The word knight, from Old English cniht ("boy" or "servant"), is a cognate of the German word Knecht ("servant, bondsman, vassal"). This meaning, of unknown origin, is common among West Germanic languages

Training
The institution of knights was already well-established by the 10th century. While the knight was essentially a title denoting a military office, the term could also be used for positions of higher nobility such as landholders. The higher

By the end of the 16th century, knights were becoming obsolete as countries started creating their own professional armies that

Hereditary knighthoods
Continental Europe
In continental Europe different systems of hereditary knighthood have existed or do exist.

Pre-Carolingian legacies
In ancient Rome there was a knightly class Ordo Equestris (order of mounted nobles). Some portions of the armies of Germanic peoples who occupied Europe from the 3rd century AD onward had been mounted, and some armies, such as

Knights and the ideals of knighthood featured largely in medieval and Renaissance literature, and have secured a permanent place in literary

When chivalry had long since declined, the cavalry of the early modern era clung to the old ideals. Even the first fighter pilots of the First World War, in