knight, bachelor, infantry

Cnihts and knechts defended the king's
villages against gangs of robbers.
Often, they defended the villages
against other kings who wanted
to enlarge their kingdoms.

Cniht was the Old English word, used before the year 1000. C says the k sound and both c and n were spoken.

Knecht was the Old German word used during this same time of history. Both k and n were spoken.

As time and history moved along, many steps of cnihthood were created. Our word, infantry, comes from these years. An infant was a young man who could not afford a horse and therefore had to walk to the battle.

A full knight was one who had the wealth to buy a horse and all the armor needed for protection. These items were very costly. Armor and swords were also very, very heavy. And, the silver needed to be cleaned with sand to keep it shiny.

A cniht's leige, (say le j, long e) was the king or nobleman to whom loyalty was given by the cniht.

  

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Have a great day, Mary Maisner