The Medieval Knight

This is a fun period to show to everyone. We have all heard stories of “Knights in Shining Armor” and “Ladies in distress”. But who were these people and what is the real story of the Middle Ages? The era of castles, kings, and the crusades is filled with stories of heroic deeds, terrible events and the shaping of our modern society; the Knight stands out as a focal point of our exploration into the world of chivalry and serfdom, of barons and nobles and the peasant. Deks, our storyteller, wears the authentic costume of a medieval knight, complete with armor and shield, while he dresses his audience in other costumes and brings many artifacts to fascinate. Period food is offered for the brave and stories of famous people and events bring this period to life.

• Did you know that forks were not invented until near the American Revolution? Until then, people ate with their hands and using a knife and spoon. At the dinner table it was considered a courtesy to pass around a bowl of water that diners could blow their nose into and then use to wash their hands!
• How about this? The knight did not work at a job. His only function was to practice for combat to be ready wars occurred. As such, many local peasants were killed when knights rampaged through their gardens and homes. This causes so much distress that the church finally decreed “the Peace and Truce of God” which forbade the knight to kill anyone on certain days of the week.
• What were the tournaments and jousts we hear about like? They were an avenue by which the knight could contain his warlike efforts. In the beginning, tournaments used sharp and pointed weapons, but as time wore on the weapons for tournaments were blunted because the king saw so many of his knights die.
• Who won the Crusades and what were they about? This fascinating story takes the students through how the Catholic Church ran countries, kings led armies, and the people were so devout that they marched on the enemy without any weapons. There was even a Children’s Crusade which was led by young teenagers who left home to march to the Middle East: most never heard from again.
• This is the time of the Black Death which saw almost a fourth of the population of Europe perish. What were the causes and how did people live during this terrible time?
• One of the greatest stories from this era and my personal favorite is that of King Richard the Lionheart. During the Crusades he wanted to recapture Jerusalem for the Pope. He never made it that far.  But he did hear of a Christian city along the coast that was being besieged by the Muslim warlord Saladin. He left his army. shoved his knights onto ships and sailed down to the city.  He arrived in time to throw the enemy out and retake the city. Then he gathered his few knights and the city people and challenged the soldiers of Saladin.  Outnumbered and in real trouble, King Richard stood fast. There were 10,000 Muslim soldiers to his 1500 knights and city soldiers. After hours of defending, finally King Richard's horse was shot and he fell.  Immediately upon seeing this, Saladin stopped the battle and brought his own horse to King Richard saying, "No great warrior should be without a horse." Saladin then went back and the battle started again.  Finally Saladin took his soldiers and went away saying there stands King Richard the Lionhearted.  The name stuck.

Deks loves to show the armor the knights had to live and fight in. "Folks, it truly is like being in a tin can!! The kids love to bang on my armor and walk away wondering. This is what I live for!!!!"