Knights were the most-feared and best-protected warriors on the medieval battlefield, while off it, they were amongst the most fashionably dressed and best-mannered members of society. To reach this elevated position, however, became more and more challenging as the Middle Ages wore on because the elite wished to maintain their exclusive status.
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Definition
Timeline
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c. 1015 - 1085Life of the Norman knight Robert Guiscard.
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c. 1043 - 1099Life of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, El Cid.
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1113The Knights Hospitaller are recognised as a religious order by Pope Paschal II.
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c. 1119Foundation of the military order the Knights Templar.
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c. 1146 - 1219The life of the great English knight Sir William Marshal.
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May 1198The Order of Teutonic Knights is officially sanctioned by Pope Innocent III.
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1212Prince Alexander, future Alexander II of Scotland, is knighted by King John of England in Westminster.
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1244The Teutonic Order adopts a white surcoat and black cross insignia for all knights.
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c. 1270 - 1305Life of the Scottish knight Sir William Wallace.
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1286 - 1330Life of the Scottish knight Sir James Douglas ('the Black Douglas').
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c. 1320 - 1380Life of the French knight Bertrand du Guesclin, a national hero also known as the "Eagle of Brittany".
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1344Windsor Castle hosts a great medieval tournament involving 200 knights.
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12 Jul 1346Edward the Black Prince is knighted by his father Edward III of England.
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c. 1348Edward III of England creates the Order of the Garter, a chivalric order for knights with its headquarters at Windsor Castle
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1364 - 1403Life of the English knight Sir Henry Percy, also known as 'Hotspur'.
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c. 1470The ballad 'The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie' is composed.
