HISTORICAL KNIGHTS

Charlemagne preceded the age of chivalry by two centuries, but he laid the foundations of chivalric culture by insisting that his soldiers become skilled horsemen. Through his defense of the Roman Catholic Church and his efforts to revive education and the arts, he established the ideals that later generations of knights were expected to uphold. Throughout the Middle Ages, it was the highest praise for a man, even a crowned king, to be called a perfect knight.