A Knight's Vigil

[Winterfell]

In my neverending quest to know what everyone else is doing in terms of reenactment and authenticity, my newest question is:
How common is the vigil before knighting practiced. Not asking about historic examples, I am aware of those. I am talking about modern knights. If you are considered a knight in your group have you performed a vigil? Is it standard in the SCA, or voluntary? Do other groups like Selohaar and The Red Company do that as well?
(This question inspired by all of the excellent posts about Vitus's Vigil)

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"As long as there are fanatics there will always be heretics

[Bernhart von Bruck]

Chello!

The ECS follows the standard pratcice of the Vigil as well.

Tony

[sarnac]

When I was offered the accolade in the SCA,I was given a vigil...it was a three part vigil that I decided on ahead of time.

The first was trial by combat.
I set up a small list field and took on all comers for a set period of time...
I believe the final tally was 75 fights in 2 hours.
then I cleaned up and sat vigil in a tent set up for me and anyone who felt they wated to share advice with me...came and sat and talked.
Then during the evening I spent the entire evening in the kitchen scrubbing pots and dishes to remind me of humility and service.

I was then elevated to the Order of Chivalry that night in Court.
All in all it was an amazing and memorable day

[This message has been edited by sarnac (edited 08-21-2002).]

[jester]

The vigil is standard practice in the SCA, the form it takes is not. Some places practice the 'tap' method of knighting. In this case the candidate is offered admittance in the order of chivalry (as a knight or master of arms, the candidate gets to choose) and is then whisked away to perform their vigil. The vigil tent is set up by members of the Chivalry and the friends of the candidate (who have generally been secretly informed ahead of time that the candidate will be 'tapped' at such and such an event). I dislike this method.

Other places offer admittance to the candidate and then make arrangements for the knighting to take place at a later date. The candidate then can help to set up their own vigil (including elements that are important to them) and choose an appropriate time and place for their dubbing. I greatly prefer this method.

The specific content of the vigil varies. In general they all include sequestering the candidate in an isolated location. Members of the group (not only peers, but pretty much anyone) visit the candidate and offer advice and congratulations. Beyond that, anything goes.

[Richard Blackmoore]

In the East Kingdom SCA, there is usually a vigil (almost always, but not always). The vigil is almost never done on a separate day from the knighting. It is usually assumed that a candidate will accept the accolade and they usually do. Candidates are sometimes told in advance that they are being knighted, for a variety of reasons. More often than not, the candidate is not told in advance on purpose, though it often leaks out.

The negative to having a vigil followed by an immediate planned knighting, is that it puts a lot of pressure on the candidate to accept the accolade; numerous people normally work their butts off to be sure that people close to the candidate can be there, they often plan elaborate vigils/ceremonies and have symbolic items there or gifts for the candidate. So if the candidate says no or needs time to think about it, it is not terribly feasible. It can also make it hard to fit the vigil in before court at a single day event where the hall closes at 10 PM (common in the East Kingdom). In the East you sometimes have multiple peers being made with all having vigils (Knights/Pelicans/Laurels). We don't seem to make as many knights lately, but I've been to events where you go to three or four vigils followed by a multi hour court (the wife, who is not a peer, is not thrilled about me disappearing for 4 or 5 hours and dumping the kid on her).

The advantage to this method is that people that want to attend the knighting and the vigil only have to attend a single event.

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[Gaston de Clermont]

I'm in the SCA, in the West kingdom. Vigils are common here, though they're not always all night affairs.
Mine lasted all night. The appropriate liturgical hours for that day were read, and mass was read the next day. It's really only something that could be arranged because I knew of the event well in advance. I haven't heard of another modern vigil having similar religious aspects to mine, so it's probably pretty rare, at least in the SCA.

Folks came in all night to offer advice and congratulations. A lot of the advice was worth while but honestly I might have prefered to keep the vigil as an essentially solitary night of meditation, and had the advice session separate.
Gaston de Clermont

[Vitus von Atzinger]

Like I said on the other thread, I would have liked to have done the all-night Vigil that Lull describes, but if I have to make a choice between making Lull happy, and making my lady unhappy, Lull is going to lose. I came up with the best vigil and ceremony that I could under the circumstances.
Do the best you can when the time comes, and be ready for a few minor disappointments.
-Vitus

[mordreth]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Clermont:
I haven't heard of another modern vigil having similar religious aspects to mine, so it's probably pretty rare, at least in the SCA.
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My knight made arrangements for one of the R.C. priests on site at Pensic to meet me on the way to my vigil, so that I could go to it properly shriven, and blessed
I got the ritual bath, and the white robe, and spent the evening in conversation with members of the chivalry, and contemplation, towards dawn I was sent to climb the hill behind the main battlefield, with instructions to remain there in solitary contemplation until I was ready to return to my camp, or dawn (I was also instructed to return to camp, and make Vaiscount Edwards coffee before waking him one last time)
The religious aspects of chivalry were (and are)very important to me, and I cannot state how greatfull I was that my knight provided the vigil that I needed, as opposed to the one most people pushed for.

[Steve S.]

I served as a gaurd at my friend Sir Maxamillian Rachengle's knighting vigil. It was a very profound event.

He spent most of the evening and into the morning in his vigil tent accepting visitors. As gaurds we stayed on our feet for probably some 6+ hours, which I thought was very cool. It was one of those "magic moments" where I actually felt like a faithful servant doing my duty to my lord (I am not squired to Sir Max - he's just a good friend). His other friend and squire-brother Ni'all (probably misspelled that) was the other gaurd. We were dressed out in livery and it was very cool looking.

Sometime in the early morning people stopped coming by, so we took a seat while Sir Max stayed in his vigil tent. Later, still dark, his wife, I, and Ni'all escorted him to the lake where he took a ceramonial bath and donned the appropriate clothing (I believe it was generally white with a red cloak, if I recall). We then escorted him back to his vigil tent. I thought it was very well done.

Steve

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[Sieur Raymond]

My vigil was a two-part affair. I was put on Vigil at Pennsic -my wife was secretly brought to Pennsic for it- and my household set up a small pavillion in camp with torch lined aisle leading up to it. A very cool night.

So that my Knight and certain others could attend, the knighting was done a few weeks later. A special event was set up for the purpose in a non-modern outdoor setting and alot of people went to great trouble for it. I was dubbed by torchlight that night. Unforgettable occassion.