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125-499: The Knights Who Say " Ni! ", also called the Knights of Ni , are a band of knights encountered by King Arthur and his followers in the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the play Spamalot . They demonstrate their power by shouting "Ni!" (pronounced "nee" / n i / ), terrifying the party, whom they refuse to allow passage through their forest unless appeased through
250-494: A coat of arms ), and indeed they played an essential role in the development of heraldry . As heavier armour, including enlarged shields and enclosed helmets, developed in the Middle Ages, the need for marks of identification arose, and with coloured shields and surcoats , coat armoury was born. Armorial rolls were created to record the knights of various regions or those who participated in various tournaments . Knights used
375-649: A biblical manner of clothing and hair style. The movement was originally formed in 1809 by six students at the Vienna Academy and called the Brotherhood of St. Luke or Lukasbund, after the patron saint of medieval artists. In 1810 four of them, Johann Friedrich Overbeck , Franz Pforr , Ludwig Vogel and Johann Konrad Hottinger moved to Rome , where they occupied the abandoned monastery of San Isidoro and were joined by Philipp Veit , Peter von Cornelius , Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld , Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow and
500-494: A blend of religious duties, love and military service. Ramon Llull 's Book of the Order of Chivalry (1275) demonstrates that by the end of the 13th century, chivalry entailed a litany of very specific duties, including riding warhorses, jousting , attending tournaments , holding Round Tables and hunting, as well as aspiring to the more æthereal virtues of "faith, hope, charity, justice, strength, moderation and loyalty." Knights of
625-459: A class of petty nobility . By the Late Middle Ages , the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry , a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as an elite fighter or a bodyguard for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback . Knighthood in
750-572: A dragon is used to conjure up the time pictorially. The Romantic interest in the medieval can particularly be seen in the illustrations of English poet William Blake and the Ossian cycle published by Scottish poet James Macpherson in 1762, which inspired both Goethe 's Götz von Berlichingen (1773), and the young Walter Scott . The latter's Waverley Novels , including Ivanhoe (1819) and Quentin Durward (1823) helped popularise, and shape views of,
875-499: A knight or a group of knights would claim a bridge, lane or city gate, and challenge other passing knights to fight or be disgraced. If a lady passed unescorted, she would leave behind a glove or scarf, to be rescued and returned to her by a future knight who passed that way. One of the greatest distinguishing marks of the knightly class was the flying of coloured banners, to display power and to distinguish knights in battle and in tournaments. Knights are generally armigerous (bearing
1000-536: A knight". An Equestrian ( Latin , from eques "horseman", from equus " horse ") was a member of the second highest social class in the Roman Republic and early Roman Empire . This class is often translated as "knight"; the medieval knight, however, was called miles in Latin (which in classical Latin meant "soldier", normally infantry). In the later Roman Empire, the classical Latin word for horse, equus ,
1125-434: A loose grouping of other German artists. They met up with Austrian romantic landscape artist Joseph Anton Koch (1768–1839) who became an unofficial tutor to the group and in 1827 they were joined by Joseph von Führich (1800–76). In Rome the group lived a semi-monastic existence, as a way of re-creating the nature of the medieval artist's workshop. Religious subjects dominated their output and two major commissions for
1250-506: A major spectator sport but also played as a real combat simulation. It usually ended with many knights either injured or even killed. One contest was a free-for-all battle called a melee , where large groups of knights numbering hundreds assembled and fought one another, and the last knight standing was the winner. The most popular and romanticized contest for knights was the joust . In this competition, two knights charge each other with blunt wooden lances in an effort to break their lance on
1375-815: A man-at-arms, not all men-at-arms were knights. The first military orders of knighthood were the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Knights Hospitaller , both founded shortly after the First Crusade of 1099, followed by the Order of Saint Lazarus (1100), Knights Templars (1118), the Order of Montesa (1128), the Order of Santiago (1170) and the Teutonic Knights (1190). At the time of their foundation, these were intended as monastic orders , whose members would act as simple soldiers protecting pilgrims. It
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#17328920273921500-474: A more realistic approach to warfare than the honor-bound code of chivalry. Soon, the remaining knights were absorbed into professional armies. Although they had a higher rank than most soldiers because of their valuable lineage, they lost their distinctive identity that previously set them apart from common soldiers. Some knightly orders survived into modern times. They adopted newer technology while still retaining their age-old chivalric traditions. Examples include
1625-485: A nineteenth-century genre of medieval poetry that included Idylls of the King (1842) by Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson and "The Sword of Kingship" (1866) by Thomas Westwood, which recast specifically modern themes in the medieval settings of Arthurian romance. Depictions of the Middle Ages can be found in different cultural media, including advertising. Film has been one of the most significant creators of images of
1750-558: A parallel in the furusiyya in the Islamic world . The Crusades brought various military orders of knights to the forefront of defending Christian pilgrims traveling to the Holy Land . In the Late Middle Ages, new methods of warfare – such as the introduction of the culverin as an anti-personnel, gunpowder-fired weapon – began to render classical knights in armour obsolete, but
1875-509: A reward for extraordinary military service. Children of the nobility were cared for by noble foster-mothers in castles until they reached the age of seven. These seven-year-old boys were given the title of page and turned over to the care of the castle's lords. They were placed on an early training regime of hunting with huntsmen and falconers , and academic studies with priests or chaplains. Pages then become assistants to older knights in battle, carrying and cleaning armour, taking care of
2000-515: A shrubbery. The woman questions them, and Arthur admits that it is for the Knights who say "Ni!", whereupon she refuses to cooperate. Arthur then threatens to say "Ni!" to the old woman unless she helps them, and when she still refuses, begins shouting "Ni!". Bedivere has trouble saying the sacred word, which he pronounces "Nu!" until Arthur demonstrates the correct technique. As the crone shrinks back from their combined assault, they are interrupted by Roger
