Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: On Fealty
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 21:43:00

The ever beautiful Dorothea asked about fealty:

           THE FEUDAL CONTRACT: ON FEALTY IN THE SCA
                                    -Ioseph of Locksley, OL, Pel, &c.
            (c) copyright 1992 W.J. Bethancourt III

 (note: to avoid awkward language constructions, the usage of gender-
 specific words in this article should be construed to cover both male and 
 female persons.)

        One of the major problems in the SCA (and one of its' major 
advantages, in my opinion) is the enormous cultural sweep that the group 
covers. We have 17th Century Cavaliers interacting with 9th Century Vikings 
talking to 7th Century Irishmen and leering at a 12th Century lady while 
practicing 15th Century Italian politics and eating God-knows-what. 
        Each of these historical periods, and cultures, had differing 
concepts of the world, and we -can- accomodate all of them, with a little 
effort -not- to be ethnocentric; to not take the attitude that our -personal- 
period-of-choice, or our personal -interpetation- of that period, is the "One 
True Medievalism." 
        One of the major dividing lines is "fealty." In the SCA, we use 
something that we call "fealty," but there seems to be a great deal of 
misunderstanding about it .... many people seem to think that "liege-fealty" 
is the only "real" kind .... so why do we allow "Masters of Arms" and other 
non-fealty swearing Peers? 
        First of all, we must discuss what "fealty" really is, keeping in 
mind that I have formed my opinions as expressed here from much study of the 
period, and from more than twenty-five years of discussion and observation 
within the SCA itself. 

        Fealty is a very complex, interlocking structure of oaths, 
obligations and loyalties that enables a feudalistic form of social structure 
to work. 
        It is also a very -personal- concept, differing in intensity from 
person to person. 
        From a study of medieval law and history, however, we see that fealty 
is primarily a -contract- between two persons or entities. The act of 
entering into this contract is called "doing homage." Each party in the 
contract promises certain things to the other, and if this contract is 
violated, then the fealty can be "de-fiefed" or "de-fied" with no penalties 
nor legal difficulties; there is no "felony," in the medieval legal sense of 
the word. 
        Fealty comes in three basic forms. All of them are -conditional.- In 
order for them to be operative, each party must fulfil certain pre-set 
conditions. 
        The first, and most well-known, is exemplified by the oath sworn by a 
Knight to the Crown. This is called LIEGE FEALTY, and is a promise of 
-absolute- service and obedience to the Crown of his Kingdom, or to an 
individual person. The Crown, or the individual person, in turn promises to 
defend that liegeman's "rights and privleges," and in general to be an 
honorable Lord to that vassal. One swears this kind of fealty -once.-  Any 
other re-swearing of it is simply a renewal, or re-affirmation of the fealty, 
and should not be required of anyone, but merely optional. 
        We occasionally see liegemen absenting themselves from the renewal of 
fealty at Coronation, in order to make a "political statement" about the new
King or Queen. This should not be considered as "de-fieing" the Crown, for
they are -not- formally renouncing their fealty to the Crown, but rather 
choosing not to renew it thru this particular person. It's -rude,- but not 
-wrong.-
        Some in the SCA take fealty very seriously indeed, taking it to mean 
a "real life" loyalty, that bleeds over into many aspects of the mundane 
world. Looking at the SCA in the light of a "sub-culture" of the "real" 
world, this is not a surprising development. 
        The second is "SIMPLE FEALTY," and is merely a pledge of loyalty by 
the fief-holder to his or her Lord. This can mean any number of things, from 
pretty much absolute obedience, to specified services from both parties. We 
can see a form of this in the standard marriage vows that are taken in the 
mundane world.

                        (more)



... We are such stuff as Dreams are made of ............
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.10

 * Origin: Herald's Point * Steppes/Ansteorra * 214-699-0057 (1:124/4229)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca