[MR] 5th Peerage

[chagankhulan at clan-whitewing.org]

I have to wonder about a word I've seen in some of these posts that, to my
knowledge, is wrong or at least misleading.  Rapier or fencing requires
armor, Combat archery and Siege weapons for combat require armor , even
the latest aspects of Equestrian require armor....so, why are we referring
to these as non-armored activities?  Admittedly, thrown weapons and target
archery do not require armor but the others I've listed most certainly do.
 If it requires armor, makes use of a weapon and is considered a martial
activity - all of the above require marshals and must check in with an MoL
- where's the difference?
The difference is in our history and traditions. Knights were our first
Peers for many reasons and knights are perceived as fighters in heavy
armor wielding great - or at least large - swords. It is simply tradition.
Laurels came next and a couple years later the Pelicans were created -
then termed Imperial Pelicans... So we have a 40+ year tradition of heavy
weapons folks being Knights. As several people on this list have noted -
historically there have been knightings of folks who were not of a social
rank or wealthy enough to really be knights but their prowess on the
battlefield gave them that right or their pouch of gold bought them that
right.  There have been a number of knightings in the last decade or so in
Great Britain that gave men the rank who probably wouldn't know what to do
with a sword if their life depended on it. So, all that aside I return to
what I think is the main reason - simple tradition.  The (oh good grief,
yes) We've always done it that way, tradition.
The SCA does evolve and change, albeit slowly, and I see nothing really
wrong with that. In the beginning we had Elves and Dwarves and such and
some of the really old names are grand-fathered in because if they were
presented to our heralds today they'd be laughed out the door.  More
recently we've seen a movement for more correct or period terms  Event
Steward for Autocrat, etc.  Not good, not bad, just another phase of an
ever evolving group.  Some of us will embrace the changes, others won't. I
suspect it would take a return of the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs
to wipe out all our so-called BAD old habits.
   Perhaps it's time to take a long, close look at the Society's
definition of what is required to become one of any of the Peerages,
but most especially the Knights, and think about what those
requirements mean.  That may be the defining answer to whether those
"non-armored" disciplines could become knights or not.  You might be
surprised.

Chagan



>  Archery, Thrown Weapons, Equestrian and all, could this not be
> covered under a Laurel peerage?   Why do we need to add a 4th, much
> less a 5th Peerage.
>
>
> Achbar
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