2125-555: A term describing the post-modern study of medieval history and as a term for a trend in modern international relations , first discussed in 1977 by Hedley Bull , who argued that society was moving towards a form of "neomedievalism" in which individual notions of rights and a growing sense of a "world common good" were undermining national sovereignty . Leslie J. Workman , Kathleen Verduin and David Metzger noted in their introduction to Studies in Medievalism IX "Medievalism and
2250-438: A test. Unable to pronounce the new name, Arthur addresses them as "Knights who until recently said 'Ni! ' ", inquiring as to the nature of the test. The head knight demands another shrubbery, to be placed next to but slightly higher than the first; and then Arthur "must cut down the mightiest tree in the forest—with a herring !" The knight presents a herring to be used. Arthur objects, asserting that "it can't be done!" upon which
2375-479: A variety of weapons, including maces , axes and swords . Elements of the knightly armour included helmet , cuirass , gauntlet and shield . The sword was a weapon designed to be used solely in combat; it was useless in hunting and impractical as a tool . Thus, the sword was a status symbol among the knightly class. Swords were effective against lightly armoured enemies, while maces and warhammers were more effective against heavily armoured ones. One of
2500-620: A wider level the wooden Carpenter Gothic churches and houses were built in large numbers across North America in this period. In English literature, the architectural Gothic Revival and classical Romanticism gave rise to the Gothic novel , often dealing with dark themes in human nature against medieval backdrops and with elements of the supernatural. Beginning with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford , it also included Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein (1818) and John Polidori 's The Vampyre (1819), which helped found
2625-487: A young man with weapons influenced the emergence of knighthood ceremonies, in which a noble would be ritually given weapons and declared to be a knight, usually amid some festivities. These mobile mounted warriors made Charlemagne's far-flung conquests possible, and to secure their service he rewarded them with grants of land called benefices . These were given to the captains directly by the Emperor to reward their efforts in
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#17328920273922750-453: Is a cognate of the German word Knecht ("servant, bondsman, vassal"). This meaning, of unknown origin, is common among West Germanic languages (cf Old Frisian kniucht , Dutch knecht , Danish knægt , Swedish knekt , Norwegian knekt , Middle High German kneht , all meaning "boy, youth, lad"). Middle High German had the phrase guoter kneht , which also meant knight; but this meaning
2875-643: Is a part of the study of the Middle Ages as a historical period. Monagle explains how in 1977 the International Relations scholar Hedley Bull coined the term " New Medievalism " to describe the world as a result of the rising powers of non-state actors in society (such as terrorist groups, corporations, or supra-state organisations such as the European Economic Community) which, due to new technologies, boundaries of jurisdiction that cross national borders, and shifts in private wealth challenged
3000-604: Is generally granted by a head of state, monarch, or prelate to selected persons to recognise some meritorious achievement, as in the British honours system , often for service to the Church or country. The modern female equivalent in the English language is Dame . Knighthoods and damehoods are traditionally regarded as being one of the most prestigious awards people can obtain. The word knight , from Old English cniht ("boy" or "servant"),
3125-577: The Age of Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries, the Middle Ages was seen as an "Age of Faith" when religion reigned, and thus as a period contrary to reason and contrary to the spirit of the Enlightenment. For them the Middle Ages was barbaric and priest-ridden. They referred to "these dark times", "the centuries of ignorance", and "the uncouth centuries". The Protestant critique of the Medieval Church
3250-509: The Battle of Nancy , when Charles the Bold and his armoured cavalry were decimated by Swiss pikemen. As the feudal system came to an end, lords saw no further use of knights. Many landowners found the duties of knighthood too expensive and so contented themselves with the use of squires. Mercenaries also became an economic alternative to knights when conflicts arose. Armies of the time started adopting
3375-574: The Early Medieval period, any well-equipped horseman could be described as a knight, or miles in Latin. The first knights appeared during the reign of Charlemagne in the 8th century. As the Carolingian Age progressed, the Franks were generally on the attack, and larger numbers of warriors took to their horses to ride with the Emperor in his wide-ranging campaigns of conquest. At about this time
3500-542: The Knights of the Holy Sepulchre , Knights Hospitaller and Teutonic Knights . In continental Europe different systems of hereditary knighthood have existed or do exist. Medievalism Medievalism is a system of belief and practice inspired by the Middle Ages of Europe, or by devotion to elements of that period, which have been expressed in areas such as architecture, literature, music, art, philosophy, scholarship, and various vehicles of popular culture . Since
3625-562: The Matter of France , relating to the legendary companions of Charlemagne and his men-at-arms , the paladins , and the Matter of Britain , relating to the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table . Today, a number of orders of knighthood continue to exist in Christian Churches, as well as in several historically Christian countries and their former territories, such as
3750-645: The Ostrogoths , were mainly cavalry. However, it was the Franks who generally fielded armies composed of large masses of infantry , with an infantry elite, the comitatus , which often rode to battle on horseback rather than marching on foot. When the armies of the Frankish ruler Charles Martel defeated the Umayyad Arab invasion at the Battle of Tours in 732, the Frankish forces were still largely infantry armies, with elites riding to battle but dismounting to fight. In
3875-458: The Oxford Movement , which has been defined as "medievalism in religion." Ruskin connected the quality of a nation's architecture with its spiritual health, comparing the originality and freedom of medieval art with the mechanistic sterility of modernism in such works as Modern Painters , Volume II (1846), The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849) and The Stones of Venice (1851–3). At
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4000-467: The Renaissance believed that they lived in a new age that broke free of the decline described by Petrarch. Historians Leonardo Bruni and Flavio Biondo developed a three tier outline of history composed of Ancient , Medieval, and Modern . The Latin term media tempestas (middle time) first appears in 1469. The term medium aevum (Middle Ages) is first recorded in 1604. "Medieval" first appears in
