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This is my first time blogging. What can I do to improve?

What was your FIRST reaction to seeing my blog?

Q: How did one achieve knighthood?

A: You couldn’t become a knight unless your father was a knight, and it took years and years of training. First, when they were young, they would be taught manners and courtesy by their mothers or nurses. Then at age four or five, he was given a pony and trained in horsemanship. At about seven or eight years old, he moved in to the house of his father’s lord and trained there as a page (a knight’s apprentice). He helped with errands and chores, and he started training in swordsmanship. He would also go hunting to improve his battle reflexes. If he did well in training and was obedient, then he would become a squire. He was still just an apprentice, but he now trained with only one knight. He received more harsh training and was taught of chivalry and courtliness. At 21 years old, he was examined to see if he was fit to become a knight. If he was, he went through a lot of rituals before his dubbing ceremony, like confession, bathing, and sleeping. And then, at a large ceremony, he was dubbed a knight by his lord or the king.

Q: How long did it take to become a knight?

A: Well… I kind of just told you. It took about 21 years. They were taught courtliness till 5, and then taught horsemanship, became a page at 7, squire at 14, and a knight at 21. but it was very possible that you didn’t become a knight at all. Some never passed the examination and just stayed squires their whole lives, selling their service to knights.

Q: Could a knight get married?

A: I think they could, but in medieval times, marriage was not for love, it was for money and business. But many knights devoted themselves to a particular woman, who often was already married; most of the time was the knight’s own lord’s wife, to impress. He would wear things she gave him during battle, and would do extraordinary things just to get a smile from her.

Q: What was the life of a knight like?

A: I didn’t really get a lot of information on this, but I can guess that it wasn’t as glamorous as you think. They were probably called to war with the king a lot, and they had to watch fellow knights die often. But besides that, they lived in the castle of their lord, were shown high respect (if they were respectful, which they were supposed to be), and were probably fawned over by the women. I also heard that they had to make a pilgrimage often to atone for their sins, because it was their job to break the sixth commandment “Thou shalt not kill”.