[Mike H]

I had a couple of questions. Did knights have squires or only lords. How many did they have. How personal was the relationship between the knight and his squire. Where did the knight live ( I don' think that theres enough castles to fit all the knights) How many knights were typically under 1 lord. Were knights the only ones with horses on the battle field. How were regular footsoldiers and peasants recruied. What type of armor did the peasant soldiers and footsoldiers wear.
The time period I'm looking for is around the 1300's. If anyone has answers to any of these it would save me of my headache.

[Greyson Brown]

Mike,

In the end, you are probably going to have to do some research on this one. There are no set answers, as things varied form place to place, and time to time. Let me see if I can't help with some of those, however:

[Hisham Gaballa]

I think Greyson has covered most of the points and hasn't left me with much to say.

To be honest I know a bit more about the 15th century than the 14th. I presume by knight you a heavily armoured medieval warrior who fought mainly on horseback, also known as men-at-arms, miles in France and as lances. While the equipment of most of these men would have been similar, not all of them would have been "knights" in the sense of having been knighted. Many would have been esquires (different to a squire) or even lower status, but because they had the training and could afford the armour and weapons were still counted as men-at-arms. Just to complicate it further, AFAIK English men-at-arms usually fought on foot, only a small proportion fought on horseback.

With regards to squires I think that varied from place to place and across time. With regards to how many knights each lord would have would depend on his wealth. I think in the late 14th century the English armie was made of "companies" who were lead by a "captain" who could be a knight or a lord. The size of companies could vary from a dozen men to several hundred.

A good but not necessarily totally accurate starting point would be Osprey books, they are reasonably cheap and easily available. I think you'll need to decide though if your Knight is English, French, German or Spanish.

[Cole Sibley]

Interestingly enough, I think the question is more about economics than it is about the military. Most wealth came from owning land (an oversimplification, this was constantly evolving, and one of the biggest social upheavals of the 'medieval' period). People that owned land would normally have a house on it, from a house to castle depending upon wealth. All of your questions depend (imho) mainly upon how much wealth and favor a person had. The fuedal period is quite interesting, I wish I was more educated on the subject.

[Mike H]

thanks alot. If anyone has any other information it would be greatly appreciated

[Jared Smith]

There is a potential element of economics involved in your question. I had posted this several months ago. Some of it is speculation or based on second hand articles, and not everything is agreed upon within the forum.

http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t=4373

The feudal land holder system does not really apply strongly to France throughout much of "medieval period", while it did apply strongly in England. Then again, within France, there really was not as much priveledge and status associated with a non-royal blood mounted knight (more of a high ranking soldier.) I would have to do a lot more research to accurately describe that area of difference alone.

In reading second hand accounts of mercenary men at arms scattered abroud throughout Europe, there was a definate supply of people who were qualified by birth and training to be a knight with all the retinue you might associate, but who did not end up this way for one way or another. I proposed lack of wealth as a plausible reason , but you might also consider ideals of military orders, loyalty to non-reigning contendors for the throne, or some other reason.

[Alexander Pratt]

If you want some intresting lituature on the subject of the 14th century try a book called 'A Distant Mirror The calamitous 14th century' by Barbra W. Tuchman. I am in the middle of the book right now, it has a wealth of information on this subject.

Alexander Pratt

[Alexi Goranov]

[Greyson Brown]

[Mike H]

I'll go check the library today for this book

[Alexi Goranov]

[Felix Wang]

Prestwich's book has already been mentioned; it is excellent. Maurice Keen has also written a couple of very important books on medieval warfare and on chivalry; I am finishing the latter right now. The terms "knight" and "squire" changed meaning as time passed, and similar terms in Latin, Middle French, or Middle German did not in fact mean exactly the same thing. Both knights and squires gradually become words for persons of increasing social/economic status as time passed. Knighthood carried various social and political obligations, and some people who qualified for knighthood in found it convienient to remain squires. The costs also increased - a knight of 1100 would have a mail hauberk, gambeson, and helmet for armour; his descendent in 1400 would have a much more complex and costlier suit of protection. Squires started out as young men in training, but by the end of the Middle Ages a squire was a gentleman of the lower gentry in his own right.

[Russ Ellis]

[Jared Smith]

At least in England, it was not exactly cheap around 1100 AD to be a Knight. Lesser rank Knights were allocated land (fifedoms, sort of like small counties) to manage and were expected to raise and equip a fighting force proportional in size to the land they were put in charge of. This system became formalized contractually by 1215 with the Magna Carta and related documents. However, it was already an expected tradition by then.

[Greyson Brown]

You bring up some good points. This is precisely why I said that my comment about squires becoming knights was an oversimplification. Unfortunately, most of the questions asked by Mike could result in a book unto themselves. It makes it hard to get a complete answer in a forum post like this.

-Grey