Sermon: Knighthood
From Wessexwiki
Recently many honorable men have approached me concerning knighthood, and as I inked parchment with what wisdom I could share on the matter I realized it would make a good speech to share with all within the Duchy.
A knight should be feared and respected throughout the world. Men of valor and honor, they are exceptional warriors and guardians of their land that was founded upon the most heroic of ideals. In the name of the Radiant Lord and for the glory of duke and king they sweep aside evil on the field of battle, for none can stand against their glorious charge.
Mercian folklore is replete with the mighty feats of famous knights as they battle against the odds to defeat their evil foes and win the day. In these stories and poems, noble knights seek out and slay ferocious dragons that terrorize the realms, battle and defeat evil warriors and destroy entire armies of Orks single-handed. Weaned from a young age on these stories of individual heroism and bravery, it is every knight's utmost desire to have great deeds of their own to be sung and recounted for years to come. A knight's honor is of utmost importance to him, and he would gladly lay down his life rather than have his name disgraced.
Despite the exceedingly high standards the knights set for themselves, there are mighty individuals who live up to these goals and become legend. They are the heroes who have performed great deeds on the battlefield and defeated particularly dangerous foes. Their reputation precedes them, and their names and heraldry are known throughout all the shires. Whenever one of these mighty heroes enters a town, his presence will be known within minutes, news of his arrival spreading through the crowded streets like wildfire amongst the villeins, who will flock to get a glimpse of the heroic individual.
Sometimes the responsibilities of governing may hold a knight back from embarking on a quest, though this would surely cause him much pain. The magnates themselves are all-powerful and renowned warriors, for they could not retain their station were they not. Birth in itself does not guarantee success, and the sons of the lords must earn their honor and renown as any other knight. Indeed, a knight of any echelon of birth can attain heroic status through great deeds and acts of bravery, rising rapidly though the ranks.
Esquires from my experience project an air of bravado, dealing with villeins and fellow knights alike with a brash self-confidence and haughty manner. Eager to prove their skill, and thus attain status of renown, these young gentry are bold and enthusiastic to the point of recklessness - a trait that the common folk idolize and admire. On the battlefield they are impetuous, eager to earn fame and honor in the thick of the fight.
A knight is duty-bound to defend his people and his land until death. As gentry trained in the arts of battle, I expect a knight to defend himself and his domain against minor threats without assistance from others. If the situation is more desperate, the knight may either marshal the villeins of the village to fight with him, or instead shelter them in his castle until help arrives from neighboring domains. Above all, a knight is required to maintain the standards of knightly honor, obeying the strict tenets of chivalry. Amongst the most important of these is to respond to the call to war, when he will fight alongside other knights, not as a rite of passage as he did as a Esquire, but as duty required by his station. For a knight there is no greater shame than to fail in these responsibilities, thus betraying the chivalric code.
We should never lose our contempt for those that eschewed the martial values of meeting one's foe face-to-face, a knight should hate all enemies using missile weapons including warhulks.
The code of chivalry is inextricably linked with the Lord of the Radiant Sun, as it is He who rewards honor and virtue, and the supreme sign of a knight's favor is to receive Auros' blessing.
