Men at Arms

Knights in the Middle ages were required to arm themselves and support those that they swore fealty to. But that was just part of it. They would also be required to find one or more men, give them some basic armor and weapons, some basic training and room, board, food and maybe a few coins. These armed men were known as Sergeants or Men-At-Arms. Their function was to provide infantry support to their lords in battle, defend the knight's fief when he was away, kill bandits and keep those bloody peasants in line. Sometimes they would be backed up by mercenaries or militias of armed townsfolk. They got a cut of any loot they managed to pillage and if they were particularly good in battle, they might receive a knighthood of their own.

- This synopsis is not strictly correct. Knights were expected to provide additional troops. They were land owners and as such were expected to raise numbers of soldiers from the amongst the men who owed them fealty. They equipped and trained them as they saw fit. Thus a knight's retinue would probably include a number of archers, foot soldiers and men-at-arms. Because men at arms were more expensive to equip and maintain (being better armoured and equipped, and often mounted on warhorses. A well-off knight might, for a campaign, bring with him 40 men at arms and 200 mixed archers and infantry. However, a Knight would also be a man-at-arms.

The bloke in the shiny armour on the horse with the lance, that bloke is a man-at-arms. He might be a Knight. He might be a Lord. He might be a member of the gentry, aspiring to raise his status (by the late Middle Ages / early modern period the gentry emerge as a social class, i.e. not some smelly commoner, but not even a minor noble. This happens broadly across europe because as nation-states evolve, they create increasing amounts of bureaucracy. Jobs that are too important [and need an education to do] to allow Gerald the Peasant to do it, but beneath the nobles, who are otherwise preoccupied with more important stuff). That man-at-arms might also, however, be a commoner in his Lord's retinue or a mercenary.

TL/DR: Men-at-Arms are a type of medieval soldier. Better equipped and armoured than their archer and footsoldier bretheren (i.e. your levvies, billmen, militia, spearmen and the like), they often fought on horseback. A Knight is a person of a certain social status. Because status brought wealth, he would almost invariably fight as a man-at-arms.

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