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There were knights in ancient times, and they were heavy cavalry, called cataphracts. In places where they provided their own horses, armor, and weapons, they had to be wealthy enough to afford these, so being a cataphract implied a certain social status.
One important invention of the middle ages was the stirrup. Another was the arched saddle, which made it possible for a mounted man to absorb a certain amount of shock without being thrown off his horse. These two made it possible for a knight to use a lance in a new manner, couched under the arm, as we see in movies where knights are jousting. This combination was sufficiently powerful, that infantry could not stand up to it during the many years it took for tactics and weapons to develop.
When the knight became supreme, which roughly coincided with the Norman Invasion of 1066, kings had reasons to want wealthy young men to enter the knighthood. And so the manorial system was formalized with ceremonies, oaths of allegiance, and provisions of land in exchange for loyalty and service. In this way, the knights were able to afford to continue as knights, ready to defend their kings.
The original armor of the knights was mail, which could be penetrated by arrows. The answer to this was better armor, to which the answer was stronger bows. Both evolved for some time, until plate armor appeared, and with it, the knight in shining armor. The answer to this was the English longbow, with a 200 pound pull, which could penetrate such armor from quite a distance, and could be fired six times in a minute. Plate armor was at about a limit of what could be useful, and the battles of Crecy and Agincourt proved it was not sufficient. The only hope the knights had was to get through the barrage of arrows and reach the archers, because the archers were not good at defending themselves at close range.
At this point, military leaders came to realize that infantry would always defeat mounted knights if it included sufficient archers and men to protect them from. For this purpose, they had the knights dismount and defend the archers with pole arms such as halberds. That done, the mounted knights no longer could dominate infantry.
Archers who could use English longbows were not common. The English had them, but producing them required years of practice, building the needed muscles to use them. The continental kings were too suspicious of their peasants to use them, and relied on crossbows instead, which were inferior in the respect that they took much longer to load. This situation changed when muskets were introduced, as they required very little skill or training, and could be provided to an army of inexperienced peasants rather quickly. Such weapons rendered the armor of the unmounted knight useless, and so the age of the knight ended.
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How does a medieval queen spend her time?
queens position medieval time
What did the eagle stand for in medieval times?
Most of the time it was used simply as an heraldic charge with no meaning. In the later medieval period a badge portraying an eagle was sometimes used by knights with the first name John, because in Catholic Church teaching the eagle stands for St John the Evangelist.
What was a knight's religion in the middle ages?
There are two distinct meanings of the word knight. One was a heavy cavalryman, a man who would fight from horseback with heavy weapons, as opposed, for instance, to a mounted archer. So medieval writers might refer to the cavalry of an Islamic army as knights. The other meaning of knight was a man who had been knighted by a king. (In earlier times, people other than kings knighted people in some places.) This required going through specific training and, finally, ceremonies. In practice, the people who did this were normally Christian. After the Great Schism in 1054, they would have been Roman Catholic in western Europe, or Eastern Orthodox in the East. There were monastic orders of knights, and these, of course, required their knights to be of their religion. Those I am aware of were all Roman Catholic.
When did medieval tournaments first happen?
Medieval tournaments evolved from the military games of the Roman Empire. The first tournaments that were called by that name, which had a new, medieval, character, happened some time around 940 or 950. But it was not until about 1050 or so that the tournaments took on the form we would recognize, with knights jousting and so on. The critical issue here might have been the inventions of the stirrup and arched saddle, without which jousting is really not possible.
Why are medieval castles called medieval?
The name of the castle as "medieval" places it in the time it was built. The Middle Ages is a time in history that covers a 1000 years of time and when a historian states that something is medieval or in the middle ages it places it on the timeline.
Who are some famous knights from medieval time?
kin arthur
What time do medieval knights wake up?
MidKnight! LOL
What was the role of page in medieval time?
Pages acted as personal servants to knights and barons.
What did Medieval Time knights wear to protect themselves?
Answer That was the age of which they wore suits of Armor. It is a very interesting subject to learn!
Castles and knights were prominent in which time period?
Castles and knights were prominent during the Medieval period in Europe. This period ranged from the 5th to 15th century and ended around the time when gunpowder became widely used on the battlefield.
Were there restrictions in becoming a knight in the medieval time?
An important restriction was age because knights were forced to be in military service for 40 years or more.
How did art change in medieval times?
Art did change in the Medieval times because of the emergence of the early Renaissance period.
Did Japanese change throughout time?
jfmmvjjvmmvjbjbg
How would you put medieval in a sentence?
Medieval is an adjective which describes the period of time known as the middle ages. So by saying something is medieval you are saying that it comes from the middle ages.Examples:That sword is medieval.In medieval times, knights dominated the battlefield.If you want to use medieval as a noun then you have to you the term "middle ages".Examples:That sword is from the middle ages.In the middle ages, knights dominated the battlefield.It doesn't make sense, and also sounds wrong, if you try to use medieval as a noun or middle ages as an adjective.Examples:That sword is from medieval.That sword is middle ages.
When was sir gawain and the green knight written?
The Sir Gawain and the Green Knights were written in the mid to late fourteenth century.
Does a medieval king have weapon practice?
Yes. The nobles/knights were required to have practise each week and they worked all the time on their weapons and use of them. Tournaments were for that purpose as well as having fun.
What timeline was first the Knights or the Greeks?
The Greeks predate the Knights. The Knights are commonly associated with the medieval era, particularly during the Middle Ages, while ancient Greek civilization flourished from around the 8th century BC to the 6th century AD.
