Knight these orders has its own criteria for eligibility, but knighthood is generally granted by a head of state, monarch, or prelate to selected persons to recognise some meritorious achievement, as in the British honours system, often for service to the Church or country. The modern female equivalent in the United Kingdom is Dame. Historically, the ideals of chivalry were popularized in medieval literature, particularly the literary cycles known as the Matter of France, relating to the legendary companions of Charlemagne, and the Matter of Britain, relating to the legend of King Arthur. The word "knight", from Old English "cniht" ("boy"
A Woman Is a Weathercock at the White-friars, By the Children of her Majesty's Revels". The printed edition included a commendatory verse by the dramatist George Chapman, headed "To his Loved son, Nat. Field, and his Weather-cocke Woman". Field had performed in many of Chapman's plays including "Bussy D'Ambois", "All Fools", "The Gentleman Usher", "May Day", "Monsieur D'Olive", "Sir Giles Goosecap", "The Widow's Tears" and "Eastward Ho!" The printed quarto begins with an address by Field "To any Woman that hath beene no Weathercocke" in which he says that any woman who has been "constant" will see "what amendes I have made to her and