Question #1: What is the most important element of the knighting ceremony as practiced in your re-enactment group--why?
I have always been under the impression that the most important element in the knighting ceremony in the SCA was when the new knight got the triple sword slap. Since it seems such a traditional element, I imagine that's why all the attention is focussed on it, and that is the point where the king says, I dub thee one, I dub thee twice, I dub thee knight. --Anthony J. Bryant
Concerning Knighthood (page 18) David Friedman
"If a man act in honorable wise when he gains thereby glory, repute, or the love of a fair lady, none may know if he is in truth an honorable man. When he chooses between the honor on one hand and all that he desires on the other, then may his honor be known. The man who, fighting for a crown he fiercely desires, yet accepts without dispute the blow that ends his hopes, is in truth honorable- the more so when no soul but himself would have known the blow was true had he said otherwise. He who refuses to accept the blow until until he can no longer do so without open shame is no honorable man, howsoever gentle and courtly he may appear in other lists, where there is nothing to be won or lost save that reputation which men miscall honor."
The Function of Knighthood (page 19) John of Salisbury
"But what is the office of the duly ordained soldiery? To defend the Church, to assail infidelity, to venerate the priesthood, to protect the poor from injuries, to pacify the province, to pour out their blood for their brothers (as the formula of their oath instructs them), and, if need be, to lay down their lives. The high praises of God are in their throat, and two-edged swords are in their hands to execute punishment on the nations and rebuke upon the peoples, an dto bind their kings and their nobles in link of iron. But to what end?"
The Chivalric Ideal (page 20) Diaz de Gamez
Excerpted from The Unconquered Knight written in the 15th century by Diaz de Gamez and translated by J. Evans, this piece examines the behavior befitting a true Knight.
"Now it is fitting that I should tell what it is to be a knight: whence comes this name of knight; what manner of man a knight should be to have a right to be called knight; and what profit the good knight is to the country wherein he lives...."
The Ordene de Chevalerie (page 22) Anonymous author
Set up as a narrative and written in about the mid-13th century by an unknown author, this poem tells the tale of a Knight, Count Hugh de Tabarie, is taken prisoner by Saladin, the "King of the Moslems". Before the Knights release following two years of raising the ransom money, Saladin asks Hugh to show him how a Christian Knight is made. Attempting to refuse, Hugh is eventually forced to take Saladin through the ceremonies.
The Making of a Knight (page 38) William Durand
Excerpted from J. Miller's Chaucer: Sources and Background, William Durand's Pontifical, c. 1295, takes us step by step through the format of a knighting ceremony.
"2. Blessing of the sword: Grant, we pray, O Lord, our prayers, and see fit to bless with the hand of your majesty this sword with which your servant desires to be girt, to the end that he may be a defender of the Church, of widows, of orphans, and of all the servants of God, against the cruelty of Pagans, and that he may be the terror and dread of his other enemies, ensuring for him the performance of equitable prosecution an djust dfense. Response: Amen."
Medieval Ceremony (page 41) F. Warre Cornish
Excerpted from Cornish's Chivalry, c. 1908.
"Editor [Brian R. Price]:...For re-enactors and tournament participants, knighthood is something that is real; it is a goal and can be one of the richest struggles undertaken by the candidate. For many, the knighting ceremony is the apex of their tournament recreation- and event that may be as important as it was to their historical counterparts. I think Mr. Cornish makese the case for ceremony clearly, and his words are worth considering."
"We have laid stress upon the importance of chivalric ceremony at this time, because ceremony was in the first place the only way of representing to an unlearned age, whose chief education was through th eeyes, the value of that which it represented; and, secondly, because the society of the Middle Ages can only be understood--so far as any society can be understood--through its own expression of its convictions; and state and ceremony were the natural expression of the dignity of knighthood..."
Symbols in Vigils (page 48) Steen Jensen
Knighting ceremonies include many symbols, the presence and meanings of which may vary from time to time and place to place. In this essay, Steen examines how these symbols fit into the vigil that a knight-errant goes through the evening before his knighting, and what these symbols may mean to in the course of the ceremony and beyond.
"The chain, belt or baldric, and the spurs, within the Society, are the most important symbols of the Chivalry, and I like to present them at a vigil as objects of contemplation. At my squire's own vigil, I spent considerable time simply arranging these three, finally leaving the belt and spurs neatly arrayed while surrounding them, untidily, with the chain. Once I had it done, I knew that it was correct, but even now I cannot fully explain why. The power of the best symbols is that they cannot be fully fathomed, and that even the attempt to understand them may do them harm."
The Various Ceremonies Used at the Conferring of Knighthood (page 51) Elias Ashmole
Excerpted from Ashmole's Order of the Garter, c. 1672, this work is a 17th century look back at the much earlier tradition of chivalry.
"In the time of the saxons here in England, knights received their insitution at the hands of great prelates or abbots, it being the opinion of our ancestors, that nothing so happily succeeded, as that which was performed by religious persons; in the accomplishing of which solemnity they were very punctual, by adding diverse ceremonies, as watching, fasting, bathing, consecrating of the sword, and the like: and how solemnly these things were observed..."
Modern Knighting Ceremonies
As three examples of modern knighting ceremonies, of the Middle Kingdom, of the Kingdom of Caid, and of the West Kingdom, these pieces show how the ceremonies of the past have been incorporated into the ceremonies of today's society, not just in one instance, but in several regions.
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Chronique, Journal of Chivalry|The Company of Saint George
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