What I know is: Knight used the be pronounced with a hard k, a ship vowel instead of a diphthong, and velar fricative -gh-. And is a cognate of the German and Dutch knecht: Knecht means servant in both these languages. Landsknecht is something that resembles something like a knight.
Everything I've read about Anglo-Saxon history suggests that 'cniht/cnihta/radcniht' referred to the majority of men supplied to the fyrd (A-S army) by landholders (thegns and above, including bishops). These men would all be in 'executive' positions in order to have sufficient time to undertake all the obligations of fyrd service and carry out their 'day job' which would loosely be that of estate managers or civil servants. The Norman 'knights' (miles) who came across with William probably started using the term cniht/knight to describe themselves because that's what the Anglo-Saxons called them (and distances were measured in miles).
Cool. It would make sense then that the original meaning of cniht or knecht would be something along the lines of servant as they "served" under the landholders. My Old English knowledge is ebbing away, but I seem to recall it meaning boy as well. In Dutch it can also be used to refer to a medieval squire or page. Ugh, those Normans and their silly Latinate words. How pretentious does miles sound :P, away with inkhorn terms! Interesting bit of knowledge there. Cheers.
There's a saying I've seen attributed to Alfred the Great and Charlemagne that goes something like 'Bring me a boy who's not sat a horse by the age of (can't remember the exact age now but it's 10 or less) and I'll show you a boy fit only for the priesthood.' I think they used to start them young ;-) Edit - Miles (me-lays) is possibly where melee comes from?
Miles just means soldier in Latin, as I recall. Melee, I looked this up admittedly, comes from medieval French meslee and is connected to "medley" as well as the verb "to meddle." It appears to have no connection to miles. Starting them young would make sense...
Damn, Sir Mark has balls of steel. I would never joust in a sallet, that helmet is too light and the visor to vulnerable for safe jousting, at least IMO. For infantry combar, I would take sallet over any other helmet, except maybe armet, but for jousting, not even if crazy drunk.
Here's a (VERY LONG) lecture Dr. Tobias Capwells gave on the evolution of modern jousting: czcams.com/video/Fa9pTtF87FQ/video.html The relevant point: yeah, sallets are battlefield helmets first and foremost, and mobility and hearing/vision are more important than protection. A great bascinet would be great in a joust, but suck in combat, an armet is a fine compromise. However, if a sallet is the only helmet you got, it would work in a joust, provided you have a really good bevour.
Which makes me wonder if any jousters wear eye pro underneath. It may not be very historical, to say the least, but it certainly beats getting splinters in the eyes.
@Phil Hsueh: Probably not. Personally, I would, but I don't think I've ever seen any actual jousters do it. Modern jousting lances are either made of balsa wood, which is too light and soft to pose any danger to a visored rider, or out of more solid lumber, but tipped with rubber "coronels", which look a bit like an end of a sausage that's been split before frying, and that won't be of much danger to person in a helmet either. On the other hand, jousters are already wearing way too much on their heads, and the glasses might just obstruct vision even more.
Really good video, a nice change of pace for your channel, I love it when you do things like this Matt, I also really enjoyed the Castle tours you did in a previous video years ago. 10/10
omg I know of Sir Mark! His armor is a reproduction of Duke Seigmund of Tyrol (1484). ive used pictures of his armor and of the original as reference when making my own suit. id love it if in the future you could get some extreme close up shots of the armors you come across. there are just some things that you'd never know otherwise, like how pointing connects the rerebrace and vambrace like he pointed out.
I love when some of your old videos pop upp in my window. A note about words and languages. In Swedish we have the word "riddare" that means knight, and the "riddare" in Sweden where noble people. The word is the same as in German. "Att rida" in Swedish means "to ride" ... the one who rides a horse is a "ryttare" in todays Swedish ... but the word "riddare" ... But we also have the word that has the same origin as "knight" - "knekt" and as you mentioned it is a serviceman. A soldier serving a king or a lord ... In todays language the word "knekt" is sometimes used for someone that works hard for another person and not for himself, any kind of hard work.
I'm inclined to agree with Mr Evans about the origin of the word destrier, a verse with which all knights and noblemen were familiar goes: 'Dextera domini fecit virtutem, dextera domini exaltavit me.', which translates roughly as: 'The right hand of the Lord makes me strong, the right hand of the Lord raises me up.", has been inscribed on armour and weapons, so it doesn't seem a stretch.
Is it weird that I just love the sound of plate armour moving around? It's almost like ASMR I guess, it just sounds so goddamn awesome. Ever since I played witcher 3 and the Wild Hunt are heard clinking and clanking as they go, but it's this deep, satisfying clunk, and it's recreated whenever someone in armour moves about or demontrates the range of motion they can get.
So interesting! Learned a lot. Thanks! One of my fav videos on your channel! Some cool points I learned: 1. Defending your back while riding is difficult. 2. Lesser nobility would look silly trying to joust before real knights, being led by a postilion.
