Squire  Starting in the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Use of the term evolved over time. Initially, a squire was a knight's apprentice. Later, a village leader or a lord of the manor might be called a squire, and still later, the term was applied to members of the landed gentry. In contemporary American usage, squire is the title given to justices of the peace or similar local dignitaries. "Squire" is a shortened version of the word "esquire", from the Old French (modern French ), itself derived from the Late Latin ("shield bearer"), in medieval or Old English a "scutifer". The Classical Latin equivalent was ("arms bearer"). The most common definition of "squire" refers to the Middle Ages. A squire was typically a teenaged boy, training to become a knight. A boy became a squire at the age of 14. Squires were the second step to becoming a knight, after having served as a page. Boys served a knight as an attendant or shield carrier, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armor. The squire would sometimes carry the knight's flag into battle with his master. A knight typically took his squire into battle and gave him a chance to prove himself. If he proved his loyalty and skill in battle, he would have a "dubbing", an official ceremony that made him a knight. However, during the Middle Ages, the squire's rank came to be recognized in its own right; it was no longer assumed that a squire would automatically become a knight. The connection between a squire and any particular knight also ended, as did any shield-carrying duties. The typical jobs of a squire included:  The young King Arthur served as Sir Kay's squire in the traditional tale of the sword in the stone that appears in literary works, including "Le Morte d'Arthur" and "The Once and Future King". One of the pilgrim-storytellers in "The Canterbury Tales" is a squire whose father recounts the tale. In Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote", the babbling Sancho Panza serves as squire of the deluded Don. In the children's book "The Castle in the Attic", the protagonist William serves as the squire of Sir Simon, a knight from the Middle Ages who got transported to the present.