knight (English)

A medieval European horse-riding warrior, characterized by a sense of Christian norms. The knighthood itself was also seen in ancient times, and the wealthy equites of the Roman period were considered a semi-aristocratic status between the senatorial nobility and the commoners, but their military significance was lost over time. Medieval knights, on the other hand, were born out of the feudalistic era and developed a unique investiture ceremony.

Cavalry tactics appeared in the Frankish society in the 8th century, but horse riding techniques with horseshoes and stirrups were probably introduced to Europe by the horse-riding nomads of the eastern steppes. The monopoly of horse riding techniques, along with iron, by the knight class, who were primarily "horsemen" who made a living by exploiting the peasants, marked the beginning of the "separation of soldiers from farmers" in medieval society. The knighthood was not established all at once, and in the 9th and 10th centuries, they were merely "de facto aristocrats" who held social superiority in terms of the nature of their property as land lords, their control over the people, and their lifestyle as professional warriors. In the feudal society of the 11th and 12th centuries, there was also a hierarchical differentiation within the aristocracy, with castle lords or bannisters as aristocrats and militaces (commonly known as common knights) who were vassals to them, depending on the amount of wealth and power. Nevertheless, the two classes as a whole were integrated into the broader class of knights, as a ruling class distinct from the peasant class. The reason for this is that their status was hereditary, just like fiefs, and was passed down through a special ceremony, namely the investiture of knights. In order for de facto nobility to be transformed into a legally defined knighthood, a kind of "consecration" by Christianity was essential. The Church tried to soften the warlike spirit brought by the Germanic warriors by restricting acts of war (such as "God's peace") and by intervening in the investiture of knights, trying to make the knighting system serve the original purposes of the Church.

The knighting ceremony was an evolution of the ancient Germanic coming-of-age ceremony, which centered on the presentation of weapons. The Church changed this presentation of weapons to a ceremony of blessing the weapons, and the honor of handing over the weapons was transferred from older lay knights to clergymen who performed the ceremony. This change was almost completed by the middle of the 12th century, and the old Germanic customs of the knighting ceremony were now transformed into Christian sacraments, and the morals and etiquette of a "Christian knight" were also established. Even the warlike instinct of Germanic warriors had to be rationalized with the slogan "unity of war and faith" or "holy war," and the Crusades were a typical example of this. The Crusades promoted the formation of a chivalrous culture through mutual contact between knights from various Western European countries and the formation of Christian knightly orders.

The 13th century, when chivalry reached its height, was already beginning to become vulgarized and decline. This was not only due to the influence of women in Western culture, as seen in "courtly love" (amour courtois). Another factor was that many of the knightly orders that emerged during the Crusades gradually lost their original spiritual character, became sectarian, and began to pursue factional interests. However, a more important factor was that kings and great lords, who were embarking on a policy of centralization, began to demand that the knights be subordinated to them, and therefore tried to monopolize the right to bestow knights.

On the other hand, around this time, there was a marked tendency to close off the knighthood, which closed off the path to social advancement for those who were not descended from knights, and the nobility was beginning to form as a hereditary privileged class. Only the monarch could break this hereditary principle, and he could knight anyone who was useful to his political and economic goals, regardless of their suitability as a warrior. The change in tactics at the end of the Middle Ages accelerated this trend. Instead of heavily armed cavalry, the importance of infantry and archers increased, and the appearance of artillery made the tactical role of knights worthless. In place of the old knightly nobility, which had fallen into decline due to the threat of the estates of their lords, new nobility, who were official bourgeoisies and held seats in the High Court and the Court of Accounts, as seen in France during the Ancien Régime. Thus, the knighting system was no longer a matter of military ability or qualification, but was transformed into an aristocratic system as a privileged class, whether it was a privilege inherited by heredity or a privilege granted by the monarch.

