Knights
Becoming A Knight
When a high born boy reached the age of seven, he was sent to live in the castle of another lord, usually a close friend of his father's or relative. There he began his education as a page, running errands in the castle and performing humble services for noblemen and ladies. He learned good manners, reading, writing, numbers, singing, dancing, strumming the lute, reverence for God, how to use a sword, and how to ride a horse. In the morning, he helped his lord dress, and served at meals, bringing in food and drink.
Around the age of 13, the boy was apprenticed to a knight and became a squire. He was taught skill with the sword, lance, and shield and he learned the duties and responsibilities of a knight. Squires engaged in mock battles against each other and against dummies. If the squire hit the dummy exactly in the center, it fell over, but if he hit it anywhere else, it would swing around and smack the erring squire in the back. Squires also served their mentor. He looked after his master's horses, polished his weapons and armor, and served him at meals. As the squire grew older, he was expected to follow his master into battle, and protect his master if the knight fell in battle. Some squires became knights for performing an outstanding deed on the battlefield, but most were knighted at home by their lord or father when their training was judged to be complete.
When the squire was judged ready to become a knight, usually between 18 and 21, a time for the knighting ceremony was set. On the night before the ceremony, the squire would take a cleansing bath, fast, and would make confession. He would spend the whole night in the chapel praying to God for guidance in his journey as a knight. The next morning , he dressed in white and entered the crowded hall with his sword strung around his neck. The priest would bless the sword and then the squire knelt before his lord (often the knight who had trained him). The lord asked the squire his reasons for wanting to become a knight and if the lord was satisfied with his answers, the knight agreed to perform the ceremony. The ladies and the knights would then dress the squire in new armor and the squire again knelt before the lord. The Lord would then take a sword and tap him lightly on the shoulders three times and made a short declaration such as "In the name of God and Saint George, I make thee a knight."
Knighthood was about more than just fighting, it was also about chivalry. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, this meant good horsemanship, but by 1100 it had become a whole new way of life. Knights were expected to be brave, and honorable, to uphold the honor of women, and to protect the weak. Tales of chivalry were very popular during the Middle Ages, but even so, many knights failed to live up to these high standards.
This was just the beginning of the young man's career as a knight. Knights protected the lord's lands from invaders and fought in the lord's battles against other lords.
Tactics and Techniques
Knights made up the mainstay of the medieval army. They were supported in battle by foot soldiers and archers. Knights were often held in reserve for the decisive part of a battle. Knights were very powerful warriors - one knight was supposed to equal eight foot soldiers. New weapons were designed for a hammering motion.
During a siege, a knight was to wait while the others scaled the walls, dug tunnels, etc. The knight waited until he could enter the castle and engage in battle. Knights did not always fight to the death. The Church and the Code of Chivalry put the emphasis on capturing and treating an opponent honorably. Capture was more profitable, as it allowed for the ransoming of the captured knight.
Code of Chivalry
Within the castle, the knight lived a life devoted to war. Knights rode horses - a mounted warrior. His only purpose was to fight. A knight's training began early. Young noble boys began as "pages," doing simple services for knights in the castle. Adolescent nobles became "squires" who would take care of the knight's equipment and follow him into battle.
The basic weapons of a knight were the lance, the broadsword, and the shield (until full body armor made the shield obsolete). Other weapons included the "mace," a heavy medieval war club with a spiked or flanged metal head, used to crush armor. The "flail" was a manual threshing device consisting of a long wooden handle or staff, and a shorter free-swinging stick attached to its end. The "war hammer" and "battle axe" were also used by knights.
The Code of Chivalry was developed to control the violent nature of knights.
Since the beginning of time, brave warriors have had to defend their beloved lands from those evildoers who would do it wrong. This need has carried over into the internet, where evil men and women roam free...Enter the Knights stage left.
The Fraternal Order of Medieval Knights was founded under the vision of two men, who saw fit to create a brotherhood of worthy warriors to defend a place they knew and loved -- the land of Absinthe. These two men, E-Zone and Leonn, by name, laid the foundations necessary for the Order's glory and power, in mid-October of the year 1996. As yet, the Order is still small and growing, but powerful; this can be attributed to the skills of the Founding Lord Knights, but also to the purity of heart of the original Knights, now known as the Honor Guard.
