[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

Okay, I decided to split this off and start a thread specifically about dubbing ceremonies, and the rituals surrounding the creation of a new knight.

Here's a description of the knighting ceremony from Sword in Hand by Ewart Oakeshott. Oakeshott describes a knighting ceremony of the 12th century in some detail. By the 12th century, the ceremony became more elaborate than the simple adoubement of the earlier period. This is quoted from Oakeshott:

"On the eve of his admission to the order, the aspirant to Chivalry was solemnly stripped of his clothes by his fellow squires and put into a bath, a symbol of purification. Then he was dressed in a white tunic, emblem of purity (analogous to the chrisom of baptism); and a scarlet mantle, the emblem of nobility, and hose and shoes of black, symbolic of death and the earth in which all must eventually lie. He was girt with the white cingulum for chastity, and led to the church or the castle chapel, where all night he would keep solitary vigil in prayer, his arms lying before the altar. In the morning, he would make his confession and hear Mass. Then comes the great moment. After the alleluias of the Gradual, he hands his sword to the priest, who lays it on the altar and prays for a blessing upon it. He returns it with these words:

Accipe gladium istum in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti et utaris eo in densam tuam et sancti Dei Ecclesiae et confusionem inimicorum crucis Christi ac fidei Christiannae

Virtue has passed into it; he receives it back from the priest and brandishes it three times, sheaths it, and hands it to his sponsor- who might be his liege lord or simply another knight, for all who received knighthood might bestow it- and makes his vow of knighthood to him. Then he is armed in his complete war-gear by his friends and attendants, but it is left to his sponsor to gird on his sword and give him the colee or accolade. This could either be a blow across the shoulders with the flat of a sword, or a buffet with clenched fist. Finally he receives four injunctions: he must never traffic with traitors; never give evil counsel to a lady, whether married or not; he must treat her with great respect and defend her against all. He must observe fasts and abstinences, and every day must hear Mass and make an offering to the Church."

(Of course, on the battlefield, the colee given by the lord or captain was all that was really needed to confer knighthood.)

Does anyone have other examples of knighting ceremonies they could share?

[George Hill]

This isn't a cerimony per say, but Raymond Lull's "Book of Knighthood and Chivalry" refers to the cerimony several times.

The Squire must first go to confession, Then communion, and the day of his adoubement should be that of some great feast, (Like Christmas)

The Squire ought to fast on the vigil of saint the feast is for... (Don't blame me for the wording being strange.)
And after the Knighting day he should hear a sermon.

It also states that the Knight who adoubes the Squire must be virtueous, as he cannot give what he does not have, thus suggesting a 'transferance' if you will, of virtue from the Knight to the Squire. It goes on about this in some length. It states that after the preacher has finished, the own who will adoube the Squire should step forward, and adoube.

(Then it goes on at some length about how terrrible it is if this fellow is without virtue.

Then the Squire ought to kneel before the Altar, reach up towards heaven, and the sword is buckled on him, "in the sign of Chastity, Charity, and Justice" and then the Knight will kiss him, and 'give him a palm' (Which I take to mean a hard smack) that he not forget [all things related to the honor of Knighthood. I'm cutting it down.]



Then after the "Spritual Knight' (the Priest) and the "Terrestrial Knight," (Normal Knight) have made the Squire Knight, he should ride among the people, such that all should know him and that he is a Knight, such that if he should do evil later, all will know who he is, and know of his disgrace.


And then he should throw a party.



Now, In the next book (chapter) the wording is rather complex, but it says "That which the Preist invests him with when he sings the mass have some significance which concords with the office." It then lists the symbolism of each peice of his equipment, from his sword to the armor on his horse. This vaguely suggests the priest arming him (as in "how a man shall be armed when he shall fight on foot") as he sings the mass, but I can't say for sure.

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

Hey George!
Thanks for posting that information from Raymond Lull's work. Did you note the importance placed upon the girding on of the sword?

Here's the full version of William Marshal's knighting from Sidney Painter's William Marshal: Knight-Errant, Baron, and Regent of England:

"The occasion for which William had hoped came in the summer of 1167. King Henry II was at war with his suzerain, Louis VII of France. While Louis himself occupied Henry's attention by ravaging the Norman Vexin, the French king's allies, the counts of Flanders, Boulogne, and Ponthieu, invaded the county of Eu. Count John of Eu, unable to hold his own against the invaders, was forced to retire to Neufchatel-en-Bray, then called Drincourt. There he encountered a force of knights which Henry had sent to his assistance under the command of the constable of Normandy and the lord of Tancarville. The chamberlain decided that this was an auspicious time for knighting William. A goodly array of Norman barons was at hand to lend dignity to the occasion, and the future seemed to promise an opportunity for the young knight to prove his valor. William's induction into the order of chivalry was attended by little of the ceremony usually associated with the dubbing of a knight. Dressed in a new mantle, the young man stood before the chamberlain, who girt him with a sword, the principle emblem of knighthood, and gave him the ceremonial blow." (I believe Painter took the specifics of the ceremony from Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal, a near contemporary account of William's life.)

