Days of Chivalry Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

In 1388, the English and the French forces were facing each other at Vironfosse but neither side was prepared for a fight. Suddenly the French knights noticed a hare runnning through the field. They mounted their horses and began hunting the poor hare.

The English saw the knights galloping across the field and thought that the French were attacking! They panicked a bit and the Earl of Hainault immediately knighted 14 young men in a few minutes. However, the battle never happened and the 14 knights went on to become known as the Knights of the Hare, not of the Bear.

Answer: Scotland

This, the highest, Scottish Order is open to only 16 people and the Royal family. Their motto is "Nemo me impune lacessit" which means "Nobody annoys me with impunity".

Answer: 271

Judging by the number of the rings, he can't have been a very good fighter. He used to fight wearing a long golden wig and a woman's dress! It is also said that he had one of his fingers cut for the sake of a beautiful lady and had it sent to her.

Answer: Edward III

There is a very interesting story concerning the founding of the "Order of the Garter". In the Middle Ages a garter was a silk ribbon used to keep women's stockings up. In 1347 Edward III was at Calais and was dancing with the Countess of Salisbury, when suddenly her garter fell down. Everyone present in the room started to laugh and make fun of the poor Countess. Edward III was very angry with this behaviour and picked up the garter from the floor and wore it himself! He then said "Shame on those who think this is shameful" and announced the creation of the "Order of the Garter". Maybe this story is true, maybe it is not.

The motto of this Order is "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (medieval French) and these knights have it written on their badge.

It is sometimes translated as "Shame on those who think this is shameful", or more forcefully as "Accursed be he who thinks evil of it".

Answer: whalebone

Edward's 38 knights used whalebone swords and wooden shields and wore armour made out of leather.

Answer: Pope Urban II

Urban II, who was Pope from 1088-99, launched the First Crusade. Gregory VII, who had been Pope from 1073-85, had revised traditional Catholic teachings on what constituted a 'just war' in a way that allowed officially approved crusades to take place with the blessing of the Church.

The immediate cause of the First Crusade was a request for help from the Emperor of Byzantium, Alexis I Comnenus, against Muslim incursions into his territory. One of the key aims was to retake Jerusalem for Christendom.

Answer: True

Pope Urban II was already dead when the messenger arrived in Rome. Meanwhile, the Muslims were fighting back, so the Christians organized a Second Crusade to rescue the knights of the First Crusade. They failed. Then, there was a Third Crusade led by Richard the Lionheart. Richard had only limited success and was unable to retake Jerusalem. By 1291, all Christians had been thrown out of the Holy Land.

Answer: vinegar

Actually, knights didn't polish their swords themselves. That was the job of a squire. Armour was also polished that way.

Answer: a metal glove

A gauntlet was a special metal glove with the ability to lock itself around a sword or a lance to keep it steady for better aim and accuracy. This kind of glove was banned from knight tournaments because using it was cheating.

Answer: 1621

The knights were beginning to lose their power and importance from the second half of the 14th century. That is mostly because the slow and heavily armoured knights were easy targets for archers and crossbowmen. This became much worse when the first guns and cannons appeared. So gradually the knights faded, until they completely disappeared.

The days of chivalry were over. (Attempts to revive tournaments in the 1840s were unsuccessful. When these knights fell from their horses they found themselves trapped in buckled armour).