[MR] Re: [AtlantianKnights] golden moon

[Arthur Donadio]

Unto the Good People of Atlantia does His Royal Majesty Cuan Send Greetings
this 19th Day of October, Anno Societatis XXXVII, being 2002 Gregorian.


Friends:

I know that there have been a lot of rumors circulating around the Kingdom
and the Known World concerning an incident that took place between two of my
knights at the Golden Moon event.  Her Majesty and I did not attend that
event, but the following week word reached us that there had been an angry
confrontation between Sir Godfried of Frisia and Duke Osric Logan
Ebonwoulfe.  The rumors that reached us were varied and wildly inconsistent.
  Then Duke Olaf sent me the first eyewitness account and asked me to act.

Upon receipt of His Grace's letter, I directed the knights who attended
Golden Moon to report on the event to the Atlantian Knight's List so that
the Chivalry might be apprised of the situation, try to come to some
understanding of the facts, discuss the incident and, if necessary, police
our own.  At the same time, the Earl Marshal was in contact with the Marshal
in Charge of Golden Moon to discuss the marshallate aspects of this affair.
I made it clear from the start that the process I was beginning with the
Chivalry was not designed or intended to replace an investigation or further
action by the Marshallate.  Alleged misbehavior by knights on the field
simply exposes those involved to possible censure by the Order and the King
on top of any rulings by the Earl Marshal.

Sir Godfried and Duke Logan both posted to the Chivalry List, as did other
participants at Golden Moon, and the chivarlry had ample opportunity to
question and comment.  The MIC's report was posted to the List along with an
explanatory letter.

At University, the assembled chivalry spent about an hour of our meeting
discussing Golden Moon, and Sir Rodrigo Falcone met with Lord Menua, the
Golden Moon MIC, to go over the Marshals Report.  On the 17th of October, we
received the report of Sir Jason (on which we had been waiting).  There have
been so many rumors spread about this event, many by folks who should know
better, that I feel it is important to lay out the facts as I have been able
to determine them.  Those relevant facts are summarized in the letter I
posted on Friday, October 18th.  I forward that letter to you with a
tangential discussion deleted.

Based on the Marshal's Report, and the reports of eyewitnesses, the Earl
Marshal has determined that no additional action will be taken against Sir
Godfried and Duke Logan as a result of this incident.  Basically, Logan hit
Godfried several times and Godfried did not fall down.  Godfried maintains
that he was saying good but Logan says he did not hear it in the middle of
throwing blows.  Some witnesses said they heard "good", but some said the
first time they heard anything was when Godfried angrily shouted, "I said
good, Goddammit!"  At this point, the fighters bumped helmet grilles.
Thereafter, Logan removed his helm and responded to Godfried in an equally
loud tone and in a manner that implied that Logan was inviting Godfried to
swing at him.  Logan maintains that Godfried displayed a threatening affect
and he was trying to back him down.  A number of people then came up to the
fighters to see what was going on.  Both fighters left the field.  Both
fighters were issued a warning by the MIC.  There were no further incidents
between the two fighters for the rest of the day.

I think it is important to point out that this incident lasted about one
minute, no fist fight ensued, no one had to be dragged away from the
confrontation, and the two knights in question had settled the matter to the
satisfaction of each by the end of the day.

At the end of the day, the senior knight present called a knight's meeting
to discuss the day's events.  Duke Olaf was particularly concerned about the
effect of this confrontation on the large number of newcomers present at the
event.

The actions of a knight reflect on the entire Order, and while the Marshal
acted appropriately in warning the participants here and informing them that
no further incidents would be tolerated, I am acting here to address the
fact that these knights fell short of the standard that they set for
themselves when they accepted the belt and chain.  Sir Godfried and Duke
Logan voluntarily submitted themselves to whatever penalty that I chose to
mete out in addition to the possibility of marshallate sanction.  To put
your fate in the hands of the King shows both courage and contrition, and
having to see this letter posted to the entire Kingdom should help to remind
all the members of the Atlantian Chivalry that lapses in judgment have
consequences.  When those lapses in judgment lead to public displays, and
cast the Chivalry in an unfavorable light, then resolution must be equally
public.  Both Sir Godfried and Duke Logan are good men, and good knights,
who have faced up to their conduct and accepted the consequences.  I hope
you will all give them credit for that.

