Chivalry and "Living History"

The Society for Creative Anachronism is an origination that strives to "re-create" the arts, skills and ideas of Medieval Europe. The belief is they can better understand the history through re-creation of the garb and playing dress up. In my opinion it is a flawed idea.

Lets start first with the idea of Chivalry. This is a concept that never really existed except in the writings of romantic minded authors. Even if it had truly existed it is an outdated concept. To be knighted is to be locked into servitude. It was for most of the time of knights something to be avoided. Once you became a knight you were required to do the bidding of your King, Lord or what ever. You were tied to the will of the church. You had to use your lands and wealth to support a number of troops. You had to carry a bigger burden of taxes so you had to take from the peasants that worked your lands.

Knights did not live to the code that we think of today as the "Code of Chivalry". These men were the leaders of troops that robbed and murdered at the will of the church against the non-believers. They stole and murdered for their king to increase his power and wealth. Those that did not try to avoid knighthood, embraced it as a means to power. It was as corrupt as any political system we have today.

What is taken as the "Code of Chivalry" today is what was later a set of rules for courtly manners for the upper classes. Think of this as the manners expected by society today among the "elite". The way it is taken in the SCA is a farce. And as to how it is really followed by the members of the Society can be seen it the way politics work in the SCA.

As for the "Living History" of the SCA, this is a joke. Except for some people doing arts and science, there is nothing of living like they did in the past. Even in the arts and sciences people take modern short cuts to make their projects. Gas forge instead of a bellows powered charcoal forge, modern instead of period needles, power tools such as saws and drills. All of these things take away from the understanding of how things were really done in the past.

SCA events are fun costume parties and that is all they are. There is a great amount of research done by some to make their costume authentic but it is still a costume. Until they spend more than a weekend or week at it, it is still a party. Until they separate themselves from all modern conveniences and use only things of the period they are trying to "re-create" it is just a game.

Now lets move to the martial arts. How are they recreating the feel of combat in the middle ages if they use plastic, aluminum and other modern materials to create the armor? You always here, "if they had it back then they would have used it". Well they did not have it so, you are not re-creating the feel of their combat. SCA combat is not a way to learn how it felt to fight in the middle ages, it is a modern sport. This delusion needs to end.

I enjoy fighting in the SCA and I enjoy the events but I realize that the research I do and my attempts at making a period kit will not give me the experiences of the Medieval people. I have a better understanding of how some things were done because I chose to make period tools and do the pieces in a period fashion. I can better see the complex nature of the thing but not the time.

All I am saying is that the SCA is a dream, a game and nothing more. Enjoy the party and enjoy the arts and sciences but don't think that you know anything about what it was really like to live in the Middle Ages.