Knights

In my last real post I basically laid out a shopping list, a pros and cons list, of different swords, and I don’t think I really got into why I want a sword. More than just strutting down the street with a sword strapped to my belt, what I really want is my own fiefdom.

A fiefdom was generally awarded, gifted, or otherwise given to a vassal for his allegiance to some larger lord, some larger owner of land. It was a way to cement the relationship between vassal and lord, and a way to ensure a mutually-beneficial relationship. A vassal was, in a way, a tenant who paid some manner of rent (usually in the form of military service and undying allegiance to his liege lord) and owed his being there to the, duh, landlord.

In times of strife, a vassal and the able men of his fief could be called upon by the lord to carry arms against some foe, be it in a crusade or just some vagrant brigands disturbing another vassal’s fiefdom. The land would be given to a vassal so that he could have his manor, his family, his serfs, his soldiers, all his underlings support him and grow beneath him, such that they might provide for him should he and his men be called off to war or whatever.

This is, at least, my own rough understanding of the system.

What attracts me to the whole thing is just the idea of being given some land and told to raise a family, get a little manor and maybe town going around you, and suit up with my war buddies if I’m ever needed by my liege lord. I wouldn’t mind getting my land through military tenure, having to ship off the sons of my family and my fief’s families every year for some rigorous training and battling and whatever. It’s just like in Switzerland with their minimum 260 days of required army service. First, a main bout of training and whatnot, and then just a three-week check-up every year until they get too old or battered to show up.

I know it sounds cruel to just say, “Oh yes, I don’t care about other people’s sons, I don’t care about life or peace or blah blah blah…” C’mon, it’s the middle ages, get over yourself, everyone’s going to war, I might as well get a sweet patch of land out of it. And fiefdoms were generally hereditary, so I’d be setting up my kids for success too. So take that.

But more than having a sweet patch of land, more than being rich and successful in my own little world, more than having a little power to throw around and a bunch of serfs, peons, and other incredibly fun words beneath me, I’d have honour, and respect, and loyalty. I’d be a kick ass knight, in some kick ass armour and obviously with an awesome sword. And I’d name my sword, just like I’d name my horse and manor and all that other good stuff. Gone are the days when people named their homes, at least for the most part. Of course Frank Lloyd Wright named the homes he built, and of course B.B. King named his guitar Lucille, but I mean like Excalibur, like Sting and all those Elven swords I could never remember.

I might be romanticizing this whole scenario, but I’ve always imagined it as being in some sort of knight-club or knight-posse or some such, with the liege lord being captain of the Gloucester Gallivanters and all of us vassals being his team. And we’d gallivant across the country, back and forth and burn and pillage the jerks who burned and pillaged us the year before, and it would be all manly and awesome, but at the same time be noble and… manly.

Yeah, it’s basically Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament. My dream is to live that exact life, all the time. I want the life that gives me the food, the violence, the showmanship, but with fewer utensils, and more ladies. Maybe a titch more political stability too. But definitely the colour schemes. Love the colour schemes.

DFTBA