Re: oaths of loyalty vs. oaths of fealty

[Jeffrey Sussman <JSussman@erols.com>]

Poster: Jeffrey Sussman <JSussman@Erols.com>

Greetings from Richard Fitzgilbert!

>Dafydd ap Gwystl wrote:
> 
> ....
> There is nothing complicated here.  An oath is a verbal contract.
> The meaning of a contract is defined by the words in it.
> 
> Dafydd ap Gwystl, Knight and other stuff

This is one of the things I like about the 
way things are done in Atlantia.

We don't have formula or fixed oathes.  Each oath/promise/affirmation 
can be customized to fit the beliefs and priorities of the people
involved.  

When group oathes are administered, participation is voluntary.

I think each oath/.. should be considered on it's own according to the
verbal 
contract that put the relationship into force.  We shouldn't assume any
oath means 
something other than what was explicitly stated.

It's true that most SCA fealty bears only a passing resemblence to
period fealty.  
This is necessary since we don't really pay taxes from our lands and
don't 
have required military service.

Richard

Who wishes he owned a duchy's worth of land, but is very glad the number
of 
household members after a war is the same as it was before the war.
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