Warriors Throughout Time - Knight

16th Century Gothic Knight

A Knight is a member of the warrior class in the Middle Ages in Europe who followed a code of law called "chivalry". Knighthood in the middle ages was inextricably linked with horsemanship. Knights would ride on horses into battle as armoured cavalry, boasting superior mobility, and having the advantages of fighting with a greater height, speed and inertial mass over an opponent on foot. Cavalry was used extensively throughout the Middle Ages and Knights from England, France and the Holy Roman Empire (Germany) were renown for their fighting capability and effectiveness. The Holy Roman Empire possessed the most heavily-armored calvary units of the time and the distinctive looking Gothic Knights were the elite warriors of the empire. Their armour is in the distinctive fluted gothic style produced by the finest German armourers, and include the popular visored sallet helmet. Riding an armoured warhorse and wielding a lance and mace, Gothic knights have little to fear on the battlefield. Well practiced in heavy cavalry tactics, these knights make a fearsome addition to any Imperial army and that earns them a place in my series of warrior character profiles!