K X I 



472 



K N I 



Kneller. bridge, is remarkably fine, exhibiting a great variety of 

 Kmclit- i-iuriiiiii" progpecU. On the other side of the river, 

 I,,.*!. r ll( | r; r ii|,r t ., .Mid at the foot of a perpendi- 



""" ^"^ cular rod., St. R 4* ifi "-'lapi'l, which is elegantly 

 hollowed nut of the s-olid rock. It is 10 feet 6 inches 

 . and 7 feet (i inches high. The roof and altar are 

 t'ntiv enriched with Gothic ornaments. Behind the 

 altar is a large niche, where there was formerly an 

 image. There are also three heads, supposed to rqire- 

 gent the Trinity ; and another, supposed to be that of 

 John the Baptist, to whom the chapel was dedicated. 

 On one side of the entrance, shaded with spreading 

 ivy, is the figure of a warrior, cut out of the rock, in 

 the act of drawing his sword to defend the entrance. 

 The borough and township of Knaresborough contain- 

 ed, in 1811, 888 houses, 99* families, 837 families em- 

 ployed in trade and manufactures, and 423* inhabi- 

 tants. See Hargrave's History of the. fjaslle, Town, and 

 Forest of Kna realtor ough, 1798;, and the Beauties of 

 England and Wales, vol. xvi. p. 63*. 



KNELLER, SiaGoDFMY, a celebrated portrait pain- 

 ter, was born at Lubeck about the year 16*8, and was 

 the son of M. Kneller, surveyor-general of the mines, 

 and inspector of Count Mansfeld's revenues. Having 

 exhibited an early passion for painting, his father, 

 though he had destined him for a military life, sent 

 him to Amsterdam to receive instruction from Bol, and 

 he had also the good fortune to be honoured with in- 

 structions from Rembrandt. He went to Italy in \6l'Z, 

 where he spent some time in Venice. In 1674, he 

 came to England, without any intention of taking up 

 his residence in this country ; but having been acci- 

 dentally recommended to Mr. Banks, a Hamburgh 

 merchant, he took portraits of him and his family. The 

 Duke of Monmouth having induced the king to sit to ' 

 Kneller, his majesty, who was engaged to have his 

 portrait taken by Lely, insisted that he should sit to 

 both artists at the same time. Kneller executed his 

 portrait with such expedition, that he had finished it 

 before Lely's was dead coloured. This little event 

 gained him reputation, and induced him to take up his 

 residence permanently in England. Kneller was pa- 

 tronised by'Chales II. James II. and William III. and 

 he had the rare honour of taking the portrait of ten 

 sovereigns. He was knighted in 1( ; 92, by William III. 

 for whom he painted the beauties of Hampton Court, 

 and who presented him with a gold medal and chain 

 worth 300. He likewise took a portrait of George I. 

 who raised him to the dignity of a baronet. 



In 1722, he was seized with a violent fever, of which 

 he languished for a considerable time, and which car- 

 ried him oft' in October 1723, in the 75th year of his 

 age. A monument was erected to him in Westminster 

 Abbey, for which he left 300. 



KNIGHT-HOOD, ORDERS OF. In the article CHI- 

 VALRY, an account has been given of the origin of 

 knighthood among the northern nations ; of the cere- 

 monies with which that dignity was in general con- 

 ferred ; of the obligations which it imposed ; and of the 

 powerful influence which the spirit of chivalry long 

 exerted, and in all probability still continues to exert, 

 over the people of Europe. One very important topic 

 connected with the subject of that article remains to be 

 discussed in the present, viz. the origin, history, or in- 

 fluence of those separate orders of knighthood, as they 

 were called, which had their rise, as is generally sup- 

 posed, about the time of the crusades, and proceeded 

 indeed from an union of the two principles of valour 

 and devotion, which we should seek for in vain among 

 the records of any other period. 



The wars of the cross, which had originally been ex- Knight- 

 cited by the eloquence of a priest, and recommended l " ?od- 

 to all believers by the promises. of a pope, presented to ^irtiaNis'. 

 the eastern world the strange spectacle of churchmen position of 

 contending, sword in hand, for the truth oPthe tenets tin; priests 

 which they professed, and the destruction of infidels, of the west. 

 The more hardy tribes of the west, had, indeed, been 

 longfiimiliariml with such spectacles. Although ec- 

 tics, both regular and secular, were absolved by 

 their tenure, from rendering military service in person, 

 they were far from being always disposed to make use 

 of their legal exemption from duties, to which they 

 were so much inclined. They feared, or pretended to 

 fear, the degradation of their fiefs, should the obliga- 

 tions of their tenures be fulfilled by mercenary hands. 

 The chapter of St. Germain 1'Auxerrois, accordingly, 

 continued to furnish the Bishop of Paris with hor<e 

 and straw for the artnij of tltc Lint!, til! the middle of 

 the J 1th century. Even the church had, long before 

 the period of the crusades, sanctioned this military rage 

 by their example. Leo IX. marched against the Nor- 

 mans at the head of an army, refused them peace, al- 

 though they professed their willingness to comply with 

 all his demands, and continued, in spite of all their 

 entreaties, to ravage their country in the most cruel 

 manner, with a force chiefly composed of banditti, and 

 outcasts of every kind, who were glad to make their 

 booty under so sanctified a standard. Benedict VIII. 

 one of his predecessors, had violated, in a manner even 

 more shameful, the precepts of that religion, of which 

 he pretended to be the first minister. Not only did he 

 arm all his bishops to fight with him against the Sara- 

 cens, but after having overcome these infidels, and 

 slaughtered a prodigious number of them in the field, 

 he did not scruple to stain himself with the blood of 

 their queen. He commanded her head to be cut off ; 

 and reserved for his own share in the booty, her orna- 

 ments of gold and jewellery. In Spain, nothing was 

 more common than to see bishops following the king 

 in his wars. When, about the end of the ninth centu- 

 ry, the Normans made a descent on the coast of Gali- 

 cia, they carried every where fire and desolation, and 

 met with no check till they reached the territory of Ho- 

 sinus, bishop of Compostello. That prelate having 

 called together the counts of 'the neighbourhood, ad- 

 vanced himself at their head, covered (as Ferrera ex- 

 presses it) with the harness of charity rushed upon the 

 barbarians slew their chief with his own hand and 

 forced them to seek for safety in their vessels. Not 

 even the authority of the council of Coyen5a could 

 overcome the public applause of this valorous action ; 

 and, in spite of their fourth canon, which so expressly 

 disapproves of all sacerdotal combatants, St. liosinus 

 still occupies his place in the calendar, among' the most . 

 eminent of the holy. 



The consideration of these facts, arid of the state of 

 manners of which they are the evident marks, will pre- 

 pare us to inquire, with advantage, into the true origin 

 of the orders of .knighthood. 



The ambitious desire of an ancient origin, is not less Pretended 

 conspicuous among bodies of men associated for parti- antiquity of 

 cular purposes, than it is among families. There is no *^ c 

 church which is not apostolic, if we are willing to be- 

 lieve its bishop ; even those of Troyes and Clermont, 

 the most insignificant in France, have long since added 

 that. epithet to their titles. Monks who make profes. 

 sion of humility, and renounce the world, are in. this 

 particular the vainest of men. The Carmelites think 

 they have made out a clear title and precedency, by 

 taking Elijah or Mount Carmel for the patron of then: 



