Page
In medieval times, a page was an attendant to a knight; an apprentice squire. A young boy served as a page for seven years, from the age of seven (after cutting hair) until he was fourteen. At age fourteen, he could graduate to become a squire, and by age 21, perhaps a knight himself. Similar pages served in castles, and great houses fetching things and running messages for aristocrats and royalty. These boys were often the scions of other great families who were learning the ropes of the manorial system by watching and learning.
Squire
The English word squire comes from the Old French escuier (modern French écuyer), itself derived from the Late Latin scutarius (“shield bearer”). The Classical Latin equivalent was armiger, ‘arms bearer’.
A squire was originally a young man who aspired to the rank of knighthood and who, as part of his development to that end, served an existing knight as his attendant or shield carrier.
Knight
The word knight derives from Old English cniht, meaning page boy, or servant (as is still the case in the cognate Dutch knecht, German Knecht, Norwegian and Swedish knekt and Danish knægt for servant), or simply boy. (In a parallel development, the word “Samurai” in Japanese also comes from the verb “to serve”.)
A squire could hope to become a knight when he had learned his lessons well. Once the squire had established sufficient mastery of the required skills, he was dubbed a knight. In the early period, the procedure began with the squire praying into the night, known as vigil.
The night before his knighting ceremony, the squire would take a cleansing bath, fast, make confession, and pray to God all night in the chapel, readying himself for his life as a knight. He would dress in white which was the symbol for purity. Then he would go through the knighting ceremony the following day. Knights followed the code of chivalry, which promoted honour, honesty, respect to God, and other knightly virtues.
Martyrs
Nigeria
On Sunday, December 10, 2006,Christians at Nairobi Pentecostal Church (NPC) called a three-day fast after a letter written to their bishop warned of an attack on Christian radio station Hope FM and other churches. According to Compass Direct News, the threat comes seven months after a raid on the station, located on church property, left a guard dead. “NPC Bishop Boniface Adoyo called for the fast in a letter read to church members on Sunday, saying the threatening letter also mentioned other churches targeted for attack over unspecified reasons,” Compass Direct News added. On May 12, eight unidentified gunmen stormed the station, shot and killed a guard and torched the building after a broadcast aired, comparing teachings of the Bible with the Quran.
India
In 2005, more than 200 acts of violence against Christians occurred in the first four months of the year. Several pastors and evangelists were martyred, and radical Hindus brutally beat Christians arriving for a seminary graduation ceremony in Kota.
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