9 misconceptions about real knights that movies and TV series imposed on us
A Life / / January 06, 2021
1. The knights' armor was so heavy ...
Usually we imagine a knight as a huge mountain of rumbling iron on horseback and with a lance at the ready. It is believed that the knight is such a medieval tank. He is invulnerable and hits very hard, but if he accidentally falls, then he can get to his feet without the help of a pair or three squires (and preferably a crane) are no longer able: his armor is so heavy and uncomfortable.
In fact, a full plate of hardened steel weighedWarrior Race: A History of the British at War 15-25 kg. This is a helmet, shoulder pads, gorget, mittens, cuirass, chain mail skirt, leggings, boots and some other little things.
All the same, the severity is considerable, you say? But thanks to the even distribution of weight over the body, the wearer of the armorRange of motion and energy cost of locomotion of the late medieval armored fighter: A proof of concept of confronting the medieval technical literature with modern movement analysis, The king and the astronaut
he could not only walk freely, but also run and jump, and also stand up on his own if he suddenly fell. Some even knew how to perform all sorts of tricks in their armor - for example, dance or walk a wheel!Making modern people run in armor on a treadmill, scientists found outLimitations imposed by wearing armor on Medieval soldiers' locomotor performancethat, although wearing armor increases the load, a prepared owner will be quite comfortable in it.
By the way, the swords of the knights also did not weigh much - 1–1.5 kg.
In this video, you can see how modern researchers donned faithfully recreated replicasCan you move in armor? An Experiment in Mythbusting, Medieval Knights on a Treadmill Put Historical Myths to the Test medieval armor, walk, fall, stand, jump and fight.
So the knights were not at all clumsy and clumsy. True, they rang like cans, but in battle this is not a problem. Maybe it was possible to reduce the noise by covering with surcoat - this is such a sleeveless raincoat, putThe national history of England, by E. Farr over the armor.
2.... that the poor fellows were put on horses with a crane
Another myth that stems from the previous misconception. If the knight's armor was so heavy that he could hardly move, then how did he get on the horse? No way. He was allegedly put into the saddle with a crane, because otherwise it would not work to move this whopper. Without squires, the poor knight could not get on a horse.
When in 1944 director and actor Laurence Olivier was filmingKing Henry V "with himself in the title role, then turned to Sir James Mann, the master of the Armory in the Tower of London, with a request to help him recreate medieval armor as faithfully as possible.
Mann happily helped, but when he saw the results of the filming, he was horrified.
The historian saw how, in one of the scenes, Henry V climbs on a horse using a device similar to a crane. However, Mann, unlike the filmmakers, knewLoose Cannons: 101 Myths, Mishaps and Misadventurers of Military Historythat real horsemen have never used anything like this.
A knight could easily climb on a horse, even without a squire. The myth of the heavy weight of armor may have arisen from the tournament armor, which was heavier than combat armor. But even in them the knight roseDEBUNKING THE BIGGEST MYTHS ABOUT KNIGHT'S ARMOR on a horse without taps - a small stool was enough.
3. Every knight had a castle
We imagine that all self-respecting knights lived in castles, but this is not the case. The fact is that this is a very expensive structure, which takes an extremely long time to build. Especially when there are no bulldozers, cranes and trucks for transporting building materials, and there are only peasants and carts with horses. This is not a summer house for you to build in the country.
for exampleThirteenth Century England II: Proceedings of the Newcastle Upon Tyne Conference 1991, in England in 1214 there were several thousand knightly estates, but only 179 baronial and 93 royal castles.
The knights usually owned their own villages, which fed them. But if there was no money for the construction and maintenance of the castle, they lived in their estates. Which, of course, were still richer than the average peasant hut.
4. Knightly tournaments are exclusively equestrian fights
What a normal tournament looks like in the opinion of a person who, for example, watched “Game of thrones»? Two knights in armor climb on their horses. The squires give them shields and pikes. The knights at the signal of the pipe accelerate and crash into each other. Whoever sat in the saddle after that is the winner.
In principle, equestrian competitions in the Middle Ages were similarly conducted, but tournaments were not limited to this.
In addition to equestrian fights with pikes, there were also foot fights.Tournament, joust a l’outrance. And sometimes even with different weapons: one knight with sword, another with an ax or a spear, and so on. Battles of the “squad-by-squad” type also happened both on horseback and on foot. And the winner in this case was the last representative of the team who stood on his feet.
5. Knights fought in tournaments for the attention of the ladies
It is believed that the knight who wins the tournament will receive a flower, scarf or other expression of favor as a reward from a beautiful lady watching the fight. There are records confirming that the winner was kissed by the main beauty of the tournament or he received the right to sharePrizes in Medieval Tournaments with her some exotic dish. For example, a cooked peacock.
But if in reality the reward for the tournament was limited only to this, the knights would hardly be so eager to participate in them.
In fact, they got involved in various competitions for money. After the tournament, the organizer held a feast where the winner received a good prize. Historian and reenactor Will McLean compiled a listMedieval Tournament Prizes awards for knights in tournaments mentioned in various historical sources. Among them are diamond rings, gold clasps with rubies, cups, precious stones and coins and many more good things.
During the tournamentMedieval Tournament Prizes, Medieval Tournament at Nordhausen in the 13th century, the Margrave of Meissen Heinrich installed an artificial tree with gold and silver leaves. If a participant broke a spear during an opponent's attack, he was awarded a silver leaf. And if the knight managed to drop the enemy from the horse, then he received gold. During the tournament, which lasted several days, one could earn some good money.