Note that even a less elaborate dubbing ceremony including the girding on of the sword. The sword and spurs served as "insignia" of knighthood. Thus, the term "earning his spurs" for someone who earns a great accolade for some great deed.

I hope someone finds this of interest!

I'll be entering more examples later!

Stay safe!

[George Hill]

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

George,
There seems to be some confusion regarding whether or not the colee is present in Raymond Llull's work, Book of the Order of Chivalry. Richard Barber, in The Knight and Chivalry, seems to think it's not present in the original 1265 treatise, and is lacking in many later translations. Could the author of your translation have added it in?

The colee was seen an an essential act by some but not all medieval authors. I'm not sure if the colee was always given during mass knightings. Here's what Barber said about the point:
"Dubbing was a blow struck with the hand or the sword, called in French colee or paumee, later regarded as the one essential act in the ceremony, is shrouded in mystery. It may be related to the obscure Germanic custom of striking the witnesses to a legal act to make them remember it, or to the blow which freed slaves in the act of manumission. Before 1350 it is only found in France and England, and even there is not universal. Raimon Llull's Book of the Order of Chivalry, written in Spain in 1265, and perhaps the most influential of all such treatises, knows nothing of it, and none of the many later translations of his book add it to the text. On the other hand, Geoffroi de Charny, writing about 1352, sees it as an essential part of the ceremony:
And, then that knight must give them the colee, as a sign that they must always bear in mind the order of chivalry which they have received and do those deeds which appertain to the said order; and thus knights are made and ought to be made"

(Geoffrey de Charny, a famous proponent of the order of chivalry, died holding the Oriflamme, the sacred banner of France, at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356.)

Apparently, the blow, or colee, was not necessary. It seems that, even though the knights of western Europe shared a similar ethos, the specifics involving the ceremonies varied from location to location.

I'll enter more knighting ceremonies and information later!

Stay safe!

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

I thought I would post the description of a knighting ceremony from John of Marmoutier's life of Geoffrey of Anjou, written in the 1180's, as found in Richard Barber's The Knight and Chivalry. I posted a version from The Knight in History by Frances Gies on another thread, but Barber may have had better access to the original material. His wording is slightly different, so I thought it would be worth posting in its entirety. From Richard Barber:

"On the great day, as required by the custom for making knights, baths were prepared for use. The king had learned from his chamberlains that the Angevin and those who came with him had come from the purification ceremony. He commanded that they be summoned before him. After having cleansed his body, and come from the purification of bathing, the noble offspring of the count of Anjou dressed in a linen undershirt, putting on a robe woven with gold and a surcoat of rich purple hue; his stockings were of silk, and on his feet he wore shoes with little gold lions on them. His companions who were to be knighted with him, were all clothed in linen and purple. He left his privy chamber and paraded in public, accompanied by his noble retinue. Their horses were led, arms carried to be distributed to each in turn, according to their need. The Angevin led a wonderfully ornamented Spanish horse, whose speed was said to be so great that birds in flight were far slower. He wore a matching hauberk made of double mail, in which no hole had been pierced by spear or dart. He was shod in iron shoes, also made from double mail. To his ankles were fastened golden spurs. A shield hung from his neck, on which were golden images of lioncels. On his head was placed a helmet, reflecting the lights of many precious gems, tempered in such a way that no sword could break or pierce it. He carried an ash spear with a point of Pointevin iron, and finally a sword from the royal treasure, bearing an ancient inscription over which the superlative Wayland had sweated with much labour and application in the forge of the smiths."

This is interesting on several points. First, there is no vigil mentioned, but a purifying bath. Second, the mention of the "distribution" of arms implies that Geoffrey and his fellow squires were granted arms and armour by their sponsor. Note also the mention of the hauberk having never been pierced, as if it were already old when given to Geoffrey. Finally, note the mention of a sword taken from the royal treasure, probably another item given Geoffrey by his sponsor. Geoffrey is armed, and golden spurs are fastened to his ankles, but there is no mention of a colee or blow.

(Keep in mind, squires didn't always fight as knights until inducted into the order of knighthood, so the hauberk may not be Geoffrey's originally.)

I hope someone finds this of interest.

I can enter more information later, but this is enough for today!

Stay safe!

[George Hill]

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

[George Hill]

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

[Richard Fay]

Hello all!

Hey George, I've got more about knighting ceremonies and rituals for you!

Some works claim that the accolade is vital, while others claim it was unknown for some time in certain areas.

The following is an excerpt from a work by Antoine de la Sale, found in The Medieval Warrior by Paul La Croix and Walter Clifford Meller.

[George Hill]

Quite interisting. If you find out about Lull, you know where the thread is. And thank you.