Military Training (Knights) I

Young men also learned appropriate chivalric behavior through listening to conversation and personal recollections as well as literary and historical narratives. A household book of Edward IV of England noted that it was the custom of squires at court, in the evenings, to "keep honest company . . . in talking of chronicles of kings and other policies." They would have learned about appropriate court behavior as well as the chivalric values like loyalty and courage. (p.27) The young knight must emulate his mentor, both in military pursuits and in other aspects of demeanor (carving at table and manners at feasts). In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries young men might be educated in knightly skills and behavior within their fathers households, but more likely in the household of another: an uncle or other relative, a patron of the father's. Here they would have heard the romances they were to emulate, practiced the military skills they would need, and learned courtly pastimes. (p.29)