Knight-service facts for kids

Knight-service was a special way land was held in the past, part of a system called feudalism. A knight would get a piece of land, called a knight's fee, from a powerful lord. In return, the knight promised to fight for that lord when needed. This was how many armies were formed a long time ago.

How Knight-Service Started

This system became important because of a new way of fighting. Armored horsemen, called knights, became the most important fighters in battles. They used lances and swords.

Many people once thought knight-service grew from an older English system where every five "hides" (a measure of land) had to provide one soldier. But now, historians believe it was a new system brought to England by the Normans in 1066. The Normans relied heavily on their mounted knights, while the English usually fought on foot.

Knight-service already existed in Normandy (a region in France). There, a knight's land was called a fief de haubert. This name came from the hauberk, which was a special coat of mail armor worn by knights. King Henry I mentioned this in a document from 1100. He spoke of "soldiers who serve their lands by means of armour."

Land and Loyalty

After conquering England, William the Conqueror divided the country's main lands among his most important supporters. These large areas were called "honours." These powerful lords then split their "honours" into smaller pieces of land called manors or fiefs. Some of these fiefs were just big enough to support one knight and were called knight's fees.

The knight showed his loyalty to his lord by performing homage. This was a special vow where the knight promised to be loyal and agreed to fight for his lord.

The same system was later used in Ireland when Henry II conquered parts of that country. A powerful lord who received land from the king could get the knights he needed in two ways. He could hire soldiers for money. Or, more commonly, he could give parts of his own land to other people. This was called subinfeudation. These new tenants would then hold their land by promising to provide military service or a hired knight.

The land they held would be called one or more knight's fees. However, a knight's fee didn't have a fixed size. Different types of land needed different amounts of space to produce enough money to support a knight and his helpers. This process could continue, creating a chain of lords between the king and the person actually living on the land. But the duty to provide knight-service was always clearly set out.

Historians learn about knight-service from old records. These include lists from 1166 where barons (the king's main tenants) told the king how many knights their tenants held. Other records include payments for scutage (money paid instead of service) and later lists like the Book of Fees.

These records show that by 1166, some lands were already granted for only a fraction of a knight's service. This service was often paid for with money. The records also show that the total number of knights expected from these lands was not 60,000, as once thought, but probably between five and six thousand.

Knight's Duties and Payments

The main duty for every knight was to serve in battle for forty days each year. They had to bring specific armor and weapons. There were often arguments about whether they had to fight outside the kingdom or who paid for their expenses.

Besides fighting, knights often had to guard their lord's main castle for a set number of days each year. Some powerful lords also had to provide knights to guard royal castles, like Windsor Castle.

Under the feudal system, a knight also had to make certain payments to his lord, just as his lord had to pay the king. These payments included:

• Aids: Money paid to help the lord if he was captured and needed to be ransomed. Also, to help pay for the ceremony when the lord's oldest son became a knight, or for the wedding of the lord's oldest daughter.
• Relief: A payment made when a new knight took over the land after the previous one died.
• Wardship: If a landholder was too young to manage their land, the lord would take the profits from the land until the young person grew up.
• Marriage: The lord had the right to arrange the marriage of a female heir, a young male heir, or a widow. Sometimes, people would pay money to choose their own spouse.

Changes to Knight-Service

Over time, the idea of paying money instead of providing military service became very common. This change greatly weakened the original system. By the time of King Henry III, paying "scutage" (money for military service) was the main way to tell if land was held by military service. Even a small scutage payment meant the land was considered military land.

The system continued to change in the late 1200s. Warfare was changing, and foot soldiers became more important. A knight's service for just forty days was less valuable to the king. Instead of paying scutage, powerful lords often paid a single large sum of money. The number of knights expected from each lord was greatly reduced by the time of King Edward I.

However, a knight's fee remained a knight's fee in name. The money payments linked to military land, especially wardship, marriage, and fines for selling land, continued to bring money to the king for a long time. But in 1660, during a time called the Restoration, knight-service was officially ended by a law called the Tenures Abolition Act 1660. With this, all these old, sometimes annoying, payments were also stopped.

See also

• History of English land law