A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
A 14th-century depiction of the 13th-century German knight Hartmann von Aue, from the Codex Manesse
A Norman knight slaying Harold Godwinson (Bayeux tapestry, c. 1070). The rank of knight developed in the 12th century from the mounted warriors of the 10th and 11th centuries.
Hungarian knights routing Ottoman sipahi cavalry during the Battle of Mohács in 1526
David I of Scotland knighting a squire
A tournament, or tourney, was a chivalrous competition or mock fight that was common in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. It is a type of hastilude.
An early 14th century depiction of mounted combat in a tournament from the German Codex Manesse
Two teams stand ready just before the match begins; each side has 24 knights, each with a banner-bearer. There is a central spectators' box for the four judges, and one on each side for the ladies; inscribed over the boxes is plus est en vous which is the motto of the Gruuthuse family of Bruges.
A tournament in progress (René d'Anjou), only the banners of Bourbon and Brittany are shown left in the field of view. The individual knights' banners are seen to the right.
The joust outlasted the tournament proper and was widely practiced well into the 16th century (sketch by Jörg Breu the Elder, 1510).