MEDIEVAL SQUIRES
By Nick Eaton and Kyle Cone
From Page to Squire
! On the quest to becoming a knight, a
boy must begin as a page on his way to
becoming a squire before completing his
journey to knighthood. When a boy, born of a
knight, turned seven they were able to leave
their home life and enter into a life at the
castle. A page’s duty was to do whatever his
lord commanded. Also a page would take care
of and watch over the women of the castle and
in turn they would teach the page table
etiquette.
! The page would dress his lord and also
keep his armor clean. This was to get him
ready for cleaning a knight’s armor as a squire.
It was the page’s obligation to be with his lord
and lady at all times. If a page was lucky, he
would receive minimal training from the upper
ranking squire. Once a page had given his
service for seven years, at age fourteen a page
became a squire, if he proved he was worthy.
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The Duties of a Squire
! Squires did many tasks for their
knights, but their were two specific knights.
! The Squire of the Table worked in
the court or about the castle. They would dress
the knight, or be servants at the table.
! The Arming Squire went with
the knight into combat on the battlefield. They
would assist the knight in putting on his armor
or aid them taking it off. The Arming Squire
would also clean the armor for the next battle.
! Not all squires were Arming Squires or
Squires of the Table. Many did general jobs
about the castle and on the battlefield. Squires
would clean the knight’s armor and prepare it
for battle. They also cleaned the stables and
readied the horses along with the armor. A
squire would also stand guard outside the
knight’s chambers at night. Squires also had to
follow the Code of Chivalry, like the knights
above them.
! To help them in their duties, squires
would learn to joust, climb, swim,
swordsmanship, and other skills, making a
squire worthy of becoming a knight.
MEDIEVAL SQUIRES PAGE 2 .

‘Arma Patrina’ Meanings of the Word “Squire”

! The word squire comes from the Old
! Once a squire had completed its
French word “escuier” which comes from the
service which to most squires was seven years,
Latin word “scutarius.” “Scutarius” means
they could become a knight, but not all squires
“shield bearer.” Over hundreds of years, the
became knights. There are two main reasons a
word squire has acquired many different
squire would not become a knight. One being
meanings. It started off in history as a meaning
the squire was too old to become a knight. The
for knights in training. It then grew to mean
second reason would be due to the fact that
the leader of an English village and also as a
the squire could not afford to be a knight.
gentleman below a knight. It was also used as a
! These men, known as the Latin words, slang word towards each other after the Middle
‘Arma Patrina,’ could carry a shield and lance Ages.
but they were not given their emblem. They
were allowed to carry these objects even with
the ceremony pronouncing them a knight.
They had to follow the code of chivalry, but it
was restricted towards them. Thought this was
true, they would gain more respect than a
disgraced knight who were not restricted int
he areas of chivalry. Arma Patrina were also
viewed in many aspects. Some were pitied or
even shunned by the higher ranking knights.
! There was yet a third way a knight
could become an Arma Patrina, which was
considered the worst way in which to reach
such a status. If you did not correctly perform
the knighting ceremony, you would not be
given another chance and you would be named
an ‘Arma Patrina.’

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