Because the office of
knighthood was treated with so much regard, taking on aspects of holy devotion, to be forsworn and stripped of knighthood was a purposefully traumatic experience. The
king could make the determination to remove knighthood from a man, as could certain
courts . In nearly all instances, the degraded man’s
spurs were ‘hacked from his heels’, his
sword broken (sometimes over his head), his
cote of arms burned, and his
shield hung upside down in a
church or other public place. Often this disgrace was matched with a death sentence, for such knights were often charged with and found guilty of treason. Treason, cowardice, and being forsworn were reasons often cited for the degradation, though it appears to have been rarely used.
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