| -link"> | | | | him for knighthood. He would wear a white tunic, which |
| Becoming a knight was much more than a tap on the | | | | symbolized his purity, and over it he would wear a red |
| shoulder with the flat edge of a sword. It was often an | | | | cloak which symbolized royalty. On the morning of the |
| involved process that spanned several days. Here is | | | | ceremony he would bathe as a symbol of his new |
| an overview of a typical knighting ceremony in the | | | | purity. |
| middle ages. | | | | During the actual ceremony the knight would receive |
| The ceremony of knighthood was the final stage in a | | | | gifts such as spurs, a shield, a sword, and sometimes |
| process that a man followed since he was a boy. It | | | | armor. Each of these gifts had symbolic significance. |
| was the symbolic culmination of his pursuit of | | | | His sponsor, who was often a knight or a lord, would |
| proficiency on the battlefield and in the courts of | | | | give these gifts to him. He would say an oath and |
| nobility. It marked his transition from boy to man and | | | | swear fealty to god and to his king and he would |
| from commoner to royalty. This ceremony was very | | | | affirm his devotion to the code of chivalry. The ritual |
| important and had a lot of symbolic significance to him | | | | part of the ceremony would end with the sponsor |
| and to the people around him. It focused on three | | | | tapping the knight on both shoulders with a sword then |
| important aspects of knighthood: religion, allegiance to | | | | introducing him as "sir" to the nobility. This ceremony |
| the King, and the code of chivalry. And it often lasted | | | | would often be followed by a large banquet. |
| three days. | | | | On the day after the ceremony there would often be |
| On the day before the actual ceremony there would | | | | a tournament for the new knight and his peers to |
| be long meals and discussions with knights, clergy, and | | | | show off their combat skills and abilities with weapons. |
| royalty about the roles and responsibilities of a knight. | | | | The ceremony of knighthood was a highly ritualistic |
| And in the evening before the ceremony the knight | | | | and stylized ceremony filled with symbolic meaning. |
| would retire alone to the chapel and spend the entire | | | | And it was a very important part of the culture of the |
| night in prayer and fasting to purify him and prepare | | | | middle ages. |