Chevalier

Chevalier literally means "horseman" in French, and is equivalent to the English "knight". It is a rank used in several orders, including the crusader orders of Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller. The term was later also used by men of noble birth or noble pretensions who could not claim any of the standard territorial titles.

Incidentally, I was watching Blood+, a rather bloody (and thus true to its name) anime about a feud between 2 vampiric queens aired in 2005-2006. In the show, chevaliers refer to the vampiric knights or guardians created by the respective queens. You can watch Blood+ online at Anime-Media (click on the banner below). JavaScript must be enabled.