Q 01/05

The Old English word cniht, from which 'knight' derives, originally meant what?

A) Sword-bearer

B) Horseman

C) Boy or servant

D) Nobleman

Answer · why

C) Boy or servant

Its German cousin Knecht still means servant; the military sense only emerged around 1100.

Q 02/05

Under which ruler are the first knights generally said to have appeared, in the 8th century?

A) William the Conqueror

B) Otto the Great

C) Alfred the Great

D) Charlemagne

Answer · why

D) Charlemagne

His far-flung conquests depended on mounted warriors, whom he rewarded with grants of land called benefices.

Q 03/05

Which invention let Frankish horsemen fight from the saddle as true cavalry rather than dismounting?

A) The curb bit

B) The high-cantled saddle

C) The horseshoe

D) The stirrup

Answer · why

D) The stirrup

Charles the Bald's Edict of Pîtres in 864 then called all who could afford it to answer calls to arms on horseback against the Vikings.

Q 04/05

What was the medieval Latin word for a knight?

A) Dominus

B) Cavallarius

C) Miles

D) Eques

Answer · why

C) Miles

In classical Latin the same word simply meant a soldier, normally on foot.

Q 05/05

The French word chevalier and English 'chivalry' both descend from which Vulgar Latin word?

A) Capellus, a hat

B) Calidus, a hot-blooded man

C) Caballus, a horse

D) Cavea, a cage

Answer · why

C) Caballus, a horse

The Germanic languages went another way: German Ritter and Dutch ridder come from the verb to ride.