Knights who defended the dale, Teesdale Mercury

Knights who defended the dale

Mar 18, 2008

HERE is a challenge for you. I don't think that there is any reference to knights in any documents that date before the Norman Conquest. If you know of anywhere where ‘knights' are mentioned that was written before 1066 please let me know. 

All those tales about Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table that are supposed to date from the end of the Roman occupation, long before the Normans arrived in England, actually originate in the late Middle Ages. They were written down nearly 1,000 years after the events are supposed to have taken place. Post modernism must be part of our culture if we have been putting the present back into the past for so long a time!

According to the dictionary, the word ‘Knight' is an Anglo-Saxon word, so I wonder when it came into use. However, no matter when the word first appeared, ideas about knights and chivalry fitted in nicely with the Norman Feudal system. It established the notion of a professional elite soldier living under a code of honour and behaviour and paying allegiance to the king. It was a convenient way of controlling blood lust and savage behaviour.

Men were usually made knights by the king on the battlefield for an act of courage or skill. It wasn't something that was automatically passed down the family. 

Knights had to be fairly wealthy, owning land over the value of £100 a year, which was a lot of money in those days.

Sometimes, men without these means were knighted - Sir Thomas de Rokeby is an example. Sir Thomas de Rokeby, from Mortham, near Greta Bridge, was knighted by King Edward III during the Scottish wars. Thomas was a younger son of a minor gentry family and wasn't a wealthy man. 

In his case the king granted him lands so that he qualified for the honour. 

Incidentally, knights were called ‘sir' after they were knighted. Do you think the king required the men he knighted to kneel down in the battlefield in the time-honoured fashion - or is that just made up for cinema or the television? Maybe they did kneel down, because knights had to swear allegiance to the king rather than their local lord and they had to be recognised by the ordinary soldier as a knight of the king.

Knights needed to be relatively wealthy because they had to provide for themselves and their servants on the battlefield. And, particularly in the 14th Century, they would rarely be at home. 

It was the time of the Scottish wars and naturally, the king expected knights from places such as Teesdale, which wasn't too far from the Scottish border, to bear the brunt of the combat.  

If the king wasn't fighting the Scots, he was in France fighting the French or sending his armies to control the Irish. Mind you, they were only supposed to fight for 40 days a year and they were paid for their services to the crown. 

However, a knight had to provide his own armour. At first this consisted of chain mail worn over padded leather, but as time went on the chain mail was replaced with plates of steel and eventually. knights wore a full set of armour. A knight also carried a sword and a shield. The shield bore the knight's personal coat of arms. So Sir Thomas de Rokeby had rooks on his shield - to remind him of home!

Armour was so difficult to put on and take off that a knight needed a personal servant to help him with it. He also needed other men to look after his supplies and horses. A knight would take at least three horses with him into battle - one was to get him to the field of battle, one was to carry his equipment and supplies and the third horse was his battle horse.

Knights weren't just soldiers. They were often given civil positions as well, particularly those requiring soldiering skills. Among many other duties Sir Thomas de Rokeby served his time as sheriff of York and ended up as Justiciar of Ireland - quite a position for a relatively ordinary Richmondshire lad to reach.

Knights were often buried in a monastery they had supported during their life. They must have been very thankful for the hospitality provided by the monasteries they passed whilst travelling between battlefields. Sir Thomas de Rokeby was a benefactor of Egglestone Abbey. However, he wasn't buried there because he died at Kilkea Castle, in Ireland, in 1356 - so presumably he was buried in Ireland. If knights weren't buried in the monasteries then most were buried in their parish church. Our medieval churches usually contain at least one effigy of a knight. 

Some churches are indeed positively crowded with these stone images of mail-clad soldiers. Staindrop church springs to mind as a church full to bursting with dead knights - as befits the parish church of the Nevilles, a warrior family if ever there was one. So the next time you visit a local church, see if you can find its resident knight. You can then imagine him going out to defend Teesdale against the invaders from the north.

First published in the Mercury, March 12, 2008