Imagine living in a world where kings, queens, and castles are real, and instead of cars, people travel by horseback or on foot. You might also imagine yourself as a medieval knight. Knights were brave, strong, had fierce fighting skills and went on exciting quests. You could imagine be sent out to search for things like the Holy Grail, and fight dragons or evil sorcerers if you believe movies you watch and books you read. We think of these stories as fiction and they may be, but the authors were inspired by the real lives of knights.

To become a knight, you had to be a page first. At seven years old you would be taken to the lord’s manor house by your parents and left there to train to be a knight. You had to do a lot of hard work like clean the stalls in the barn and take care of the horses. After chores, you were taught sword fighting and archery. If the lord thought you were good enough, you would be promoted to a squire and be assigned to apprentice under a knight. As a knight’s apprentice, you went everywhere with him, even to battle. At the manor, you cared for horses, polished armor and helped train pages. It was a tough life but at 21 years old, you would be knighted.

Dressed in shining armor, you were expected to be brave and fight to the death if you had to. You would have to live by an honor code called chivalry. You had to have manners, be honest, and be brave. To practice fighting skills, knights competed in tournaments. Tournaments were exciting and everyone wanted to watch. Just like today,  people had favorite knights and cheered them on. It would be like you're a football or baseball star, but you're covered in a suit of armor and no balls are involved.

You probably don’t own any clothes that are as uncomfortable as a knight's armor. The armor’s job was to protect you in battle and it was very heavy. The fit had to be just right for you to be able to move and fight, and the entire suit could weigh up to 150 pounds. The knight’s sword was the second-most important tool. Built for war, it had to be strong and because swords were expensive, and difficult to make, they had to last. Every sword was individual. Sometimes, families had swords that they handed down from generation to generation. You might have one made if you have enough money. Imagine if your sword has magical power like Excalibur from the old stories and you were fighting against a wizard or sorcerer.