Knights & TES Lore

[AG97]

So a few questions about the role of knights in the TES games, mainly out of curiosity and for RP purposes. If you can't be bothered to read all the text below, a summary of their place int the lore would also be great.

 

As a playable class, the knight behaves in pretty much the same way you'd expect the stereotypical image of knights in history to behave (e.g. chivalry, proficiency with weapons etc.) as seen here: http://elderscrolls .wikia.com/wiki/Knight However, this doesn't tell you much about their place in the lore.

 

There are two races that have knights as far as I'm aware: the Bretons and the Imperials. This makes sense for the Bretons, since they're a feudal culture based on medieval France/England. There's not much in the lore about the knights of High Rock, but I'd assume they're a key component of Breton armies and are of the middling nobility in terms of status.

 

I'm a bit more confused about the Imperials. I recall two knightly orders in Oblivion. You could become a knight-errant of the Knights of the White Stallion in service to the Count of Leyawiin, and then of course there were the Knights of the Nine. So there are knights sworn to serve a member of the nobility and there are holy orders, like the Crusaders. But where do these knights fit in with the Imperial Legion? There's not really any mention of knights fighting in actual wars that I know of. How would a knight stack up in rank to say, a legate of the Imperial Legion? Heck, do any of the knightly orders even fight for the Empire? It just seems a bit odd that there are traditionally medieval martial positions in Cyrodil, (man at arms and knight) who are in service directly to counts, that coexist with the Imperial Legion, the official army of the state - based on the Roman army - in service to the Emperor.

[cdcooley]

I doubt any character in the game would think to ask how those knights affiliated with specific nobles or religions would rank compared legates because they simply aren't in the same organizations. But for the actual legion the titles used have varied by game. In Morrowind the two highest ranks were Knight of the Garland and Knight of the Imperial Dragon with no mention of titles like legate. And Darius of Gnisis had both the rank of Knight Protector and the title General. So knightly status may be completely unrelated to the operational titles like general, legate, commander, etc.

[AG97]

Thanks, that clears things up a bit