Interesting: "dextria" sounds close to the spanish word "destrero" which it's the name given to a kinght's warhorse. The word comes from the fact that the page of the knight will bring his horse with his right (diestra) arm.
cool to see you on a Festival like that Matt, iam going to a viking festival these weekend in Lengerich my Native Germany, they will have pretty big Foot battles. iam really excited it's my first time on that kind of Event
Sir Mark looks so bloody good in his armour , i absolutely love this style , the pinched in waist and all that decoration. excellent and very very sexy.
In almost every language except English, the term for a "knight" comes from rider. BTW, in all Romance languages, the term for horse comes from the (Literary) Latin term for a nag, vs. "equus" which came from the proto-Indo-European word (ekos, IIRC) for horse.
@@davidweihe6052 i know that in gaul at the time, latin was a bit different than the one from rome, and so horse wasn't said equus but caballus, wich makes more sense for all the evolutions it gave around gaul, so in spain for caballo and in france for cheval
@@owenpalmer5281 in latin, a castrated horse was called "cavallus", in order to differ it from "equus". Another thing to note is that a female horse in spanish is "yegua", which comes from latin "equa". In Hispania, people started calling all male horses (castrated or not) as "cavallus", eventually becoming "caballo", while they would still call female horses as equas, which itself derived into yegua.
1:20 in french, "la main droite" (the right hand) is a very dedicated person that follows you and helps you in everything. Well maybe you english have the same kind of word and i don't have it in mind now, but if we take the latin for right, wich is dextre, as the old french is actually latin wich has evolved during 500 years (and remember that in gaul during the roman period, a kind of "rural form" of latin was spoken, for exemple, the common "equus" for horse was said "caballus", wich evolved into "cheval" in france (-> chevalier, the person who has a horse), and so dextre -> right -> la main droite -> destrier.) So your best horse might be called a destrier beacause it's like a brother to the knight.
Not only did 15th century England have modern PA systems but apparently WW2 American military equipment as well. (We'll probably want that back at some point by the way.) Oh then I remembered Lord Easton mentioned he's at a museum.
This was my favorite of all your videos. I ride like was described and have a giant horse that would be perfect. Unfortunately I'm way to old and wise for that sort of thing.
Another example of the connection between knights and their horses: the English word 'Chivalry', for a knight's code, is derived from the French 'Chevalerie', which is literally 'Horsemanship'.
I can agree with the dieting to keep the waist trim. A 32" waist can become 34" without trying, and leaving a gap between front and back plates just isn't cool. And the sweat that gathers inside. Is it right that the term 'bevor' comes from the French word to 'dribble'?
Yeah, the second guy that Matt was interviewing, the one with the Gothic armor, kind of sounded like Baldric to me. All throught out the interview I kept on hoping that Matt would ask him to say, "I have cunning plan, my Lord.".
As for the origin of the word "destrier", the reference dictionary for classic French, the Littré, states the origin of the word is that the horse was held from the right hand when not mounted. This is really the answer overwhelmingly accepted in France. I am French for the record! So I find it very interesting that Zack has that other theory. I am not qualified to research into that though.
This video is clearly a fake! That is supposed to be England?!?! Get real: you had your one day of summer per year when Harry married!!! Where did you film this, really?
How weird is it that a few days ago I was researching jousting, and here's Matt Easton with a vid on jousting. Would love to get into it, but it's an expensive hobby.
Backing up is not Moonwalking. It is a common and simple part of dressage (which is actually training the horse to be a killing weapon, not just a taxi).
David Weihe well that's kind of like saying you have to spin your rifle around like a drill team before shooting someone, not very practical but what do I know about horses.
It would be cool if they came to the states for events like mike edelson's a few weeks ago or deeds that jess finley and the guys at pursuing the knightly arts.
One of my pet peeves is Rennfaire bouts wearing a peicmail of Infantry, and Cavalry Plate. A lot of these re-enactors (Don't get me started on the MMA, and SCA) can't seem to tell the difference. The Tilters seem to get the gist, probably because they're expecting to get on a horse, and actually tilt at each other. However, especially in the armored Duels, you'll quite often see at least one of them in a Tilting Plate upper, including the massive guard over the shield side (I have no Idea that that's called) that's designed to deflect the lance point skipping up straight into your armpit, and removing it from your shoulder? The one that prevents you sicking your elbow straight out the side, that plate. I don't want to see anyone trying to demonstrate real swordfighting technique to people with funnelcakes, wearing that plate, ever again.
Likewise, the cavalry greaves are designed to wrap around, and lock into a 4 pommel saddle. Not prevent someone skewering your thigh, straight through the femoral artery. I'm pretty sick of seing people swordfight on the ground in those too, but at least they have freedom of movement. They can actually do the footwork in that, as opposed to the shield topper shoulder plate that eliminates over half of period sword-fighting techniques with a longsword. Basically all of the overhand strikes.
I'm that killjoy that pulls guys out of the match, and tell them "That's a lance rest. It's for bracing the butt of your lance in. Are you going to be fighting that guy with a lance today? Then take it off, before you hurt yourself." That piece, which I have seen someone trying to fight with, is built into the right side of the armor, right around mid Bicep level. Not a great place to have a hook sticking out, if you're planning on swinging a sword today.
