Chevaliers Belgian Wall Tapestry

A scene of medieval knights of the warrior class fills the wall, woven in Belgium, ready for a hallway.

A knight was a gentleman soldier or member of the warrior class of the Middle Ages in Europe. In other Indo-European languages, cognates of cavalier or rider are more prevalent (e.g. French chevalier and German Ritter) suggesting a connection to the knight's mode of transport. Since antiquity, a position of honor and prestige has been held by mounted warriors such as the Greek hippeus, the Roman eques, and knighthood in the Middle Ages was inextricably linked with horsemanship.