4125-414: The lance . Padded undergarment known as aketon was worn to absorb shock damage and prevent chafing caused by mail. In hotter climates metal rings became too hot, so sleeveless surcoats were worn as a protection against the sun, and also to show their heraldic arms . This sort of coat also evolved to be tabards , waffenrocks and other garments with the arms of the wearer sewn into it. Helmets of
4250-425: The "keepers of the sacred words 'Ni', 'Peng', and 'Neee-Wom'". Arthur confides to Sir Bedivere , "those who hear them seldom live to tell the tale!" The knights demand a sacrifice, and when Arthur states that he merely wishes to pass through the woods, the knights begin shouting "Ni!", forcing the party to shrink back in fear. After this demonstration of their power, the head knight threatens to say "Ni!" again unless
4375-433: The "most remarkable fruit in English literature of the medieval revival", the modern workhouse is contrasted with the medieval monastery. He draws on Jocelyn de Brakelond 's twelfth-century account of Samson of Tottington 's abbotcy of Bury St Edmunds Abbey to answer the " Condition-of-England Question ", calling for a " Chivalry of Labour" based on cooperation and fraternity rather than competition and "Cash-payment for
4500-472: The 10th century. While the knight was essentially a title denoting a military office, the term could also be used for positions of higher nobility such as landholders. The higher nobles grant the vassals their portions of land ( fiefs ) in return for their loyalty, protection, and service. The nobles also provided their knights with necessities, such as lodging, food, armour, weapons, horses, and money. The knight generally held his lands by military tenure which
4625-412: The 13th and the first half of the 14th century. Around 1350, square shields called bouched shields appeared, which had a notch in which to place the couched lance . Until the mid-14th century, knights wore mail armour as their main form of defence. Mail was extremely flexible and provided good protection against sword cuts, but weak against blunt weapons such as the mace and piercing weapons such as
4750-482: The 1740s in England . Its popularity grew rapidly in the early nineteenth century, when increasingly serious and learned admirers of neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval forms in contrast to the classical styles prevalent at the time. In England, the epicentre of this revival, it was intertwined with deeply philosophical movements associated with a re-awakening of "High Church" or Anglo-Catholic self-belief (and by
4875-465: The 17th century, a variety of movements have used the medieval period as a model or inspiration for creative activity, including Romanticism , the Gothic revival , the Pre-Raphaelite and Arts and Crafts movements , and neo-medievalism (a term often used interchangeably with medievalism ). Historians have attempted to conceptualize the history of non-European countries in terms of medievalisms, but
5000-813: The 1970s saw the discipline of medievalism become an academic area of research in its own right, with the International Society for the Study of Medievalism formalised in 1979 with the publication of its Studies In Medievalism journal, organised by Leslie J. Workman. D'Arcens notes that by 2016 medievalism was taught as a subject on "hundreds" of university courses around the world, and there were "at least two" scholarly journals dedicated to medievalism studies: Studies in Medievalism and postmedieval . Clare Monagle has argued that political medievalism has caused medieval scholars to repeatedly reconsider whether medievalism
5125-892: The Academy, Vol I" (1997) their sense that medievalism had been perceived by some medievalists as a "poor and somewhat whimsical relation of (presumably more serious) medieval studies ". In The Cambridge Companion to Medievalism (2016), editor Louise D'Arcens noted that some of the earliest medievalism scholarship (that is, study of the phenomenon of medievalism) was by Victorian specialists including Alice Chandler (with her monograph A Dream of Order: The Medieval Ideal in Nineteenth Century England (London: Taylor and Francis, 1971), and Florence Boos, with her edited volume History and Community: Essays in Victorian Medievalism (London: Garland Publishing, 1992)). D'Arcens proposed that
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5250-694: The Casa Bartholdy (1816–17) (later moved to the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin) and the Casino Massimo (1817–29), allowed them to attempt a revival of the medieval art of fresco painting and gained then international attention. However, by 1830 all except Overbeck had returned to Germany and the group had disbanded. Many Nazareners became influential teachers in German art academies and were a major influence on
5375-626: The Catholic convert Augustus Welby Pugin ) concerned by the growth of religious nonconformism. He went on to produce important Gothic buildings such as Cathedrals at Birmingham and Southwark and the British Houses of Parliament in the 1840s. Large numbers of existing English churches had features such as crosses , screens and stained glass ( removed at the Reformation), restored or added, and most new Anglican and Catholic churches were built in
5500-629: The Courtier , and Miguel de Cervantes ' Don Quixote , as well as Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and other Arthurian tales ( Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae , the Pearl Poet 's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , etc.). Geoffrey of Monmouth 's Historia Regum Britanniae ( History of the Kings of Britain ), written in the 1130s, introduced the legend of King Arthur , which
5625-566: The DVD commentary for the film, Michael Palin states that their use of the word "Ni!" was derived from The Goon Show . Later, Palin gave another inspiration – his history teacher at Shrewsbury School , Laurence Le Quesne, who had the habit of saying "Ni" while searching for books. Upon Arthur's return, the knights were to have said, "Neeeow...wum...ping!" The Knights who say "Ni!" have been cited as an example of intentional disregard for historical accuracy in neo-medievalism , which may be contrasted with
5750-504: The English rider : German Ritter , and Dutch and Scandinavian ridder . These words are derived from Germanic rīdan , "to ride", in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *reidh- . In ancient Rome , there was a knightly class Ordo Equestris (order of mounted nobles). Some portions of the armies of Germanic peoples who occupied Europe from the 3rd century AD onward had been mounted, and some armies, such as those of
5875-443: The Franks increasingly remained on horseback to fight on the battlefield as true cavalry rather than mounted infantry, with the discovery of the stirrup , and would continue to do so for centuries afterwards. Although in some nations the knight returned to foot combat in the 14th century, the association of the knight with mounted combat with a spear, and later a lance, remained a strong one. The older Carolingian ceremony of presenting
