Knights Gallery

Banquet des Chevaliers de l'Ordre du Saint-Esprit

Banquet des Chevaliers de l'Ordre du Saint-Esprit donne au chateau de Fontainebleau le 14 mai 1633, French School. The Knights of the Order of the Holy Spirit sit at two long tables, lavishly set with food. Nine valets are carrying food and drink to King Louis XIII, Grand Master of the Order, who sits at the far end of the room. Date: 1633

© Mary Evans Picture Library

King James I knights a tasty loin of beef - Arise Sir Loin

King James I knights a tasty loin of beef at Hoghton Tower, near Preston, Lancashire, in 1617. Historians are somewhat unsurpringly divided as to the likelihood and validity of this tale. A number of legends claim the naming of the 'sirloin' cut from it being 'knighted' by a monarch, although it is variously ascribed to Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and James I. According to the Lancashire tradition, James I drew his short sword and told the Hoghton Tower pages to bring the beef to him. They went down on their knees and the king said "Arise, Sir Loin." Date: 1617

© The Russell Butcher Collection / Mary Evans Picture Library

Cartoon, Sir Michael Costa and Sir Julius Benedict

Cartoon -- Benefit Knights. They are (left) Sir Michael Andrew Angus Costa (1808-1884), an Italian-born conductor and composer, and (right) Sir Julius Benedict (1804-1885), a German-born composer and conductor, both active in the London music scene.
1884

© Mary Evans Picture Library

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