Compare and Contrast Medieval Knight vs. Renaissance Knight

In the chaos and danger of post-Roman Western Europe, Soon, grants of land were made so the young soldiers could receive an income from those lands and afford the high cost of outfitting themselves with the accoutrements of war, such as horses, armor, and weapons. The era of the medieval knight had begun. knights began to treat their land grants as hereditary rights (usually transferring ownership to the eldest son upon death), thus beginning the rise of knights as a “landed” class Knights soon found themselves involved in local politics, the dispensation of justice, and numerous other required tasks for their sovereign, or liege lord.

The medieval knight is generally perceived as an armed and mounted warrior who was bound by the codes of chivalry Knight’s had a code of conduct that was called Chivalry. This code changed over the centuries but some of the major points were that the knight was bound to defend his lord or liege, care for his lands and his people and in the later centuries this code of chivalry was expanded to include conduct in courts and public functions. A knight was expected to protect those less of lesser rank than himself and to hold himself to the highest standards of combat and knowledge in religion and writing, music and leadership.

During the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the ideals of chivalry were popularized in medieval literature. concept of the knight as an elite warrior sworn to uphold the values of faith, loyalty, courage, and honour. During the , the genre of chivalric romance became popular in literature, The medieval knight was the equivalent of the modern tank. He was covered in multiple layers of armor, and could plow through foot soldiers standing in his way. No single foot soldier or archer could stand up to any one knight Becoming a knight was part of the feudal agreement.

In return for military service, the knight received a fief. In the late middle ages, many prospective knights began to pay “shield money” to their lord so that they wouldn’t have to serve in the king’s army. The money was then used to create a professional army that was paid and supported by the king In the Middle Ages, knights were the elite soldiers. A good knight could take on many infantry and archers all by himself. There were really only three types of soldiers in the day, knights, archers, and infantry, or foot soldiers.

The infantry tended to be made up of peasant and serfs, and did not require many skills to become a soldier Knights had a code of chivalry, which demanded that they defend the weak and be courteous to women, and be loyal to the king and serve God. They were supposed to have mercy on vanquished foes, and not boast about their accomplishments. However, despite this code, they were usually little more than mercenaries for hire. During Renaissance, the social structure changed completely from that of feudalism. Between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance, Europe was in a period of decline.

Eventually, Europe, for the most part, had adopted a feudal 2. society. There were knights and lords in this period, as well as vassals and serfs. Cities of the great Roman Empire were slums for the most part, and in the country, estates with feudal lords offered protection to local villagers from attack (it is for this that villages developed close to feudal estates). Life was generally hard and not too stable When we think of the Medieval times the first thought often takes us to the Medieval knights and their ladies. It was the duty of a Medieval Knight to learn how to fight and so serve their liege Lord according to the Code of Chivalry