The Page – A Military Apprentice
Boys destined to become knights are trained from early childhood in the knightly arts. The first stage in their military apprenticeship was served as a page in a noble’s household. A page learned not only about military matters but also about honor and courteous behavior, especially towards women.
The son of a knight spent his earliest years with his nurse and other women in the castle. During this time, he learned manners and how to behave. Sometimes he was taught to read, but rarely to write. In addition he started to learn to sing and play a musical instrument. The turning point in his life came when he was given his first pony. He was taught to look after horses and ride them expertly.
When he was about seven or eight, he was sent away from home to be a page at the court of the king or some lord. A page’s main duties were to run errands, help the lady of the household with the chores, and learn to come when he was called. As he grew older, he was trained in the use of weapons, particularly the sword and bow. He learned to handle a lance by tilting (riding full speed) at the quintain, an upright post with a pivoted crossbar with a shield on one end and a sack on another. The idea is to hit the shield with his lance, and duck under the swinging sack – most beginners are swept out of the saddle.
The page also started to learn the art of venery, or hunting. He had to be able to recognize the spoor (footmarks) and the fewmets (droppings) of the forest animals so that he could track them to their lairs. To find his way safely through dense forest, he had to know how to follow and leave a trail. Animals hunted included the otter, badger, wild boar, red squirrel, roe deer, and bear. Hunting was regarded as the ideal preparation for war. It required quick wits to deal with unexpected developments.
A page also became familiar with falconry. When not hunting, the falcon was kept hooded, and wore bells attached to its feet.
The Squire – a Knight in Training
At about 14, if the page had made satisfactory progress he became a squire. He had the right to carry a shield emblazoned with armorial bearings and to wear a helmet like a knight.
At this stage of training, he was placed with a knight who continued his education and treated him as a companion and servant. He helped the knight to dress and undress, made his bed, and slept across the doorway to protect him from sudden attack.
As a knight in training, the squire learnt to leap into the saddle without touching the stirrups and to guide his horse by pressing its flanks with his knees and heels. He practised wielding heavy weapons until he could fight for long periods without exhaustion.
At the opening of tournaments, the squire rode before his knight, holding his helm in his left hand, and his tilting lance in his right. If his knight was successful, the squire guarded his prisoners until they were ransomed.
In the early stages of a battle, he rode beside his knight carrying his shield and gauntlets. During the fighting it was the squire’s duty to aid his master – for example, if his knight was unhorsed, the squire fetched him another charger or offered his own mount. If his knight was hurt, he bound his wounds. Wounds that do not stop bleeding are treated with a red-hot sword or dagger heated in the fire. If the knight was killed, his squire made sure that he was properly buried and that his master’s feudal lord was informed.
As a member of the noble class, the squire was expected to learn the arts of civilized behavior. He had to be able to make conversation and entertain his master’s guests. He learnt to play draughts, chess and other games. If he wanted to be a social success he had to be able to dance, sing and play music skilfully.
By the time a squire reached the age of 21, he was qualified to become a knight. However, he could only advance to his honor if he had sufficient land or money to enable him to carry out the duties of a knight. As a result, many squires never achieved knighthood.
Mail was made of small interlocking steel rings so that each ring had four others linked through it. Each armor, or harness, as a suit of mail is called, had to be properly planned. The knight had to be carefully measured to make sure the armor fitted him perfectly. As mail was expensive to make, it was usually passed down from father to son and modified by the family armorer to fit the new wearer.
A knight had considerable difficulty putting on his armor and needed the help of his squire or servant most of the time. First, he put on line stockings, breeches, and a long-sleeved woollen shirt. He wore a leather tunic or padded coat (‘aketon’); this stopped his shoulders from being rubbed raw by the movement of the coat of mail. Sometimes, the knight had to pull his hauberk (coat of mail) over his head and wriggle inside, but some hauberks were split up the back so that the knight could push his arms into the sleeves before his squire laced him in. Some knights wore mail leggings or chausses. The tops of these were attached by straps to a waist belt to keep them up. The coif, a kind of mail helmet, was pulled over the head and hung down over the neck and shoulders. A conical or flat-topped helmet is worn on top of the coif. The helmet has a strip of metal called the nasal to guard the nose from swordcuts across the face. A prick spur was buckled into place on each foot. The knight’s equipment was completed by a sword in a scabbard, and a shield.
Many knights have taken to wearing linen tunics called surcoats which were slit up the back and front to make riding easier. The Crusading knights found these surcoats particularly useful in the Holy Land as they shielded their armor from the sun and helped to keep them cool. Moreover, the knight’s coat-of-arms could be displayed on the surcoat so that everyone knew who he was.
In the later Middle Ages, a new kind of helmet called a bascinet was introduced. It was a metal skull cap and an elaborate helm could be placed over it. A heavy cape of mail called an aventail hung down from the bottom of the helmet to protect the neck and shoulders. The armpits were protected by roundels, the elbows by couters or elbow-kops, the knees by poleyns or knee-kops, and the feet by solerets. The upper arms were enclosed in plate armor called rerebraces, the lower arms by vambraces and the legs by schynbalds. All these pieces of plate armor were held in place by straps and buckles and were worn over the top of a suit of mail. Even later, whole suits of plate armor were available. Bascinets with visors were worn. Breast and back plates protected the upper body. The lower part was defended by a series of thin plates called a fauld. The greatest weakness in this kind of armor was that the wearer could not turn his head to see behind him as his helmet was fixed.