Knighthood's Steep Price

Knighthood was not about merit — it was about money. A warhorse cost the equivalent of roughly $100,000 in modern currency. Full plate armor took a blacksmith months to forge and cost as much as the horse. Training began at age 7 as a page, then squire — only wealthy families could afford this pipeline.

Maintenance costs were enormous: weapons, spare horses, servants, and fodder drained fortunes constantly. Knights were not warrior-poets. They were the military upper class, and the entry fee kept everyone else out. Most heroic knights were simply rich men with excellent equipment and the leisure time to practice killing.