Medieval knights went through some changes in the 366 years considered the High Middle Ages. From coats of mail and leather armor to plate armor of tempered steel, better swords, better general equipment, and to finally the introduction of gunpowder and firearms. That’s where Medieval becomes something else because a knight on horseback is no match for a cannon.
Still, Medieval men fought and died together much like men of our era do. There is something that goes beyond loyalty with these warriors – trusting the man next to you enough that you knew, if you got into close quarters combat, that he would literally protect your back. Where do you think the modern terms “have your back” or “I’d trust him/her with my life” came from? Those terms were born from a bond between brothers, blood or otherwise.
The passage from Henry V that contains the phrase, Band of Brothers, truly embodies these men:
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother.
