Knighthood was introduced to England with the Norman Conquest. Knights were aristocratic mounted soldiers in the service of an overlord. Over the next 200 years, knights began paying money to their overlord rather than fighting for him. Knights became less like warriors and more like noblemen. Colourful badges borne on their surcoats (tunics covering chain mail shirts) and shields so that they could be recognised in battle, turned into family emblems known as coats of arms.

A young boy who wanted to become a knight went to serve as a page in a castle at about the age of seven. He learnt to ride, fight and use weapons. At about fourteen he became an esquire, or knight’s attendant, and could go into battle. If he was very brave, he could ‘win his spurs’ and become a knight.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, at the time of the Crusades, military religious orders like the Knights of St John and the Knights Templar were founded, dedicated to fighting for Christianity in the Holy Land (Palestine). At the same time, the concept of chivalry (based on Christian values) developed in Europe and was celebrated in courtly literature like the 13th-century French Romance of the Rose and popular legends of King Arthur.