Knights and Knighthood

=Knighthood=

Knight of Tortall is a title given to a noble of Tortall who has completed training and passed the Ordeal of Knighthood. Customarily, noble families send their eldest sons to become knights, and younger sons often follow, although younger sons also have the options of pursuing studies instead. When a squire becomes a knight, they receive the title "Sir Knight" or "Lady Knight". "Sir" is never a hereditary title in Tortall.

Terms and Terminology

 * Coromanel - a flat, crown-shaped piece fitted over the tip of a lance. It spreads that power of a lance's impact in several directions, to make the force less severe.

Distaff - the border around the shield indicating that its owner is a lady knight

Joust - two knights going against each other on horse-back with lances; the object is to hit the other shield and knock the other rider off their horse

Knight - A member of the noble/warrior class that follows the code of 'chivalry.'

Lance - a long, thin wooden stick that a knight tilts with

Listings - a list of knights that are to joust; details who is against who.

Mount - the primary riding horse of a knight

Quintain - a dummy with a shield mounted on a post. One outstretched "arm" is weighted with a sandbag, while the other is covered by a shield. The object in tilting at the quintain is to strike the shield precisely, causing the dummy to pivot 180 degrees. The jouster can then ride by safely. Striking the dummy anywhere but the target circle on the shield causes the dummy to swing 360 degrees, so the sandbag wallops the passing rider.

Pauldron - a piece of armor that protects the shoulder

Poleyn - a curved piece of armor that protects the knee

Tilt - the act of bring a lance toward a shield. May be at a quintain or at another knight. Is technically non-competitive. Warhorse - a larger horse or greathorse, trained for combat - the mount of an armored knight

Emblem
A coat of arms found on their shield. A lady knight's shield would have a distaff on the outside.

History, Training, and the Ranks
Training for knighthood typically consists of four years' training as a page in the royal palace followed by four years as a squire in service to the palace or to an active duty knight. Squires are eligible to take the Ordeal of Knighthood at age eighteen (assuming they've completed training by this age), except the Crown Prince, who is eligible at age seventeen.

Page

 * "You'll earn every privilege you get three times over. You are here to learn chivalry, not to have a good time." 


 * —Duke Gareth to Alanna of Trebond when she first arrived at the palace

Page training takes place at the Royal Palace, under the supervision of the royal training master. Most pages begin at age ten or eleven, although it is not unheard of to start at an older age. New pages are made familiar with the palace and their duties by a sponsor. Pages are part of the palace service, and perform duties such as waiting on table at banquets and running errands for any noble who asks. During the reign of Roald I of Conté pages waited on table for every evening meal, because the Court dined together. Later, when Jonathan became king this practice was abandoned. From then on the monarchs dined in private and pages were only expected to serve once every year at the Midwinter festivities, although one page always had to wait on Lord Wyldon, their training master. When serving at dinner or banquet the pages wore the royal uniform: A full-sleeved shirt and hose in bright scarlet with a cloth-of-gold tunic. The uniform also included sturdy leather boots and a slim leather belt from which hung a dagger and purse.

Pages life in a separate wing of the palace. If they have personal servants they share their masters' rooms. Misbehaving or disobedient pages have to report to the training master, who usually assigns punishment duties. Pages behaving well might be granted free time, which they may spend in the city.

Training for pages is strict and exacting. They spend half of each day on combat training, and half on book learning. Usually physical training is held in the afternoon, while the pages' mornings are spent in the classrooms. Subjects of physical training may include: staff; sword; jousting; archery on foot and mounted; weapons such as axes and maces; normal riding and trick riding; and hand fighting; shield work. Subjects of academic learning may include: reading and writing; mathematics; deportment; history and law; philosophy; study of plants and animals; magecraft for the Gifted; and the study of Immortals. Pages must also learn how to dance and play at least one musical instrument. They get so much homework and punishment duty when they don't manage to finish their assigned work that they usually don't have any free time. However, a page might be granted a free morning or afternoon, or even a visit to the market, when his conduct has been favorable. Rule-breaking, like fighting, might lead to even more punishment work and less free time.

Although there are many traditions, the training master has a great deal of discretion over how training is conducted. The training master is selected by the King, with advice from his counselors.

Squire
Pages are generally made into squires at age fourteen, although the decision to make a page a squire lies in the discretion of the teachers. A squire is usually chosen by a knight to be his or her personal squire. It is then the knight-master's obligation to outfit the squire, supervise his or her training, and prepare him or her for knighthood. The squire in return looks after his masters belongings, runs his errands and protects his interests. Whenever knight and squire are at the palace squires also attend normal lessons, which continue and get harder.

Squires have separate wings for their living quarters in the palace, although some squires have rooms directly besides their knight-master, especially if the knight-master is often called away from the palace on short notice, such as the Commander of the King's Own.

Usually, a squire will serve approximately four years, or until they are age eighteen, when the squire may undergo the Ordeal of Knighthood.

One does not always become a knight even should they enter training to become one. Some quit, and others are dealt with by the Chamber of the Ordeal.

Uniform AND Accessories

 * Armor

Shield with personal coat of arm

Mount

Remount (warhorse/destrier)

tack for horse

sword various other weapons

Service
Most young knights fight in the service of Tortall, but this is not strictly required. This duty may include border patrols under the direction of the royal training master. Knights are also called upon to serve in time of war.

The crown often gives monetary rewards to knights for excellent service. In addition, knights that perform services for the realm above and beyond the expectation of duty are added to the Scroll of Knights. Fief's Naxen and Queenscove have produced the great numbers of knights found on this list.

King's Champion
When a serious issue of law comes up somewhere, something that must be settled in that place, by the monarchs, and neither of them can go, they send the Champion, who is permitted to speak the Crown’s justice. This is pretty rare, but it does happen. If the Champion is present at a quarrel of some kind where people refuse to take the matter to court, or if they can’t afford to take it to court and they don’t want a village court to decide, they can agree to accept the Champion’s ruling. This is less rare. Most often, a noble will be brought to court on a matter of law, and that noble will insist on trial under the original laws of that kingdom, as is every noble’s right. Under the original law, the defendant’s guilt or innocence can be revealed in trial by combat. The defendant chooses his or her champion, while the Crown is always represented by the King’s Champion. It has become custom for the champion to have a lion/ess shield.

Lady Knights
Historically, daughters of noble families had the option to undergo the same training as their male counterparts and become knights. At that time about a third of the knights of the realm were female. However, the practice was banned for about a hundred years from c.340-442 HE. The realm had too many peacekeepers, the conservatives were in power and the cult of the Gentle Mother very popular - it was decided that the women were no longer needed to keep the peace.

The re-institution of lady knights was the subject of much controversy and the discovery that a girl had taken part in the education for knights disguised as a boy lead to stricter rules, including the introduction of the big examinations for pages at the end of their fourth year.