Catholic Knighthood started in the middle ages with Catholics forming themselves into small armies to escort Christian Pilgrims to and from the Holy Land.
The enemies of Christianity at that time such as Moslem Arabs and Saracens were in the habit of waylaying these pilgrims, harassing, robbing and even killing them. These early Catholic Knights literally laid down their lives in defence of the Catholic faithful and the catholic faith.
When the dangers from the Saracen invasions and terrorism subsided or were eliminated, these Knights continued their services not only to the Christians, but also to the community at large.
They bound themselves into fraternal organizations with the general objectives of fighting evil and promoting good. In particular, they set themselves the necessary task of uprooting the systematic and structural evil in the society.
That was the spirit of the early Catholic knighthood and that is ours today.