History of the Knighthood
The Knights of Solamnia arose during the Age of Dreams. The three Orders of the Knighthood emerged from the remnants of the tyrannical Ergothian Empire to become the most enduring force of Good on Ansalon.
Origin
The beginning of the Solamnic Knighthood lie with a noble of the oppressive and wicked court of the Emperor of Ergoth in the year 1801 PC. Vinas Solamnus, the Practor of the Imperial Armies and a Cavalier of Ergoth, was commanded to crush a rebellion in the eastern Imperial province of Vingaard. He spent the better part of a year using his huge armies to deliver defeat after defeat to the rebels, but weather forced him to cease his campaign in the winter months. During this time he began to examine the causes of the rebellion and saw for himself why the rebels were justified in their actions. The Empire oppressed the people with tyrannical laws and demanded impossible tributes, keeping the common people starving and sick. Vinas and the majority of his army decided to join the rebellion. This was the birth of the Rose Rebellion.
In the midst of that fierce winter, Solamnus and his commanders gathered and trained an army made up primarily of the people the Empire was oppressing. He then launched a series of daring campaigns that came to be known as the War of Ice Tears. The rebel army pushed the Imperial forces all the way back to the capital city of Daltigoth. Vinas laid siege to the city. Within two months, the citizens of Daltigoth revolted, forcing the Emperor to sue for peace. So it was that the common people of northeastern Ergoth helped bring about their own independence.
The new nation was named Solamnia, in honor of the commander who enabled the people to win their freedom. The people also named Vinas their ruler. Though the nation did not become a great power until closer to the end of the age, the name Solamnia became synonymous with honesty, integrity, and determination.
Sixteen years after the country's founding, the lords of the lands north of Solamnia also threw off the yoke of Ergothian oppression and came to Solamnus for help. They wished to merge with the new nation and become a part of Solamina. Vinas wanted to agree to this, but he saw it was an impossible task. The ideals and customs of the various areas differed and in some instances clashed. The people had no common ground. To find an answer to his problem, Vinas embarked on his Quest of Honor.
After many weeks of wandering Ansalon looking for a solution to his dilemma, Vinas sailed to the island of Sancrist. Battered and worn from his journey, he forged into the wilderness. Eventually Vinas found a glad with a monolith of black granite rising from the center. Here he fasted and prayed to the gods of Good to help him find the answer to his problem. Vinas was on the verge of giving up hope when the gods Paladin, Kiri-Jolith, and Habbakuk sent him a vision.
From this vision came the inspiration that would grow into the Knights of Solamnia. He saw three orders of knights, each one sponsored by one of the three gods and based around ideals put forth by that order's patron. From Habbakuk came the Order of the Crown, based on the ideals of loyalty and obedience. The Order of the Sword championed by Kiri-Jolith, would uphold the ideals of courage and heroism. Paladine would lead the triumvirate, as his Order of the Rose would lead the Knighthood with the ideals of wisdom and justice. These Knights would unite the northern lands with Solamnia and carry on Solamnus' vision of honor and goodness long after he was gone.