In 792–93 Charlemagne issued a law ordering all cavalrymen to carry a spear to be thrust and stabbed toward the enemy, rather than thrown, javelin style. This proved so effective that over the following two centuries, spear-wielding horsemen became an increasingly important part of western medieval armies. The Latin term for such men was miles (plural: milites); the Old German term, kneht. By the eleventh century the word had entered Old English as cnihtas, from which today we have the word knight.
