ANST - Long Courts & Oa

[Burke McCrory]

At 02:31 PM 8/4/97 -0500, you wrote:
>Galen of Bristol declared:
>
>>>>>>
>I hope I am not betraying His Majesty's confidences, but he actually did
>consider pretty much all the arguments we're seeing in this thread as he
>wrote his ceremony.  Even at the last minute, as one of his close   
>advisors
>was suggesting he reconsider group fealty oaths, his reply was to note   
>that
>the peers and barons are members of the populace, too.  Rather than to
>deprive his vassals of the opportunity to swear individual fealty, he   
>chose
>to lengthen the court, accepting the attendant problems and   
>inconveniences.
>>>>>>
>
>How Sir Knight is this "depriving his vassals the opportunity to swear
>individual fealty"? It isn't. It is depriving them of doing it at a
>very busy court. Even if they swear a group oath during the coronation
>ceremony, it does not keep them from swearing a more elaborate or
>personal oath at a different time.
>
>Remember, in period they didn't change out kings every six months. And
>when the new king stepped up, it was unlikely that a majority of the
>barons much less the knights were present. The ones who were not there
>swore fealty as the king traveled to their region. An oath does not
>need to be done in an auditorium setting. Court can be convened during
>a feast for those who want to come forward and swear fealty. It is my
>understanding that court business was often conducted under such less
>formal conditions. This would also be a good time to present gifts
>rather than in a formal court setting.
>
>Stefan li Rous

I agree with the presentation of presents and of thing like taking of
squires or apprencises.  Also, some of the awards that are to be given out
could be handled earlier by way of small courts and wandering courts.  But,
as I said in my post on the actual coronation ceremony the oaths are not
something to be grouped up in one big lump sum.  This coronation was
unusual in that most of our coronations are held inside and the heat is no
usually quite so intense.  Remember that this event was the combining of
two separate event that usually take up a complete weekend by themselves.
Lets not try and rewrite the world because of one weekend that was highly
unusual.  People at Mikael and Mikaela's or Mahdi  and Valeria's
coronations know there was plenty of dead time.  As someone this last
weekend pointed out to me, in some places during the middle ages you would
sit waiting sometime for days just to be allowed to come in to court.  


Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald


mka Burke McCrory
email:  burkemc at ionet.net
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