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The Knight's Tale: Social Status And Rank In Medieval England

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In medieval England, social status and rank are very important in everyday life. There are some things a person is obligated to do because of his/her social rank, and some things a person is forbidden to do because of his/her social class. In the movie, the Knight’s Tale there is a very good example of how social classes can not do certain things beyond their class. William Thatcher, for example cannot technically be a knight by birth because he is born into the lower social class. His father had to give him up as a child into an apprenticeship sort of so he could have a better life. His apprenticeship thing was supposed to last 12 years. His father told him when he left to “Follow his feet they’ll take you home.” He meant by this that after his “apprenticeship” he’d have to find his own way home because William asked as his father was leaving how he would get home. His “apprenticeship” was under Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein. During his 12 years as a squire he would be accompanied by two other squires who were also under Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein. Before his years were up Sir Ulrich died. William and the other two squires were desperate for money so they helped William teach himself how to joust so they could make some money off him in the tournaments. After their training …show more content…

He wasn’t technically supposed to be able to participate in jousts because he was royalty, but he didn’t care he did the same thing that William did. He rode under a fake name. When people figured out he was not who he said he was they would forfeit because if they hurt him or made him angry then he could very easily have them executed, put into slavery, prison, etc.. William was the only one who fought him in the jousts. This paid off for William because when he was in the stocks the Black Prince of Wales came to his rescue and repaid him for his courage and kindness and knighted him right

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