Sorry, Matt. I don't like to be the guy but you have been fooled by these people. That's not how tournaments go. Not in the slightest. First, you start off with 32 participants who are randomly assigned different weapon sets. Among them sword and shield, bow and arrow, javelins, lance, longsword. The winner gets prize money in proportion to how much he bet on himself.
Thank god that in Warband the ones who got bows also got knives as a backup weapon - I defeated more opponents with the knife than the bow, unless doing a specialized archer character.
Holy crap, that hat eats other hats for breakfast.:-D Informative video though, you could write thick books about all the stuff I've never bothered reading about jousting, but from now on I think I'll start paying closer attention to the subject.:-)
Given that all that armor and gear they're wearing weighs about the same as the armor and gear I would wear in Iraq, and there were horses and donkeys we came across on occasion, yeah Arthur you would indeed most likely be correct in that assessment. Also the inside of your trousers would feel like the inside of a cooking pot. Crotch pot cooking.
Recently I was told that the English "knight" and the German "Knecht" have common roots which would go with the mentioned aspect of serving. Any opinions on this?
What he forgot to mention: medieval horses were mostly shorter than most riddenmtoday in combat. Even nowadays Andalusians were considered gigantic in those days. And Spanish spurs, even nowadays, have generally longer necks (andmare thus considered as more cruel by us). But as the rider's legs hang down lower from the horse flanks, you would have to pull up your leg to be able to give proper aids. And then you run in danger of loosing your seat. So with shoeter horses your spurs must have longer necks. I even go so far that any horse ridden in nowadays jousting is too tall. But that's okay to me, because middle-sized horses can carry the weight of nowadays knights much easier.
I do wonder just how expensive it is to get into this, I've spent than enough on my regular HEMA kit and horses are not cheap animals. I'm also very intrigued about who actually owns the horses they use.
The expenses really depend on where you are, what you have access to, and what mix of time and money you have to invest into it. If you live downtown in an European city, then you're obviously going to wind up spending far more on your horse than if you live on a thousand acre ranch in the middle of North America. If you're buying a trained horse, you'll likely spend far more cash than raising and training your own, but I would expect to pay at least $5k for an acceptable horse. (If you're asking about what it costs, then you probably don't want to talk to anyone about how expensive horses can get at the 'top end'... But there are lots of zeros involved.) Owning and training with a horse is kind of like owning and training with your own small aircraft - It can be done for a price comparable to a nice car, and how expensive that really is kind of comes down to life's priorities. If it's important to you, then you'll find a way to budget for it if you're working a decent job in the middle class.
Looking at the horses on a portuguese bullfight: €5k for a tamed horse, €40k for a horse that can maneuver on the arena, feint, charge a threat. €100k for a horse that can strafe, swirl on command during duress, and the above but only with saddle and leg cues.
+Joaquim Guerreiro - Those top-end Portuguese corrida horses are unreal, though. 100k doesn't sound so much for an animal which can do the impossible with ease and grace. BTW - top-end warhorses were expected to be able to do all of that and some "above-ground" maneuvers. Major investment! I read in memoirs that one guy lost three horses (iirc) during many years of wars. He considered it to be exceptionally bad luck, which almost broke him financially, so he had to retire from service.
Destrier sounds an awful lot like Destroyer. I like thatKnight comes from Cnihts, which sounds like Knecht which is german meaning something like 'vassal'.
I might remember it wrong. But doesn't Samurai mean to serve or somesuch? So in that case it would have a similar etymological history as the word Knight?
17:00 What this disc on the horse's forehead armor is for? Does nobody get knocked off the horse in modern tournaments any more? Are lances splinter-free? Plastic, maybe? :)
Marz I think jousting armor was too heavy and limiting for battlefield use. So I'm talking about the types of armor that was used in battlefields. Which was also quite hard to penetrate. But I think a couched lance attack could have a chance.
It can penetrate, but only if at the right angle. The way the breastplates are angled makes it pretty hard for a lance to find a solid purchase without slipping off.
Marz it definitely could with a solid hit with battle gear, where it catches something well rather than glancing off. For jousting armor and a jousting lance, the only way it could would be hitting a few specific spots at a few angles since they used lances that broke more easily and armor that was far thicker and tougher since a knight needing to be able to fight well dismounted, or even mounted but with a sword, isn't important.
Henry II of France died in a jousting accident in 1559 when a splinter of the lance from the Count of Montgomery penetrated the eye-slit of his helmet and pierced his brain. As far as I can recall he died over 2 days in absolute agony.
I doubt its Middle High German in origin though. English split off long before High German even existed and I doubt it was reintroduced later from Southern Germany.
I looked it up, yes, seems like most germanic languages share it -> knekt (Swedish & Norwegian), knecht (Dutch & German), knaegt (Danish). So I guess you could simply say the word is of germanic origin.
I thought the tournament was the joust and poking eachother with sticks from horseback was tilting, while the track for tilting was the tilt. Is this incorrect?
Jousting armor was heavier than would be wanted in actual battle, prioritizing safety over deftness. I do not know about armor for melee; I suspect that it was of similar weight to battlefield harness, since the melee was supposed to be practice for actual battle.
