Bards - All nobles?

[Paul Mitchell]

Galen here...

From: Olias <olias at amaonline.com>

> I must ask the question:  What happened to the concept that we are ALL
> nobles--that until we receive an award of arms we are merely unrecognized
> nobility and once we have received that award we are now recognized
> nobility?

Whatever happened to this concept?  I can't say that I ever heard it.
What I was raised with, these 21 years in the SCA, is that everyone
starts as a member of the gentry, with exceptional potential for
advancement.

The Award of Arms grants the title of Lord or Lady, but these are not
titles of nobility in the SCA.  In the Society, noble ranks carry the titles
of Duke, Count, Viscount, and Baron, and their feminine equivalents,
and the equivalent titles of other cultures.

In period, the most important thing to ask about a person was, "who
is he?"  A person was defined by his connections, relationships, family,
patrons, and so forth.  This is true of virtually all cultures prior to the
period known as "the enlightenment".  A person who achieved great
thing without "connections" was considered all the more peculiar for
having done so.  Thus, Joan of Arc, whose contemporaries believed
that she had direct messages from God through his angels and saints,
was still looked down upon for her lack of proper lineage, and
an attempt was made to rectify this by elevating her family to noble
status.

The SCA embraces the peculiarly American concept that the most
important thing about a person is not "who is he?", but rather "what
can he do?", or sometimes, "what has he done?".  Thus, I am a Viscount,
but my lady wife, who fills my days with contentment, enjoys not my
rank, as my wife, but the rank which her own achievements have
earned for her.

And it is undeniable that the central figures in our game are those whose
achievements have earned for them places among the peerage and
noble ranks.  As bards, we must understand that sometimes, we are
like the entertainment press of the modern era, reporting the stories
and exploits of our culture's celebrities.  We can reflect our own values
in choosing which stories to tell, and how to tell them, to inspire the
next generation of peers and nobles, as well as raise the expectations
of those who are _not_ peers and nobles, but who demand certain
conduct of the people who are honored with those ranks.

But if there are bards who wish to find the great deeds of the less-famous,
and tell those stories to make them famous, well, I should think you'd
enjoy the advantage of having fewer people to correct you and say,
no, I was there, and _this_ is how it really happened!.

In either case, if you can do this, then you've done something important
as a bard.

- Galen of Bristol





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