In addition, the winner was sometimes presented to the speakers parrot or a huge fish that can be cooked, as well as a riding horse or a hunting dog, and these animals also cost a fortune.
Finally, in many cases, a rider who defeated another in a tournament couldMedieval Tournament Prizes, Prizes in Medieval Tournaments take away his horse, weapons and armor from the loser. So for the poor knights, competition was a great way to earn extra money.
6. Armored gulfs protected genitals in battle
Perhaps you have seen in the photographs of knightly armor such funny phallic protrusions, often decorated with patterns, images of faces and other things. This thing is called "codpiece", and many believe that it was intended to protect manhood.
But in fact, the codpiece is an extremely fashionable accessory.Arms and Armor - Common Misconceptions and Frequently Asked Questions, allowing to convince others of the size of the knight's courage and impress gullible ladies. He had no practical workload - they sewed cuffs and sewn onto ordinary pants.
And the knights who cared more about safety than fashionFashion in European Armor, wore chain skirts and legguards without codpieces.
7. Knights used draft horses
In many modern drawings, knights are depicted sitting on huge draft horses. It looks, of course, very brutal. Imagine a huge warrior in armor, like the fearsome Grigor Kligan of the Mountain from Game of Thrones, riding a horse weighing under a ton.
True, you would not have found this in the Middle Ages for two reasons. First, the heavy trucks were taken outThe Percheron Horse in America only to XIX century. Secondly, they do not know how to run with a gait, so their fighting qualities are not very good: you cannot jump on a ram with a lance at the ready, you cannot catch up with a fleeing enemy, you cannot run away from an attacking one.
In general, no matter how strong a knight riding on some Bois de Boulogne, even if he had one, would only cause bewilderment among opponents.
Therefore, the knights used horses called destrieArmies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience, A knight and his horse. This is not a breed, but simply a designation of a sufficiently strong stallion capable of running when a person weighing 80 kg sits on it in 20 kg armor. And from such horses, by the way, went modern breeds of heavy trucks.
8. Knights did not wash and defecate right in their armor
The myth of "unwashed Middle Ages»Lives and thrives on the Internet. And in part it is even true - but only in part. There were really problems with cleanliness in the Middle Ages, but to say that people (especially nobles) did not wash at all and relieved themselves right under themselves is a little exaggerated.
Even an armored knight could wellHow did knights in armor go to the toilet?, How did the Medieval Knights go to the bathroom in the battle? lower your pants and fulfill your natural needs - both Milanese and Gothic armor were quite adapted to such actions, although the former was slightly less convenient in this regard.
Another thing is that in protracted campaigns, during sieges and in the conditions of the hard life of a military camp, the knights sometimes faced various diseases, including dysentery.
The sick person could well not have time to reach the latrine, and if the desire to defecate happened to him right in battle, on horseback ...
However, such are the vicissitudes wars.
In the XIV-XV centuries, the knights developed the custom of making vows to restrain themselves in anything until they fulfill their cherished goal. Among themKnightly Bird Vows: A Case Study in Late Medieval Courtly Culture - oaths not to shave, not to drink alcohol, not to wear warm clothes in the cold. It is possible that there were enough of those who promised not to wash dirty, but it is wrong to think that all the knights were like that.
9. Knights were a model of gallantry
The opposite of the previous myth of the dirty Middle Ages is the Romantic Middle Ages, in which knights perform brave deeds, swear allegiance to their beautiful lady and behave like real gentlemen even with commoners. Obviously now men are not the same.
The problem is that modern ideas about medieval chivalry are largely based onKnighthood As It Was, Not As We Wish It Were, Chivalry Was Established to Keep Thuggish, Medieval Knights in Check on courtly novels.
For example, here are a few real points from the knightly code.Vengeance in Medieval Europe: A Reader under the title "Peace of God", proposed by Bishop Varin of Beauvais: do not steal cattle from peasants (but you can kill other people's animals like cows and mules for food); not being too violent with villagers; do not burn other people's houses (for no good reason); beat women only if they commit misdeeds against the knight; refrain from ambushing unarmed knights. The last rule, however, is valid only during the period from Lent to Easter.
According to the decreeDecree of the Emperor Henry IV Concerning a Truce of God; 1085 A.D., Medieval Sourcebook: Peace of God - Synod of Charroux, 989 Emperor Henry IV of 1085, the knight should not attack anyone on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, in festive the days of the apostles, as well as from the ninth Sunday before Easter until the eighth day after Pentecost. The rest of the time, you can have fun.
But these rules are not necessary at all.Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe stick if the overlord or king is not looking.
The real knights, unfortunately, didChivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe cattle abduction, robbery, looting, rape and torture. And they did not even think about human rights, not to mention some kind of courtesy. Captured servants, wives or children of the enemy rider, if he did not have cool allies, the knights could wellSlavery in Medieval Europe, Researcher: Slavery was common in medieval Europe, Slave trade, medieval era just sell them into slavery to the Saracens. Or give it to your overlord.
True, sometimes the most distinguishedChivalry and Violence in Medieval Europewarrior could be deprived of knightly dignity - the procedure was accompanied by the reading of prayers for the dead and reminded hanging, not by the neck, but by the body, so that the accused would remain alive, after which everything was taken from him titles. However, such a punishment was due only for really serious crimes committed against the nobility, and not against commoners.
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