Medieval Warfare

A morning star was a weapon, a club with spikes.

could be 2 weapons

morning star mace answer#1 described that except it was a club with a ball at the end with spikes on the ball

and morning star flail which is the same thing but the ball is connected to the stick by a chain and swung over the head to take people off horses

The modern usage of the term morning star has drifted considerably from the original usage. Historians and medieval weapons experts classify the mace, flail and morning star as distinctly different.

A mace is a short-handled weapon usually intended to be used single-handed (though there are a few example of two-handed maces, they are considered oddities). The mace is a wooden rod, 18-30 inches long, with a metal head at the end. The distinguishing characteristics of the mace's head were that it was either (a) a solid metal ball (usually 4-6 inches in diameter) covered with studs, much like the heads of modern rivets, or (b) a metal cylinder (6-8 inches long and 2-3 inches in diameter) with several 1-3 inch flanges protruding perpendicular to the long axis. For the most part, the mace is a bludgeoning weapon, intended to bash and break bones though blunt-force trauma. the mace is essentially an advanced club.

A flail is a development of an agricultural tool used for wheat and grain threshing (beating the grains from a sheaf of grain). As such, there were both single and (more commonly) two-handed versions. Both consisted of a main wooden shaft, 2-4 feet long. At the end, a small metal eye was affixed. One or more (generally no more than 3) shorter (2-3 foot) wooden rods were connected to this eye via 6-8 inch lengths of chain. Rarely, these rods would be metal clad, or have portions metal studded like a mace-head, or, very rarely, wit small spike-like protrusions. However, like a mace, the flail was a bludgeoning weapon, intended to cause blunt-force trauma.

The morning star was a much later development. As armor thickened, the bludgeoning effects of the flail and mace became much less effective, as the strong steel being used was able to absorb the force of the blow without causing any trauma to the wearer. While the construction of the morning star is such that it is frequently confused with the mace, there is a very important distinction. Instead of using metal studs or flanges, the metal head was covered in 6-inch steel spikes, which strongly resembled nails. The morning star is a piecing weapon, like an arrow or spear. The mid-length handle was to give the wielder sufficient momentum to allow the narrow spikes the ability to punch through the stronger armor becoming more commonplace.

The important distinctions between the three are the basic design (single rod vs multiple rods) and the intended usage (bludgeoning vs piercing).

Becoming a Knight:

There were only a few ways in which a person could become a knight. The first way was the normal course of action for the son of a noble:

When a boy was eight years old, he was sent to the neighboring castle where he was trained as a page. The boy was usually the son of a knight or of a member of the aristocracy. He spent most of his time strengthening his body, wrestling and riding horses. He also learned how to fight with a spear and a sword. He practiced against a wooden dummie called a quintain. It was essentially a heavy sack or dummie in the form of a human. It was hung on a wooden pole along with a shield. The young page had to hit the shield in its center. When hit, the whole structure would spin around and around. The page had to maneuver away quickly without getting hit. The young man was also taught more civilized topics. He would be taught to read and write by a schoolmaster. He could also be taught some Latin and French. The lady of the castle taught the page to sing and dance and how to behave in the king's court.

At the age of fifteen or sixteen, a boy became a squire in service to a knight. His duties included dressing the knight in the morning, serving all of the knight's meals, caring for the knight's horse, and cleaning the knight's armor and weapons. He followed the knight to tournaments and assisted his lord on the battlefield. A squire also prepared himself by learning how to handle a sword and lance while wearing forty pounds of armor and riding a horse. When he was about twenty, a squire could become a knight after proving himself worthy. A lord would agree to knight him in a dubbing ceremony. The night before the ceremony, the squire would dress in a white tunic and red robes. He would then fast and pray all night for the purification of his soul. The chaplain would bless the future knight's sword and then lay it on the chapel or church's altar. Before dawn, he took a bath to show that he was pure, and he dressed in his best clothes. When dawn came, the priest would hear the young man's confession, a Catholic contrition rite. The squire would then eat breakfast. Soon the dubbing ceremony began. The outdoor ceremony took place in front of family, friends, and nobility. The squire knelt in front of the lord, who tapped the squire lightly on each shoulder with his sword and proclaimed him a knight. This was symbolic of what occurred in earlier times. In the earlier middle ages, the person doing the dubbing would actually hit the squire forcefully, knocking him over. After the dubbing, a great feast followed with music and dancing.

A young man could also become a knight for valor in combat after a battle or sometimes before a battle to help him gain courage.

source: http://library.thinkquest.org/10949/fief/medknight.html#become