Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mik" data-source="post: 375362" data-attributes="member: 6552">Ah, I see more clearly some of what you are looking for, Emricol - the motivation for a hobgoblin to become a courtly knight.I'm no medieval scholar, so some of this is probably 'made up history', but I'd say the warrior needs something else - outside pressure - to become more of a knight.For the Franks, one of the initial pressures was heredity. Not the passing on of bloodlines, but the passing on of property. Third and Fourth sons of families with lands had little chance of getting the family manor when the patrician passed, and some of them took to what could be construed as brigandage to fund themselves.Now, rulers are a canny lot, and they saw that these mounted thugs were very effective warriors. Also, the cost of maintaining a single unit of heavy cavalry was prohibitively expensive. In the brigands, they had ready-made cavalry units that could maintain themselves, a nice savings on the usual cost of outfitting troops.The rulers wanted to be able to call on these younger sons in wartime, but dreaded their disobedient streak. The introduction of the Church is claimed to be the essential difference between the 'thugs on horseback' and the 'chivalrous noble' phases of the knights' development.By attaching religious sanction to the knights' existence, the Church managed to have influence over their actions. The church espoused a code of conduct that left the riding, fighting, and feasting in place, but put a lid on the protection racket, cursing, and whoring. Nobles and rulers played along, providing hospitality for the knights, activities (tournaments), lands for those who acheived great things, honors and praise, and relatively puffed-up positions in their armies. Closer relations with the church and improved public reaction (due to cutting down on the brutality) cemented the image of the knight as a courtly warrior.A lot of the specifics of the knightly codes and so forth are Christianity-specific, but if you wanted to keep specific aspects, I think a way can be found to influence hobgoblin behavior or fabricate an impetus.So, to sum up:(Mounted warrior + great skill + no inheritance) + (savvy leadership + need of heavy cavalry + expense of standing force of cavalry) * (influence of powerful church) = knight.There's my take on it.=Mik</blockquote>

Verification