For other uses, see
Knight (disambiguation) or
Knights (disambiguation). Knight is the
English term for a social position originating in the
Middle Ages. In the
Commonwealth of Nations, knighthood is a non-heritable form of
gentility, but is not
nobility. In the
High and
Late Middle Ages, the principal
duty of a knight was to fight as, and lead,
heavy cavalry (see
serjeanty); more recently, in the
United Kingdom, knighthood has become a
symbolic title of
honour given to a more diverse
class of people, from mountain climber
Edmund Hillary to musician
Paul McCartney. By extension, "knight" is also used as a translation of the names of other honourable
estates connected with horsemanship, especially from
classical antiquity.
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