The era of noble knights, tournaments and beautiful ladies lasted almost eight hundred years, and during this time many legends, songs, stories, traditions and novels were born about these noble and fair representatives of the stronger sex. Modern authors use these images not only in literature, but also in other forms of art, such as cinema, painting, computer graphics.
History
Chivalry was a privileged class of soldiers in Western Europe, formed in the Middle Ages.
Knighting was seen as a manifestation of the highest mercy from his overlord, a reward for faithful service. Originating in France and Spain, it quickly spread to other countries and reached its climax by the XII-XIII centuries, during the
Crusades.Knights of the Middle Ages had their own code of honor governing their behavior, resolving conflict situations, the need to participate in hostilities, the conditions of tournaments, as well as their conduct.
Both in the Middle Ages and in the modern world, knights continue to inspire creative people to create images of ideal men who are popularized through movies, books and animation.
Tribal nest
When a knight proved himself worthy in battle or provided certain services to the king and the state in his person, he was granted a castle with adjoining lands. This gave the noble gentleman a livelihood, the opportunity to have his own squad and occupy a prominent position among wealthy neighbors. Often the ruler handed out plots only in the newly conquered territories, in which there were no buildings in sight. Then the knight was charged with building a fortified castle on his land, ready for defense, if necessary. Knights and castles appeared like mushrooms after the rain, especially during the period of the external military expansion of the French and English kings, who dreamed of imperial power. But nobody succeeded in repeating the feat of
Alexander the Great , so the lands passed from one owner to another, the buildings were destroyed and erected again, and the war continued. Knights and castles succeeded each other, dying in an unequal battle with royal ambitions, but what was the matter of the king to his subjects. He was interested in much more sublime designs.
Dedication
In ancient Rome, the presentation of arms to a young man with a large crowd of people proclaimed that he had become an adult. This was done either by the eldest man in the family, or the leader. The Germans, successors of the Holy Empire, also consecrated their sons, entering the time of maturity, and the kings assigned their children the right to the throne. This custom gradually transformed into a whole rite of initiation into warriors.
Legends of the knights say that at first every boy of twelve could receive initiation. Then this threshold was pushed back to fifteen, and then to nineteen. Over time, the age of majority, 21 years old, was recognized as an ideal option for knighting.
At first it was just a transfer of weapons, but then he was joined by putting on chain mail, a helmet and spurs, as well as hitting targets with a spear during a gallop. When Christianity came into force, the future knight was obliged to receive a blessing in the church before receiving his sword. Gradually, the clergy completely took away the right of consecration, citing the fact that, according to the code of honor, a knight should honor God, protect the church and all those who suffer on its behalf.
Virtues
Legends of the knights say that they were ideal warriors: courageous, strong, courageous. They were fearless in battle, indomitable in battle, and humble in everyday life. Loyal to their overlord, country and God, these warriors were a stunning example of the masculine.
The important things in the life of every knight were his faith, honor and lady of the heart. Prayers, fasting, and church taxes accounted for most of the lives of such people. They voluntarily put themselves at the disposal of the ministers of the church and could no longer live exclusively secular life.
Honor was a special facet of the relationship between warriors. Legends about the knights narrate that because of the scolded honor, serious conflicts were unleashed, resulting in the deaths of hundreds and thousands of people. No one had the right to encroach on the honor of a knight and simply leave.
Love and war
The lady was a bit of a type of the immaculate Virgin. She was praised, bowed to her, but all this was done slowly, at a distance, gradually moving towards the intended goal. The sublime feelings that the troubadours extolled, the rigor of moral standards and secular rules of conduct stretched courtship for years. But this did not make the conquest process less fun. On the contrary, climbing the social ladder, a knight could count on the favor not only of his lady's heart, but also of her male relatives. Indeed, the fate of the future happy union depended on their decision.
2001 Knight
The Knight's Story is a feature film based on The Canterbury Tales by Jeffrey Chaucer. But, preserving the context, the director introduced many attributes of modern life, thus turning his picture into a kind of symbiosis of classic and eclecticism.
The plot is based on the story of the rootless boy William Thatcher, who gets a unique chance to change his fate by forging documents about his origin. Being well acquainted with the code of honor of knights and participating in tournaments, he wins the hearts of ladies, until Count Ademar appears on his way. However, the hero fails to get instant satisfaction, and this problem gnaws at him from the inside. And now, when the hour of reckoning has come, William is arrested for forgery of documents and a lie about his origin.
Ultimately, the king saves him from the pillory and makes it possible to defeat his enemy in a fair fight, but Ademar is not inclined to play by the rules. He wants to kill his opponent. The ending of the film is happy: William becomes the champion, his opponent is defeated and can no longer claim the title of invincible knight in peak tournaments.
“The History of the Knight” met the expectations of its creators, both financially and in the implementation of an artistic idea.
Historical action movie
The Iron Knight is an action movie full of all the wonders of modern graphics, but narrating a war that happened eight centuries ago. After the signing of the
Magna Carta, which significantly limited the possibilities and power of the English king John Bezemzelny and all his descendants, the barons finally could feel safe. But the ruler decided to replay them and, having gathered an army in the south of the country, attacked Rochester Castle. His defenders fought bravely and were able to defeat a much-superior opponent.
"Iron Knight" received critical acclaim and a significant box office to meet the needs of the creators and be remembered by the audience as a bright and colorful film.
East look
As mentioned above, not only European culture perpetuated chivalrous exploits. In the Land of the Rising Sun, too, they heard about these seekers of truth and justice for all.
The Legend of the Holy Knights is an animated series released in 2009. He shows a look at the code of honor of the knights from a different, fantasy side. The protagonist falls into one of the fantasy worlds and realizes that he was in the thick of the war. He is forced to choose one side and witchcraft is forced to kill. But, miraculously casting off his spell, the young knight turns the situation in his favor.
Unfortunately, having a good start, The Legend of the Holy Knights has not been continued, although fans are still waiting for it, in the hope that the manga will come to life sooner or later.
There were some comics
Goodies of novels, both conventional and graphic, like to emphasize that they have their own code of honor, which prevents them from committing evil. Batman was no exception.
“The Dark Knight” is the story of the confrontation when the main character and the main villain are not inferior to each other in charisma, intelligence, logic and sophistication. The plot, the play of the actors and the box office success in the first weeks of the rental speak for themselves. Christopher Nolan, the producer and director of this picture, once again showed the whole world that he is best at shooting dramatic thrillers. And the posthumous Oscar awarded to Heath the Manager for this role shows how successful the selection of actors was.
It makes no sense to retell the plot of the film The Dark Knight, because every fan of this saga has already looked it up to the holes, and anyone who is far from this topic will still not understand what the salt is.
Virtual reality
Technological progress gives almost anyone the opportunity to visit the body of a magician, knight, elf, goblin and many other characters of the fantasy genre. To achieve this is quite simple, you just need to register in the online game and choose a heroic name for yourself. And then intuition will tell you what to do. Such a famous computer epic as World of Warcraft was no exception. The death knight is one of the characters that you can choose to create a virtual personality. They have a set of ready-made skills that can be improved and thereby increase your level, and you also need to go through mandatory tasks to expand the range of gaming capabilities. The death knight was named so because, in fact, he was a necromancer, consisting in a magical order. They acted as warriors on the side of evil and did not bind themselves by any rules.
The legends of the knights contained more fiction than historical truth, but people didn’t care. They wanted to have an ideal that they would like to strive for. Scientists sometimes cool the ardor of the most zealous romantics, telling what the royal service really was, what was required of the knight at court and how low the level of education was at that time. Not to mention hygiene and medicine.