Knight

A knight (/naɪt/) is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a monarch or other political leader for service to the Monarch or country, especially in a military capacity. Historically, in Europe, knighthood has been conferred upon mounted warriors. During the High Middle Ages, knighthood was considered a class of lower nobility. By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior. Often, a knight was a vassal who served as a fighter for a lord, with payment in the form of land holdings. The lords trusted the knights, who were skilled in battle on horseback. Since the early modern period, the title of knight is purely honorific, usually bestowed by a monarch, as in the British honours system, often for non-military service to the country. The modern female equivalent is Dame.

Young Knight in a Landscape

Young Knight in a Landscape, or Portrait of a Knight, is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Vittore Carpaccio, now in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection in Madrid. Dated 1510, this is the earliest full-length portrait in Western painting - on the assumption that it is a portrait, as seems likely. It is characteristic of Carpaccio that apart from this important innovation, the style of the work seems in other respects to look back to the previous century. From some date until the 20th century the painting had been given the monogram of Albrecht Dürer, and Carpaccio's signature overpainted. The realism and detail of Carpaccio does in fact show Northern influence.

For centuries the identity of the knight has been a subject of discussion among the most renowned art historians, including Bernard Berenson and Lionello Venturi. The portrait is now considered most likely to show Francesco Maria I della Rovere, the Duke of Urbino and nephew of Pope Julius II, during whose reign it was painted. Nevertheless, a more recent interpretation identifies the knight as the Venetian patrician Marco Gabriel, who was rector of the fortress of Methoni, in Greece, during the Ottoman siege of 1500. His family would have commissioned the painting as a tribute to his memory, as, being the only Venetian survivor of the siege, he had been accused of cowardice. Taken by the Ottomans to Constantinople, he was beheaded there on 4 November 1501.

Knight (1802 cricketer)

Knight (first name and dates unknown) was an English first-class cricketer associated with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) who was active in the 1800s. He is recorded in one match, totalling 46 runs with a highest score of 39 not out.

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