Thanks. I mean I was aware of weight differences. I was thinking rather about construction and elements of equipment. But you've made an interesting point - I suppose jousting had more "sportish" flavor, but I guess it also can be treated to some point as battle practice - after all, charge with a lance, on horse back, was primary task of heavy (knights) cavalry on battlefields, wasn't it? However I was always wondering what about after the charge? ;) Anyway, thx. for your answer. :) Best wishes! :)
Tobias Capwell's work on the subject is the best in field when it comes to the English Style. I would highly recommend his book "Armour of the English Knight 1400-1450"
Because most people are right handed and until recently (up until my grandparents generation) if you were left-handed you were taught to be right handed.
I am aware (my question was rhetorical), but thanks. Yeah; it's sad how people were forced to use their right hand, and it does seem like many forget that it was only within the last few generations that things started heading in the left direction.
Matthew St. Cyr militarily speaking, be left handed was not just an inconvenience to train, but also could have been a fatal flaw on the battle field for formations. Phalanxs, shield walls and testudo would all be compromised by a left handed soldier. You can even see this in militaries today as almost all guns are right handed. Buying bulk left handed guns is logistically feasible, but what happens when that left handed soldier has to use someone else's gun? Militaries are about winning wars, not accomodating uniqueness.
Mitchell Anderson do I need to put a disclaimer that the question's rhetorical and I'm making a joke? Clearly my joke wasn't very good, given that the first two people to reply thought I was being serious.
I feel like that drunk king in game of thrones. "Start the damn joust before i piss myself!!"
czcams.com/video/5Krz-dyD-UQ/video.html
HATT EASTON CONFIRMED
They produce some fantastic photos. Their kit is really top notch
What I know is:
Knight used the be pronounced with a hard k, a ship vowel instead of a diphthong, and velar fricative -gh-. And is a cognate of the German and Dutch knecht: Knecht means servant in both these languages. Landsknecht is something that resembles something like a knight.
Everything I've read about Anglo-Saxon history suggests that 'cniht/cnihta/radcniht' referred to the majority of men supplied to the fyrd (A-S army) by landholders (thegns and above, including bishops). These men would all be in 'executive' positions in order to have sufficient time to undertake all the obligations of fyrd service and carry out their 'day job' which would loosely be that of estate managers or civil servants. The Norman 'knights' (miles) who came across with William probably started using the term cniht/knight to describe themselves because that's what the Anglo-Saxons called them (and distances were measured in miles).
Cool. It would make sense then that the original meaning of cniht or knecht would be something along the lines of servant as they "served" under the landholders. My Old English knowledge is ebbing away, but I seem to recall it meaning boy as well. In Dutch it can also be used to refer to a medieval squire or page.
Ugh, those Normans and their silly Latinate words. How pretentious does miles sound :P, away with inkhorn terms!
Interesting bit of knowledge there. Cheers.
There's a saying I've seen attributed to Alfred the Great and Charlemagne that goes something like 'Bring me a boy who's not sat a horse by the age of (can't remember the exact age now but it's 10 or less) and I'll show you a boy fit only for the priesthood.' I think they used to start them young ;-)
Edit - Miles (me-lays) is possibly where melee comes from?
Miles just means soldier in Latin, as I recall. Melee, I looked this up admittedly, comes from medieval French meslee and is connected to "medley" as well as the verb "to meddle." It appears to have no connection to miles.
Starting them young would make sense...
Cheers in return - meslee, medley, to meddle - makes you wonder how old the term 'mixing it' is :-)
Look at Matt during the interview. Hes so happy, thats part of the reason i love youre channel. The passion
I love that your videos are all on different subjects of medieval warfare..keeps the channel alive for me.
Damn, Sir Mark has balls of steel.
I would never joust in a sallet, that helmet is too light and the visor to vulnerable for safe jousting, at least IMO.
For infantry combar, I would take sallet over any other helmet, except maybe armet, but for jousting, not even if crazy drunk.
Mihajlo Knezevic a man who has no fear or simply does not value his eyes
Maybe he has a monstrous bevor.
Here's a (VERY LONG) lecture Dr. Tobias Capwells gave on the evolution of modern jousting: czcams.com/video/Fa9pTtF87FQ/video.html The relevant point: yeah, sallets are battlefield helmets first and foremost, and mobility and hearing/vision are more important than protection. A great bascinet would be great in a joust, but suck in combat, an armet is a fine compromise. However, if a sallet is the only helmet you got, it would work in a joust, provided you have a really good bevour.
Which makes me wonder if any jousters wear eye pro underneath. It may not be very historical, to say the least, but it certainly beats getting splinters in the eyes.
@Phil Hsueh: Probably not. Personally, I would, but I don't think I've ever seen any actual jousters do it.
Modern jousting lances are either made of balsa wood, which is too light and soft to pose any danger to a visored rider, or out of more solid lumber, but tipped with rubber "coronels", which look a bit like an end of a sausage that's been split before frying, and that won't be of much danger to person in a helmet either. On the other hand, jousters are already wearing way too much on their heads, and the glasses might just obstruct vision even more.