Cuan Rex

Without further ado, here is the letter I posted on October 18:









From: "Arthur Donadio" <dukecuan at hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: AtlantianKnights at yahoogroups.com
>To: AtlantianKnights at yahoogroups.com
>CC: seneschal at atlantia.sca.org, polearmed at att.net, queen at atlantia.sca.org
>Subject: Re: [AtlantianKnights] golden moon
>Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 15:01:57 -0400
>
>
>Unto the Atlantian Chivalry, and more specifically unto Sir Roderigo
>Falcone,Sir Godfried of Frisia and His Grace, Duke Osric Logan Ebonwoulfe,
>does His Royal Majesty, Cuan, Send Greetings this 18th Day of October, Anno
>Societatis XXXVII, being 2002 Gregorian.
>
>Gentlemen:
>
>This will be another of my lengthy communications which proceeds from the
>general to the specific.  Now that we have heard from Sir Jason, and appear
>unlikely to hear from Sir Duncan, I am ready to review the incidents
>occurring at Golden Moon, assess responsibility, and assign pennance.  Let
>me further preface my comments by saying that with this letter, the Crown
>sincerely hopes to be finished with this incident.
>
>The MIC of Golden Moon, Lord Menua, reported that the event had a wierd
>feel
>to it from the start.  We have all been at events like that and with the
>teams at Golden Moon and the scenario design of the event, it is no wonder
>that the MIC got the impression he did. We seem to continue to have temper,
>injury, and safety issues at events of this design.  Specifically,  events
>that involve small teams competing for the best time, or highest number of
>sheep, while negotiating obstacles or buildings, and given the option of
>not
>fighting an opponent, but instead blocking him out of bounds.  I have, in
>fact, trained people to use the rules that are given you to best advantage.
>If a team of eager but less skilled fighters comes up against a more
>talented team, it only makes sense to try to take Duke Bob out of bounds
>rather than killing him.  This is especially true if the objective of the
>scenario (or victory conditions) is collecting more sheep than the other
>team rather than defeating the other team by combat.  So, I would like the
>Earl Marshal to issue an immediate directive to his officers that until
>further notice, there will be no scenarios run in this kingdom that include
>death from stepping out of bounds.  Furthermore, I would like the Earl
>Marshal to direct that any scenarios that involve the collecting of objects
>or a competition for the fastest time to complete must be directly
>marshalled by a knight with no fewer than three warranted (not line)
>marshals assisting him.  These directives are to be a stop gap measure
>until
>the EM can draft his new marshal policies (including certified marshals
>with
>differing authority and responsibilities).  In addition, Duke Richard has
>pointed out that we are not permitted to deviate from the conventions of
>combat for the sake of scenario design.  Therefore, the Earl Marshal will
>also direct his marshals that scenarios may not be run wherein beasts are
>proof against all blows but thrusts, or a fighter must be struck only in
>the
>head, or five times in the body.  I have already asked the Earl Marshal to
>address these issues as they relate to the scenarios planned for the
>upcoming Silver Chalice event.  My Lord Earl Marshal, please publish the
>above directives eloectronically by November 1, 2002, and in the next
>available issue of the Acorn.  I regret the need to take this drastic
>action
>and the appearance of doing so by fiat, but after the number of incidents
>and the tone of fighting I have seen in these small unit scenarios over the
>past couple of years, I believe that failing to act swiftly would
>constititute a dereliction of duty on my part.
>
>Now I would like to address the incident between Godfried and Logan.  I
>must
>first say that I appreciate the willingness of each of these gentlemen to
>participate in a discussion of these events in front of the Chivalry on
>this
>list.  I know that this process has been most uncomfortable, and that is
>how
>I intended it to be.  Let me say also that I consider Godfried and Logan to
