Knight Banneret

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Knight Banneret was an English title of nobility . The title gave the nobleman the right to carry his own banner ( French: bannière ).

History and rank

The title arose in the Middle Ages from the military rank of the bannerets ( banner lords ). This is the name given to those knights in Western Europe who, at least in the event of war, united and led (formed a so-called banner ) several other knights (so-called bachelors ) and entourage (so-called lances ) under their banner . They were military subordinates who were only needed in the event of war, as there were no standing armies in medieval England. In the event of war, the king asked his vassals to obey him. Originally only those vassals were bannerets who had sub-vassals themselves - the latter were then to be mobilized for the king. Later other knights trusted by the king also became bannerets.

The title of a Knight Banneret could only from the English king as award by special and only in the field, usually before or after a battle, accolade will be awarded ceremony. For the first time such a ceremony can 1302/03 under King Edward I occupy. Mostly the title was awarded to simple knights ( Knights Bachelor ). The title of the Knight Banneret was awarded solely as a personal title of nobility and was therefore not hereditary.

The Knight Banneret was in the protocol order of precedence above all other Knights , but below the rank of peer .

Award ceremony

Alexander Bicknell described the ceremony of elevating a Knight Bachelor to a Knight Banneret as follows: Before or after a battle, the corresponding Knight Bachelor was brought before the king on the field on which the royal banner was placed. He was accompanied on both sides by a Knight Banneret and heralds carried his triangular banner of a Knight Bachelor (his so-called Pennon ) in front of him to the sound of trumpets . The tip of his pennon has now been cut off, so that a square banner was created, which, apart from Knights Banneret, only barons and higher-ranking peers were allowed to carry. Then the king performed the accolade on him, as it is otherwise also usual for the elevation to Knight Bachelor (touching the shoulder with the flat side of the sword).

Disappearance of the title

In the course of the diminishing military importance of the knights, the title developed into a pure honorary title in the course of the Tudor era and was ultimately rarely awarded. The last time King Charles I conferred the title on October 23, 1642 after the Battle of Edgehill, several knights, including John Smith, who had saved the royal standard from the enemy. From 1611, King James I introduced the new, hereditary title of baronet , which in some respects replaced the title of a banneret and built on its rank.

King George II. Revived the title once again when he on 27 June 1743 after the Battle of Dettingen , 16 of his commanders and the soldiers of the French had snatched the Royal British standard again, the honorary title of Knight Banneret awarded . Thereafter, the title was never awarded again, which may also be because Dettingen was the last battle in British history at which the monarch was personally present.

literature

  • Hugh Chisholm : Banneret . In: Encyclopædia Britannica , Volume 3, 1911.
  • John Seldon: Title of honor. Thomas Dring, London 1672, p. 655 f.
  • Walter Charles Metcalfe: A book of Knights banneret, Knights of the bath, and Knights bachelor, made between the fourth year of King Henry VI and the restoration of King Charles II. Mitchell and Hughes, London 1885.

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ barons were also synonymous with bannerets, cf. Seldon, p. 593
  2. ↑ or at least in the presence of the royal banner, by a representative of the king
  3. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 1, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 110.
  4. ↑ Alexander Bicknell: The History of Edward Prince of Wales , 1775, note on p. 216 f. ( books.google.de )
  5. ↑ Isaac Kimber (Ed.): The Gentleman's And London Magazine. And Monthly Chronologer. Edward Ekshaw, Dublin 1743, p. 356 ( books.google.de )
  6. ↑ Stephan Speicher: One world is not enough. Hanover celebrates the Georgian era when a German dynasty ruled the British Empire. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , May 17, 2014, p. 17.