The knights of middle ages

Becoming A Knight

When a high born boy reached the age of seven, he was sent to live in the castle of another lord, usually a close friend of his father's or relative. There he began his education as a page, running errands in the castle and performing humble services for noblemen and ladies. He learned good manners, reading, writing, numbers, singing, dancing, strumming the lute, reverence for God, how to use a sword, and how to ride a horse. In the morning, he helped his lord dress, and served at meals, bringing in food and drink. Around the age of 13, the boy was apprenticed to a knight and became a squire. He was taught skill with the sword, lance, and shield and he learned the duties and responsibilities of a knight. Squires engaged in mock battles against each other and against dummies. If the squire hit the dummy exactly in the center, it fell over, but if he hit it anywhere else, it would swing around and smack the erring squire in the back. Squires also served their mentor. He looked after his master's horses, polished his weapons and armor, and served him at meals. As the squire grew older, he was expected to follow his master into battle, and protect his master if the knight fell in battle. Some squires became knights for performing an outstanding deed on the battlefield, but most were knighted at home by their lord or father when their training was judged to be complete.

When the squire was judged ready to become a knight, usually between 18 and 21, a time for the knighting ceremony was set. On the night before the ceremony, the squire would take a cleansing bath, fast, and would make confession. He would spend the whole night in the chapel praying to God for guidance in his journey as a knight. The next morning , he dressed in white and entered the crowded hall with his sword strung around his neck. The priest would bless the sword and then the squire knelt before his lord (often the knight who had trained him). The lord asked the squire his reasons for wanting to become a knight and if the lord was satisfied with his answers, the knight agreed to perform the ceremony. The ladies and the knights would then dress the squire in new armor and the squire again knelt before the lord. The Lord would then take a sword and tap him lightly on the shoulders three times and made a short declaration such as "In the name of God and Saint George, I make thee a knight."

The inverted maps of the Middle Ages

Modern maps place the East on the right, and the West on the left. However, we find that the opposite is true for many mediaeval maps – all of the sea charts of the alleged 14th century had the East on the left, and the West on the right. These charts may have been used by either traders or the military fleet.

Why did the old maps, and sea charts in particular, have the East on their left, and the West on their right?

The reason may have been that the first seafarers of Europe would sail forth from the seaports located on the European coast of the Mediterranean, as well as the Black and Azov seas, and so they had to move from the North to the South.

The South was therefore in front, and the Northern coast behind them.

A ship captain sailing into the Mediterranean from the Bosporus would look at the approaching African coast. Thus, the East was on the left, and the West was on the right.