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Question #3: Will all good squires make good knights?
Will all good knights remain good knights? Life is not constant and all things change. There are forever new tests that an individual has not yet met. Will a good learner be a good thinker? Will one who can follow be one who can lead? Not all good squires will be good knights, but it is a hightly individual thing and depends on the particular situation and personalities involved. A good squire under one knight may yet have limited potential yet under another may realize their full value. --David Low
Construction of the Medieval Knightly Shield (page 34) Theodore F. Monnich
An in depth analysis of the construction of the shields of the Middle Ages
"Very few actual knightly shields survive from the Middle Ages. Most owe their survival to being stored for the last five to seven hundred years in rather obscure, out of the way locations....Such obscurity saved them frmo theft, vandalism and the art market. Only fourteen examples from the 13th century are known to survive, and although once brightly adorned with heraldic charges, they are now dull and worn, and in many cases damaged. Such obscurity, combined with a rather unappealing condition, have not made them th emost attractive subjects for scholarly writings. Only a handful of articles have come down to us, and even these are obscure and not widely circulated. However, the relationship of knightly shields to the works of medieval painters may shed new light on their place in medieval art."
A Knightly Hermit Instructs a Squire in the Ways of Chivalry (page 40) Raymond Lull
Raymond Lull's The Book of the Order of Chivalry begins with a young squire on his way to be knighted. He loses his way, running into an old hermit, who turns out to have been a knight of great reknown in his youth. The old knight takes it upon himself to pass on to the squire a better understanding of the duties and responsibilites of a true knight. Here we have only a small excerpt of Lull's The Book of the Order of Chivalry
"'Now son,' said the knight, 'knowest thou not what is the rule and the order of knighthood? I marvel at how darest thou demand chivalry or knighthood until the time that you know the order. For no knight may love the order, and not know the ordinances that pertain to his order; he must know the difficulties that he does against the order of chivalry in not knowing. No knight out to make knights unless he himself who makes the knight can show them the order and the customs of chivalry.
"The knight said these words to the squire who had demanded knighthood, yet knew nothing of chivalry. The squire answered and said to the knight, 'Sir if it be your pleasure, I beseech you, that you will say and tell to me the order of chivalry, fo well to me it seems and I think that I should learn it, for th great desire that I have thereto. And after my power I shall follow it, if it please you to teach and show it to me.'"
The Company of the Knights of Saint Michael the Defender (page 46) Hugh T. Knight
"The Company of the Knights of Saint Michael the Defender is a confraternity or tournament society patterned after similar organizations in the 14th and 15th centuries. Its purpose is to bring the conduct and appearance of SCA fighting and fighters more in line with tournaments of the high middle ages. We hope to accomplish this goal by setting the example for others to follow."
What is a Squire? (page 49) Joseph Latta
"Answering questions about what it means to be a squire in the Society for Creative Anachronism
"A squire was first and formost the personal servant of a knight. Secondly he was a 'knight in training.' The term 'servant' has negative connotations today that were not there medievally. A servant was 'one who serves.' And it was a high honor to serve in fealty as a squire to a knight. In the Middle Ages the relationship under the oath of fealty took precedence over and ofter took the place of one's family."
Squires: Some Historical Notes (page 51) Brian R. Price
"Squier n. Also Squiere, Squiar....
"1. (a) An aspirant to knighthood in the feudal military system; an esquire or a personal servant attendant upon a knight; a soldier below the rank of a knight; also fig.; a person holding an analogous rank in classical society; (b) ~ and knight, knight and, knightes and squier(es); (c) a shieldber of biblical times; also, an Egyptian soldier.
"2. A member of the landowning class next below the rank of knight; the son of a knight; also, a young man of gentle birth...used contemptuously, a fellow.
"3. A household attendant or servant; a retainer, follower; a page; also, a messenger..."
"Middle English Dictionary, pp. 544"
Excerpts from Brion Thornbird's Book of the Tournament (page 56)
Excerpts from two chapters of The Book of the Tournament by Brian R. Price appear in this Chronique as they pertain to the subjects being explored in this issue.
"The squire si not a rank; it carries no real enhancement to status unless the Knight is of particulr fame. And this is more an aide to remembering a new person rather than status. The office of squire accords nothing in the 'order of precedence', and should be sought as a path to learning rather than for status. In the words of Raymond Lull, 'The squire who does not honor chivalry but for his own advantage should not be made knight'.
"A Knight is selected by the King acting under the advice of his Knights. Indeed, in the period fashion, only a Knight may make a Knight, and though we restrict the making of Knights to Royal authority, should the King not be a member of the Chivalry then a Knight's hand must rest on the sword for the adoubement to be accepted."
Ordinary Knights and Esquires: Enriching Our Chivalric Re-creation (page 52) David S. Hoornstra
"The purpose of this essay is to point out avenues for more magic in our recreations of the medieval chivalric scene. Some of these avenues entail the unpleasant duty of focusing on gaps or shortcomings in the supports system provided by the SCA for this re-creation, while others offer the enjoyable process of pointing out period practices we could put to good and magickal use. In advance I offer the hope that the former will provoke no resentment for no injury is intended, and that the latter might provide an enjoyable excursion even for those who have been over the ground before."
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