6000-822: The Gothic style. Viollet-le-Duc was a leading figure in the movement in France, restoring the entire walled city of Carcassonne as well as Notre-Dame and Sainte Chapelle in Paris. In America Ralph Adams Cram was a leading force in American Gothic, with his most ambitious project the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York (one of the largest cathedrals in the world), as well as Collegiate Gothic buildings at Princeton Graduate College . On
6125-529: The Knights who say "Ni!", the authors suggest that Sir Bedivere's difficulty pronouncing "Ni!", despite its levity, "carries a very learned joke about the difficulties of pronouncing Middle English ", alluding to the Great Vowel Shift , which occurred in English during the late medieval period . Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including
6250-601: The Middle Ages since the early twentieth century. The first medieval film was also one of the earliest films ever made, about Jeanne d'Arc in 1899, while the first to deal with Robin Hood dates to as early as 1908. Influential European films, often with a nationalist agenda, included the German Nibelungenlied (1924), Eisenstein 's Alexander Nevsky (1938) and Bergman 's The Seventh Seal (1957), while in France there were many Joan of Arc sequels. Hollywood adopted
6375-593: The Middle Ages was closely linked with horsemanship (and especially the joust ) from its origins in the 12th century until its final flowering as a fashion among the high nobility in the Duchy of Burgundy in the 15th century. This linkage is reflected in the etymology of chivalry , cavalier and related terms such as the French title chevalier . In that sense, the special prestige accorded to mounted warriors in Christendom finds
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#17328920273926500-502: The Middle Ages". The term has no clear definition but has since been used to describe the intersection between popular fantasy and medieval history as can be seen in computer games such as MMORPGs , films and television , neo-medieval music , and popular literature . It is in this area—the study of the intersection between contemporary representation and past inspiration(s)—that medievalism and neomedievalism tend to be used interchangeably. Neomedievalism has also been used as
6625-615: The Middle Ages. The same imagery would be used in Nazi Germany in the mid-twentieth century to promote German national identity with plans for extensive building in the medieval style and attempts to revive the virtues of the Teutonic knights , Charlemagne and the Round Table . In England, the Middle Ages were trumpeted as the birthplace of democracy because of the Magna Carta of 1215. In
6750-610: The Reformation as having divided a once-unified and wealthy England into "masters and slaves, a very few enjoying the extreme of luxury, and millions doomed to the extreme of misery", while decrying how "this land of meat and beef was changed, all of a sudden into a land of dry bread and oatmeal porridge". In the Victorian era , the principal representatives of this school were Thomas Carlyle and his disciple John Ruskin . In Carlyle's Past and Present (1843), which Oliver Elton called
6875-1297: The Roman Catholic Sovereign Military Order of Malta , the Protestant Order of Saint John , as well as the English Order of the Garter , the Swedish Royal Order of the Seraphim , the Spanish Order of Santiago , and the Norwegian Order of St. Olav . There are also dynastic orders like the Order of the Golden Fleece , the Imperial Order of the Rose , the Order of the British Empire and the Order of St. George . In modern times these are orders centered around charity and civic service, and are no longer military orders. Each of these orders has its own criteria for eligibility, but knighthood
7000-486: The Shrubber, who laments the lack of law and order that allows ruffians to say "Ni!" to an old woman. Arthur obtains a shrubbery from Roger, and brings it to the Knights of Ni. The head knight acknowledges that "it is a good shrubbery", but asserts that the knights cannot allow Arthur and his followers to pass through the wood because they are no longer the Knights who say "Ni!", now being the Knights who say "Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptang Zoo Boing!", and must therefore give Arthur
7125-507: The United States was held in Boston in 1897 and local societies spread across the country, dedicated to preserving and perfecting disappearing craft and beautifying house interiors. Whereas the Gothic revival had tended to emulate ecclesiastical and military architecture, the arts and crafts movement looked to rustic and vernacular medieval housing. The creation of aesthetically pleasing and affordable furnishings proved highly influential on subsequent artistic and architectural developments. By
7250-417: The approach has been controversial among scholars of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. In the 1330s, Petrarch expressed the view that European culture had stagnated and drifted into what he called the " Dark Ages " , since the fall of Rome in the fifth century, owing to among other things, the loss of many classical Latin texts and to the corruption of the language in contemporary discourse. Scholars of
7375-414: The casual disregard for historical accuracy inherent in more traditional works of the fantasy genre. However, in Medievalisms: Making the Past in the Present , the authors suggest that the original characters of Monty Python and the Holy Grail actually represent medievalism , rather than neomedievalism, as many of the film's details are in fact based on authentic medieval texts and ideas. With respect to
7500-611: The code of chivalry as unrealistic idealism. The rise of Christian humanism in Renaissance literature demonstrated a marked departure from the chivalric romance of late medieval literature, and the chivalric ideal ceased to influence literature over successive centuries until it saw some pockets of revival in post-Victorian literature. By the mid to late 16th century, knights were quickly becoming obsolete as countries started creating their own standing armies that were faster to train, cheaper to equip, and easier to mobilize. The advancement of high-powered firearms contributed greatly to
7625-413: The confines of population growth, urban sprawl and industrialism, embracing the exotic, unfamiliar and distant. The name "Romanticism" itself was derived from the medieval genre chivalric romance . This movement contributed to the strong influence of such romances, disproportionate to their actual showing among medieval literature, on the image of Middle Ages, such that a knight, a distressed damsel, and
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#17328920273927750-501: The conquests, and they in turn were to grant benefices to their warrior contingents, who were a mix of free and unfree men. In the century or so following Charlemagne's death, his newly empowered warrior class grew stronger still, and Charles the Bald declared their fiefs to be hereditary, and also issued the Edict of Pîtres in 864, largely moving away from the infantry-based traditional armies and calling upon all men who could afford it to answer calls to arms on horseback to quickly repel
