What was the role of a knight?

After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E. the time period know as the Middle Ages started in Europe. In about 1000 C.E. during a time period called the High Middle Ages, the Europeans developed a system called feudalism. The role of a knight in the feudal system was to be a mounted soldier. Knights were expected to live by a code of behavior referred to as chivalry. They were to be loyal to their church and to protect the helpless. Knights were also expected to provide protection for their lords and the king in times of war. This small group within the medieval society also competed in jousts and tournaments. Jousts were held for a variety of purposes. They were sporting events, battles for rival knights, exercise and training. The many years of training and a good deal of wealth prepared these men to be important soldiers of the medieval world.

The role of a knight was an important one in feudalistic societies. In these kingdoms, there was an overall leader—the monarch—to whom individual lords would pledge allegiance. Lower ranking (but still wealthy) individuals would serve the lords, and so on and so forth until you reach the lowest social strata: the peasants, or serfs, who do manual labor in exchange for lodging and provision.
Knights, in this kind of society, would pledge their support to lords, offering to protect and serve their lands and properties in exchange for food, housing, and whatever else they might need. They would serve military or regulatory functions in these individual kingdoms and lordships. If called upon, they would go to battle for their rulers or for the rulers that their lords had sworn allegiance to.