fee but did not wish to take up the profession could pay a tax. Knighthood did not become a hereditary class in England, and instead the knightly class (those eligible to be knights) became the nucleus of the gentry.
The end of knighthood
As a military institution, knighthood was on declining stage from the late 13th century on. New form of society with the influence of sovereigns and kings had nullified the importance of knights as source of man power in war instead the king looked for alternate man power in form of mercenaries and Henry V of England is the good example of this change where he signed dozens of contracts with individuals for immediate supply of armed man power. Thus the evolution of new form of military arrangement had halted the growth of knightly soldiers.
The development of new technique of war games and invention of gun powder had made the glorious knights irrelevant for war.
Orders of knighthood
The origins of orders of knighthood are in the military expeditions of Christians for the recovery of holy lands from Muslims. In the Latin Orient, a new institution emerged, in which knights (professional soldiers) associated themselves under a strict, quasi-religious rule of life, for the purpose of protecting pilgrims and defending Christianity and conquests in the Holy Land.
In the 14th century, the kings created orders to meet their specific purpose and bind it with nobility. Still later, in the late 16th century, these monarchical orders were imitated in form by the new orders of merit which became common throughout Europe.
Because each institution tried to use the prestige and respect of the previous one by imitating it, the term ‘order of knighthood’ has been passed on and is now used for modern awards and decorations which are neither orders nor composed of knights.
In modern era
Order of knighthood is being run as chivalry organisation under the patronage of royal families and governments. These orders relate themselves with old orders and crusades.
The knighthood awarded by Queen of England is glaring example of knighthood in modern world. It commands respect, honour and sense of nobility for the title holders. Many royal families in Europe, Africa, South America and south East Asia have engaged themselves in awarding the knighthood to meet the specific purpose of their government.
These Chivalric orders are seen as international humanitarian and diplomatic organisation meant for the charily of human kind.
Almost all the knighthood order is associated with historical facts like sovereign order of princes and knights of Antarcticland has historical connection of Russian King Tsar Alexander I and his royal decree to form the order in the leadership of Fabian Gottlieb to conquer the new territory.
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta is one such order which has strong historical connection with crusades.
Various international organisation are also engaged as chivalric organisation to bestow the rank of knights to their members against their services towards society under the faith of Christianity
Conclusion
The knighthood had a glorious moment from eighth century to modern era in the form of aristocracy, nobility and heraldry.
