Happy birthday pretty pretty one.. sorry its late. I am never on

I got roses yesterday! Yay

I think you all may have read this but I wanted to post it just in case.. I really liked his words on the matter...



Well, since I had to leave the event last night because I had to work
this morning, and am now done for the day, I can take a crack at
explaining what happened from my perspective... ;)

Before I do though, a few other things...

Yesterday, I had the distinct honor of fighting for Mistress
Catherine Lorraine, and she is now the Crown Princess of the West.

In the finals with me, was Sir Titus, fighting for the lovely
MaryAnne.

The other two semi-finalists were Duke Sir Mathias and Earl Obadiah
(who was the Duke-Slayer on the day, delivering losses during the
rounds to both myself and Duke Radnor).

The list was actually quite small - surprisingly so, even considering
the inclement weather on Friday. I believe the final tally was 46
fighters, which would make it the smallest Crown Tourney in my
memory. However, while small, the list was deep in Chivalry - I
think only 6 or 7 unbelts were crossed over. Also of note, there was
1 foreign Knight from An Tir, and Sir Georg of Glacier's Edge and Sir
Cyrus of Oertha made the trip down from the frozen tundra of Oertha.

The fighting on the day was, in my experience and to what I saw
during the lists, very clean and honorable.

At the end of the day, when we got to the finals, as Brigit's note
indicates something unprecedented, unique and other adjectives could
be used to describe, took place.

After the litany of the List was spoken by the herald, and the
marshalls called lay-on, Sir Titus walked towards me out-stretched
his arms, embraced me and then dropped his shield, and removed his
helm. He then made an empassioned speech. What follows here is my
interpretation of what he was trying to say.

It seems that, in his view, there has been a back and forth
conversation in the Kingdom, particularly amongst the Chivalry,
complaining about fighters using larger shields having a "win at all
costs" attitude. Titus seemed to feel that some of that had been
directed at him and others who have in very recent times shifted
their styles to using such larger shields. In the speech that he
made, he proclaimed his view that he and those he knows who have been
using larger shield styles lately are NOT interested in "winning at
all costs", and that the Chivalric Ideals that are part of the
Western Tradition are as honored and respected as they have ever been.

To prove his point early in the day (I think he said around 4th
Round), he had discussed an idea he had, with his Consort, and
determined that he would yield the Final Round if he were to achieve
it that day, and so he proclaimed to the Crown and Populace that he
yielded the field.

It was...

Shocking.

The populace who were able to hear what Titus said, fell into roughly
two camps; 1 - surprised, but appreciative of his clearly passionate
and heartfelt desire to make a statement that winning isn't
everything and 2 - surprised and upset that the tradition of the
Crown Finals being fought the best 2 of 3 had just been abandoned.

The populace who were not able to hear what Titus said were simply
confused, and various rumors ran rampant throughout the event.

For the record, here's what happened next.

As much as I personally lauded Titus' intentions and desire to make a
powerful, positive statement, I felt uncomfortable being proclaimed
Crown Prince in such a fashion. Those who know me, know I love the
competition and crucible that is Crown Tournament, and this was
outside of my personal way of doing things. I immediately conferred
with my Consort, Mistress Catherine Lorraine and asked how she felt.
Her response was simple - "We can't do it this way - you guys have to
fight".

So, I went to Titus and the King Uther and said that, as much as I
venerated Titus' intention to yield the field, and as much as I
honored his desire to make a statement that winning isn't everything,
we absolutely needed to fight the Crown Finals, best 2 of 3, as is
our tradition. I further indicated that my Consort could not accept
being Crown Princess without the traditional trial by combat.

King Uther agreed, and Titus acknowledged that he would take up his
arms again, and fight the Crown Finals as normal.

We met on the field and fought, and I won two straight bouts.

The investiture on the field then took place as normally occurs.

After the list, there was a Chivalry meeting, where I am sure many of
you can imagine this subject was hotly debated. As the privacy of
the Council belongs to the King I am not at liberty to discuss all of
the things said within the Council, and obviously not allowed to
share who said what.

However, there were several outcomes from that discussion that I
believe I can share without violating the privacy of the Council.

* The members of the Chivalry were, in the majority, of mind that
yielding Crown Finals was not the correct way to make a statement
that winning isn't everything.

* There was an acknowledgement that Titus' intentions were noble,
and even romantic in ideal, but there was a concern that this was not
an acceptable precedent.

* Even many members of the Chivalry didn't realize that we had
chosen to go ahead and fight the Finals out, because several left the
field after Titus' initial proclamation.

In summation, again from my perspective, Titus had a serious concern
about there being a negative "these people using larger shields want
to win at all costs" perception. He did something that he thought
would strongly and powerfully prove that perception was not true. I
know Titus well, as was squired to Uther, who was my squire, and I
know and can vouch for the fact that his intentions were noble and
pure.

However, as stated above, I could not - and would not - accept the
Crown Finals being yielded without combat. My consort felt the
same. As far as I am concerned, Western Tradition was ultimately
preserved, with a hard and cleanly fought Final Round, after a truly
unique intermission.

What does this all mean? I don't really know. It is my opinion that
Titus has opened a dialogue about perceptions regarding the meaning
of honorable and noble victory. While you may or may not agree with
his actions, or his views, the integrity of his beliefs seem pure to
me. Simply put, he believes in the ideals of "victory at no cost"
and "honorable defeat is better than dishonorable victory" so much
that he was willing to forgo the Finals of Crown.

I think this will cause a lot of discussion in the Kingdom, and maybe
beyond our borders about what those ideals mean, how we should embody
them, and what are the right ways to express them.

However, I must say that I hope this discussion will be civil, and
honorable in the pursuit of answers to these questions. I heard a
few things said that were extremely uncharitable and even demeaning
to Titus for his effort to do something he thought was noble.

Some will think he was "wrong", some may think he was "right" but
chose to express his views in the wrong way, some may even agree with
his intentions and his way of going about it.

My request is that we, at the very least, honor his intentions, and
he and his Lady's willingness to give up the Crown itself, in pursuit
of those ideals.

It will serve the Kingdom, and everyone in it, if this incident is
taken as a catalyst for positive, constructive conversations. If the
dialogue that comes from this illuminates and strengthens our
commitment to honorable combat, chivalry in all things, charity to
each other and willingness to acknowledge that those with different
views than our own can still be considered noble and honorable as
well, then we can emerge greater and stronger than ever.

I hope that you will join Their Majesties, Her Royal Highness and me
in positive discussions that advance the good of the Kingdom.

In Service to the West

Jade