#1,411 in History books
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Reddit mentions of The Knight in History (Medieval Life Book 3)
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Reddit mentions: 2
We found 2 Reddit mentions of The Knight in History (Medieval Life Book 3). Here are the top ones.
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| Release date | August 2010 |
So, one thing you really ought to be aware of is that by the 14th century, knights were both much less numerous and considerably higher in status and wealth than in previous centuries. Most people whom you and I would associate with knights - armored horsemen with lances and swords - were in fact men-at-arms of various titles: esquires, armigers, etc. They might very well come from wealthy and distinguished "knightly" families, but lacked the personal land and wealth to assume the various obligations of knighthood. Others came from more modest backgrounds - the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, the son of a wine merchant, became first an archer and then a man-at-arms during this period, and he was not unusual in doing so. So, if your character is an actual English knight, and not just a mercenary calling himself a knight, he is by definition a member of the top 10-20% of the aristocracy. If he goes to war, it's likely as a leader of a small to moderate-sized indenture - anywhere from a handful to a few dozen men-at-arms and archers.
If you're really serious about this, I don't think you're going to get all the information you need to write your story properly from the few paragraphs one of us might write. Are you averse to doing a little research? If not, allow me to recommend the following. They're both introductory level, quite readable, and pertain directly to what you're asking about.
https://www.amazon.com/Knight-History-Medieval-Life-ebook/dp/B003JBHVOA/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1474023016&sr=1-1&keywords=9780062016652#nav-subnav
https://www.amazon.com/Knight-Triumphant-High-Middle-1314-1485/dp/0304359718
If you're interested, there's several books by Francis Gies that are decent surveys of medieval life, accessible reading, and affordable. They are a part of the Medieval Life anthology, which focuses more on society rather than tedious tudor biographies (ok so I'm biased).
https://www.amazon.com/Knight-History-Medieval-Life-ebook/dp/B003JBHVOA
The link there takes you to the book on knights, but all of them are pretty good.