Knights

Knights were like the Grand Prix drivers of the Middle Ages: celebrities, risk-takers, and showmen. Yet, theirs was not just a man's world: female knights were not unheard of, including Joan of Arc. The realities of life as a knight are more than a little surprising!

Gaining honour, respect and glory is all-important to the medieval knight. And embarking on a crusade to the Holy Land in pursuit of the 'infidels' is one way of getting it. Of course, there's also the promise of land and untold riches. But how did the fabled knights fare on their way to Jerusalem?

We examine the demise of the time of the knights and explore the rise of the robber knights. Peasant revolts, armies of mercenaries, and a new way to fight wars using muskets and cannons make the mounted knight in his cumbersome armor a thing of the past.