MSCA et al

Burke McCrory burkemc at ionet.net
Sun Jun 8 23:29:56 PDT 1997


I just got back in from a "spy" mission to Trimaris.  After digesting all
the comments made concerning the MSCA and it's position in the SCA and in
History.  I would like to point out a few thoughts.

The KSCA was not created with a sense of overwhelming authenticity, it was
created because if this group was going to recreate heavy fighting, you
needed to have Knights.  If any model was used it was, as Sir Galen pointed
out, the Knights of the Round Table.  Remember when all this got started,
we were the Society for Creative Anachronism, not the Society for
Compulsive Authenticity.  Over the years the idea of the Chivalry has
evolved into a more mature and somewhat more historically based model, but
still serving also as a way to recognize those who have achieved a
particular standard of fighting and behavior.  The creation of the MSCA, as
has previously been noted, was for strictly mundane reasons, NOT
historical.  The attempting to reverse engineer a motive and explanation is
not very productive.  I agree that the idea of a Master of Arms could fit
more closely the model of earlier personas in regards to great warriors and
leaders.  But we should never lose sight of the fact that the SCA was never
created to represent a perfect recreation of actual history.  The system
allows us the latitude to "play" our personas, including those
characteristics of persona that will work in polite society.  Evolving our
systems and structures over the years is the way we adapt the game to the
ever changing world in which we live.

All of this having been said, I believe the MSCA and the KSCA are the same
and equal.  What was created to fill a mundane need, now can evolve to
cover a broader aspect of the SCA.  But, I do not wish to see people
thinking that they can just switch back and forth at their whim.  The
example that we have seen in the past were of individuals who for stated
reasons asked that their KSCA be converted into a MSCA.  It was and is the
Crown's call.  In this Kingdom the only example of someone going from MSCA
to KSCA was his grace Inman.  People should think long and hard about
changing from one to another, remembering that the duties are the same as
to conduct, fighting, and training.  The only real difference is the oath
of fealty.


In Service to the Dream

Sir Burke Kyriell MacDonald
Kingdom of Ansteorra


mka. Burke McCrory
burkemc at ionet.net



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