Really good video, a nice change of pace for your channel, I love it when you do things like this Matt, I also really enjoyed the Castle tours you did in a previous video years ago.
10/10
omg I know of Sir Mark! His armor is a reproduction of Duke Seigmund of Tyrol (1484). ive used pictures of his armor and of the original as reference when making my own suit. id love it if in the future you could get some extreme close up shots of the armors you come across. there are just some things that you'd never know otherwise, like how pointing connects the rerebrace and vambrace like he pointed out.
Great video. Zach was great on camera and very good at explaining things. Great inverviews, Matt
I love when some of your old videos pop upp in my window.
A note about words and languages.
In Swedish we have the word "riddare" that means knight, and the "riddare" in Sweden where noble people. The word is the same as in German. "Att rida" in Swedish means "to ride" ... the one who rides a horse is a "ryttare" in todays Swedish ... but the word "riddare" ... But we also have the word that has the same origin as "knight" - "knekt" and as you mentioned it is a serviceman. A soldier serving a king or a lord ... In todays language the word "knekt" is sometimes used for someone that works hard for another person and not for himself, any kind of hard work.
Thanks for your awesome videos!
This Schwing sound in the intro is just superior.
Very cool content! I hope Matt visits more events like this.
I hope this turns into a series. It's awesome seeing real armor in use...
Thank you for this! As an American jouster it’s cool to see how it’s done across the pond.
Pleasantly satisfied, keep up the exceptional work matt! :)
that gothic harness!
I'm inclined to agree with Mr Evans about the origin of the word destrier, a verse with which all knights and noblemen were familiar goes: 'Dextera domini fecit virtutem, dextera domini exaltavit me.', which translates roughly as: 'The right hand of the Lord makes me strong, the right hand of the Lord raises me up.", has been inscribed on armour and weapons, so it doesn't seem a stretch.
Is it weird that I just love the sound of plate armour moving around? It's almost like ASMR I guess, it just sounds so goddamn awesome. Ever since I played witcher 3 and the Wild Hunt are heard clinking and clanking as they go, but it's this deep, satisfying clunk, and it's recreated whenever someone in armour moves about or demontrates the range of motion they can get.
So interesting! Learned a lot. Thanks! One of my fav videos on your channel! Some cool points I learned: 1. Defending your back while riding is difficult. 2. Lesser nobility would look silly trying to joust before real knights, being led by a postilion.
Oh! And occasionally seeing knights using rein arm to couch the lance in order to prevent damage to arm! Cool fact
Beautifully trained horses, they dont seem to care much at all of the people's silly sport. Some are even eager to get cantering :D
Great video! I love when you talk about armor. Do you know of any sources for Gothic armor used in England?
Sir Mark's armour is amazing
The word 'knight' seems to be derived from the old german word 'knecht' which means 'servant'.
Interesting: "dextria" sounds close to the spanish word "destrero" which it's the name given to a kinght's warhorse. The word comes from the fact that the page of the knight will bring his horse with his right (diestra) arm.
The word they're saying is 'destrier.' It's French or Norman or something- no doubt it's the same meaning as destrero.
Nice! I haven't seen many videos about jousting and mounted combat.
Dude thats awesome show more of that thing .
cool to see you on a Festival like that Matt, iam going to a viking festival these weekend in Lengerich my Native Germany, they will have pretty big Foot battles. iam really excited it's my first time on that kind of Event
That is completely awesome...
Sir Mark looks so bloody good in his armour , i absolutely love this style , the pinched in waist and all that decoration. excellent and very very sexy.
5:07 Has to be about the most glorious thing imaginable.
By the way, the spanish word for knight is "caballero", which comes from "caballo", meaning "horse".
In almost every language except English, the term for a "knight" comes from rider.
BTW, in all Romance languages, the term for horse comes from the (Literary) Latin term for a nag, vs. "equus" which came from the proto-Indo-European word (ekos, IIRC) for horse.
@@davidweihe6052 i know that in gaul at the time, latin was a bit different than the one from rome, and so horse wasn't said equus but caballus, wich makes more sense for all the evolutions it gave around gaul, so in spain for caballo and in france for cheval
Jean Ladoire why’s it cavallo in Italian then? The root word still comes from Latin, it’s not a gaul word
@@owenpalmer5281 in latin, a castrated horse was called "cavallus", in order to differ it from "equus". Another thing to note is that a female horse in spanish is "yegua", which comes from latin "equa". In Hispania, people started calling all male horses (castrated or not) as "cavallus", eventually becoming "caballo", while they would still call female horses as equas, which itself derived into yegua.
@@owenpalmer5281 most likely, it then spread and overtook the original word in most cases. Tho i'm not an expert, i can't really tell
That German gothic style armor is the most fresh thing I’ve ever seen 😮
Smashing stuff.
1:20 in french, "la main droite" (the right hand) is a very dedicated person that follows you and helps you in everything. Well maybe you english have the same kind of word and i don't have it in mind now, but if we take the latin for right, wich is dextre, as the old french is actually latin wich has evolved during 500 years (and remember that in gaul during the roman period, a kind of "rural form" of latin was spoken, for exemple, the common "equus" for horse was said "caballus", wich evolved into "cheval" in france (-> chevalier, the person who has a horse), and so dextre -> right -> la main droite -> destrier.) So your best horse might be called a destrier beacause it's like a brother to the knight.
