Help please! Knighthood ceremonies/certificates...

[Phoenix8008]

Okay, the party I am DMing has just finished the "Speaker in Dreams" module and I plan on having the King Knight them all before going on to the next adventure. (In my campaign, I made the character being mind controlled the King instead of a Baron.)

I was thinking of typing up some nice certificates to hand out to each player telling their new benefits and duties of being one of the King's knights. So far I have the following:

Benefits: Can go anywhere in the kingdom armed regardless of laws to the contrary; can demand one nights' stay at any location within the kingdom.

Duties:Serve the king directly on any assigned missions; serve the people of the kingdom if in need.


I am also interested in any knowledge of how knighting ceremonies worked. I believe that the people to be knighted had to fast for 24 hours prior to the knighting, but I don't know much beyond that. Oh, except that the King taps the person on the shoulders with his sword to make the knighting official.

So, what I'm looking for is any other info on these subjects that I can work into our session tommorrow night before I send them off to Ossington and the "Standing Stones" module. Anybody able or willing to give me some pointers here? Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[lord irial]

Following is an SCA knighting ceremony; I've adapted a few other ceremonies for my game, hopefully you'll find this useful.

-lord irial
__________________________________________________
The herald shall call forth a knight or master previously chosen.

Herald: Their Majesties call forth Sir (Master) N.

Knight: Your Majesty, I beg a boon.

King: Ask, and if it be within Our power and a proper thing, it shall be yours.

Knight: I ask that Your Majesty bestow the accolade of knighthood upon N.

Then the King shall say to the Herald:

King: Summon the members of Our most noble Order of the Chivalry.

Herald: Their Majesties call the Knights and Masters-at-Arms of the Society.

All members of the Chivalry shall approach the Throne and kneel before the King, and the King shall say:

King: Noble Sirs, is it your judgment that N. is worthy to be numbered among Our Chivalry in prowess, loyalty, and courtesy?

After the assembled Chivalry answer "aye," the King shall say to the herald:

King: Call forth the candidate.

Herald: Lord (Lady) N., stand forth and kneel before your King!

After the candidate comes forward and kneels, the King shall say:

King: Right mindful of your prowess on the field, and responsive to the wishes of your peers, we are minded to make you knight.

Know that to wear the belt and chain of a knight is to hold a sacred trust; that the obligations of knighthood will demand your efforts every moment of your life.

A knight of the Society must be respectful of all religions, never offending the faith of another.

A knight must respect all those who are weak or defenseless, whether because of age, infirmity, poverty, or vow, and be steadfast in defending them.

A knight must love his Kingdom and his province, and fulfill most faithfully his feudal duties to his baron and his King.

His word must be dependable beyond doubt or question. He must never flee from the face of his foes. He must be generous to all. And, always and everywhere, he must be the champion of the right and the good.

The Laws of the Society and the customs of the Kingdom require that a knight be prow, as you have demonstrated you are upon the field; that a knight be courteous, as you have shown yourself to be and as these noble gentleman (and ladies) attest; and that a knight be loyal to his Kingdom and the Society.

Do you then desire to accept the burden of knighthood and swear fealty to the Crown?

Candidate: I do.

King: Then swear fealty and pay homage to the Crown of the Middle Kingdom.

The herald shall say, phrase by phrase, and the candidate shall repeat:

I here swear fealty and do homage to the Crown of the Middle Kingdom;
to ever be a good knight and true,
reverent and generous,
shield of the weak,
obedient to my liege-lord,
foremost in battle,
courteous at all times,
champion of the right and the good.
Thus swear I, N.


King: This do We swear and will never forget:
To be your liege-lord, rewarding fealty with love,
valor with honor, and oath-breaking with vengeance (justice).

The King shall then receive the belt and shall give it into the hands of the candidate's lady (or lord), saying as it is buckled about him (her):

King: Wear this belt in token of your prowess.

The King shall receive the chain, saying as he places it about the candidate's neck:

King: Wear this chain in token of your fealty.

If spurs are available, they may be buckled on as the King says:

King: Wear these spurs in outward token of your new station.

The King may either give a sword to the new knight and say, or may simply say:

King: Bear your sword with strength, so disposing your heart to goodness that you never use (it/this sword or any other) to injure anyone unjustly, but always use it to defend the just and right.

Then shall the King receive Oathbinder and shall strike the candidate upon the shoulders with the flat of the blade, saying:

King: Bear these blows and no others. Rise, Sir N.

The King may, at his choice, use these words to accompany the blows, or words of his own choice:

King: Bear these blows and no others. In remembrance of oaths given and received. (Strikes right shoulder) In remembrance of your lineage and obligations. (Strikes left shoulder) Be thou a good knight. (Strikes head) Rise, Sir N.

Or the King may, at his choice, use these words to accompany the blows:

King: Bear these blows and no others. We dub thee once, twice, thrice. Rise, Sir N.

The new knight shall rise, be greeted by the Chivalry as the herald reads the proclamation of elevation, then all shall retire in good order.

 

[Phoenix8008]

Awesome! Thanks alot. That is very good stuff and I will see what of it I can work into the session tommorrow.

Anybody else with anything relating to this topic?

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah, I still favor capitalism! Thus I'd just steal the freaking land! Titles don't do much for me.

Still it's a nice cermony AND perhaps as an added bonus, they get a small percentage of the taxes, say 6% collected to help with their protection of the village.

 

[The It's Man]

They have to push the pram a lot.

 

[Umbran]

Or, you could use the knighting ceremony from the Danny Kaye movie, "The Court Jester"

 

[Saturn's Halo]

Other things knights did...

One benefit of being a knight, though unofficial, was the right to beat up and rob anyone you wanted, including members of the Church. I suppose chivalry was more about opportunism and loop-holes...

 

[GrimJesta]

The tapping of a sword on a persons shoulders was mostly for battlefield knightings. At court, a would-be knight instead placed his hands on two relics while taking the oath. To see this actually in effect, take a look at the Bayoux Tapestry. Theres a nice scene of this relic-thing going on.

-=grim=-

 

[Phoenix8008]

Thanks all. For now, they are not getting a fief to lord over. That will come later, after they prove themselves good Knights of the King by helping Ossington at least and maybe taking down the Tower of Gulthias.

Anyway, thanks for the responses all. I hope I can do it justice tonight in session!