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Main => The Round Table => Topic started by: SerTimtheJailer on 2014-12-05, 19:54:50

Title: Did the Anglo Saxons have knights?
Post by: SerTimtheJailer on 2014-12-05, 19:54:50

So I know the Anglo Saxons were mostly tribes and they did have a class system, but did they have knights in that time period before they got conquered by the Normans?

Title: Re: Did the Anglo Saxons have knights?
Post by: Ian on 2014-12-05, 20:35:52

From my understanding Saxon society was based off the Scandinavian hierarchical model, so  think Jarls and Huscarls etc...

Title: Re: Did the Anglo Saxons have knights?
Post by: Sir Wolf on 2014-12-06, 13:56:02

i have some books on teh subject but am not at my library to look into the subject.

they are not knights per say more like land holders. anglo saxons and northmen were more freeman society then even us today in a democracy. land holders were supposed to have men who worked for them that were expected to fight when brought to the table etc.

Title: Re: Did the Anglo Saxons have knights?
Post by: Sir Patrick on 2014-12-08, 22:30:15

It's my understanding they were more like land owners who fought as opposed to a dedicated military class (except for the king and earls' huscarls).  Check out the book 1066. It's a great resource on the period.

Title: Re: Did the Anglo Saxons have knights?
Post by: Sir William on 2014-12-09, 18:04:03

The Anglo-Saxons didn't participate in warfare on horseback- I believe they would ride to a battle site and then dismount.  As Sir Patrick suggests, that book is an excellent resource for the period.

Title: Re: Did the Anglo Saxons have knights?
Post by: Thorsteinn on 2014-12-14, 01:38:19

IIRC don't Knights start to really get footing when the Feudal model kicks in full speedish?

Title: Re: Did the Anglo Saxons have knights?
Post by: SerTimtheJailer on 2014-12-14, 02:43:32

I think you might be right which would be after 1066 when the Normans invaded but what confused me is the word knight came from the Anglo Saxon language so it made me wonder if the Anglo Saxons had knights of there own before the Normans invaded.

Title: Re: Did the Anglo Saxons have knights?
Post by: Sir Douglas on 2014-12-14, 18:13:47

Yeah, the word knight comes from the Old English word cniht (I think I'm spelling that right), which basically just meant "servant", and it eventually evolved into the word knight as we know it today. It's similar to how the word chivalry comes from a French word that meant nothing more than "horsemanship", but it has since taken on a much different meaning.

Fun side fact, cniht also developed into the Germanic word knecht, but they more or less retained the original meaning. So a Landsknecht in the most literal sense is a "Land servant." Words are fun. :)