Were there a lot of PA systems in the 15th century England? Another awesomely educational video!
Not only did 15th century England have modern PA systems but apparently WW2 American military equipment as well. (We'll probably want that back at some point by the way.) Oh then I remembered Lord Easton mentioned he's at a museum.
I like how Matt keeps grinning at Zach's hat.
Gdi I cannot stop looking at him grinning now hahaha
This was my favorite of all your videos. I ride like was described and have a giant horse that would be perfect. Unfortunately I'm way to old and wise for that sort of thing.
La armadura gótica es realmente bella!
"the just is more prestigious"
*laughs in dismounted English knights running the battlefield*
Another example of the connection between knights and their horses: the English word 'Chivalry', for a knight's code, is derived from the French 'Chevalerie', which is literally 'Horsemanship'.
I can agree with the dieting to keep the waist trim. A 32" waist can become 34" without trying, and leaving a gap between front and back plates just isn't cool. And the sweat that gathers inside. Is it right that the term 'bevor' comes from the French word to 'dribble'?
Ass feels like a swamp in the summer at the end of the day I bet.
Bleh.
'Bevor' comes from 'bavière', which is the French world for it, which comes frome 'baver' : 'to let saliva dribble from the mouth'.
Blackadder I and Baldrick! :D
Yeah, the second guy that Matt was interviewing, the one with the Gothic armor, kind of sounded like Baldric to me. All throught out the interview I kept on hoping that Matt would ask him to say, "I have cunning plan, my Lord.".
rasnac What begins with 'come here' and ends with 'ow!'?
I'm so glad there's a demand for this. Keep the English/European culture(s) alive and rich.
As for the origin of the word "destrier", the reference dictionary for classic French, the Littré, states the origin of the word is that the horse was held from the right hand when not mounted. This is really the answer overwhelmingly accepted in France. I am French for the record! So I find it very interesting that Zack has that other theory. I am not qualified to research into that though.
I didn't know Wallace had such an interest in historical martial arts.
I assume he had to leave Grommet at home for this one.
This video is clearly a fake! That is supposed to be England?!?! Get real: you had your one day of summer per year when Harry married!!! Where did you film this, really?
Cornwall - The piece of England that's not really England both in weather and according to the Cornish Independence Party.
I just ate a Cornish pasty for tea... lovely!
Corny
趙 憲 the Cornish still exist O_o
The flakes are good with milk too.
How weird is it that a few days ago I was researching jousting, and here's Matt Easton with a vid on jousting. Would love to get into it, but it's an expensive hobby.
Moonwalking horse lol, couched lance impacts were my favourite part of Mount and Blade.
Backing up is not Moonwalking. It is a common and simple part of dressage (which is actually training the horse to be a killing weapon, not just a taxi).
David Weihe well that's kind of like saying you have to spin your rifle around like a drill team before shooting someone, not very practical but what do I know about horses.
When the announcer says "Ladies and gentlemen" and there may actually be noble ladies and gents watching.
It would be cool if they came to the states for events like mike edelson's a few weeks ago or deeds that jess finley and the guys at pursuing the knightly arts.
Interesting must be expensive but they are very dedicated to what that do so it must be worth it
Whenever I hear "destrier", I imagine a monster like Sampson (Navarre's horse) from Ladyhawke.
The world cup is about to begin but THAT'S what I want to watch !
cool video..btw chevalier in french means a knight (not a horse-man), but cavalier is a horseman
One of my pet peeves is Rennfaire bouts wearing a peicmail of Infantry, and Cavalry Plate. A lot of these re-enactors (Don't get me started on the MMA, and SCA) can't seem to tell the difference. The Tilters seem to get the gist, probably because they're expecting to get on a horse, and actually tilt at each other. However, especially in the armored Duels, you'll quite often see at least one of them in a Tilting Plate upper, including the massive guard over the shield side (I have no Idea that that's called) that's designed to deflect the lance point skipping up straight into your armpit, and removing it from your shoulder? The one that prevents you sicking your elbow straight out the side, that plate. I don't want to see anyone trying to demonstrate real swordfighting technique to people with funnelcakes, wearing that plate, ever again.
Likewise, the cavalry greaves are designed to wrap around, and lock into a 4 pommel saddle. Not prevent someone skewering your thigh, straight through the femoral artery. I'm pretty sick of seing people swordfight on the ground in those too, but at least they have freedom of movement. They can actually do the footwork in that, as opposed to the shield topper shoulder plate that eliminates over half of period sword-fighting techniques with a longsword. Basically all of the overhand strikes.
I'm that killjoy that pulls guys out of the match, and tell them "That's a lance rest. It's for bracing the butt of your lance in. Are you going to be fighting that guy with a lance today? Then take it off, before you hurt yourself." That piece, which I have seen someone trying to fight with, is built into the right side of the armor, right around mid Bicep level. Not a great place to have a hook sticking out, if you're planning on swinging a sword today.
