[Sca-cooks] regalia

[Siegfried Heydrich]

    Fealty was a military concept to begin with - a way to ensure that the
King would have troops available when needed. If you were enfeoffed with
land, you were in fealty. In exchange for the grant of land, you agreed (and
the agreements were really pretty specific) to certain conditions and
obligations, most notably not to backstab your Lord, and to marshall however
many troops you were bound to by your fealty. (or at least pay scuttage)
    However, it was a 2 way street. If you were attacked or injured, your
Lord was bound to come to your defense and aid. His failure to do so could
quite easily release you from your vow, and happened quite often. This is
the biggest problem I have with fealty as practiced in the SCA - it's a one
way street, here. If you're having troubles within the context of the game,
you're on your own. Unless you're the King's personal chum, fealty doesn't
even rate as a small joke on the downward side.
    It's also open ended in that there is no definition of expectations.
I've seen fealty used to compel votes in circle. You've sworn fealty to me,
and I command you to vote in the following manner . . . It was used against
me to compel me to silence as I watched a Queen pursue and destroy a landed
Baron & Baroness she want to take vengeance upon . . . among others. They
had also sworn fealty to her, but that didn't stop her from hounding them
out of office. We had a particularly nasty problem with a local household
whose head (he had a GoA) demanded that all his house members swear personal
fealty to him, whereupon he worked them like slaves, and took credit for all
their work. Needless to say, his house is now gone, and he wanders around at
events with no one to talk to any more. The Queen, BTW, dropped out of the
SCA at the end of her reign to avoid the repercussions of her behavior.
    I am bound by my Peerage to serve my Kingdom and the Society. I don't
think of it as fealty, because there is no reciprocal relationship. It's an
obligation accompanying the Peerage - Noblesse Oblige, pure and simple.
There are some Crowns to whom I would have no personal objection to swearing
fealty, but then I remember that I made the terrible mistake of trusting
Crowns before (to my bitter regret), and refrain. Never again . . .

    Sieggy

-----Original Message-----


>While I see and understand Sieggy's feelings about fealty, and I've seen
>enough Kings and Queens that I will never swear fealty to, I come at it
from
>a different way.  I am in Fealty to the Kingdom, not the specific monarchs.
>I may choose to re-demonstrate my fealty at any time, with specific people,
>but I am always in Fealty to the Kingdom so I would have no problem wearing
>one of the lovely collars.
>
>I will grant that the concept of loyalty to an ideal or Kingdom is a bit
>esoteric for the middle ages, but not completely unknown.
>
>I must admit I translated the SF as Semper Fidelis as in the US Marine
Corps
>motto, but that doesn't hurt anything.
>
>Semper Fi, Mac!
>
>Regina Romsey,
>The opinions stated are my own and therefore cannot be wrong, just wrong
for
>anyone else :-)
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: sca-cooks-admin at ansteorra.org
>[mailto:sca-cooks-admin at ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of Siegfried Heydrich
>Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 5:23 PM
>To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
>Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] regalia
>
>
>    Ahhh . . . permanent fealty as a Pelican . . .? That's a new one on me,
>as it'll be a warm day in Niffelheim before I ever swear fealty again.
>Fealty is one of those highly functional medieval concepts which has been
>moved to a quasi-cult status by the SCA. No thank you, been beat over the
>head with it, had it used as a weapon against me, never again. The chain
>from which I hang my (old corporate) medallion is a tarnished silver upon
>which a few flecks of the old gold coating may yet be seen. Symbolism
enough
>for me . . .
>
>    Sieggy
>
>
>Molto Snippo
>
>>
>>My alternate/kitchen persona is 16th Century German so it is entirely
>appropriate for me to wear strand upon strand of heavy gold chains.  I do
>so. a) I am in permanent fealty as a Pelican, and b) they are closed linked
>chains not open linked.  What is the difference I hear you ask?  Open
linked
>chains have more air than chain, and close linked have more chain than air.
>Funnily enough no Knight has ever asked me to take them off... <grin>
>>
>>Mind you, I eventually developed my own solution to the whole "only
Knights
>can wear fealty chains" issue, and now sell Lochac Fealty chains, designed
>especially to provide Laurels, Pelicans, Knights and Royal Peers in
>permanent fealty a public reflection of that very personal oath.
>http://kiriel.tripod.com/medallions.html if you want to take a peek.
>>
>>OFC:  I must get a copy of the molds from my jeweller so I can make some
>sugar plate fealty chains!
>>
>>Kiriel
>>
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