What do we call the medieval Christian ceremony of becoming a knight-like defender of faith (especially in military orders)?

The story behind the answer

In the military orders (Templars, Hospitallers, Teutonic Knights), admission was a religious profession: candidates publicly promised poverty, chastity, and obedience before an altar, placing their hands in the superior’s and binding themselves to defend the Church and aid pilgrims. This monastic-style commitment, not a secular knighting ritual, is what made them “knight-like” defenders of the faith.

Unlike the accolade, which dubbed lay knights, or simply putting on a habit, this profession transformed a warrior into a religious—often marked by receiving a mantle with a distinctive cross. Guided by strict rules (the Templars’ shaped by Bernard of Clairvaux), these vows placed members under ecclesiastical authority and often papal protection, blending cloistered discipline with martial duty in a unique medieval synthesis.