Yay Feudalism

[Sir Douglas]

LOL

"It was a time of grace."

Where'd you find this guy?  He totally bought into the Hollywood romance.

Come now. How can you look at an image like this and NOT say the period was full of grace? So classy.

[Sir Nate]

LOL

"It was a time of grace."

Where'd you find this guy?  He totally bought into the Hollywood romance.

Come now. How can you look at an image like this and NOT say the period was full of grace? So classy.

Even in film, when have the kings of the realm ever been perfect rulers?

[scott2978]

I get a couple of feelings reading this that I'd like to share with you all as friends and comrades.

This guy is just one of hundreds of millions of western people who think like him who don't have an easy source of truth available and lack the time or will to independantly research history, or who do and choose to believe what they want among what they learn. He's bought into some very common misconceptions, but he's not a fool for what he believes, and it's not right to speak of him like he is, whether he can hear it or not (and perhaps especially if he can't). We can do more or less to educate people but if we become elitists we are, at best, hurting the very cause we belong to. People readily pay attention to a professional appearance, and quickly dismiss those with unprofessional bearing, doing both regardless of veracity. It seems harmless enough to poke fun at a few people who believe seemingly crazy things, but it can never be allowed to become a habit or we risk damage to our reputation, and that of the order and what it stands for. I'm not perfect myself, and perhaps it's not my place to speak about other's conduct, but I just want to let you know how I feel and warn against falling into bad habits.

[Ian]

I got a different impression.  I thought his ideas of the Middle Ages are quite the opposite of what people commonly hold as misconceptions and stereotypes, he's just gone way too far in the other direction.  That being said, I understand your sentiment, but sometimes you just need to let your hair down from time to time and laugh about something.  Being too tight-laced 100% of the time can also be misconstrued as elitism.  Your warning about making such things a habit though is well-received and prudent advice.  But I don't think anyone crossed any lines in this thread.  Please believe me when I say the members of the Order tirelessly through demonstrations and living history events certainly do what they can to help educate the public.

It's kind of like being in the military.  Every day when I'm outside in uniform I have to represent my profession, but when I go home and I'm in private, I need to relax and take the uniform off.  This forum is kind of like our home.  Perhaps we should be more mindful that it is indeed a 'public' home though and shift such conversation to the private sections of the forum.

[Sir Patrick]

Now that you've dug up the documentation, Squire Doug, does this mean we will now be seeing knights flogging their roosters at living history events?

[scott2978]

I got a different in.  I thought his ideas of the Middle Ages are quite the opposite of what people commonly hold as misconceptions and stereotypes, he's just gone way too far in the other direction.  That being said, I understand your sentiment, but sometimes you just need to let your hair down from time to time and laugh about something.  Being too tight-laced 100% of the time can also be misconstrued as elitism.  Your warning about making such things a habit though is well-received and prudent advice.  But I don't think anyone crossed any lines in this thread.  Please believe me when I say the members of the Order tirelessly through demonstrations and living history events certainly do what they can to help educate the public.

It's kind of like being in the military.  Every day when I'm outside in uniform I have to represent my profession, but when I go home and I'm in private, I need to relax and take the uniform off.  This forum is kind of like our home.  Perhaps we should be more mindful that it is indeed a 'public' home though and shift such conversation to the private sections of the forum.

Thanks for the kind response Sir Ian, I tried to make the point without seeming like I was berating anyone or being a douchebag. It's good people here, maybe I was out of line even suggesting it.

I look forward to being able to participate in some of those learning opportunities you mention. There's a lot I can learn from you guys and it looks like fun too. Plus it's motivation to continue improving my impressions and branch out more.

I wonder if I could dress up a pony to look like a giant chicken?

Scott

[Sir Rodney]

I had the sudden realization that I was taking a topic too seriously at work recently, stood up, muttered "Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?", and moved on to the next crisis.  Sadly, only one coworker understood the reference and giggled.   

[Sir James A]

Please believe me when I say the members of the Order tirelessly through demonstrations and living history events certainly do what they can to help educate the public.

Indeed we do, and in the few years we've done it, we've not been paid a single penny to do it. Any funds go directly to charity (Make A Wish Foundation thus far). The gas, broken gear, dent removal, etc, we each pay for out of our own pocket. We do so to dispel myths, teach history, and of course, hit each other with swords. Sometimes it is too long between events where we can meet physically and tell jokes, and they end up here.

It is prudent advice to not go overboard in the criticisms and I personally took no offense. You should feel free to be able to discuss almost anything here, with obvious exceptions.

As Sir Ian said, I think the person from the picture in the original post went so far in the opposite direction that they embraced a perfect-world scenario in which feudalism is the glue that keeps it all together. As we know, that isn't the reality. And historically, some knights did murder, rob, and commit all manner of offenses we'd not associate ourselves with. I almost wonder if the person who posted that truly believes it, or if they did so to "troll" people.

[Mike W.]

I did some sleuthing with the guys previous reddit posts. Sadly, James, he seriously believes all this drivel.  He claims to be a "prolific writer" on the topic.

[Eva de Carduus Weald]

I think there is one major thing to keep in mind when someone posts on the internet, particularly if they claim any form of expertise in the field they are writing about. Any time you put out into the public anything it is subject to criticism. Now if someone is criticizing, they needn't be mean about it, but nothing on here looked mean. Rather it seemed more amused, that is certainly how I felt anyway.

I do not claim any form of expertise on the middle ages, or anything else for that matter, but if I did post something I would expect it to be criticized by those who saw it. Now as for how people go about doing the criticizing, you are absolutely correct that being cruel, rude, or just plain obnoxious about it isn't a very civilized or chivalrous way to go about it. And I agree that that is a trap we should all seek to avoid. But if someone is blatantly wrong, it is only fair to them, and the world around them, to correct the false information before people actually take it as truth without ever looking beyond such a post.