Surely neck reigning as well as the seat? Sounds similar to polo
Sorry, Matt. I don't like to be the guy but you have been fooled by these people.
That's not how tournaments go. Not in the slightest. First, you start off with 32 participants who are randomly assigned different weapon sets. Among them sword and shield, bow and arrow, javelins, lance, longsword. The winner gets prize money in proportion to how much he bet on himself.
Marc Ritz mount and blade tournaments?
Thank god that in Warband the ones who got bows also got knives as a backup weapon - I defeated more opponents with the knife than the bow, unless doing a specialized archer character.
Do I get money if I bet against myself and lose?
Marc Ritz That's a nice skull you've got there...
Marc Ritz ill fight to the death 100 k on me
What can do you do that goes into hitting/not getting hit in jousting? Are they trying to block or lean around the lance?
While I believe it is probably quite accurate, that outfit has to be silliest-looking medieval getup I've seen since the first Blackadder series.
Holy crap, that hat eats other hats for breakfast.:-D
Informative video though, you could write thick books about all the stuff I've never bothered reading about jousting, but from now on I think I'll start paying closer attention to the subject.:-)
Matt, did you ask him how does he handle the heat in that armour?
They probably smell like a high school boys' locker room mixed with a stable by the end of a day of jousting.
Given that all that armor and gear they're wearing weighs about the same as the armor and gear I would wear in Iraq, and there were horses and donkeys we came across on occasion, yeah Arthur you would indeed most likely be correct in that assessment.
Also the inside of your trousers would feel like the inside of a cooking pot. Crotch pot cooking.
Recently I was told that the English "knight" and the German "Knecht" have common roots which would go with the mentioned aspect of serving. Any opinions on this?
What he forgot to mention: medieval horses were mostly shorter than most riddenmtoday in combat. Even nowadays Andalusians were considered gigantic in those days. And Spanish spurs, even nowadays, have generally longer necks (andmare thus considered as more cruel by us). But as the rider's legs hang down lower from the horse flanks, you would have to pull up your leg to be able to give proper aids. And then you run in danger of loosing your seat. So with shoeter horses your spurs must have longer necks. I even go so far that any horse ridden in nowadays jousting is too tall. But that's okay to me, because middle-sized horses can carry the weight of nowadays knights much easier.
and for our winner we have "SIR MATT"
it depends on contex
Sir cat....sir cat easton..no matt....noob!!
Nice hat though
I do wonder just how expensive it is to get into this, I've spent than enough on my regular HEMA kit and horses are not cheap animals. I'm also very intrigued about who actually owns the horses they use.
The expenses really depend on where you are, what you have access to, and what mix of time and money you have to invest into it.
If you live downtown in an European city, then you're obviously going to wind up spending far more on your horse than if you live on a thousand acre ranch in the middle of North America.
If you're buying a trained horse, you'll likely spend far more cash than raising and training your own, but I would expect to pay at least $5k for an acceptable horse. (If you're asking about what it costs, then you probably don't want to talk to anyone about how expensive horses can get at the 'top end'... But there are lots of zeros involved.)
Owning and training with a horse is kind of like owning and training with your own small aircraft - It can be done for a price comparable to a nice car, and how expensive that really is kind of comes down to life's priorities. If it's important to you, then you'll find a way to budget for it if you're working a decent job in the middle class.
horses aren't terribly expensive here, not sure about UK prices
All the horses belong or borrow from other jousters.
Looking at the horses on a portuguese bullfight:
€5k for a tamed horse,
€40k for a horse that can maneuver on the arena, feint, charge a threat.
€100k for a horse that can strafe, swirl on command during duress, and the above but only with saddle and leg cues.
+Joaquim Guerreiro - Those top-end Portuguese corrida horses are unreal, though. 100k doesn't sound so much for an animal which can do the impossible with ease and grace.
BTW - top-end warhorses were expected to be able to do all of that and some "above-ground" maneuvers. Major investment! I read in memoirs that one guy lost three horses (iirc) during many years of wars. He considered it to be exceptionally bad luck, which almost broke him financially, so he had to retire from service.
Destrier sounds an awful lot like Destroyer.
I like thatKnight comes from Cnihts, which sounds like Knecht which is german meaning something like 'vassal'.
take a shot everytime someone says "yeah"
You need to get American Cutting horses for melee.
I might remember it wrong. But doesn't Samurai mean to serve or somesuch? So in that case it would have a similar etymological history as the word Knight?
the hat is strong with this one.
Is there a jouster with the moniker 'sir Jimmy'?
see ''dexter'', destrier
In dutch knight is ridder
As far as im aware the english word 'knight' comes from the germanic 'Knecht' which is a servant (as he said, serving you lord, serving god).
17:00 What this disc on the horse's forehead armor is for?
Does nobody get knocked off the horse in modern tournaments any more?
Are lances splinter-free? Plastic, maybe? :)
Lances are made from balsa wood, at least at the joust events in the US
I just got claustrophobic attack watching the guy in the German armor ...
Can a couched lance attack penetrate a proper plate armor?
Mirza Şahinkaya probably the lower quality ones? Jousting armour became really thick for a reason I would think.
