The process of becoming a knight generally included these stages: The increasingly impressive ceremonies surrounding adoubement figured largely in the Romance literature, both in French and in Middle English, particularly those set in the Trojan War or around the legendary personage of Alexander the Great. Around 1200, these ceremonies began to include elements of Christian ritual (such as a night spent in prayers, prior to the rite ). In medieval France, early ceremonies of the adoubement were purely secular and indicated a young noble coming of age. ![]() Some words that might be spoken at that moment were Advances Chevalier au nom de Dieu. Another military knight (commander of an army), sufficiently impressed by a warrior's loyalty, would tap a fighting soldier on his back and shoulder with the flat of his sword and announce that he was now an official knight. A panel in the Bayeux Tapestry shows the knighting of Harold by William of Normandy, but the specific gesture is not clearly represented. Initially this was a simple rite often performed on the battlefield, where writers of Romance enjoyed placing it. ![]() Īn early Germanic coming-of-age ceremony, of presenting a youth with a weapon that was buckled on him, was elaborated in the 10th and 11th centuries as a sign that the minor had come of age. This then developed into the custom of tapping on either the right or left shoulder, or both, which is still the tradition in the United Kingdom today. This was later substituted for by a gentle stroke with the flat part of the sword against the side of the neck. The blow, or colée, when first utilized was given with a bare fist, a stout box on the ear. The recipient is tapped on each shoulder with a sword įrancis Drake (left) being knighted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1581. The earliest reference to the knighting as a formal ceremony in Germany is in the Annals of Aachen under the year 1184, when the Emperor Frederick I's sons, Henry VI and Frederick VI, "were made knights" ( facti sunt milites). In knighting his son Henry with the ceremony of the accolade, history records that William the Conqueror used the blow. Gregory of Tours wrote that the early kings of France, in conferring the gilt shoulder-belt, kissed the knights on the left cheek. It could have been an embrace or a slight blow on the neck or cheek. There is some disagreement among historians on the actual ceremony and in what time period certain methods could have been used. It may take many forms, including the tapping of the flat side of a knighting sword on the shoulders of a candidate (who is himself sometimes referred to as an accolade during the ceremony) or an embrace about the neck. The accolade is a ceremony to confer knighthood. ![]() Please join us in wishing him the heartiest of congratulations.King John II of France in a ceremony of "adoubement", early 15th century miniature He received his latest accolade in recognition of his services to TV broadcasting and conservation. It's safe to say Attenborough is in very illustrious company indeed. Other recipients of the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George include Dame Sandra Mason, the former governor-general and now president of Barbados, and The Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, the former governor of Hong Kong. Today, he was officially awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George – an even rarer and more prestigious honor – by Prince Charles.Īccording to the Royal Family's website, the order was launched in 1818 and now recognizes "service in a foreign country, or in relation to foreign and Commonwealth affairs, for example the work of foreign-service officers and diplomats." Sir David Attenborough has today received his second Knighthood in an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.Īs the BBC reports, the 96-year-old broadcaster was previous knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1985.
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