Accolade
The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) (
Etymology
The term accolade entered English by 1591, when Thomas Lodge used it in a historical romance about Robert the Devil: "He had with all solemnitie the accolade, and was commanded to kneele downe to receiue the order of Knighthoode." It derives from the Middle French accolee, meaning an embrace or the bestowal of knighthood thereby, which in turn descends from the Latin collum, meaning "neck".[5]
History
Ceremony
Accolade ceremonies have taken a variety of 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)[1][6] or an embrace about the neck.[citation needed]
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).[7]
An 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
In medieval France, early ceremonies of the adoubement were purely secular and indicated a young noble coming of age. Around 1200, these ceremonies began to include elements of Christian ritual (such as a night spent in prayers, prior to the rite ).[8]
The increasingly impressive ceremonies surrounding adoubement figured largely in the
Accolade in the 21st century
France
Newly inducted military
Officers in the French Armed Forces also receive the accolade, but a different version. When they graduate, during the ceremony a senior officer hovers their sword on the kneeling graduate's shoulders as if he were knighting the young officer. This part is called the "adoubement", which has a different meaning than accolade. Adoubement involves the sword, accolade is a movement of the hands which varies in different countries. In France, it can be akin to a hug or a hand on the shoulder.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the knights in the exclusive Military Order of William (the Dutch "Victoria Cross") are struck on the left shoulder with the palm of the hand, first by the Dutch monarch (if present) then by the other knights. The new knight does not kneel.[11]
United Kingdom
All newly created knights in the UK are dubbed on both shoulders with a sword by the monarch or the prince delegated by them. In the first example, the "knight-elect" kneels in front of the
Women who are awarded
Clergy receiving a knighthood are not dubbed. The use of a sword in this kind of a ceremony is believed to be inappropriate.[1]
Vatican
Knights of the
Central Europe
The accolade is also performed today with the unrecognized Habsburg Order of St. George during the investiture with a sword on both shoulders. The ceremony including the oath is performed by Karl von Habsburg or Georg von Habsburg. The knights kneel and the sword touches both shoulders.[14][15]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Royal insights". Archived from the original on 2008-03-23. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
- ^ "Knighthood, Chivalry & Tournament -Glossary of Terms (letter "A")". Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 121.
- ^ "Castle Life - The International History Project". Archived from the original on 22 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "accolade". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
- ^ "Dictionary online reference". Archived from the original on 19 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
- ^ Joachim Bumke (1991), Courtly Culture: Literature and Society in the High Middle Ages, University of California Press, pp. 232–33.
- ISBN 2-02-011554-9
- ^ Ackerman, Robert W. "The Knighting Ceremonies in the Middle English Romances." Speculum 19(3): July 1944, 285-313, compared the abbreviated historical accounts with the sometimes fancifully elaborated episodes in the romances.
- ^ (in French) Art. 56, Code de la Légion d'honneur
- ^ Moed en Trouw door J. Van Zelm van Eldik
- ^ "Queen and Honours: Knighthoods". The British Monarchy. Retrieved 2011-12-31.
- ^ "Guide to the Honours". BBC News. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
- ^ St.-Georgs-Orden feierte im Dom
- ^ Investitur des St. Georgs-Ordens mit Karl Habsburg
- Bloch, Marc: Feudal Society, tr. Manyon. London: Routledge, 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.
- Keen, Maurice; Chivalry, New Haven: ISBN 0-300-03150-5
- Robards, Brooks; The Medieval Knight at War, UK: Tiger Books, 1997, ISBN 1-85501-919-1