7875-468: The constant and wide-ranging Viking attacks, which is considered the beginnings of the period of knights that were to become so famous and spread throughout Europe in the following centuries. The period of chaos in the 9th and 10th centuries, between the fall of the Carolingian central authority and the rise of separate Western and Eastern Frankish kingdoms (later to become France and Germany respectively) only entrenched this newly landed warrior class. This
8000-407: The decline in use of plate armour, as the time it took to train soldiers with guns was much less compared to that of the knight. The cost of equipment was also significantly lower, and guns had a reasonable chance to easily penetrate a knight's armour. In the 14th century the use of infantrymen armed with pikes and fighting in close formation also proved effective against heavy cavalry, such as during
8125-470: The devil and not God, and needed reforming. In the course of the 12th century, knighthood became a social rank with a distinction being made between milites gregarii (non-noble cavalrymen) and milites nobiles (true knights). As the term "knight" became increasingly confined to denoting a social rank, the military role of fully armoured cavalryman gained a separate term, " man-at-arms ". Although any medieval knight going to war would automatically serve as
8250-565: The eighteenth century in Western Europe , and gained strength during and after the Industrial and French Revolutions . It was partly a revolt against the political norms of the Age of Enlightenment which rationalised nature, and was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature. Romanticism has been seen as "the revival of the life and thought of the Middle Ages", reaching beyond rational and Classicist models to elevate medievalism and elements of art and narrative perceived to be authentically medieval, in an attempt to escape
8375-427: The elbows and shoulders were covered with circular pieces of metal, commonly referred to as rondels , eventually evolving into the plate arm harness consisting of the rerebrace , vambrace , and spaulder or pauldron . The legs too were covered in plates, mainly on the shin, called schynbalds which later evolved to fully enclose the leg in the form of enclosed greaves . As for the upper legs, cuisses came about in
8500-449: The exclusive authority of the state. Monagle explained that in 2007 medieval scholar Bruce Holsinger published Neomedievalism, Conservativism and the War on Terror , which identified how George W. Bush 's administration relied on medievalising rhetoric to identify al-Qaeda as "dangerously fluid, elusive, and stateless". Monagle documents how Gabrielle Spiegel , then president of the American Historical Society "expressed concern at
8625-420: The fine arts of textiles, wood and metal work and interior design. Morris also produced medieval and ancient themed poetry, beside socialist tracts and the medieval Utopia News From Nowhere (1890). Morris formed Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in 1861, which produced and sold furnishings and furniture, often with medieval themes, to the emerging middle classes. The first Arts and Crafts exhibition in
8750-568: The first form of medieval horse coverage and was used much like the surcoat. Other armours , such as the facial armouring chanfron, were made for horses. Knights and the ideals of knighthood featured largely in medieval and Renaissance literature , and have secured a permanent place in literary romance . While chivalric romances abound, particularly notable literary portrayals of knighthood include The Song of Roland , Cantar de Mio Cid , The Twelve of England , Geoffrey Chaucer 's The Knight's Tale , Baldassare Castiglione 's The Book of
8875-642: The first half of the twentieth century pulp fiction writers like Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith helped popularise the sword and sorcery branch of fantasy, which often utilised prehistoric and non-European settings beside elements of the medieval. In contrast, authors such as E. R. Eddison and particularly J.R.R. Tolkien , set the type for high fantasy , normally based in a pseudo-medieval setting, mixed with elements of medieval folklore. Other fantasy writers have emulated such elements, and films, role-playing and computer games also took up this tradition. Modern fantasy writers have taken elements of
9000-791: The folklore that fantasy drew on for its magic and monsters was not exclusively medieval, elves, dragons, and unicorns, among many other creatures, were drawn from medieval folklore and romance . Earlier writers in the genre, such as George MacDonald in The Princess and the Goblin (1872), William Morris in The Well at the World's End (1896) and Lord Dunsany in The King of Elfland's Daughter (1924), set their tales in fantasy worlds clearly derived from medieval sources, though often filtered through later views. In
9125-510: The gift of a shrubbery . The knights appear silhouetted in a misty wood, wearing robes and horned helmets; their full number is never apparent, but there are at least six. The leader of the knights, played by Michael Palin , is the only one who speaks to the party. He is nearly double Arthur's height, and wears a great helm decorated with long antlers. The other knights are large, but of human proportions, and wear visored sallet helmets decorated with cow horns. The knight explains that they are
9250-472: The horses, and packing the baggage. They would accompany the knights on expeditions, even into foreign lands. Older pages were instructed by knights in swordsmanship , equestrianism , chivalry, warfare, and combat (using wooden swords and spears). When the boy turned 14, he became a squire . In a religious ceremony, the new squire swore on a sword consecrated by a bishop or priest , and attended to assigned duties in his lord's household. During this time,
9375-436: The idea that scholars of the historical medieval period might consider themselves licensed to in some way to intervene in contemporary medievalism", as to do so "conflates two very different historical periods". Eileen Joy (co-founder and co-editor of the postmedieval journal), responded to Spiegel that "the idea of a medieval past itself, as something that can be demarcated and cordoned off from other historical time periods,
9500-473: The idealised peasantry and medieval community, particularly of the fourteenth century, often with socialist political tendencies and reaching its height between about 1880 and 1910. The movement was inspired by the writings of Carlyle and Ruskin and was spearheaded by the work of William Morris , a friend of the Pre-Raphaelites and a former apprentice to Gothic-revival architect G. E. Street. He focused on
9625-417: The importance of Christian faith in every area of a knight's life, though still laying stress on the primarily military focus of knighthood. In the early Renaissance greater emphasis was laid upon courtliness. The ideal courtier—the chivalrous knight—of Baldassarre Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier became a model of the ideal virtues of nobility. Castiglione's tale took the form of a discussion among
