A Topsy Turvy Order

One of the things that irks me about knighthood in most medieval re-creation organizations is that they are misplaced on the order of precedence (which shows how the different titles rank in the official hierarchy).

Let's take Amtgard as an example and compare it the the actual hierarchy in England

Amtgard Order of Precedence

• Barons
• Knights
• Baronets
• Lords
• Warlords
• Masters
• Squires

Source: http://amtwiki.net/amtwiki/index.php/Order_of_Precedence

English Order of Precedence

• Barons / Lords
• Knights of the Garter / Knights of the Thistle
• Baronets
• Knights
• Squires

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_precedence_in_England_and_Wales#Barons

Notice the relative position of knights. In real life, they rank below baronets and lords while Amtgard has them above. In Amtgard (and other medieval re-creation organizations) this creates a topsy turvy hierarchy where there are more lords than knights, and lords get less respect. A more realistic structure would have a smaller number of lords, each having a retinue of knights, squires, and men-at-arms at their command.

I'd also like to point out that the English order of precedence actually has multiple levels of knights. For simplicity I only show 2 (regular knights and Knights of the Garter / Knights of the Thistle) but there are more. Most medieval re-creation groups only have 1 level. This is one thing I liked about the Adrian Empire - they had a 3 level system of knighthood. For example, a combat knight would start as Knight Bachelor, progress to a Knight Banneret, and then to a Knight Champion. A multi-tiered system would allow a player to have further goals after getting that initial knighthood.

I have a lot more thoughts about knighthood but I'll be splitting them across multiple posts. Stay tuned.