Dear kman,
There are several ways in which you could get knighted. There are
knights who belong to particular order, and by joining this order
become knights; there are also knights who are nominated by monarchs.
It is naturally easy to be eligable for knighthood in an organisation.
Despite our Romantic image of a knight in the olden days, a Canadian
school explains that "Only the wealthy nobles could afford the armor
and weapons needed to become a knight."
(http://www.sd83.bc.ca/stu/9901/vanaknight.html). Another site marks,
that "Different kings were taking money from people by taxing them so
they can get money for the squire to become a knight." (Source:
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002767/knighting.htm).
Both sites make it clear, that the way to be knighted began at the age
of seven, and was very hard, and only the rich became knights at the
end of it. Oh, the olden days. In these days, actually, even people
like Michael Cane or John Lennon, who did not stem from rich families,
could become knights if they done something remarkable (like smoking
pot the the Queen's toilets, which is what John and Paul reportedly
have done).
The conditions to become a "Knight of Gaia" are: "If you have done
nonviolent direct action (NVDA) for your chosen cause, against your
chosen 'dragon', and can show evidence of it in (such as newspaper
articles, and/or websites), and your efforts are serious (such as
protest camping, persistent NVDA, and/or risking arrest) you would
qualify." (Source: Knights of Gaia.org
http://www.knightsofgaia.org/index.html).
The "NOBLE ORDER OF THE PEACE SHIELD TEMPLARS" has also many tasks for
the future knight, as you can read in this page
http://members.iinet.net.au/~pshield/PST/pst_howto.html
The Knights of Columbus, are a Catholic organisation. Their conditions
are more restrictive and less fitting the honour of killing a dragon:
"There are only two requirements for a man to join the Knights of
Columbus: that he be a practical Catholic as understood by the Church,
and that he be 18 years of age or older." (Source: Knights of
Columbus: http://www.kofc.ab.ca/knighthood.htm). If you're a Buddhist
woman, I see that as a problem. There are also other Catholic orders,
such as the Knights of Malta, and Knight of the Holy Sepulchre, both
of which have to invite you (as a Catholic, who is prominent in some
way). In order to become a Knight Templar, you have to "To petition a
Commandery of Knights Templar for membership, you must first be a
member of a Masonic Lodge and a Royal Arch Chapter. To petition a
Commandery one must profess a belief in the Christian Religion."
(Source: http://www.pagrandlodge.org/knightstemplar/faq.htm).
You could also be knighted by a monarch, like Paul, John, George and
Ringo. A British MP, Paul Flynn, wrote a guide on how to be knighted:
"Knighthoods are bestowed as a badge of mediocrity for undistinguished
long service.
To malcontent political opponents to annoy their leaders
To reinforce subservience to royalty
To silence aspiring rebels
To coax the clapped-out to retire
To punish independent MPs by exclusion
To partial civil servants who are 'one of us'
Because everyone 'likes his wife'"
(Source: http://www.paulflynnmp.co.uk/extract.jsp?id=86).
In other words, if you're British, the easiest way would be to run for
Parliament, pose a threat to the Throne and to social order in
general, be mediocre, and you get knighted. You could also form the
Beatles, or something of the kind.
You might be further interested in
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=alt.culture.knights
this free newsgroup on knighthood.
Searches:
"how to be knighted"
"how to become a knight"
"how to get knighted"
I hope that answered your question. If you need any clarifications,
please contact me. I'd be pleased to answer your clarification
requests before you rate the answer. |
