I sometimes wonder about the kind of physical shape the typical Middle Ages knight would have been in.
Indulge me, if you will, on a small snippet of history. The knight, while not as romantic as fantasy makes them seem, was a force to be reckoned with.
They were the lowest rank of nobility, and were essentially professional heavy cavalry. Chivalry in fact wasn't a code but rather the act of being a good horse soldier. While they were primarily heavy cavalry, they were often dismounted and deployed as heavy infantry in certain situations.
As you may have gathered, they were all around elite warriors, and while they owned businesses and saw to their land when not at war (which was most of the time) war was their profession.
How does this tie into fitness? A warrior trains and has to be in shape. Typically a page became a squire around 14, and began YEARS of training for battle. A squire would train typically until they were around 21 years old. This means it is no stretch of the imagination to say young knights were likely the most physically fit men of their day in those regions of Europe.
Armor isn't as heavy as most think. Plate armor made for battle might come out around 60 pounds, distributed across the entire body. Still, imagine being capable of strapping 60 extra pounds to yourself and still being able to sprint, do pushups, climb up and down a ladder, get up into a saddle.
You get the picture. The level of athleticism and overall fitness these guys had is something I would have liked to see. Be fun to put them up agaisnt modern athletes and see how they'd do endurance wise.
Historical fitness musings.
I sometimes wonder about the kind of physical shape the typical Middle Ages knight would have been in.
Indulge me, if you will, on a small snippet of history. The knight, while not as romantic as fantasy makes them seem, was a force to be reckoned with.
They were the lowest rank of nobility, and were essentially professional heavy cavalry. Chivalry in fact wasn't a code but rather the act of being a good horse soldier. While they were primarily heavy cavalry, they were often dismounted and deployed as heavy infantry in certain situations.
As you may have gathered, they were all around elite warriors, and while they owned businesses and saw to their land when not at war (which was most of the time) war was their profession.
How does this tie into fitness? A warrior trains and has to be in shape. Typically a page became a squire around 14, and began YEARS of training for battle. A squire would train typically until they were around 21 years old. This means it is no stretch of the imagination to say young knights were likely the most physically fit men of their day in those regions of Europe.
Armor isn't as heavy as most think. Plate armor made for battle might come out around 60 pounds, distributed across the entire body. Still, imagine being capable of strapping 60 extra pounds to yourself and still being able to sprint, do pushups, climb up and down a ladder, get up into a saddle.
You get the picture. The level of athleticism and overall fitness these guys had is something I would have liked to see. Be fun to put them up agaisnt modern athletes and see how they'd do endurance wise.