From the tenth century, the status and importance of knights rocketed across the medieval west. Within a couple of generations, Frankish-style heavy cavalry evolved to become preeminent on battlefields from the British Isles to Egypt and the Middle East. As they did so, the social cachet of being able to fight in the saddle also soared. By the twelfth century, the knight was a man whose importance in wartime was rewarded with landed wealth and high rank during peacetime. And around him was emerging a distinctive cult of knightliness known as chivalry, which would inform art, literature, and
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