ministerials

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The Knight of the Heart, 3D Illustration Royalty Free Stock Photo

From the 11th century, not only noble, `noble` landlords but also unfree court officials ministerials established themselves as knights. Their middle and upper classes, who usually lived like the old nobility from income from the feudal system, formed the main part of the emerging lower nobility in the 14th century, which now defined itself as a knighthood. The majority of the high and late medieval knights, however, could not permanently establish themselves in the lower nobility of the early modern period for economic reasons. The developing cities offered a new sphere of activity for these smaller knight families. Numerous castle stables in rural surroundings and the remains of late medieval fortifications in cities still testify to their former existence.