The Knights realized that they needed to expand their horizons beyond the small chatroom where they were founded. Their ideals apply to the entirety of the web. So early in 1998 they opened their ranks to the world. Currently the Knighthood represents 3 countries, and will soon be expanding to represent 13 countries, and 33 of the US States. The Knighthood represents all that the internet can be. We accept all as Knights, regardless of race, age, sex, physical ability, or any other unique trait. The only restriction is purity of heart, the thing that brought the Knighthood to it's height today.
The Knighthood is not a gaming organization, or just another club. We are a group of people from all over the world that are tired of the evil that lurks on the web. We are entirely web based, however our ideals stretch into our daily lives. We strive to bring good, honor, loyalty, and love back into the modern world. We chose Knights for what they used to stand for, which is what we now stand for. A person Knighted into the Fraternal Order of Medieval Knights will not have a legally binding title, but they may by all means call themselves a true Knight. The makings of a true Knight aren't brought out on a piece of parchment, but through the beliefs and actions.
The Knights have begun a great tradition, may they always stand strong and overcome adversity; may their friends always be safe; and may all enemies of the Fraternal Order of Midieval Knights perish under the might of the Knights!
Peace
Following 1000, peace and order grew. As a result, peasants began to expand their farms and villages further into the countryside. The earliest merchants were peddlers who went from village to village selling their goods. As the demand for goods increased--particularly for the gems, silks, and other luxuries from Genoa and Venice, the ports of Italy that traded with the East--the peddlers became more familiar with complex issues of trade, commerce, accounting, and contracts. They became savvy businessmen and learned to deal with Italian moneylenders and bankers. The English, Belgians, Germans, and Dutch took their coal, timber, wood, iron, copper, and lead to the south and came back with luxury items such as wine and olive oil.
With the advent of trade and commerce, feudal life declined. As the tradesmen became wealthier, they resented having to give their profits to their lords. Arrangements were made for the townspeople to pay a fixed annual sum to the lord or king and gain independence for their town as a "borough" with the power to govern itself. The marketplace became the focus of many towns.
As the populations of medieval towns and cities increased, hygienic conditions worsened, leading to a vast array of health problems. Medical knowledge was limited and, despite the efforts of medical practitioners and public and religious institutions to institute regulations, medieval Europe did not have an adequate health care system. Antibiotics weren't invented until the 1800s and it was almost impossible to cure diseases without them.
There were many myths and superstitions about health and hygiene as there still are today. People believed, for example, that disease was spread by bad odors. It was also assumed that diseases of the body resulted from sins of the soul. Many people sought relief from their ills through meditation, prayer, pilgrimages, and other nonmedical methods.
The body was viewed as a part of the universe, a concept derived from the Greeks and Romans. Four humors, or body fliuds, were directly related to the four elements: fire=yellow bile or choler; water=phlegm; earth=black bile; air=blood. These four humors had to be balanced. Too much of one was thought to cause a change in personality--for example, too much black bile could create melancholy.
On Lust
Thomas Aquinas
Fornication is said to be a sin, because it is contrary to right reason. Now man's reason is right, in so far as it is ruled by the Divine Will, the first and supreme rule. Wherefore that which a man does by God's will and in obedience to His command, is not contrary to right reason, though it may seem contrary to the general order of reason: even so, that which is done miraculously by the Divine power is not contrary to nature, though it be contrary to the usual course of nature. Therefore just as Abraham did not sin in being willing to slay his innocent son, because he obeyed God, although considered in itself it was contrary to right human reason in general, so, too, Osee sinned not in committing fornication by God's command. Nor should such a copulation be strictly called fornication, though it be so called in reference to the general course of things. Hence Augustine says (Confess. iii, 8): "When God commands a thing to be done against the customs or agreement of any people, though it were never done by them heretofore, it is to be done"; and afterwards he adds: "For as among the powers of human society, the greater authority is obeyed in preference to the lesser, so must God in preference to all."
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