In the Middle Ages, the accolade was the central act in the rite-of-passage ceremonies conferring knighthood. Ceremony The accolade is a ceremony to confer knighthood that may take many forms including, for example, the tapping of the flat side of a sword on the shoulders of a candidate or an embrace about the neck Promotion steps The process of becoming a knight generally included these stages: Page — A child started training at about the age of seven or eight, learning obedience, manner… (More on Accolade)