[Steppes] How kings were made?

[Catalina Elvira Osorio de Moscoso y Lopez de Xerez]

My 'Spanish Persona' would probably view the Crown Tournament rather cynically as something on par with the various ever-changing rulers of small Italian kingdoms who made themselves rulers by 'right of conquest'. To their face the Spanish showered them with gifts and honors. But in private, the Spanish made snide remarks about them, like the Visconti and their self-invented nobility.
 
My 'Ansteorran Persona' views the whole thing as normal.
 
What type of discussion are you hoping to start?Thank you,..Catalina  > Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:57:55 -0700> From: angelinblackink at yahoo.com> To: steppes at lists.ansteorra.org> Subject: [Steppes] How kings were made?> > I was thinking about the concept of Crown Tournament and how my persona would understand it.  After considering this for quite a long afternoon, I began to wonder how others would explain/see the event and, if their persona would understand the concept.  I'm sorry if this is in some sort of "gray area" but I just really wanted to discuss something history-oriented...> > I have been doing a bit of research through Chinese and Mongolian > history about the responsibilities of a king/lord unto their > people and how they were put into office. > > I found that the belief that all men are born equal originated > in the teachings of Confucius (Master Kong/551-479 B.C.E.). > Previous to his time, the king was thought to be the Son of Heaven> by virtue of his lineage. He and his family were known as jun zi,> "aristocratic/virtuous gentlemen," who had the exclusive right to> rule by their noble blood. A man could never become jun zi without> the noble birth regardless of his talent or virtue.> > Confucius came upon the revolutionary idea that any man could be > jun zi so long as they conducted themselves in a proper manner. > The honor of jun zi could no longer be gained by birthright alone > but by earning it through their behavior. Confucius taught that > the right to rule depended upon ability, conduct, and education. > Any man could rule, provided he remain virtuous and just. Rulers > were supposed to hold their power in trust which could be revoked > "by Heaven" if they abused their power.> > This "open mandate of Heaven" could easily be explained in > SCAdian terms.  I mean, Crown Tourney bestows the "Mandate of > Heaven" on the victor.  It's quite easy for my persona> to place the thought of that into play to make the Ansteorran ways> fit into her understanding of the world.> > > An ancient philosopher, Han Feizi, showed us with his proverb > "Watching the tree to catch a hare" that the only thing that does > not change is change itself. Maybe he was trying to teach us that> there are no universal moral standards. People react to leaders > differently defined by their own personal experiences and at any > time there can be a fine line between "Devoted Ruler" and "Fanatic> Tyrant."> > I feel these things are so even today and wondered what your > thoughts were and how we could apply them to the SCA. There are > many different areas being covered within the society and many > more types of ideals and codes of conduct. Perhaps this would > give us all a chance to share some differing views on the > subject, no?> -Lady Yu Xue XianXian> > > > > > _______________________________________________> Steppes mailing list> Steppes at lists.ansteorra.org> http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/steppes-ansteorra.org
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