From the earliest incarnations of knights in the Roman equestrian class-literally citizens wealthy enough to own a horse-the presence of an elite mounted soldiery was a vital part of European military formation. The horse, as seen by its prominence on this Florentine crest, was a vital part of chivalry. Should the knight be on the losing side, his arms made him instantly recognizable as a person of value and he was more likely to be captured and ransomed than killed by the opposing side. This too had value at either extreme of fortune. A knight who showed his arms was, in effect, boasting of his lineage and accomplishments and declaring his presence-standing out from the crowd, so to speak. Beyond the utilitarian, there were also subtler advantages to being easily recognized in such a martial arena. After the Battle of Crécy, King Edward III of England sent men out among the French dead to “identify the dead by their arms” (Froissart 95). This added to the celebrity of knights, who allowed themselves to be seen and known by their deeds, but it also allowed them to be more easily identified when the fighting did not go their way. Whether in the field or on the tourney ground, a knight’s crest served as ready identification to his societal peers. Though they were not as obviously practical as a sword and shield on the battlefield, a knight’s heraldic arms were no less important. The codex details the contemporary houses of Florence, with some armigerous families dating back to the 1200s (Penn Library Catalog description). The knight’s horse, weapons, heraldic arms and armor were all vital to the success of a knight, not only in martial feats, but in the recognition of his ability and the promise of advancement that went along with it.įrom a codex on Florentine heraldry, crafted at the dawn of the nineteenth century.
#Knighthood the ancient one code
Though knighthood came to be defined as much by a code of conduct, on and off the battlefield, as it was by military service, that function remained a vital facet of chivalric life and the tools of a knight’s trade were numerous.
Romantic tales of knights real and imagined are told and retold down the ages and to this day, England awards accomplished citizens with ceremonial knighthoods. As a representation of high societal ideals, chivalry would capture the imagination of audiences for centuries after its original military function faded. Once an almost purely military definition, knighthood had become a desirable status among high nobility and royalty as well as an avenue for advancement among lesser nobility and even some commoners. By the late Middle Ages, the idea of what it meant to be a knight had solidified from its early origins.
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