Marz I think jousting armor was too heavy and limiting for battlefield use. So I'm talking about the types of armor that was used in battlefields. Which was also quite hard to penetrate. But I think a couched lance attack could have a chance.
It can penetrate, but only if at the right angle. The way the breastplates are angled makes it pretty hard for a lance to find a solid purchase without slipping off.
Marz it definitely could with a solid hit with battle gear, where it catches something well rather than glancing off. For jousting armor and a jousting lance, the only way it could would be hitting a few specific spots at a few angles since they used lances that broke more easily and armor that was far thicker and tougher since a knight needing to be able to fight well dismounted, or even mounted but with a sword, isn't important.
Henry II of France died in a jousting accident in 1559 when a splinter of the lance from the Count of Montgomery penetrated the eye-slit of his helmet and pierced his brain. As far as I can recall he died over 2 days in absolute agony.
Knight is a cognate of the Dutch word knecht which also means servant. I reckon the word has an Anglo Saxon origin.
It's Middle High German in origin (Kneht) and the word "Knecht" is still used in todays German, meaning "servant", like you said.
I doubt its Middle High German in origin though. English split off long before High German even existed and I doubt it was reintroduced later from Southern Germany.
I looked it up, yes, seems like most germanic languages share it -> knekt (Swedish & Norwegian), knecht (Dutch & German), knaegt (Danish). So I guess you could simply say the word is of germanic origin.
The Gothic harness is a fave of mine .VERY SEXY>.
I thought the tournament was the joust and poking eachother with sticks from horseback was tilting, while the track for tilting was the tilt. Is this incorrect?
The tournament was fight eight on eight with a pole on each beat each other take horse score a point the joust only grew when it became safer
👍🏻
I reckon Mark needs a brayette :) I don't know about skirts worn under cuisses...
So this is what you've been doing since Primeval :)
Mark guy can't control his lance very well... I'd love to do this...
This makes me wonder again what were real differences between tournament's and battle's armours? ;)
Jousting armor was heavier than would be wanted in actual battle, prioritizing safety over deftness. I do not know about armor for melee; I suspect that it was of similar weight to battlefield harness, since the melee was supposed to be practice for actual battle.
Thanks. I mean I was aware of weight differences. I was thinking rather about construction and elements of equipment. But you've made an interesting point - I suppose jousting had more "sportish" flavor, but I guess it also can be treated to some point as battle practice - after all, charge with a lance, on horse back, was primary task of heavy (knights) cavalry on battlefields, wasn't it? However I was always wondering what about after the charge? ;) Anyway, thx. for your answer. :) Best wishes! :)
Melee armor was extra heavy too, from what I've read. (Depends who was paying for it, I reckon.)
Shouldn't a woman riding a horse sit aside (both legs on the same side)?
Or at least, how should they sit from a historical point of view?
Even if they had proper side saddles (which are fairly rare, nowadays) would YOU want to ride that way?
IDK but I wonder whether riding side saddle might have started later, like maybe in Victorian times.
But I'd be wrong. According to wiki it goes back to the classical era, with evidence from the Greeks and Celts.
David Weihe yes to keep my nuts from aching
Just a shooting comment, shoot interviews with people like Sir Mark from the other side, his shield was blocking most of his armour :(
What are good sources on english plate armors? I cant find much at all
Tobias Capwell's work on the subject is the best in field when it comes to the English Style. I would highly recommend his book "Armour of the English Knight 1400-1450"
I want to buy it could not get in the states
You alot cooler events in britain.
this is cute and all but we all know the person who wins in melee is the one who picks fox.
Common Pepe here I come
At first I wanted to complain about you not wearing a costume but then I saw the gentleman you were interviewing. Why does he not look Medieval.
Does anyone currently make reproduction frogmouth helms? I can’t recall ever seeing one except for in historical documents
Are the guys called "Sir" here actual knights?
No
scholagladiatoria Ahh except the one with the hat, surely...
Get yourself a harness stretcher, then...😉
Did medieval warhorses look like this?? I thouht they'd look a bit more 'beefy'.
Neigh. Surely more "Horsey"!
Put down your controllers Kiddo's. A lot more out there.
strong right hand? Why do all these left and right hand metaphors and imagery assume everyone is right-handed?
Because most people are right handed and until recently (up until my grandparents generation) if you were left-handed you were taught to be right handed.
I am aware (my question was rhetorical), but thanks. Yeah; it's sad how people were forced to use their right hand, and it does seem like many forget that it was only within the last few generations that things started heading in the left direction.
Matthew St. Cyr militarily speaking, be left handed was not just an inconvenience to train, but also could have been a fatal flaw on the battle field for formations. Phalanxs, shield walls and testudo would all be compromised by a left handed soldier. You can even see this in militaries today as almost all guns are right handed. Buying bulk left handed guns is logistically feasible, but what happens when that left handed soldier has to use someone else's gun? Militaries are about winning wars, not accomodating uniqueness.
Mitchell Anderson do I need to put a disclaimer that the question's rhetorical and I'm making a joke? Clearly my joke wasn't very good, given that the first two people to reply thought I was being serious.