Quote:
Originally Posted by Nokizaru
I won't point out the difference between a Teutonic knight and a Spanish one, but I will try to clear things up with the help of another example.
We shall take the example of an English Knight and a Wallach or Moldavian so-called 'boyar' or 'boier'.
Quote:'In the early Middle Ages the term knight designated a professional fighting man in the emerging feudal system. Some were as poor as the peasant class. However, over time, as this class of fighter became more prominent in post-Carolingian France, they became wealthier and began to hold and inherit land. Eventually, on the Continent of Europe, only those men could be knighted whose fathers or grandfathers had been knights; and the knightly families became known as the nobility.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight
Wikipedia about Wallachian and Moldovian Boyars:
'In the Balkan regions inhabited by Romanians, the boyar (boier) class emerged from the chiefs (named cneaz or jude in the areas north of the Danube and celnic south of the river) of rural communities in the early Middle Ages, initially elected, who later made their judicial and administrative attributions hereditary and gradually expanded them upon other communities. After the apparition of more advanced political structures in the area their privileged status had to be confirmed by the central power, which used this prerogative to include in the boyar class individuals that distinguished themselves in the military or civilian functions they performed (by allocating them lands from the princely domains).
The boyars progressively differentiated themselves into ‘great’ boyars (who owned numerous, large domains and held important functions in the central administration) and ‘small’ boyars (who owned small estates and held less important functions).Starting with the first half of the fifteenth century they became the most important political force in Wallachia and Moldavia.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyar
Although they had a political and administrative role in the Wallach and Moldavian feudal system, they were loyal to their rulers and could take over also the role of a noble fighter (a knight).
They fought along with the pedestrian army (builded mostly of peasants who were forced to join this so called 'Great Army', and along to the ruler (domn).
We can easily conclude that an English knight is not equal to a Wallach/Moldavian boyar/ 'knight'.