Who+could+become+a+knight+and+how+were+they+educated+and+trained?

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The only people who were allowed to become knights were those of noble heritage. You had to be a son of a noble, knight or member of the aristocracy and have generations of nobility to train as a knight.

There were a few ways in which a person could become a knight. One of these was the normal course in which a boy who was the son of a noble could become a knight. At the age of eight the boys would be sent to a neighbouring castle to train as a page. While training as a page he would strengthen his body and learn to wrestle and ride horses. He would also learn how to use both a sword and spear practicing on a wooden dummy called a //quintain.//

Though most of the time spent at the neighbouring castle was spent on more physical parts of the training he would also learn how to read and write from the schoolmaster as well as learning some Latin and French. Usually there would be a lady of the court who would teach him how to behave in the King’s court and how to sing and dance.

When the boy turned 15 or 16 he would then train as a squire in service to a knight. His duties included dressing the knight, caring for the knight’s horse, serving all the knight’s meals and cleaning his armor and weapons. He would also follow the knight to tournaments and assisted him on the battlefield. Eventually as a squire the boy would learn to use a lance and to ride a horse with 40 pounds of armor.

After serving as a squire for seven years the young warrior would undergo a formal entry into knighthood. It would start with a Night Vigil in the Chapel of the Castle. To prepare for the vigil he would ritually bathe and his body would be thoroughly cleaned as a symbol of purification. The knights would wear a white vesture covered by a red robe which symbolized nobility. They would then stand or kneel at the chapel altar in silent prayer, for ten hours.

In the morning after praying, he was joined by others for mass and a long talk about the duties of a knight and what was expected of them. They then swore an oath of allegiance to the lord who was conducting the ceremony. The lord would then pass the squire a sword and shield which had been blessed by the priest. He then dubbed the squire a knight by striking a blow with the flat of his hand or a sword on to the squire’s shoulder.

Music and fanfares would follow this ceremony and a feast and tournament were held in the newly appointed knight’s honour.