ANST - Belts and their meaning..

[Dennis and/or Dory Grace]

Salut Cozyns,

Lyonel aisai.

Daniel de Lincolia notes:

>A nit that Lyonel doubtless knows well but others may not:
>"squire" isn't a title, it's a job description or
>relationship.  Not "Squire Foo", but "Foo, squire to Bar".

True.  "Title" isn't the best word.  "Job" would have been better.

>> a gentle is openly announcing his or her bid for the
>> Chivalry.
>
>There's something bothering me about "bid for the Chivalry",
>or bidding for any award.  I suspect Lyonel was writing
>quickly and didn't want to insert the SCA-standard Deathless
>Prose about Not Striving for an Award but Desiring to be
>Worthy of It.

But knighthood isn't an award, it's a peerage.  As such, knighthood is a
recognition.  I see nothing wrong with striving for recognition as the
equal of a group of people you admire.  As I've noted in response to others
on the SCA armored combat list, I see no reason to become a
squire/apprentice/protege' unless you wish to strive for recognition as a
peer.  Mistress Gunnora has a little saying she puts on her apprentices'
belts in Old Norse or Finnish or somesuch.  I don't remember the exact
wording but it says something like, "I can't teach you to be a laurel, but
I will teach you to be a peer."

>Perhaps I'm crabby tonight (and grouchy, crotchety, ...),
>but I don't like equating "squire" = "aspiring knight".  In
>practice, that's what it's become in the SCA.  My
>understanding of the real term is, as above, "squire" is a
>job.  If, before a battle, someone buffs up the king's
>armor, helps him armor, hands him his drinking cup, and
>towels his forehead, he's the king's squire (at the time),
>whether he's Duke Inman or Joe Newbie.

Oh, I'm sure you're not being crabby, Daniel.  

>From an historic perspective, "squire" does not equate to "aspiring
knight."  "Squire" initially derives from a word that means "shield
bearer."  In other words, yes, a job description.  More appropriately,
"squire"="martial flunky."  Squire was also, however, the last job
assignment a youth was given (high middle ages, most of Europe) prior to
knighthood (children of the royal family were usually exempt from this),
and this aspect of the job is the aspect we have captured and modified for
our use in the SCA.  

>(Hmm.  Maybe I should ask to be Da'ud ibn Auda's squire.
>He's not a knight, I'm not a fighter, but he *does* fight
>occasionally and needs as much help armoring up &c as anyone
>else, and as much more as he is so old.  Nah.  I *think*
>it'd be period -- *was* learning to fight usually part of a
>squire's definition? -- but it'd infuriate those it wouldn't
>confuse.)

This could be fun, and there's certainly no rule against it.  I think you
*can* take the whole re-creation thing too far, though.  I mean, really,
wouldn't an authentic Christian Daniel de Lincolia's first impulse have
been to slay an infidel Saracen like Da'ud ibn Auda?  Hell, my senior
Ansteorran squire is living in England almost three hundred years before my
birth.  Re-creation just doesn't always work.

>> constantly striving to develop and display the attributes
>> most highly prized within the Chivalry.
>
>Shouldn't most of us be doing that for some of the virtues
>of the Chivalry?  After all, many of the chivalric virtues
>are virtues for others.  E.g., no prowess and courage would
>be expected of a mere merchant, but largess, courtoisie, and
>pity for women, priests, and the weak in general are
>commendable for him.

Yes.   I think the example of a peer can help, but yes I agree that most of
us should be striving to develop those attributes.

>To modify what I wrote earlier: I like someone displaying
>that he's someone's man.  My most prized garment is my
>surcoat with my lady's badge on it.  (The surcoat is black
>floor-length trigger, so in this kingdom I wear it only at
>12th Night +/- 2 months.)  I just wish
>1) we didn't color-code by belts, restricting colors to
>   various extents
>2) it wasn't so restricted to squires
>3) that squiredom wasn't restricted to "knight wannabe"
>4) that people used more documentable means -- the example
>   given of a knight giving his badge is *lovely*

I agree with to some degree 1, 2, and 4 (my squires and men-at-arms wear my
badge).  I don't exactly disagree with #3, but I do object to the term
"wannabe"--it belittles the effort.  Unfortunately, the red belt is a
deeply entrenched SCA tradition.  I don't think you'll see the red squire
belt disappear any time in the near future.

lo vostre por vos servir
Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace


_____________________________
Dennis Grace
University of Texas at Austin
English Department
Recovering Medievalist
mailto:amazing at mail.utexas.edu

Micel yfel deth se unwritere.
                           AElfric of York
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