>be friends of mine, and that has made this a difficult time for me.  I hope
>that friendship, while it inevitably exerts an influence on my decision
>making, will not stop me (nor be perceived as stopping me) from acting
>appropriately given the facts I have to work with.
>
>Logan and Godfried, the evidence upon which I have assessed the situation
>at
>Golden Moon has been provided to me from the two of you, Duke Olaf, Lord
>Menua (the MIC), Sir Jason, Lady Kilmeny, Baroness Kisaiya and Countess
>Bera
>(largely hearsay), and several other gentles who saw or heard only bits and
>pieces of the confrontation between the two of you.  Although I expected to
>receive a videotape, I have not, and will proceed without having seen that.
>I should say that the tape would not significantly affect my judgment, as
>you will see later.  From the available evidence, I have gleaned the
>RELEVANT facts.  These facts are obviously mine and yours may vary.  I have
>carefully considered the bias of the witnesses, and each witness'
>opportunity to hear, see, and understand what he or she has reported.  In
>short, I have applied all the tools a judge uses in evaluating evidence.
>
>I will dispose of a couple of issues right away.  One, it does not matter
>how many times Logan hit Godfried.  Godfried did not fall down, which is
>the
>visual cue to which we are trained to respond, and I am unconvinced that
>Godfried was prevented from falling.  The fact is, many of us take the
>shortcut of saying "good" instead of falling down.
>Furthermore, I do not believe that Logan heard Godfried say good and
>continued to hit him anyway.  If you believe, as many knights apparently
>do,
>that Logan is over-competitive, then continuing to hit a man you know is
>dead, thereby wasting time better spent achieving the scenario objective,
>is
>completely out of character and simply not credible.  Next, the grille
>bumping episode.  Jason and others have reported that Godfried bumped
>Logan's grille as Godfried shouted "I said good, Goddammit."  Other
>accounts
>assign the initial grille bumping to Logan.  I find the version wherein
>Godfried bumps Logan while shouting, "I said good goddammit" to be by far
>the more credible story, especially as Logan admits to returning the
>contact
>with "emphasis".  I find this to be more consistent with human nature and
>with what preceded and followed.  I also believe Logan when he says he
>honestly believed that Godfried was about to assault him, although I should
>point out that technically Godfried's bumping of Logan's grille with his
>own
>is outside the scope of our conventions of combat, not covered by our
>waiver, and technically constitutes an intentional, offensive, unprivileged
>touching - in other words, an assault.  I believe that Logan took off his
>helmet to be able to better see and hear and to avoid being hindered by it
>in the event a further physical confrontation ensued.  I do not know for
>certain what Logan said to Godfried; it might have been, "swing if you
>want", or "go ahead and swing", or "let's go".  For my purposes, it does
>not
>matter; Logan's tone and reaction were, as he admits, innapropriate for the
>SCA field of combat.  As an aside, let me point out that I do not believe
>that Dagonet was "egging" Godfried on when he stepped between the two
>knights; I believe instead that he asked Godfried, "Sir, do you really want
>to do this?", in an effort to defuse the situation.  I would hate to see
>this incident dog a very fine young fighter who I have never seen lose his
>temper on the field despite some real provocation.
>
>It is interesting that Godfried's report and apology focus on emotional
>responses, while Logan's focussed on facts.  Some of the Chivalry have
>beaten Logan up about this.  I think I know why.  Godfried gave us an easy
>out, for which he has my thanks.  Godfried admitted he screwed up, said he
>was sorry, proposed a public apology, and offered to atone for his actions.
>Logan, on the other hand, insisted that we really examine what happened,
>and
>then judge him on the facts and not the perception.  I know that this is
>Logan's personality, always has been.


