Re: Sumptuary Laws

[Michael Houghton <herveus@Radix.Net>]

Poster: Michael Houghton <herveus@Radix.Net>

Howdy!
> 
> 
> Poster: "Terry L. Neill" <t_neill@hotmail.com>
> 
> 
> An unadorned gold chain of large links is reserved for Knights.  Chains 
> with things attached anyone can wear.  Not-gold chains, anyone can wear, 
> too, though you'd probably have to deal with some, er, peer pressure. ;)

No! No! No! De jure, a plain chain of any color is reserved to Knights
only. De jure, "fealty chains" do not exist. Period. Stop. End of story.

Naturally, the "de facto" practice varies in places. In Atlantia, there
are some whose practice differs, but it is not endemic, nor is it
supported by kingdom law.
> 
> Spurs anyone can wear, too.  Though the peer pressure can be as high as 
> wearing a silver chain.  Wait until equestrian events start happening 
> more in Atlantia. We'll start seeing more spurs on non-knights.  I wore 
> spurs in the West on occasion when riding at an equestrian event. And I 
> aint never going to be a knight.
> 
> It's the combination of UNADORNED GOLD chain and WHITE belt with spurs 
> that designates a knight.  Non-gold chains, chains with danglies, spurs, 
> grey, yellow, blue, black, orange, pink, purple, red, gold, green, and 
> multi-colored belts are all OK for anyone to wear.
> That's the law.

No. The chain (as noted above) by itself can be taken to designate a knight.
A plain white belt, alone, suffices to mark a knight. Spurs make no
difference. The color of the chain makes no difference. Danglies on a
chain make a huge difference. 
> 
> CUSTOM on the other hand tends towards various belt colors for squires, 
> protoges, apprentices, etc.  Along with the silver chain thing from the 
> Middle and the idea of spurs only for knights.  But custom is not law.
> 
> Witness the large debate swirling at times over "Fealty Chains".  THe 
> argument being that any Peer in fealty can wear one.  Another corralary 
> being that anyONE in fealty can wear one.

Any assertion that someone other than a Knight is permitted to wear an
unadorned chain is unsupported by corpora, which is the controlling
document here. I believe that the corporate officer charged with 
interpreting this issue is the Laurel Sovereign of Arms. 

Now, having made these unequivocal statements about chains, let me
assure you that I have no intention of actually raising this issue
with individuals who are wearing chains when they ought not. If 
someone asks me, I will offer my counsel, but I have better things
to do than be a pain about this.

yours,
Herveus

-- 
Michael and MJ Houghton   | Herveus d'Ormonde and Megan O'Donnelly
herveus@radix.net         | White Wolf and the Phoenix
Bowie, MD, USA            | Tablet and Inkle bands, and other stuff
                          | http://www.radix.net/~herveus/
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