What's the truth and what's fiction when it comes to Knights?

What's the truth and what's fiction when it comes to Knights?

We're Knights great warriors or is their martial prowess exaggerated? Did they have the respect of the people or did they keep people in line with fear? Were they honorable or just as base and mean as everyone else?

Other urls found in this thread:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blue_Waters
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Mongol_invasion_of_Poland
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Mongol_invasion_of_Hungary
bobrowen.com/nymas/podcasts/John France - Crusades 128.mp3
twitter.com/NSFWRedditImage

Your questions, in order: yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and finally, yes.

Incredibly broad questions about an incredibly diverse warrior-class.

>We're Knights great warriors or is their martial prowess exaggerated?

Well who are you reading? Obviously if you're reading Mallory and hearing about Lancelot throwing 500 knights off their horses singlehandedly it's exaggerated. You need to learn how to distinguish between chivalrous legend and historical account.

>Did they have the respect of the people or did they keep people in line with fear?

Some nobles were no doubt respected, but many were cunts.

>Were they honorable or just as base and mean as everyone else?

Knights generally held one another to a different standard of conduct than they did the average joe. Again, depended on the individual and the source.

But let's reduce this to what you really seem to be asking

>Is chivalrous fairytale bullshit an accurate depiction of knights?

No.

No, knights didn't train since a young age with various weapons on foot and on horseback to prepare for war. They did it for the lulz, dank memes, and to get laid.

were / we're

Sir Alex Ferguson is indeed a great warrior, he has the wholehearted respect of all the people but he also kept his 11 serfs in line using fear. He was very honourable.

Knights were alright brawlers, but warriors?

They were shit at ACTUAL war, just look at how easily their shit got pushed in by the Mongols.

The only reason Europe doesn't speak Mongolian is because Subudei wasn't given the chance to complete his scouting raid into Europe

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Are you doubting that the Battle of Legnica and Battle of Mohi happened?

No. But you're clearly very biased. Hungary decided to build fortifications and the Mongols never fully conquered them.

What about Lithuania and Poland defeating the Golden Horde later?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blue_Waters
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Mongol_invasion_of_Poland

Mongols thrive in open terrain and horse archers are not invincible nor are they a superweapon. Obviously the Mongols never reached western Europe, so only one can speculate on possible scenarios and outcomes. Foot archers and crossbowmen supported by infantry with shields would be very challenging for Mongols to defeat. Horses are big targets and therefore archers or crossbowmen would have an easier time dispatching the horse archers. Lancers would have a difficult time attacking infantry armed with pikes.

They were just dudes like you and me, except fairly good with weapons and had expensive steel clothing.

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They also believed in God with a vigor that even the most devout christians today cannot match.

The closest you'd probably get is ISIS

>decided to build fortifications

Man, this sounds like something some other enemy of the Mongols tried to do, now who were they again?

Oh yeah, the Chinese

They never reached western Europe because they already got their shit kicked in at the European periphery.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Mongol_invasion_of_Hungary

Mongols are a meme.

Maybe the Chinese didn't do it right. The Hungarians restructured their military, betting on heavily armoured knights, crossbowmen and fortifications and they defeated the Mongols.

Here's a 90 minute lecture by John France that covers a lot of what you're asking, among other interesting things.

>'Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades'
>bobrowen.com/nymas/podcasts/John France - Crusades 128.mp3

And Russia does speak mongolian right? Just like all those other places the mongols conquered that weren't mongolia.

Nothing special, got btfo by Cataphracts (aka professional soldiers) at the battle of Sirmium.

I wouldn't say the Mongols are a meme because they achieved and conquered a lot. But the faggot implying knights "lost" to the Mongols is a retarded statement.

Russians are slavic Mongols.