[Cynnabar] Thoughts on Rapier Peerage

[Kell Carnahan via Barony]

Cynnabar,

For those who have not heard, the Board of Directors is still figuring out
how to make rapier fighters into peers.  One of the issues they cited when
turning down the current proposal is that not enough people sent in
comments.  I want to strongly urge everyone - not just rapier fighters and
peers - to think about this issue and send an email to
comments at lists.sca.org.

Below I have included my thoughts on this complicated issue that I sent to
them.  Please feel free to copy and paste part of all of my letter in your
letter.  This is an important issue in our Society right now, and I'd like
to see it done in the most fair way possible - both in being equal to all
the many talented people in our Society (across all skills, martial and
not), and fair to the existing and future cultures.  The proposal outlined
below does this, I believe.

Thanks for your time, and for sending your own thoughts to the Board (even
just a copy and paste, seriously!),
~Birke die Jaegerin, OCK, Pentamere Rapier XO, Cynnabar Rapier Fighter,
Former Cynnabar Champion


Dear Board of Directors and the SCA,



The vast majority of the SCA thinks that rapier fighters should be
recognized at the peerage level – that is no longer really contested.  The
contention comes in how to do so.  There are currently three main
proposals, all with their own huge equality/culture issues:



- Simply start making rapier knights, and have us merge with the Chivalry.
Creating rapier knights, though, is certain to cause difficulties in terms
of cultural conflict, at least for the near future.  The rattan community
and rapier communities both have thriving cultures that only overlap at the
edges, and it would be problematic to try and force them together.

- Create a 4th omnibus peerage for all martial activities besides rattan.
This strikes many (including myself) as being highly unfair, like it’s an
attempt at equality while specifying that some are more equal than others
(“separate but equal”).  I loathe this idea.

- Create a 4th peerage just for rapier.  This is tenable in the short term,
placing rapier on equal footing with rattan, but raises the question of how
future peerages may be created, unbalancing the peerages and de-valuing the
Laurels and Pelicans.



Like many fighters I have spoken to, I propose a compromise that solves the
issues of equality: create an overall martial peerage.  The Knighthood will
be one branch of this peerage and would still be independent.  Rapier would
be the same.  Future orders may be created, but they would be under the
same banner of a Martial Peer.  It is flexible for future changes, while
not changing the traditional structure of the Society peerages.



Order of the Chivalry:

- Order of Knighthood: Those rattan fighters who swear fealty; Title
Sir/Dame Knight; Regalia white belt and gold chain

- Master of Arms: Those fighters who don’t swear fealty; Title
Master/Mistress; Regalia white baldric

- Order of Defense: Those rapier fighters who swear fealty: Title Sir/Dame
Defender; Regalia white livery chain and white half cloak



I strongly suggest this broadened martial peerage, separate but within the
Order of Chivalry, not a 4th peerage.



[As the other peerages have not been seriously altered since the Order of
the Pelican was created in 1973, one could also argue that there are enough
peers in those peerages to make communities within them.  I have seen it
proposed to create Guilds within the Order of the Laurel, for certain areas
that are popular (dancing, costuming, etc).  This would be similar to that
concept.]



40 years ago we were sufficiently uncomfortable with the unfairness of not
acknowledging the contributions of arts and service that we created the
Orders of the Laurel and the Pelican.  Now we need to make changes again,
to right a new unfairness.



~Birke die Jaegerin

Order of the Cavendish Knot

Pentamere Rapier XO of the Dragon Army
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