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  • Knights Would More Often Slay Other Knights Rather Than Hold Them Ransom on Random Dumbest Things Pop Culture Has Us Believe About Medieval Knights

    (#13) Knights Would More Often Slay Other Knights Rather Than Hold Them Ransom

    The Trope: Knights fight to the very end and take no prisoners.

    Why Is It Inaccurate?: Knights were nothing if not pragmatic, so the ransoming of captured opponents was big business. They ransomed nobles, royals, and other knights for money, jewels, and equipment. Foot soldiers and peasants were less likely to be ransomed than their noble counterparts.

    Notable Offenders: The act of ransoming doesn't appear in most films or video games - like War of the Roses - about knights. In Kingdom of Heaven, Saladin's ransoming of Christians in Jerusalem is completely erased.

  • Knights Wore Shining Plate Armor And Large Metal Shields on Random Dumbest Things Pop Culture Has Us Believe About Medieval Knights

    (#10) Knights Wore Shining Plate Armor And Large Metal Shields

    The Trope: Knights in shining armor - it's an image that conjures up noble horsemen wearing plates of armor that gleamed in the sunlight. The problem? It's bunk.

    Why Is It Inaccurate?: Plate armor wasn't in use until the 14th and 15th centuries. For centuries before that, medieval knights relied on various forms of armor, including chain mail and leather. Similarly, knights' shields wouldn't have gleamed in the sunlight, either, as most were wooden.

    Notable Offenders: The image of knights in shining armor has more to do with fiction, including medieval romances, than it does with the historical medieval world. Everything from Disney films to faux-medieval fantasy epics like The Lord of the Rings and video games like Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, Medieval II: Total War, and Dark Souls has deployed this trope in different ways.

  • Knights Always Pledged Themselves To And Supported A Lord Or King on Random Dumbest Things Pop Culture Has Us Believe About Medieval Knights

    (#8) Knights Always Pledged Themselves To And Supported A Lord Or King

    The Trope: The chivalrous knight is devoted to a liege lord and shows fidelity by protecting him, undertaking quests on his behalf, or enacting vengeance to honor his memory.

    Why Is It Inaccurate?: Knights didn't always remain bound to a lord or king. Some knights belonged to independent religious orders, including the Knights Hospitaller or the Knights Templar. Others enlisted themselves to mercenary companies. Medieval knights sometimes rebelled against regal authority, such as when Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy took up arms against King Henry IV of England in 1403.

    Notable Offenses: Films, such as First Knight, Prince Valiant, Last Knights, and Ivanhoe, and television shows idealize the relationship between a knight and his liege lord. 

  • Knights Would Spin Around While Dueling And Blindly Slash At Their Opponents on Random Dumbest Things Pop Culture Has Us Believe About Medieval Knights

    (#4) Knights Would Spin Around While Dueling And Blindly Slash At Their Opponents

    The Trope: Medieval knights fought duels with a flourish.

    Why Is It Inaccurate?: Since duels were draining, knights would not have wasted precious energy on acrobatics. Duels were a means for knights to settle personal and legal disputes and display their prowess. Indeed, knights were skilled, trained fighters: The emphasis was on aggressive, rather than defensive, moves. Duels also involved bloody hand-to-hand combat.

    Notable Offenders: Though the television series Game of Thrones is fantasy, it draws from the medieval world - but that doesn't mean it's accurate. For example, Oberyn Martell's high-flying theatrics during a duel bear little resemblance to how European knights actually fought. On the other end of the spectrum, the History Channel's Knight Fight is more interested in brawls than demonstrating the masterful skill that medieval knights would have honed during their many years of training - the show wrongly presents knights as unskilled brutes.

  • Knights Only Wielded Heavy, Mighty Swords on Random Dumbest Things Pop Culture Has Us Believe About Medieval Knights

    (#5) Knights Only Wielded Heavy, Mighty Swords

    The Trope: Whether carrying, wielding, or wearing it, a knight isn't a knight without a sword. Knights revered swords so much that they gave their tactical tools names.

    Why Is It Inaccurate?: Knights really did value swords, especially since they were often status symbols, and some historical figures named their instruments, like Charlemagne's Joyeuse. Medieval swords weren't as heavy as most people imagine, though. After all, a sword that was too heavy to swing wouldn't be useful. Though they could be found in different varieties, a typical sword for conflict wouldn't weigh more than 10 pounds. Medieval knights also relied on a menu of tactical gear, including lances, axes, and daggers. In fact, lances and spears were usually the first tools knights would use on the battlefield. When Norman knights successfully infiltrated England in 1066, they wielded spears.

    Notable Offenders: The trope of a knight and his sword has its roots in medieval literature. The 11th century's The Song of Roland, for instance, spotlights the relationship between a Frankish knight and Durendal, his divine sword. King Arthur's legendary sword, Excalibur, appears in Arthurian stories ranging from Sir Thomas Malory's 15th-century text Le Morte d'Arthur to 20th-century films like The Sword in the Stone and Excalibur.

  • When They Weren't Fighting, Knights Went On Adventurous Quests on Random Dumbest Things Pop Culture Has Us Believe About Medieval Knights

    (#1) When They Weren't Fighting, Knights Went On Adventurous Quests

    The Trope: Heroic knights-errant embark on quests to rescue a damsel in distress, track down the Holy Grail, or defeat a monstrous villain.

    Why Is It Inaccurate?: Historical knights were warriors, land owners, and politicians - they didn't have time to embark on semi-mythic quests. Knights may have invoked a higher purpose for their fights; the Crusades, for example, were framed in religious terms. Knights could also go on pilgrimages to holy sites in places such as Santiago de Compostela, Rome, and Canterbury. But the idea of a knight-errant journeying on a personal quest is more fiction than fact.

    Notable Offenders: The trope of the questing knight-errant can be traced back to medieval literature and the tales of fictional knights like Perceval and Sir Gawain. Filmmakers deployed this old trope in movies and TV series like ExcaliburKnightfall, and Quest for Camelot. The trope even got a modern spin in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

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About This Tool

Speaking of the Middle Ages, many people always think of castles, banquets, churches, the Black Death, and poor peasants. However, the most exciting symbol of the Middle Ages may be the knight. These knights are often portrayed as heroes in movies or novels, wearing sharp swords and shiny armor. The great reason those medieval knights are respected is that they have always been the core on the battlefield before gunpowder was introduced to Europe, at least in legends and literary works.

This random tool shares the 13 most surprising facts about medieval knights to reveal the truth that most people don't know.

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