The legendary blade Excalibur gleamed. Its edge forged by ancient hands and wielded by the famed King Arthur.

This is the story of the most iconic blade in the history of literature and mythos.

A story everyone should know 🧵 In Robert de Boron's Merlin, written around 1200, the story of King Arthur’s rise to the throne introduces the famous "sword in the stone" motif.

According to this tale, Arthur claims the crown by pulling a sword from an anvil resting on a stone that mysteriously appeared in a churchyard on Christmas Eve.

The act, as foretold by Merlin, could only be performed by the "true king," the rightful heir of Uther Pendragon. This miraculous event is central to proving Arthur’s divine appointment as king.

Armed and armored, and not just in faith.

Warrior bishops were a paradox, shepherds who led their flocks to both prayer and war.

Amid the clash of swords and the tolling of cathedral bells, the warrior bishops went forth to battle. 🧵✝️ Going further back in time, around the 5th century, the Church began to create doctrine that permitted Christians to fight in battle.

The conditions were that the Christian warriors were to fight for the glory of Christ and not for conquest or personal glory.

In the year of 1337, a clash of two of the mightiest kingdoms in Europe began.

The crowns of England and France would be pit against each other in a war that would last over a century.

Their swords clashed and the bloodshed reshaped history.

The Hundred Years' War. 🧵⚔️ In late April of 1337, Philip VI of France chose to not meet an English delegation, and shortly after, he issued the arrière-ban, a kingdom-wide call to arms.

The French Great Council convened in May 1337, deciding to seize Aquitaine from Edward III of England.

The justification of this action by the French was because of Edward's failure to fulfill his duties as a vassal and his sheltering of Philip’s enemy, Robert d’Artois.

The word Crusade sparks thoughts within those who read it of history, faith, and conquest.

The Middle East, Southern France, the Baltics and more saw fighting. But what did it mean to take the cross?

Tales of the Crusades: A Thread. 🧵 The term "crusade" originally referred to the military expeditions launched by European Christians during the 11th to 13th centuries to the Holy Land.

Over time, it was extended to describe other campaigns initiated or supported by the Latin Church, often with religious or political aims.

St. Thomas Aquinas was a 13th-century Dominican friar and theologian.

Renowned for synthesizing Christian doctrine, he is hailed as the most influential thinker of the Middle Ages and the greatest Medieval theologian ever.

This is his story 🧵 Thomas Aquinas was born around 1225 in Roccasecca, near Aquino, which was part of the Kingdom of Sicily at the time.

His father, Landulf of Aquino, was a knight serving Emperor Frederick II, and his family held considerable influence.

Thomas's uncle, Sinibald, was the abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, and his family intended for him to follow a similar ecclesiastical path.

In 1095, the Pope himself made the call for a crusade. Promising warriors who embarked to be absolved of their sins.

Countless thousands of people made the journey to Constantinople, seeking to take back the holy land, and Jerusalem itself.

In the First Crusade 🧵 By the 11th century, Europe’s population was growing significantly due to agricultural and technological advances that promoted trade.

Feudalism and manorialism structured society, where nobles provided military service in exchange for land rights.

The Teutonic Knights stand ready, iron-clad figures at the edge of Christendom.

From the windswept fortresses of Marienburg to the dense, unforgiving woodlands where pagan whispers linger, the Teutonic Knights march.

This is their story.. 🧵⚔️ In 1143, Pope Celestine II directed the Knights Hospitaller to oversee a German hospital in Jerusalem, which served German-speaking pilgrims and crusaders unfamiliar with the local language and Latin.

Thunder rolled across the plains of Legnica.

From the east, the ground trembled beneath the Mongol horde, a relentless tide of riders and banners.

Knights and warriors of the Kingdom of Poland, Margraviate of Moravia and the Knights Templar stood in their path... 🧵 In the early 13th century, the Cumans, a nomadic people fleeing the advancing Mongol Empire, sought asylum within the Kingdom of Hungary.

Batu Khan, a prominent Mongol leader, considered the Cumans to have already submitted to Mongol authority and saw their alliance with Hungary as an affront.

King Edward IV was a formidable yet underrated ruler often overshadowed by the tumultuous events of his time.

He was an exceptional military leader, fighting in numerous engagements often fighting on the frontlines.

Here are some of his victories... 🧵👑 Battle of Northampton:

Edward was the Earl of March at the time of the battle.
The Lancastrian forces, numbering around 5,000 and led by the Duke of Buckingham, took up a fortified position at Delapré Abbey near Northampton.

They prepared artillery fortifications with natural watercourses as additional defense.

Warwick attempted negotiations with the king, but Buckingham denied him access, asserting that if Warwick approached, he would be killed. Determined, Warwick declared he would speak to the king at two o'clock or die in battle.

Dawn broke on Easter Sunday over mist-laden fields north of Barnet, casting a pale light over two amassed armies.

