What is the purpose of a knight?

Being a knight around 600 years ago meant a number of different things. A Knight owed his loyalty to the local lord but he usually received land because of that. Knights existed because lords needed to get protection from other lords and other kingdoms that were imposing upon them. knights have been romanticized by Hollywood in recent years. The truth is that most Knights were only one step above a peasants and usually died in battle fighting a never ending war of power struggle between lords, kings or clergy.