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Accolade was a rite-of-passage cememony that initiated candidates into knighthood. The accolade is the tapping of the flat side of a sword on the shoulders of a "knight-to-be" to confer knighthood. [1] It is a ceremony of knighting of an embrace about the neck. The "knight elect" kneels in front of the Queen or King on a knighting-stool when the ceremony is performed. First the Queen or King lays the flat side of the sword blade onto the accolade's right shoulder. They then raise the sword gently just up over the apprentice's head and places it then on his left shoulder. The new knight then stands up after being promoted and the King or Queen presents him with the insignia of the Order to which he has been appointed.[2]
An accolade was a "knight-to-be" that trained hard to be promoted. The potential knight learned the skills of his position like using a sword for defense. Not all accolades were successful. Only the elite became fighting military knights.[3][4]
Initially this was a simple rite often performed on the battlefield. Another military knight, sufficiently impressed by a warrior's loyalty, would strike a fighting soldier on the head with his hand and announce that he was now an official knight. When it became formal and Christianized then prior to the ceremony of becoming a knight one had to take a bath to wash off their sins. The accolade that was a knight-to-be would also pray all night in front of the altar with a sword in his arms. He would then attend mass the next morning to receive a sermon on knighthood responsibilities.[3]
The promotion of becoming a knight generally went through these steps:
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- A child started training at about the age of seven or eight and worked on his skills until he was about twelve to fourteen. He would learn obedience and manners.[4]
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- At twelve to fourteen the young man would observe and help other knights. He would learn fighting techniques by handing them their arrows and watching how they fought. The apprentice would also go hunting with other knights to learn how to use weapons.[4]
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- Accolade
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- At the legal age of 21 the adult male went into recruit training to learn how to become a military fighter.[4]
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- Knight
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- A special kind of military soldier. If duty called he was then a trained fighter on horseback serving a nobleman or royalty. Some of his duties might be to defend a kingdom or protect the local royalty. If duty didn't call for military action then a knight's life was dedicated to chivalry. The pay for the knights many times was land ownership that the King or Queen gave for loyalty.[4]
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Accolade was first used in 1623 and is French from the Provencal "acolada." This in turn came from the latin ad ("to") + collum ("neck").[1]
Accolade is akin to "dubbing" [2] or "to dub" since the tap on the shoulder with the sword is accepted to be the point at which the title is awarded.[1][4]
Clergy receiving a knighthood are not dubbed. The use of a sword in this kind of a cememony is believed to be inappropriate.[1][2]
From about 1852 the meaning of "accolade" was extended to mean "praise" or an "award". [1]
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[edit] See also
[edit] Wiktionary
[edit] References
- Bloch, Marc: Feudal Society, tr. Manyon London:Rutledge, Keagn Paul (1965)
- Boulton, D'Arcy Jonathan Dacre. The Knights of the Crown: The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in Later Medieval Europe, 1325-1520. 2d revised ed. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2000.
- Robards, Brooks; The Medieval Knight at War, UK: Tiger Books, 1997, ISBN 1855019191
[edit] Notes
[Category:Feudalism]] [Category:Positions of authority]] [Category:Honorary titles]] [Category:Knights| ]] [Category:Warfare of the Medieval era]] [Category:Noble titles]]
