Knight Bachelor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The dignity of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most ancient of the British Orders of Knighthood, existing during the reign of King Henry III, yet it is the lowest-ranking of the orders.

It is not subdivided into any further grades, and only men may be appointed to the Order. It is generally awarded for public service; amongst its recipients are all male judges of the High Court of England and Wales. All Knights Bachelor are styled Sir.

See also:

• British honours system
• British and Commonwealth orders and decorations

The original article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Bachelor.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.