[Inoue Yasuo]

"Chivalry" by P.D. Clinchamps, translated by Katsumi Kawamura and Shunichi Niikura (Hakusuisha, Que sais-jes paperback)" ▽ "Chivalry" by Shunichi Niikura (included in "The Quest for the Western Spirit: The Twelfth Century of Innovation" edited by Yozo Horimai, 1976, NHK Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中世ヨーロッパの騎馬の戦士で、キリスト教の規範意識をもつことを特色とする。騎士身分そのものは古代にもみられ、ローマ時代の財力に優れたエクィテスは、元老院貴族と平民との中間にある準貴族身分とみなされたが、軍事的な意味は失われていった。中世の騎士はこれと異なり、封建制という時代環境のなかから生まれ、独特な叙任式を発展させた。

　騎馬戦術は、8世紀のフランク社会に登場するが、蹄鉄(ていてつ)や鐙(あぶみ)を伴う乗馬術は、東方ステップの騎馬遊牧民からヨーロッパに伝わったものであろう。乗馬術が鉄とともに、まずもって農民を搾取して生活する「馬に乗った人間」たる騎士階層によって独占されたことは、中世社会の「兵農分離」の開始を意味する。騎士身分は一挙に成立したものではなく、9、10世紀ごろには、土地領主としての財産の性格、領民に対する支配権、職業的戦士としての生活様式といった点で、社会的な優位にたつ「事実上の貴族」にすぎなかった。また11、12世紀ごろの封建社会では、富や権力の大小によって、門閥貴族たる城主ないしバン領主層と、彼らに臣従する狭義の平騎士（ミリテース）層という、貴族内部の階層分化もみられた。それにもかかわらず、両者は全体として、農民身分とは異なる支配階層として、広義の騎士身分に融合していた。その理由は、彼らの身分が封土と同様に世襲化され、特別な儀式、すなわち騎士叙任式によって継承されたからにほかならない。事実上の貴族が法的に明確化された騎士身分に転成するためには、キリスト教による一種の「聖別」が不可欠であった。教会は、ゲルマン戦士の伝えた好戦的気風を和らげようとして、戦闘行為の制限（「神の平和」など）に努めるとともに、騎士叙任式に介入して、騎士制度を教会本来の目的に役だたせようとした。

　騎士叙任式とは、ゲルマン古来の武器授与を中心とする成年式の発展したもので、教会はこの武器授与を武器の祝別式に改め、武器を手渡す名誉も、年長の俗人騎士から祭式執行者たる聖職者へ移行する。このような変化は12世紀の中ごろまでにほぼ達成され、騎士叙任式の古いゲルマン的しきたりは、いまやキリスト教の秘蹟(ひせき)に転化し、「キリスト教騎士」としてのモラルや作法も定着してくる。ゲルマン戦士の好戦本能にしても、「戦争と信仰の一致」ないし「聖戦」というスローガンで合理化される必要があり、その典型的なケースが十字軍の運動であった。十字軍は西欧各国の騎士の相互接触、キリスト教騎士団の結成を通して、騎士道文化の形成を促進する結果になった。

　騎士道の最盛期を現出した13世紀には、早くもその俗化と衰退の過程が始まった。それは「宮廷風恋愛」（アムール・クルトア）にみられるような、西欧文化に芽生えてきた女性の影響力によるだけではない。十字軍時代に生まれた多くの騎士団がしだいに草創期の求道的性格を失ってセクト化し、党派的利益の追求に走るようになったこともその一因である。しかし、より重要なことは、中央集権化の政策に乗り出した国王や大諸侯が、彼らにのみ奉仕すべき直臣層を騎士階層に求めるようになり、そのため騎士叙任権の独占を図ろうとしたことである。

　他方、このころになると、騎士系の子孫でない者に社会的上昇の道を閉ざす騎士身分の封鎖化の傾向も著しく、世襲特権階級としての貴族が形成されつつあった。この世襲の原則を破りうる者は君主のみで、君主は自らの政治的、経済的目的に役だつような者を、その戦士としての適格性とはかかわりなく、騎士身分に取り立てることができた。中世末期における戦術の転換がこの傾向に拍車をかける。重装備の騎兵にかわって、歩兵や弓兵の意義が増加し、さらに火砲の出現が騎士隊の戦術的役割を無価値にする。領主財産の危機に瀕(ひん)して没落した古い騎士系貴族にかわって、アンシャン・レジームのフランスにみられるように、高等法院や会計院などに席をもつ官職ブルジョアの新貴族が台頭してくる。こうして騎士制度は、もはや武人としての能力や資格の問題ではなくなり、世襲により引き継ぐ特権か、君主から賜る特権か、いずれにしても特権身分としての貴族制度へと変質していった。

［井上泰男］

『P・d・クランシャン著、川村克己・新倉俊一訳『騎士道』（白水社・文庫クセジュ）』▽『新倉俊一著『騎士道』（堀米庸三編『西欧精神の探究――革新の十二世紀』所収・1976・日本放送出版協会）』

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