The Yorkists, led by the indomitable Edward IV, faced the Lancastrians in the struggle that would decide the fate of England.

This is the Battle of Barnet... 🧵 The Wars of the Roses raged on, a series of dynastic conflicts between the Houses of York and Lancaster for the throne of England.

The struggle reached a major turning point in 1461 when Edward IV of York deposed the Lancastrian king, Henry VI.

Simon de Montfort, the 6th Earl of Leicester. A French born English knight and nobleman.

Simon was a crusader, a cunning statesman, a man of brutality and at one point became the de facto ruler of England.

He would know battle until the very end.. 🧵 Simon was born in 1208 in Montfort-l'Amaury, France. He was the son of a man of the same name, Simon de Montfort, the 5th Earl of Leicester and Alix de Montmorency.

Pierre Terrail, known as Chevalier de Bayard, a man who's resolve was unyielding.

Praised by his contemporaries for his gaiety and kindness he was known as "The Good Knight."

Fearless and unwavering in battle, he'd be remembered as the knight without fear and beyond reproach 🧵 Bayard, a descendant of a noble French family with a strong military tradition, was born at Château Bayard in Dauphiné, near Pontcharra in southern France.

His family had a history of sacrifice in battle, with three generations of his Terrail ancestors falling in combat from 1356 to 1465.

The Knights Hospitaller, born amid the chaos of the Crusades, were protectors of both faith and medicine.

Originating as a small brotherhood tending to sick pilgrims in Jerusalem, they would become one of the most iconic knightly orders ever... 🧵 In 603, Pope Gregory I commissioned Abbot Probus to establish a hospital in Jerusalem for Christian pilgrims. Charlemagne expanded it in 800, but it was destroyed in 1009 by the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.

Today in history, 609 years ago. King Henry V and his army defied the odds and took fate into their own hands.

They would crush a massive French force in the muddy fields Agincourt

Sealing themselves in history forever... 🧵 In 1415 following failed negotiations with the French, King Henry V of England would claim the title of King of France through his grandfather Edward III and invade France.

John of Gaunt rode forth, the lion of Lancaster, his scarlet banner trailing like blood in the wind.

Hardened by conflict, his eyes held the weight of a kingdom in turmoil.

He'd be one of the most important princes and statesmen in English history... 🧵 John of Gaunt, son of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, was born in March 1340 in Ghent, Flanders, likely at Saint Bavo's Abbey.

His name "Gaunt" comes from the anglicized version of "Ghent," his birthplace.

In the heart of Brittany, thirty of France's finest knights would meet thirty English champions beneath storm darkened skies.

Steel met steel in a brutal contest of valor.

Their blood would paint the earth crimson.

No quarter was given...🧵 The Breton War of Succession was a conflict between the House of Montfort and the House of Blois over control of the Duchy of Brittany.

It became part of the larger Hundred Years' War, with England backing the Montfort faction and France supporting the Blois family.

On this day in 1066, the winds howled across the fields of Hastings, where two armies clashed in a battle that would reshape the course of England forever.

Victory on this fateful day crowned William the Conqueror and marked the dawn of a new era.

The Battle of Hastings 🧵 On January 5th 1066, King Edward the Confessor died. This resulted in no clear heir for the throne of England.

The most powerful English aristocrat, Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, was quickly elected king by the Witenagemot, the council of England.

Sir Lancelot, Knight of the Round Table, rode forth with unwavering purpose.

The whisper of his name sent ripples, for he was the champion of kings, the protector of the realm, and the most revered knight of the Round Table.

This is Sir Lancelot, Champion of King Arthur 🧵 In the Vulgate Cycle, Lancelot's backstory begins with his birth in the borderland between Gaul and Brittany.

His original name is Galahad (later shared by his son), and he is the son of King Ban of Bénoïc and Queen Élaine. When Ban's kingdom falls to his enemy, King Claudas, Ban and Élaine flee their stronghold of Trebes (likely Trèves Castle) with their infant son.

THREAD OF THREADS 🧵

Curious to know more of the Medieval knightly orders?

Want to know of the rise and fall of Christendom's mightiest warriors?

Read through this thread and read their stories: The Knights Templar:

https://x.com/MedievalScholar/status/1723802579698659561

THREAD OF THREADS: 🧵

Below is my collection of many of the great houses of the Holy Roman Empire, their rich history, great members and lasting legacies.

Scroll on and find one you enjoy and give it a read! House of Habsburg

https://x.com/MedievalScholar/status/1796340299754533306

In the glow of dawn, Sir Galahad rode forth, his armor gleaming with a purity unmatched by any knight before him.

Destined for the Holy Grail, he ventured into the unknown.

This is the story of Sir Galahad, Knight of the Round Table. 🧵 Sir Galahad's story begins with the origins of his mythos.

Galahad's role in the Arthurian legend, particularly his quest for the Holy Grail, is a later addition to the mythos.