How+to+become+the+knight.

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Knights had to pass long, hard, half boring hours of practice, practice, practice. First they had to be a page. If they did good they became a squire. If squires were worthy they were dubbed and became a knights.When a boy born by a knight turns six or seven he is sent from his home to a near by castle. There he is trained by the lord of the castle to become a knight. He is a page. A page helps his lord dress and put on armor. He plays many training games.The ladies of the manor taught him table manners.It was his duty and privilege to accompany his lord and lady at all times. He learned how to hunt and hawk. When his lord's armor was rusty, the page rolled the armor in a barrel of sand so that the rust was gone. He was taught to be quick, graceful, and flexible. He received religious training from the chaplain.



If the page showed promise, then at the age of fourteen, he became a squire. A squire is a Knight's personal servant. In battle, a squire would bring his knight replacements of lances, swords, horses, or any item lost or damaged in battle. The squire had to become accustomed to heavy armor. A squire played games with real weapons against real knights! The squire learned to ride his war horse while keeping his weapon arm free. While he was a squire, he was allowed to carry a sword and a shield, which showed what rank he had achieved. The squire was taught not to kill many knights. Most knights held other knights for ransom. If he got through all of that, he was knighted or "dubbed". Before a squire was dubbed, he did lots of things in preparation.





He knelt before his lord. Then his lord would slap him with his hand or the flat of the sword. As his lord was doing that, his lord would say, "I dub thee Sir Knight." Then the new knight would receive his sword, lance, and golden spurs. Each of the weapons had a good meaning. The lance had a saying. It was said, "As fear of the lance drives back the unarmed, so the knight drives back the enemies of the church." As for the sword, it was said that, "The two edges of the sword show that the knight serves God and the people."





Knights existed between the year 800 a.d. and the year 1450 a.d. Knights were a great means of fighting until guns and cannons replaced them. Now knights have become almost a legend. Today we see knights in movies or books as a group of strong men who killed dragons and rescued princesses.





What can a knigh do?

We practised a little English during our lesson about knights.

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