9750-497: The knight of the early periods usually were more open helms such as the nasal helmet , and later forms of the spangenhelm . The lack of more facial protection lead to the evolution of more enclosing helmets to be made in the late 12th to early 13th centuries, this eventually would evolve to make the great helm . Later forms of the bascinet , which was originally a small helm worn under the larger great helm, evolved to be worn solely, and would eventually have pivoted or hinged visors,
9875-443: The knights recoil as though in fear and pain. It soon emerges that the knights are unable to withstand the word "it", which Arthur's party is unable to avoid saying. The knights are soon incapacitated by the word, which even the head knight cannot stop repeating, allowing Arthur and his followers to make their escape. In the original screenplay, it was suggested that the head knight be played by "Mike standing on John's shoulders". In
10000-513: The late medieval era were expected by society to maintain all these skills and many more, as outlined in Baldassare Castiglione 's The Book of the Courtier , though the book's protagonist, Count Ludovico, states the "first and true profession" of the ideal courtier "must be that of arms." Chivalry , derived from the French word chevalier ('cavalier'), simultaneously denoted skilled horsemanship and military service, and these remained
10125-556: The later English Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood . Eventually, medievalism moved from the confines of fiction into the immediate realm of social commentary as a means of critiquing life in the Industrial Era . An early work of this kind is William Cobbett 's History of the Protestant Reformation (1824–6), which was influenced by his reading of John Lingard 's History of England (1819–30), among other sources. Cobbett attacked
10250-1133: The master of the ceremony would dub the new knight on the shoulders with a sword. Squires, and even soldiers , could also be conferred direct knighthood early if they showed valor and efficiency for their service; such acts may include deploying for an important quest or mission, or protecting a high diplomat or a royal relative in battle. Knights were expected, above all, to fight bravely and to display military professionalism and courtesy. When knights were taken as prisoners of war, they were customarily held for ransom in somewhat comfortable surroundings. This same standard of conduct did not apply to non-knights ( archers , peasants , foot-soldiers , etc.) who were often slaughtered after capture, and who were viewed during battle as mere impediments to knights' getting to other knights to fight them. Chivalry developed as an early standard of professional ethics for knights, who were relatively affluent horse owners and were expected to provide military services in exchange for landed property . Early notions of chivalry entailed loyalty to one's liege lord and bravery in battle, similar to
10375-626: The mechanistic approach first adopted by the Mannerist artists who succeeded Raphael and Michelangelo . They believed that the Classical poses and elegant compositions of Raphael in particular had been a corrupting influence on the academic teaching of art. Hence the name "Pre-Raphaelite". In particular, they objected to the influence of Sir Joshua Reynolds , the founder of the English Royal Academy of Arts , believing that his broad technique
10500-534: The medieval as a major genre, issuing periodic remakes of the King Arthur , William Wallace and Robin Hood stories, adapting to the screen such historical romantic novels as Ivanhoe (1952—by MGM ), and producing epics in the vein of El Cid (1961). More recent revivals of these genres include Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (1991), The 13th Warrior (1999) and The Kingdom of Heaven (2005). While
10625-604: The medieval era. The same impulse manifested itself in the translation of medieval national epics into modern vernacular languages, including Nibelungenlied (1782) in Germany, The Lay of the Cid (1799) in Spain, Beowulf (1833) in England, The Song of Roland (1837) in France, which were widely read and highly influential on subsequent literary and artistic work. The name Nazarene
10750-618: The medieval from these works to produce some of the most commercially successful works of fiction of recent years, sometimes pointing to the absurdities of the genre, as in Terry Pratchett 's Discworld novels, or mixing it with the modern world as in J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter books. In the second half of the twentieth century interest in the medieval was increasingly expressed through form of re-enactment, including combat reenactment , re-creating historical conflict, armour, arms and skill, as well as living history which re-creates
10875-451: The mid 14th century. Overall, plate armour offered better protection against piercing weapons such as arrows and especially bolts than mail armour did. Plate armor reached his peak in the 15th and 16th centuries, but was still used at the beginning of the 17th century by the first Cuirassiers like the London lobsters . Knights' horses were also armoured in later periods; caparisons were
11000-667: The modern horror genre. This helped create the dark romanticism or American Gothic of authors like Edgar Allan Poe in works including " The Fall of the House of Usher " (1839) and " The Pit and the Pendulum " (1842) and Nathanial Hawthorne in " The Minister's Black Veil " (1836) and " The Birth-Mark " (1843). This in turn influenced American novelists like Herman Melville in works such as Moby-Dick (1851). Early Victorian Gothic novels included Emily Brontë 's Wuthering Heights (1847) and Charlotte Brontë 's Jane Eyre (1847). The genre
11125-454: The most popular was the hounskull , also known as the "pig-face visor". Plate armour first appeared in the 13th century, when plates were added onto the torso and mounted to a base of leather. This form of armour is known as a coat of plates , and was initially used over chain mail in the 13th and 14th centuries, at the time of Transitional armour . The torso was not the only part of the knight to receive this plate protection evolution, as
11250-475: The nineteenth century and is an Anglicised form of medium aevum . During the Reformations of the 16th and 17th centuries, Protestants generally followed the critical views expressed by Renaissance Humanists, but for additional reasons. They saw classical antiquity as a golden time, not only because of Latin literature, but because it was the early beginnings of Christianity. The intervening 1000 year Middle Age
11375-514: The nineteenth century real and pseudo-medieval symbols were a currency of European monarchical state propaganda. German emperors dressed up in and proudly displayed medieval costumes in public, and they rebuilt the great medieval castle and spiritual home of the Teutonic Order at Marienburg . Ludwig II of Bavaria built a fairy-tale castle at Neuschwanstein and decorated it with scenes from Wagner 's operas, another major Romantic image maker of
