Can a knight become a king?

Answer 1

It depends on what exactly you mean by that, but probably "no."

The female equivalent of "knight" is usually "dame" or "lady".

Also, for the most part such an honor would never be granted to a "girl" (or boy), but rather to an adult. Even HRH The Princess Royal (Anne, daughter of Queen Elizabeth) wasn't admitted to a Chivalric Order until she was 21. (Prince Charles was made a Royal Knight of the Order of the Garter when he was 10 or so, but that's a special case: that's when he became Prince of Wales, and the Prince of Wales is automatically a member of the Order of the Garter).

Countries other than the UK can of course have their own rules which may differ widely.

Answer 2

Knights were given their titles by kings or other nobles with the power to do so. There was usually no restriction on who could be a knight, except that there were rules for certain orders. That being the case, a king could make anyone a knight, for any reason, with or without training.

That having been said, I would like you to consider the following:

• After the death of Alfred the Great, his daughter, Ethelfreda, took control of Mercia, an Anglo saxon Kingdom. She was, for some years, able to keep Vikings from invading her kingdom, and only her untimely death prevented other areas of Britain from joining her as a military leader.
• There was a point in the Hundred Years' War when the Kingdom of France was on the verge of collapse. A seventeen year old peasant girl showed up claiming to be able to save the situation. She was given command of the French army, and reversed the tide of war.
• The city of Tortosa, after being for a long time in Muslim hands, and after an extensive siege, fell to Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Catalonia. His army was very soon called elsewhere, and while the men were away, a Muslim army laid siege to the city. Messengers from the Count told the people of the city they might be best off surrendering because they had not yet recovering from the earlier siege. Rather than do that, the women of the city took hatchets and whatever else they could get for weapons, put on men's clothing, and attacked the Muslim camp. Their attack was successful, and they were made knights of the Order of the Hatchet, which was created especially for them.

Now, perhaps the question should be rephrased: "Is there any reason why a woman should not be allowed to be a knight?"

Please use the link to the related question below for more information and additional links.

Answer 3

Men become Knights and they bear the title "Sir".

Women become Ladies and bear the title "Dame"