Sharing now that it's official

[lumineaux]

Peerage Exploratory Committee Announcement – Possible Rapier and/or Cut & Thrust Combat Peerage

The Board of Directors seeks to explore the possibility of creating a new Society-wide Peerage to recognize as Peers those participants who meet the general requirements for a Patent of Arms and who demonstrate prowess in Rapier and/or Cut & Thrust Combat. To that end, a Peerage Exploratory Committee has been formed whose work will help determine if we should move forward with the Society’s first new Peerage in decades and, if so, how we might best proceed.

This Committee will focus on developing a supporting narrative and recommendation. If the recommendation is in favor of such a Peerage, the committee will also recommend a set of implementation requirements. This set of recommendations would include specific implementation plans for heraldry, regalia, Corpora changes, and identifying and addressing associated issues around creating and implementing such a Peerage. The Committee’s supporting narrative for a recommendation (if positive), and the nature and quality of the implementation plans provided by the Committee may prove instrumental to the Board’s determination regarding if and how we might proceed with the new Peerage. The Board reserves the right to adjust, define, expand, narrow or reject any or all portions of the recommendation but will not do so without cause or explanation.

The results of the Committee’s work will be made available to the membership for review and comment. A much larger and more representative Review Committee will then review the results of the Committee, along with any comments from the membership concerning those results. The Review Committee will be established at a later date by the Board of Directors and will be comprised of representatives selected by the relevant groups and organizations within and across the Society (e.g., the Kingdoms, Peerages, Heralds, Seneschals, Grand Council, Rapier Fencing Community, and C&T Fencing Community) as a final input into the process. As required by the governing documents of the SCA, if any proposed changes to Corpora result from this process, they will be submitted to the membership for the standard commentary period.

The Committee members are listed below:
Jim Toscano (Giacomo Vincenti di Firenze)
Andrew Heinrich (Mateo Montero de Madrid)
William Wilson (Gwylym ab Owain)
Greg Wylie (Laertes McBride)
Jay Rudin (Robin of Gilwell)
Michael Perry (Kenric of Warwick)
Braddon Giles (Giles Leabrook)
Alissa Pyrich (Alys Mackyntoich)
Tommy Conant (Sasha Gregor’evich Vilanov)
Mark Kiel (Marcus Dundee)
Matthew Mueller (Brannos)
Salli Weston (Petranella Fitzallen of Weston)
Matthew Parker (Saito Takauji)
Henrik Olsgaard (Henrik of Havn)

Comments are strongly encouraged and can be sent to:
SCA Inc.
Box 360789
Milpitas,  CA 95036
You may also email comments@lists.sca.org

Personal opinions now follow:

I know that there are some people who find all this bureaucracy tedious and want much faster movement towards a Rapier Peerage.  To them I say: Nothing is worse than doing something quickly but half-assed, getting a huge backlash, and then having it taken away from you.  To wit: the White Scarf Treaty in the East.

Even discussing the possibility of a Rapier Peerage in a serious way is a huge sea-change in SCA attitudes.  Remember that Corpora still puts rapier in the ghetto of "ancillary" activities.  Rapier is the only activity that is specifically prohibited from being used to select titled positions.  If the Palatine Barony of Western Seas wanted to select its Baron and Baroness through a wet T-shirt competition, Corpora would not prohibit that.  It does, however, prohibit them from using a rapier tournament.  (FYI: Western Seas currently alternates between selecting its Barons/esses between rattan combat and A&S).

Anyone who wants to send me their thoughts on what we should be recommending, why a Rapier Peerage is or isn't a good idea or anything else related to the stated business of the committee is encouraged to do so.  Please send it to alys.mackyntoich@gmail.com    I can promise to consider carefully every opinion, even if I ultimately do not advocate it as part of the committee's process.

Comments

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

There are some very fine and smart people on that committee, including yourself.

However: good luck with Mateo.

[lumineaux.livejournal.com]

Oh? He actually wasn't the one I was most concerned about. Feel free to drop a line to me via private e-mail.

[beckishadow.livejournal.com]

Mateo's a good person. Just...

(I know him mainly outside of the SCA. There was dramah.)

[artisticphoenix.livejournal.com]

I have thoughts. Let me gather them and I will send you an email.

[nrawling.livejournal.com]

I'm ideologically opposed to additional combat peerages, figuring that trend towards exploding the peerages, e.g. rapier, archery, equestrian, bardic, public drunkenness, is probably not the greatest long term strategic direction.

I think the correct solution would be for the Chivalry to embrace combative techniques beyond heavy combat, including all of the above. However, I admit that's about as likely as seeing membership fees becoming optional and the heralds passing my arms.

So, with that said, I wish you the best of luck. I think they are plenty of things wrong with the SCA now that are far worse than any personal qualms I might have about a rapier peerage.

[lumineaux.livejournal.com]

The heralds passing your arms is something that someone you know can help with. ;-)

That someone being me.

[bunnyjadwiga.livejournal.com]

I'm just glad and surprised they are moving forward to consider it.