11500-465: The nobility of the court of the Duke of Urbino, in which the characters determine that the ideal knight should be renowned not only for his bravery and prowess in battle, but also as a skilled dancer, athlete, singer and orator, and he should also be well-read in the humanities and classical Greek and Latin literature. Later Renaissance literature, such as Miguel de Cervantes 's Don Quixote , rejected
11625-435: The opponent's head or body or unhorse them completely. The loser in these tournaments had to turn his armour and horse over to the victor. The last day was filled with feasting, dancing and minstrel singing. Besides formal tournaments, there were also unformalized judicial duels done by knights and squires to end various disputes. Countries like Germany , Britain and Ireland practiced this tradition. Judicial combat
11750-584: The pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of knighthood may have been inspired by the ancient Greek hippeis (ἱππεῖς) and Roman equites . In the Early Middle Ages in Western Christian Europe, knighthood was conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages , knighthood was considered
11875-454: The primary elements of a knight's armour was the shield , which could be used to block strikes and projectiles. Oval shields were used during the Dark Ages and were made of wooden boards that were roughly half an inch thick. Towards the end of the 10th century, oval shields were lengthened to cover the left knee of the mounted warrior, called the kite shield . The heater shield was used during
12000-477: The primary occupations of knighthood throughout the Middle Ages. Chivalry and religion were mutually influenced during the period of the Crusades . The early Crusades helped to clarify the moral code of chivalry as it related to religion. As a result, Christian armies began to devote their efforts to sacred purposes. As time passed, clergy instituted religious vows which required knights to use their weapons chiefly for
12125-412: The protection of the weak and defenseless, especially women and orphans, and of churches. In peacetime, knights often demonstrated their martial skills in tournaments, which usually took place on the grounds of a castle. Knights could parade their armour and banner to the whole court as the tournament commenced. Medieval tournaments were made up of martial sports called hastiludes , and were not only
12250-428: The reign of Queen Victoria there was considerable interest in things medieval, particularly among the ruling classes. The notorious Eglinton Tournament of 1839 attempted to revive the medieval grandeur of the monarchy and aristocracy. Medieval fancy dress became common in this period at royal and aristocratic masquerades and balls and individuals and families were painted in medieval costume. These trends inspired
12375-469: The roots of languages and cultures including English, German, Icelandic and Dutch. Antiquaries of the time believed that languages and cultures were intertwined, and Old English texts, especially Beowulf , were claimed by antiquarians from each linguistic-cultural group as 'their' oldest poem. In England, Rebecca Brackmann argues that an increased interest in Old English and imagined Anglo-Saxon culture
12500-507: The social and cultural life of the past, in areas such as clothing, food and crafts. The movement has led to the creation of medieval markets and Renaissance fairs , from the late 1980s, particularly in Germany and the United States of America. Neo-medievalism (or neomedievalism) is a neologism that was first popularized by the Italian medievalist Umberto Eco in his 1973 essay "Dreaming of
12625-506: The sole nexus", and for the leadership of paternalistic " Captains of Industry ". Along with medievalist writers Walter Scott , Robert Southey , and Kenelm Henry Digby , Carlyle was among the "important literary influences" on Young England , a "parliamentary experiment in romanticism which created considerable stir during the eighteen-forties," led by Lord John Manners and Benjamin Disraeli . Young England developed contemporaneously with
12750-407: The squire was eligible to be knighted. The accolade or knighting ceremony was usually held during one of the great feasts or holidays, like Christmas or Easter , and sometimes at the wedding of a noble or royal. The knighting ceremony usually involved a ritual bath on the eve of the ceremony and a prayer vigil during the night. On the day of the ceremony, the would-be knight would swear an oath and
12875-457: The squires continued training in combat and were allowed to own armour (rather than borrowing it). Squires were required to master the seven points of agilities – riding, swimming and diving, shooting different types of weapons, climbing, participation in tournaments, wrestling , fencing , long jumping , and dancing – the prerequisite skills for knighthood. All of these were even performed while wearing armour. Upon turning 21,
13000-512: The titles remained in many countries. Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459–1519) is often referred to as the "last knight" in this regard; however, some of the most iconic battles of the Knights Hospitaller , such as the Siege of Rhodes and the Great Siege of Malta , took place after his rule. The ideals of chivalry were popularized in medieval literature , particularly the literary cycles known as
13125-425: The transmutation of the term "knight" from the meaning "servant, soldier", and of chevalier "mounted soldier", to refer to a member of this ideal class, is significantly influenced by the Crusades , on one hand inspired by the military orders of monastic warriors, and on the other hand also cross-influenced by Islamic ( Saracen ) ideals of furusiyya . The institution of knights was already well-established by
13250-464: The travellers appease them with a shrubbery ; otherwise they shall never pass through the wood alive. When Arthur questions the demand, the knights again shout "Ni!" until the travellers agree to bring them a shrubbery, which the head knight specifies must be "one that looks nice. And not too expensive." In order to fulfill their promise to the Knights of Ni, the party visits a small village, where Arthur and Bedivere ask an old crone where they can obtain
13375-594: The urging of Carlyle, Ruskin, who identified as both a "violent Tory of the old school" and a "Communist of the old school", adapted this thesis to his theory of political economy in Unto This Last (1860), and to his "Ideal Commonwealth" in Time and Tide (1867), the characteristics of which were derived from the Middle Ages: the guild system , the feudal system, chivalry, and the church. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
13500-478: The values of the Heroic Age . During the Middle Ages, this grew from simple military professionalism into a social code including the values of gentility, nobility and treating others reasonably. In The Song of Roland (c. 1100), Roland is portrayed as the ideal knight, demonstrating unwavering loyalty, military prowess and social fellowship. In Wolfram von Eschenbach 's Parzival (c. 1205), chivalry had become
