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Knighthood is a largely informal affair in the lands of Giralda in the late 4th Age. Whereas under the rule of the Swabian Elves knights were warriors of a holy order sworn to lives of discipline, focus, and constant martial training; the knights of Giralda are a political consideration, regulated only by expediency, expectation, the occasional local tradition, and a lord's ability to support one or more such individuals. This isn't to say that Knighthood has lost its meaning in the modern age. Quite the contrary, in fact. For every slovenly lord with preening, overpaid, sickly sweet yes-men in gaudy armor there are a dozen nobles maintaining small and elite teams of warriors ready to muster out at a moment's notice in order to exert their word and authority across their holdings and beyond. This is to say nothing of the military elites that serve the courts and police the lands of kings and queens, high nobles, and military outposts. All knights, regardless of gender, are entitled to the honorific "Sir" before their name but after any other prefix titles. (Ex. "Lady of the Towers, Protector of Yellow River Crossing, Servant of His Majesty the King, Sir Natalia of Finsbarren.")



Knighthood is often given as a reward to men and women who serve well, with distinction, or otherwise come to earn the gratitude, respect, and/or indebtedness of nobles or royals. There is no clear or codified process to this, nor is it wise for a ruler to institute one lest they be inundated with 'qualified' candidates beyond the numbers they can maintain. This usually amounts to in-house promotions, such as high ranking and trusted military men, leaders of the household guard, and in larger holdings the marshals that maintain the peace of the land. However, in rare instances of great bravery or service above and beyond one's calling, Knighthood has been bestowed upon people unfamiliar to the ruler doing the bestowing. In times of war, Knighthoods can and have been bestowed for more common bravery in the line of service. Knighthood can be bestowed by any person with a patent of nobility, creating any of the three kinds of knights. For various reasons discussed below the practice is more common in larger, richer realms supporting larger militaries and courts. The prestige of a granted Knighthood also varies greatly depending on the prestige of who grants it, thus making it more sought after in larger realms as well.



Knights of the Court, also known in common parlance as Court Knights or Courtly Knights, are the most politically active of the three breeds. They also tend to be the least martially capable due to the shift in focus or having never been warriors to begin with. They also tend to be the least common as it is more a reward for long years of service, nepotism, or bribery depending on the court to which they belong. Advisors, creditors, and the occasional noble/royal bastard can find themselves holding this position nearly as often as long-serving warriors approaching retirement, wounded military commanders, and life-long friends of the head of their relevant court. Even within the same court the respect their knighting gains them can vary wildly as it is often very well known the reasons for each individual's attainment of the honorific. These knights rarely travel far from their host court, unless dispatched as Ambassadors to other courts where they are treated appropriately by the lord or lady they serve. The authority of these knights is both enhanced and curtailed by living in the shadow of their superior, as they can speak with that authority but also be reprimanded directly by it. Court Knights without pre-existing titles or holdings are maintained (funded) by their direct superior.

Knights of the Realm, or Landed Knights, are the most common Knighthood holders in Giralda due to their responsibilities. Knights of the Realm are assigned smallholdings within the lands of their lords and are responsible for protecting, organizing, and taxing those holdings. This is usually no more than a village, a trade route, or a location of some military importance such as a mountain pass or river crossing. These knights are expected to make a living off these holdings but how they go about it is left entirely up to them as long as their taxes are paid and any other problems are resolved before their superiors have to step in. The wealth, authority, and even notoriety of these knights varies greatly from example to example saying nothing of their local popularity. This form of knighthood is most often awarded to 'strangers', that is soldiers, mercenaries, and common folk not well known to the lord or lady offering it as a reward but apparently connected to the local fiefdom. Knights of the realm are expected to maintain themselves through their holdings or whatever legal means available to them, including military pay if applicable.

Knights Errant or Hedge Knights are roaming knights attached to neither court nor land. The commonality of these knights is difficult to ascertain due to more than one having lost their Writ of Knighthood to accident and gambling, forged writs, and even the occasional proper knighting for which a writ was never issued. However, it is commonly believed that their numbers fluctuate wildly between that of Knights of the Court and Knights of the Realm depending on how recently the last continent-wide crises, noble infighting, attempted coup, or natural disaster was. While the most frequent manner of becoming a Hedge Knight is to be an outsider to a given land rewarded as such (often in lieu of a more spendable reward) it is also not unheard of for a Court Knight or a Landed Knight to survive the death of their lord, be ousted by political maneuvering, or find themselves forced into 'retirement' due to another more recent knighting being more important to the relevant lord than their time in service. At the end of the day, most Knights Errant either do nothing with the honor or become some manner of mercenary. A rare few attempt to find a court to 'adopt' their Writ of Knighthood, in effect becoming a Knight of the Realm or a Knight of the Court as appropriate. Knights Errant are solely responsible for funding themselves and often do so through military service, mercenary work, etc. (The formal or courtly term for a Knight Errant is "Knight of Giralda", however, this term is used so rarely that most peasants aren't aware of it and many nobles will say the more common term even when actually knighting someone as such.)



Knights occupy a unique position in the hierarchy of Giralda. Any knight who lacks another title or some officially recognized noble lineage essentially occupies the lowest noble rank while also holding what is commonly seen as the highest common rank possible. One need not be born to nobility to be knighted, it is a reflection of deeds done and bearing maintained rather than an inherited position. Indeed, Knighthood is absolutely and without variation NOT HEREDITARY. If a family line has a string of knights it is presumed or at the least paid lip service that each member of the family line earned their individual knighting. It is meant to be an earned thing and, at least theoretically, an option for any being brave enough to pursue it. Many a bedtime story features a highly motivated hero or heroine seeking out and attaining Knighthood for a variety of reasons, though most popular amongst them are peasants wishing to challenge a noble enemy or marry a noble love.