(TEXT DELETED)

My point with this tangent is that rumor and distortion run
>rampant in the SCA, there are people ready and willing to use a lot of
>weapons against a lightning rod like Logan, these folks are not slaves to
>the truth, and so a healthy insistence on facts is understandable.
>
>All that being said, I cannot ignore the fact that two members of the
>Chivalry screwed up and both of them have agreed in letters to this list to
>submit themselves to my judgment.  Logan, you insist that you were in
>control at all times and that your tactics were precisely calculated to
>back
>down a perceived threat of physical violence.  But you cannot ignore the
>fact that the perception was created that you were ready to rumble and that
>you were not in control.  And you have to ask yourself, why do people have
>this perception of me?  Why are some folks ready to believe that I was on
>the edge of losing control?  And then you have to remember that several
>years ago, when Duke Keen was not taking your blows in the Best of the
>Best,
>you tossed your gear and made everyone painfully aware of your opinion of
>that fight.  Keen was banned from the tournament and you sat out for a
>year.
>   At last year's Best of the Best, after you were put out of the tourney,
>you gathered your stuff and your people and left the field.  You told me
>later that you were injured in your fight with Uther, but the impression
>that I and a lot of other knights got was that you were pissed and you took
>your toys and went home.  After your Crown final with Galmr, you nursed
>that
>grievance for a year, and everyone knew it.  I say that as someone who
>fought hard for your right to fight in the next Crown.  And I will say
>again
>that I appreciate Galmr and Aryanna doing the right thing and letting you
>fight, although I know that they were not happy about it.  And then there
>was that incident when you were fighting that new fighter who was not
>taking
>your blows.  I know you were just hitting him until he got one he liked,
>but
>the perception was bad enough that King Havordh asked you to sit out.
>
>Logan, you know that I have said all of this to you before. I am saying it
>to you again because of something you said to me in reference to your fight
>with Galmr in Crown.  You said, "why don't we police our own?  When is the
>Chivalry going to take care of it's own?".  You asked me that at Pennsic
>one
>night when you had been drinking.  The tears of pain in your eyes brought
>tears to mine.  I have never forgotten that, and now we are here policing
>our own.  As far as I am concerned, you, Logan, are the best fighter in the
>Kingdom.   Your household has some of our most promising talent.  As a
>knight, as a duke, and as one of the best fighters in the Known World, more
>is expected of you.  I will never question your honor, or your heart, but
>as
>your friend I ask that you work on those things that broadcast either a
>lack
>of control or a lack of concern for your opponent.
>
>Godfried, in case you think I forgot about you, I want you to consider
>whether you have the tendency to bluster and bully when confronted with
>situations on the field.  I have never seen you do this, but several
>knights
>have mentioned this to me as an issue with you, especially where unbelts
>are
>concerned.  If this is true, I ask that you work on it.
>
>To those knights who participated in the recent discussions, I thank you.
>Those who tried to understand and those who passed judgment were instantly
>understood and judged accordingly by the rest of us.  And now here I sit, a
>man who has missed blows, yelled at other fighters, drank too much,
>revelled
>in my own arrogance, treated more than one woman with less respect than she
>was due; a man trying his best to be a true knight and a good king.  I sit
>here and pass judgment on my brothers.  The burden of the Crown is heavy
>indeed.
>
>So here it is, my judgment upon Godfried and Logan:
>
>Sir Godfried of Frisia and Duke Osric Logan Ebonwoulfe, having agreed to
>submit themselves to the judgment of the King, having been publicly flogged
>on the Chivalry List, and having each given an account of his acts at the
>recent Golden Moon event, you are each hereby found to have behaved in a
>manner unbecoming a knight and peer of Atlantia in that:
>
>1.  Sir Godfried, having failed to fall after being struck a telling blow,
>initiated grille to grille contact with his opponent, lost his temper with
>said opponent, and shouted profanity on the field of combat;
>
>2.  Duke Osric Logan Ebonwoulfe responded to the actions of Sir Godfried by
>returning the grille contact, removing his helm and inviting Duke Godfried
>to swing at him in a loud voice, thereby helping to create the impression
>that His Grace was inviting a fistfight on the field of combat;
>
>
>Wherefore, I hereby order and decree that Sir Godfried of Frisia and Duke
>Logan Ebonwoulfe, in addition to any personal steps each may take to
>address
>his conduct, shall:
>
>1.  Jointly write an account of their incident of Golden Moon and publish
>said account to the Atlantian list prior to November 1, 2002 and in the
>next
>available Acorn together with such apology as they may jointly see fit to
>include;
>
>2.  Jointly prepare and present a university class on handling difficult
>situations on the field of combat.
>
>
>The combination of these two endeavors and the slings endured on the Chiv
>list are in my opinion more than adequate to atone for any misdeeds or bad
>judgment displayed at Golden Moon.  Logan and Godfried, I have no doubt
>that
>each of you will comply; but neither will you be permitted to fight in
>Crown
>Tournament unless you do as I have set out.
>
>I am now done with this, and would like to hear nothing more about it.
>I would encourage all of my brother knights to get the truth of this
>situation out in your local groups because there are some very inaccurate
>rumors making the rounds.
>
>
>In Service, I remain
>
>Cuan Rex
>
>
>
>
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