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I have no real concrete ideas here, fair warning. I’m just curious if a society without the broad economic trappings of feudalism could maintain chivalric knighthood. Perhaps one of the major Republics of Europe expands substantially, perhaps a non-feudal empire, like the Byzantines, incorporates knighthood into their ethos, or perhaps military religious orders maintain their importance.

Something more substantial than the modern knighting seen in places like the United Kingdom (or anywhere where knighthood is treated more like a distinction for a social club; by that metric, I’m a knight). I think, for purposes of this discussion, the requirement for skill at arms should not be abandoned. For practical purposes, gunpowder does make this largely redundant for military concerns, admittedly.

The only real substantial (but obviously fictional) example I have for what I’m looking for is the Jedi. No, I’m not asking if a society could maintain real-world Jedi, I’m just using them as an example because within Star Wars canon, they are peerless sworn warriors in a largely non-feudal society.
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