13625-407: Was a group of English painters , poets , and critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt , John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti . The three founders were soon joined by William Michael Rossetti , James Collinson , Frederic George Stephens and Thomas Woolner to form a seven-member "brotherhood". The group's intention was to reform art by rejecting what they considered to be
13750-514: Was a result of, and in turn fuelled, political upheaval in the 17th and 18th centuries. Great Seal of the United States In the United States, Anglo-Saxon mythologies persisted, with Thomas Jefferson proposing that Hengist and Horsa were shown on the Great Seal of the United States . Romanticism was a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of
13875-493: Was a servant on horseback. A narrowing of the generic meaning "servant" to "military follower of a king or other superior" is visible by 1100. The specific military sense of a knight as a mounted warrior in the heavy cavalry emerges only in the Hundred Years' War . The verb "to knight" (to make someone a knight) appears around 1300; and, from the same time, the word "knighthood" shifted from "adolescence" to "rank or dignity of
14000-473: Was a sloppy and formulaic form of academic Mannerism. In contrast, they wanted to return to the abundant detail, intense colours, and complex compositions of Quattrocento Italian and Flemish art. The Arts and Crafts movement was an aesthetic movement, directly influenced by the Gothic Revival and the Pre-Raphaelites, but moving away from aristocratic, nationalist and high Gothic influences to an emphasis on
14125-465: Was a time of darkness, not only because of lack of secular Latin literature, but because of corruption within the Church such as Popes who ruled as kings, pagan superstitions with saints' relics , celibate priesthood, and institutionalized moral hypocrisy. Most Protestant historians did not date the beginnings of the modern era from the Renaissance, but later, from the beginnings of the Reformation. In
14250-424: Was adopted by a group of early nineteenth-century German Romantic painters who reacted against Neoclassicism and hoped to return to art which embodied spiritual values. They sought inspiration in artists of the Late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance , rejecting what they saw as the superficial virtuosity of later art. The name Nazarene came from a term of derision used against them for their affectation of
14375-404: Was because governing power and defense against Viking , Magyar and Saracen attack became an essentially local affair which revolved around these new hereditary local lords and their demesnes . Clerics and the Church often opposed the practices of the Knights because of their abuses against women and civilians, and many such as St. Bernard de Clairvaux were convinced that Knights served
14500-586: Was called a knight bachelor while a knight fighting under his own banner was a knight banneret . Some knights were familiar with city culture or familiarized with it during training. These knights, among others, were called in to end large insurgencies and other large uprisings that involved urban areas such as the Peasants' Revolt of England and the 1323–1328 Flemish revolt . A knight had to be born of nobility – typically sons of knights or lords. In some cases, commoners could also be knighted as
14625-595: Was in decline by about 1200. The meaning of cniht changed over time from its original meaning of "boy" to "household retainer ". Ælfric 's homily of St. Swithun describes a mounted retainer as a cniht . While cnihtas might have fought alongside their lords, their role as household servants features more prominently in the Anglo-Saxon texts. In several Anglo-Saxon wills cnihtas are left either money or lands. In his will, King Æthelstan leaves his cniht, Aelfmar, eight hides of land. A rādcniht , "riding-servant",
14750-433: Was measured through military service that usually lasted 40 days a year. The military service was the quid pro quo for each knight's fief . Vassals and lords could maintain any number of knights, although knights with more military experience were those most sought after. Thus, all petty nobles intending to become prosperous knights needed a great deal of military experience. A knight fighting under another's banner
14875-413: Was of two forms in medieval society, the feat of arms and chivalric combat. The feat of arms were done to settle hostilities between two large parties and supervised by a judge. The chivalric combat was fought when one party's honor was disrespected or challenged and the conflict could not be resolved in court. Weapons were standardized and must be of the same caliber. The duel lasted until the other party
15000-521: Was only over the following century, with the successful conquest of the Holy Land and the rise of the crusader states , that these orders became powerful and prestigious. The great European legends of warriors such as the paladins , the Matter of France and the Matter of Britain popularized the notion of chivalry among the warrior class. The ideal of chivalry as the ethos of the Christian warrior, and
15125-413: Was replaced in common parlance by the vulgar Latin caballus , sometimes thought to derive from Gaulish caballos . From caballus arose terms in the various Romance languages cognate with the (French-derived) English cavalier : Italian cavaliere , Spanish caballero , French chevalier (whence chivalry ), Portuguese cavaleiro , and Romanian cavaler . The Germanic languages have terms cognate with
15250-449: Was revived and modernised toward the end of the century with works like Robert Louis Stevenson 's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886), Oscar Wilde 's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) and Bram Stoker 's Dracula (1897). Main article: Anglo-Saxonism in the 19th century The development of philology through the 17th-19th centuries as a subject of study in north west Europe and England saw increased interest in tracing
15375-556: Was taken into Enlightenment thinking by works including Edward Gibbon 's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–89). Voltaire was particularly energetic in attacking the religiously dominated Middle Ages as a period of social stagnation and decline, condemning Feudalism , Scholasticism , The Crusades , The Inquisition and the Catholic Church in general. The Gothic Revival was an architectural movement which began in
15500-465: Was to be important to the development of chivalric ideals in literature. Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur ( The Death of Arthur ), written in 1469, was important in defining the ideal of chivalry, which is essential to the modern concept of the knight, as an elite warrior sworn to uphold the values of faith , loyalty , courage , and honour . Instructional literature was also created. Geoffroi de Charny 's " Book of Chivalry " expounded upon
15625-499: Was too weak to fight back and in early cases, the defeated party were then subsequently executed. Examples of these brutal duels were the judicial combat known as the Combat of the Thirty in 1351, and the trial by combat fought by Jean de Carrouges in 1386. A far more chivalric duel which became popular in the Late Middle Ages was the pas d'armes or "passage of arms". In this hastilude ,
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