Pray thee good Sir Knight

A swift and valiant horse, and an honorable knight, charging into battle, saving and wooing the fair damsel in distress....Hardly.

Forget all your ideas of chivalric knights battling for love and honor. This episode covers what being a knight actually was, and for the most part it was love of slaughter and love of money that drove the knights, and turned them inot mercenaries and soldiers of fortune.

On one side of the coin is John Hawkward, the mercenary swordsman who was paid by the Holy Church herself to exact vengeance on a small town. With his men he murdered 5,000 men, women and children, and became so handsomely paid for the service he was able to build a castle and given the honor of being buried in Florence Cathedral.

On the other side, we are shown the life of William Marshall, who raised himself from poverty to become the shining example of chivalry and goodness that is the mainstay of many a novel or Hollywood epic.

But most of all, this is a lesson in good horsemanship, the evolution of armor, and how to make some good money along the way doing it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhWFQtzM4r0&feature=PlayList&p=GXxQQqRaQHA