[MR] Coronation Curia - New Orders?

[SNSpies at aol.com]

<<  It seems like a feedback loop, where every new member of the order
 has to work harder to get there, and so works to maintain that high standard
 for future members.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing...only, how did
 that trend get started? >>

Dona Violante has a very good point here which I would like to address, if I 
may.  The perceived idea that the bar gets higher and higher for attaining 
awards in the SCA is in the nature of the beast itself.  

Speaking as an artisan (and I can not, therefore, speak as someone who is 
service- or fighting-oriented), I can tell you that the level of research and 
craftsmanship currently being done in the SCA is far and away deeper, 
broader, and more intense than it probably was 20, 30 (or even 10?) years 
ago.  Nowadays, people are translating and redacting obscure Spanish 
cookbooks, rediscovering and relearning long-forgotten textile crafts such as 
nalbinding ... and publishing and teaching these techniques them to many 
others.  These are just small examples, but I believe they are telling in 
that we, as a society, are not only keeping alive many crafts that would have 
long since been lost, but we are taking our work and research very seriously. 
 The SCA is doing an amazing job in this way.

So if you are, say, interested in medieval textiles, it is now undoubtedly 
true that you probably can not keep showing up in stunning garb and expect to 
be awarded for it ... if it is made of cotton ... if you are not aware of the 
types of weave that it should be made of ... if you have not tried to have 
the semblance of correct head wear or foot wear or whatever, etc.  That is to 
be expected.  Our knowledge of what actually was done in the Middle Ages has 
increased incredibly since this organization started more than 30 years ago, 
and it would be strange if the standards for awards were the same now as they 
were then.  

The research and the craftsmanship among SCA artisans and scientists is truly 
amazing;  to some, this may appear that the bar has been raised too high.  
That is not the case.  It would be very strange if expectations were lower, 
in fact.  

There is still so much to learn and discover that I would encourage anyone 
with a yen towards sticking their nose into any corner of medieval life to 
dive headfirst into it.  You just never know what you will find.  After all, 
my 7 years of research and the resultant book on brocaded tabletwoven bands 
started with a simple desire on my part to find some more period patterns to 
weave.  

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Mistress Ingvild