10 Awesome Medieval Knights You’ve Never Heard Of

One of my hobbies over the past six months has been collecting medieval art memes. There’s something about the weird faces and over-the-top expressions in those paintings that really resonates with me and makes for great memes.

And then, because I’m prone to go down rabbit holes of internet surfing, I started researching the stories of medieval knights.

Here are 10 awesome medieval knights you’ve never heard of before!

Gilbert De Clare

So, this guy’s story is a very stereotypical English knight. He’s a descendant of William the Conqueror, and his big contribution to history is the failed campaign to conquer Scotland in 1314. The night before the big battle he was having a fight and losing. He was called a coward.

The next day, to prove that he had no fear, he led the charge against the Scots. He quickly found himself surrounded and separated from his army-mates and killed. He was the first Earl to be killed in a battle in 50 years.

Whether you think this was brave or stupid, here’s a knight that was definitely kinda awesome. He had a real dedication to being brave until his death.

Thomas Of Lancaster

So, like, this is another knight that served under King Edward II. It’s common knowledge (amongst history buffs, not us, common people) that Edward II was very susceptible to being influenced by other people who knew how to manipulate him.

So, Thomas of Lancaster was one of the people who was a key figure in imposing limitations to the things Eddy II could and couldn’t do. He was also involved in the execution of one of Edward’s closest friends.

When he rebelled against one of the families that had a particularly large influence on Edward II (the Despenser family), he was tried for treason and executed.

The lesson here is to be careful when rebelling against people that have so much influence on the reigning king, but also in the absolute necessity to stand up for what is right.

Henry Of Grosmont

Henry was the nephew of Thomas of Lancaster. He was equally brave and equally stubborn. He loved jousting, and one time decided it would be fun to celebrate the Christmas of 1341 by ousting without armor. Needless to say, the competition has resulted in two deaths and a lot of serious injuries, but Henry of Grosmont came out unscathed. He was that good at the sport.

Andrew Harclay

Here’s one of the knights that played a key role in the capture and execution of Thomas of Lancaster. When Lancaster was about to rebel, he approached Andrew and asked him to be on his side. But Andrew was more loyal to the king than to his friend Thomas, and so it was his knights that captured Thomas (which led to Thomas’s execution later on).

The lesson here is that for some people — principle is everything. Avoid people like these in your life. Anyone who sees life in black and white, right and wrong, with no room for “gray areas” is not a truly reliable friend.