Have you ever wondered how knights managed to walk, let alone fight, covered from head to foot in metal? And have you heard about the knights who became addicted to jousting? Or the one who was rescued by a monkey? It’s all in John Farman’s brilliant book. So arm yourself for a fact attack!

Generally regarded as a gentlemanly profession, after extensive research John Farman has discovered the terrible truth about the life of your average Knight. To start with there’s the uniform. A suit of armour not only cost the earth in medieval times but it probably weighed more than a small planet when you put it on. Best not to mention the chain-mail underwear that was considered the height of fashion at the time. There was danger involved in everything a Knight was asked to do. Saving maidens was no mean feat (sometimes they didn’t want to be saved!) and jousting might have made a nice day out for all those bored princesses and peasants but lances were pretty lethal, especially if you can’t see where you’re going in your visor. And I haven’t even begun to tell you the real truth about dragons