THE MIDDLE AGES Alessandra

THE MIDDLE AGE : 

THE MIDDLE AGE MEDIEVAL CHIVALRY Chivalry is the generic term for the knightly system of the Middle Ages. Knights were members of the noble class. Infact, they were owners of horses and armors.

TRAINING A KNIGHT : 

TRAINING A KNIGHT Knights belonged to the noble class and were of a military order but not all soldiers became knights. Orders of female knight existed but they were rare. Training began when the children were 7 years old. They were sent to the Lord’s home. There they learned horsemanship, archery and swordsmanship. When the soldier became knight a priest blessed knight’s sword.

CHIVELRIC ORDERS : 

CHIVELRIC ORDERS Knights belonged to a multitude of specific olders. A lot of orders were based on worth ideals like piety, faith, umility, chastity… some orders had curious names such as the Palm and the Alligator! Three of the most important were the Hospitallers, Templars and Teutonic knights.

HOSPITALLERS : 

HOSPITALLERS Hospitallers were the first order of monastic knights. They took monastic vows and wore black habits with white crosses. They lived in a monastery. Hospitality was the first obligation of the order.

TEMPLARS : 

TEMPLARS The templars’order was the second of the military orders and was founded for protecting the pilgrims. These knights adopted Benedictine monastic rules and wore white tunics with red crosses.

TEUTONICS : 

TEUTONICS Teutonic knights formed the last great chivalric order. These knights were germanic in origin, they took wovs of poverty, chastity and obdience and wore white tunics with black crosses.

TOURNAMENTS : 

TOURNAMENTS The medieval knight sometimes combatted for improving his skills in the tournaments. He challenged another knight on the horses and with sword, shields, lances and the armour. A knight won when he hit an opponent’s shield or helmet. The winner often took the horse or the armour of the loser.

EQUIPMENT : 

EQUIPMENT Medieval knight were equipped with a variety of defensive weapons. The armour included helmet, shield, sword and dagger. The helmet was decorated with a plumage. Crossbow was banned because it was very dangerous, infact it was replaced with the longbow. The shield was made of wood. The sword was quite elaborate. The daggers were made of all shapes. Swords and daggers were encrusted with jewels.