[Ravensfort] Some thoughts on court...

[HerrDetlef]

Greetings, good cousins!

In preparation for the upcoming Defender of the Fort celebrations, I have
been giving quite a bit of thought to some of our notions of court. Since I
spent several days in a criminal court in Conroe after my accident, I have
pondered ways to incorporate that experience of a mundane court into
heralding an SCA court.

One thing that I would like to do is limit the business of the court to make
it a shorter and much more enjoyable experience for everybody. Too often we
have had our endurances tested by courts that seem to drag on and on. With
that in mind, I would like to propose limiting court strictly to recognizing
event champions and conferring official awards (the kind that show up on the
Order of Precedence). For example, I know that people bring things to events
to present to the King and Queen, and to the Baron and Baroness, but gifts
like these are really of a more personal nature, and would be best given
when what we call "court" is not in session. If EVERYBODY had a gift for the
King and Queen, think how long that would make court! In the morning,
everybody's anxious to get started with the various competitions; in the
evening, everybody's ready to eat (if court is held before feast) or party
at the Swein Camp (if court is held after feast). So, I would like to see a
morning court that is limited to a brief welcoming from the Baron and
Baroness--as well as the ceremonies surrounding the baronial guard that
traditionally take place in the morning--and an evening court that is
limited to event prizes and official OP awards. Leave persona games, oaths
of fealty, and the taking of squires/cadets/apprentices/proteges to a time
when the Crown is seated but not when court is actually in session.

Another thing I'd like to do is to get away from the notion that court is
only in session at "Morning Court" and "Evening Court". Strictly speaking,
the court is in session whenever the King and Queen are seated at their
thrones (and, by extention, also the Baron and Baroness). Perhaps if we
referred to "morning court" as the "opening ceremonies" and "evening court"
as the "awards ceremony," we would be able to open up the possibility of
doing court business throughout the day. Squiring ceremonies and the like
are often beautifully done, but quite honestly, not everybody in the
populace at an event is equally interested in attending such ceremonies.
Relegating such ceremonies to times outside of the official meetings of the
court would reinforce the idea that court is in session whenever the King
and Queen (as well as the Baron and Baroness) are present.

I've been reading a great deal and watching videos on YouTube (how
grotesquely UnPeriod! But quite educational) about the investiture
ceremonies that are conducted in the United Kingdom. These ceremonies are
highly regimented, and they give the recipients of medals the opportunity to
shine in front of the Queen (or the Prince of Wales) for a few brief but
glorious moments. I would post some links on here, but I know that the
mailing list program has a way of messing with links so that they are nigh
impossible to click with the desired result. If you are interested in seeing
what I have found, you can simply do a search on YouTube for British
Investitures. Those ceremonies are the kind that I would love to see enacted
in an SCA setting. Anybody who gets an award should be able to treasure the
moment of receiving that award, and drowning the court proceedings in
persona games that, while immensely fun for the people who participate in
them, quickly lose the attention of the uninvolved populace and distract the
focus away from the most important business at hand.

I am looking forward to heralding court at Defender this year! It's been a
long time since I've done it, and I'm excited about the opportunity. My job
will be to make not only the Baron and Baroness, but also the whole populace
of Raven's Fort, look like a million bucks. That, and also to make the
ceremonies of the court an experience that people will remember for a long
time to come.

I am Their Excellencies' humble and loyal servant,

DT+LF
Detlef von Marburg

-- 
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
--Micah 6:8
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