Knights enjoy the same rights and privileges as other nobles in a given area, adjusted for relative rank and circumstance. These often include the right to a trial before the local Lord's Justice no matter the crime, the right of lodging (either as a courtesy or to be paid for later by the knight's lord), and the right of conscription (the enlistment of troops in the face of immediate threat). These rights are usually strongest in the hands of a Court Knight and weakest in the hands of a Hedge Knight while varying greatly on a case-by-case basis for Landed Knights. The right of justice is another example that differs from type to type, sitting most firmly with Landed Knights while the other two varieties are frowned upon for taking such matters into their own hands. Knights also receive, as noted above, the right of challenge and the right of marriage. Both of these rights may be refused by a higher ranking noble but this refusal can be appealed to any higher authority, if such exists, by a knight.

Courtly and Landed Knights answer the call of their lords when summoned, gird themselves for war when commanded, and serve faithfully in all matters. Failure to do so is more than enough reason to have their Writ of Knighthood stripped from them in shame (and likely hung as a traitor). Hedge Knights are expected to either pick a side and offer their service or vacate the area as swiftly as possible before the hostilities begin lest they be mistaken for a dangerous combatant serving 'the other side'. Attitudes towards Hedge Knights run the spectrum at the best of times, so the above treatment rarely comes as a surprise to them.



The process of being granted knighthood is relatively simple, one merely needs to be named such by a person holding a Writ of Nobility. This can be as brief as a single sentence spoken by one person to the other such as "I name Thee a Knight of My Court/Realm/Giralda," or involve a much longer speech, intricate ceremony, and arranged celebration. The details are often considered inconsequential and the far more important element of Knighthood is the Writ of Knighthood. One need not have such a Writ in order to be a knight so long as there is someone willing to endorse you as such but due to the uncertain nature of life in a medieval world having one can mean the difference between receiving your rights before a Judicar and merely getting eye-rolls from the lynch-mob.

A Writ of Knighthood is an expensive document to produce and is thus treated with great care by whoever owns one, covered in expensive inks and intricately inscribed with beautiful handwriting detailing the deeds (genuine or manufactured) that earned the named subject their knighting. Finally, the whole thing is endorsed by the noble endowing it upon them as well as the seals of several other noble witnesses when available in the form of several wax impressions dangling from ribbons affixed to the bottom of the parchment. While not necessarily delicate, it is a constant risk to carry such a document about. Most Court Knights and Landed Knights leave these documents practically enshrined at their homes, either locked away or prominently displayed in protective cases. Hedge Knights who have the option will also do this but most are forced to carry these documents in protective scroll tubes designed especially for transporting important documents (such as formal treaties, declarations of war, and the like).



Being a knight isn't all flowers and wine. Indeed, there are more than a few knights who will freely admit that had they known the full accounting of their privilege vs. their responsibilities they would have refused the honor entirely. In Giralda a peasant is largely free to live as they like, traveling as they please and keeping their own schedules in most things. Blood nobility is entitled to its rights and privileges regardless of their personal talent, work ethic, or even basic usefulness. Knights, on average, enjoy none of the above. Knights of the Court are considered to have nothing better to do than carry out the commands of their superior, as they have no lands to attend and their positions in the court are entirely at the pleasure of their lord. The only exception are nobles who are knighted in the course of their service but those examples are rarely thought of as knights in the first place with the honorific just becoming another line in the list when they are announced at court. True Knights of the Court lack a family name and titles and thus have no choice but to serve 'happily' lest they be stripped of their Knighthood as a consequence.

Knights of the Realm have less direct management but as a result, are obligated to be more personally competent in order to manage their holdings. Being the lowest form of nobility and often holding only a tenuous grip on that rank, Landed Knights must spend much of their time directly managing the affairs of their holdings. From taxing peasants who live or operate within its borders to maintaining the lord's property (bridges, roads, etc.) the job is never truly done and a Knight has no lesser noble to foist responsibility off on in the case of disaster. The easiest form of being a Landed Knight is being granted a military holding, such as a fort watching over a strategically important location, as much of the work is handled by subordinates who are presumably as committed to the task as the knight is and often more skilled in whatever their specialty may be (quartermasters, for example). Being made a Landed Knight can sometimes be employed as a way to sabotage a young upstart who has grown too popular in the eyes of a fearful or jealous lord, though it has equal chances of backfiring if the upstart also happens to be just as capable as they are popular.

Knights Errant have the dubious illusion of freedom, free to choose their day-to-day activities as they please and need demands. Unfortunately, that has led to many a Hedge Knight making decisions, undertaking tasks, and joining causes that have done long-lasting damage to the collective reputation of these wandering figures of tale and lore. The reaction to the arrival of a wandering knight varies from person to person depending on their personal experiences but on average even the friendliest of villages get a bit cold toward a roving stranger when they get wind said stranger carries a writ. More than a few wandering knights have become little better than roving warlords, bandit kings, and local tyrants by exercising the right of 'conscription', 'lodging', and 'justice' in out-of-the-way places. These stories, unsurprisingly, travel much farther and faster than the tales of the other Hedge Knights who live their lives to put those villains to the sword.



Knights of the Court: Open

Knights of the Realm: Open

Knights Errant: Open

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Notable NPCs: Open