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Knight of the week

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Sir John of Felsenbau:
This weeks Knight: "Sir Eitel Frederick  II von Hohenzollern. - The coat of arms was first adopted in 1192; the dog crest was added 1n 1317. Eitel was born in 1452. His father was the 10th Count of Hohenzollern. Eitel was a close friend of King, later Emperor, Maximillian of Habsburg. Eitel fought for him in the Netherlands in 1482. He participated in the tournaments at Stuttgart in 1484 and at Bamberg in 1486. Upon his father's death in 1488, he became the 11th Count of Hohenzollern. In 1494 he again was in the Netherlands leading an expidition against the rebels in Gelderland, The same year he was appointed chamber judge in the Netherlands. In 1495, Maximillian appointed him the first president of the newly formed Imperial Supreme Court. He fought against the Swiss in the Swabian war of succession in 1499, and in 1500 in the Italian war. In 1501 he was awarded membership in the Order of the Golden Fleece. In 1503 he partcipated in his 3rd touenament (at Ausbach.) In 1504 he fought in the lower Bavarian war of succession at Castle Schonberg. He died in 1512, shortly after he had become Housemaster of the Privy Council, one of the highest offices of the Emperor's Court and answerable ONLY to the Emperor himself.

On a personal note- when I was in high school, a friend of mine (his parents ONLY spoke German) told me he was descendant of the Hohenzollerns. So I asked him to knight me, which he did! That's why I have that coat of arms as an estruncheon on my own coat of srms.

Sir James A:
I like his coat of arms. Very simple, very elegant, though I am biased towards the black and white color scheme myself.

I didn't know Gelderland is an actual place; it's mentioned in "A Knight's Tale". There's more history in that movie than I knew; I thought it was almost all just "fluff".

Sir John, who else have you been knighted by? Seems you've had quite a history of them.

Sir John of Felsenbau:
Yes, that was one of the inaccuracies of "A Knight's Tale"...Gelderland is in the Netherlands and not in Lichtenstein.

Sir John of Felsenbau:
This weeks Knight: "Lucius Artorius Castus" - While the Romans didn't call themselves "knights" they did have mounted Cavalry which would have been called knights. (While foot soldiers usually carried a rectangular shield, the cavalry usually carried an easier to handle, round shield.) Castus was born in 140 AD and enlisted in 158AD. He was first posted to the III Gallica Legion which gave him his initial training. He wanted to get to Primus Pilus, but that was 58 ranks higher. In 162 AD, he transferred to the VI Ferrata Legion in Judea. Changing legions usually meant changing ranks . With this legion he fought the Parthians. Several of the Centurians were lost in the war and Castus was promoted to this rank. In 166AD he transferred to the II Adiutrix Legion on the Danube. In 170AD his tour would have been up, but he rejoined and transferred to the V Macedonica Legion in Dacia, in modern Transylvania. In 172 war broke out at which time he was senior Centurion. He finally was promoted to Primus Pilus after the battles. Over the next few years he advanced from Praefectus Cohortis to Tribunus Militum to Tribunus Legionis and finally to Praefectus Alae. In 175, Castus was sent to Britian  with the VI Victrix Legion and soon became commander of the region there. His standard was a red dragon pennant. Between 181-185 the Roamns suffered heavy loses and the VIth legion fell to pieces and revolted. Castus put down this rebellion and restored Roman rule.  As a reward he was promoted to Procurator Centenaries (Governor) of Liburnia, a division of Dalmatia, where he ended his days.

Castus' military exploits in Britain was remembered for centuries afterward and historians believe he was the basis for King Arthur among the Welsh. They also propose that Castus as head of the Dragon Legion (Pendragon) was carried over into the King Arthur Legend.

Sir James A:
Very interesting Arthurian ties. That looks like leather armor - did you make that too?

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