Medieval writing class

My budding writer is being uncovered slowly and surely. I am so thankful for this class and this format that has awakened the writer within her. She has a week to complete the assignments and she doesn't complain a bit. She is learning so much about history paralleling the curriculum at home. The class focuses on the Medieval Age so this week she wrote about the knights and their duties.  I love how the ideas are becoming coherent thoughts and her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds.

Here is her essay :

The Amazing Knights of the Middle Ages

Knights are a highly important topic in history because of their numerous duties, their fantastic armor, and how and why they followed their list of rules, called the code of chivalry.

Knights had numerous duties.  Knights were needed by nobles to apprehend invaders.  Their foremost duty was to protect their lord's life and land.  Usually this meant going into battle.  They also kept law and order in the kingdom.  To be ready for battle, they practiced combat skills.  When they dashed into battle, clad in armor, and riding on loyal steeds, they were like modern day tanks.  There were three kinds of soldiers; knights, archers and foot soldiers.  Knights often scorned foot soldiers because they were usually only mere peasants.  Knights were intrepid, and tenacious soldiers, who fought solely to protect the land of their lord or king.  Because of this, they became part of a proficient, elite class.  Ultimately, the duties of a knight were extremely important to each kingdom.

It's cost is more than a car, more than a tank, maybe even more than your house, it’s armor.  The knights armor was not always so expensive, not when it was made of simple chain mail.   Chain mail was merely thousands of tiny rings linked together.  Later, when the crossbow was invented, this armor was no use. The metal smiths created a suit of metal plates so complicated that it took two men to clad a knight in it.  The armor was also extremely cumbersome, and when a knight fell off his steed, he could not get up again.  The main weapon of a knight was his sword, which could easily have been twice as long as his arm, and weight more than a bicycle.  Because the suits were so complex and difficult to make, they became more costly.

Knights were bound by the code of chivalry, which expected them to be impeccable, and help the feeble.  Some people believed knighthood was a holy calling.  Chivalry originally meant, “horse soldier”, however it became known as the ethics of the knights.  Knights had to vow they would be loyal, and loving, honoring both to God and their lord.  They could not boast or be smug.  They were also required to protect women and children.  In war they had to willingly sacrifice themselves.  If a knight fell in love with an elegant lady, they had to do whatever task she challenged.  The Code of Chivalry embodied multiple virtues.

All of these things are extremely significant, and as you can see, knights were clearly busy men.