Intervene in Syria?

I have been following Joshua Landis at Syria Comment since before the Civil War broke out in Syria, and I found him to be a sensible guide. Here is what he says now.

How the combat worked at the Red Knight's Deed

Some of you will be interested in this.

Almost all the weapons, pole axes and spears apart, were steel weapons, rebated in some cases.

There were two types of combat: unarmored and armored.

In unarmored combat, the fighters wore armor on heads necks hands and lower arms and generally some type of gambeson or pourpoint on the body. The vast majority of the pieces were in medieval style, though there were some modern fencing masks.

In unarmored combat, a distinct touch to any part of the body was sufficient to end the pass. The first combatant to win three passes won the whole combat. As one might expect, thrusting predominated as a tactic, and hands were a favorite target.

In armored combat, there were three different kinds of fighting. There was what was called "outrance" where the first combatant to strike a good blow against a gap in the armor won the combat. Good blows had to be delivered to a lightly armored area or a gap between plates. Plate armor was proof against a thrust or a blow of the sword. Grappling and throwing one's opponent was allowed in this style and in no others.

Second, there was what was called "plaisance" where each fighter was allowed to throw 12 blows against his opponent with no breaks in the action. Victory was judged by the Herald/marshal, and the Duke, Duchess and ladies.

Third, there was an unnamed type of combat in which the first combatant to strike three good blows against his opponent won the match. There was a break after each could blow.

In most situations combatants judged the effect of blows on themselves, but final judgment rested with the presiding authorities. For instance, if two fighters grappled and fell to the ground, as presiding judge whether one of the two had had sufficient control to claim victory.

Red letter day

Starbucks in North Bay.

Deed of the red knight

As many readers know, I have been participating in the Society for Creative Anachronism for decades. One of the things I have done in that time is designed and run medieval – style tournaments. So my scholarly work on formal combats ( deeds of arms) has been paralleled with attempts to re-create, for fun and for interest, various kinds of formal combats. The distinction between running an SCA event that has some pretensions to a medieval atmosphere and running, either in SCA context or elsewhere, something closely modeled on an actual medieval event may be a little bit fuzzy, but let it suffice to say that I've tried to get closer to medieval exemplars as time goes along.   Christian Cameron, novelist and reenactor, has similar ambitions and this past weekend I was privileged to take part and indeed help design an effort at re-creating late 14th century formal combat. Christian wanted to experience a close reenactment to help him understand and write about such an event in one of his upcoming novels, part of a Red Knight series. He also wanted to invite some of the most interesting reenactors he knew to a special party. Did he ever succeed! Christian happens know some very creative people, and also has access to a lakefront property of great beauty in Prince Edward County, Ontario. So this past weekend, some serious but fun-loving folk showed up with pavilions, armor, and civilian costume of the highest level. He asked Cole Cioran and I, who ran a Roland-inspired deed at the Pennsic war about 10 years ago, to come up with a usable and satisfying set of rules and competitions that would appeal to Western martial arts aficionados, historic reenactors, and serious SCA people. We were also given the task and the authority to manage the fighting aspect. Cole was the chief Herald and the marshal of the lists, while I played "the Duke," a presiding noble who with his Duchess Judith, (in real life the owner of the site and a most gracious patron) acted as the final authority as to what took place in the lists. Duchess Judith and I also, with the jury of ladies, gave awards and honorable mentions to the fighters who were the most impressive. These were satisfying roles to play, especially considering the quality of the competitors and their general good attitude and desire to re-create a chivalric deed of arms. Duchess Judith, whom as far as I know has no experience with such events, turned out to be an enthusiastic and sensible contributor to the action. Besides the combat in the lists, there was also archery and a rather marvelous feast prepared on the spot in a rather wonderful outdoor kitchen which is a permanent part of the site. As we ate we were entertained by the Schola Magdalena, who performed 14th century choral music at the highest level of skill and beauty. But the greatest pleasure was simply being there overlooking Lake Ontario and chatting and drinking with like-minded happy people. And there were no disasters, thank heaven. Even though I was there as an experienced hand, in one sense I was a complete novice. I had never before seen that much combat with steel weapons, nor such a large group of people using actual armor for actual protection. SCA style combat has its virtues, but here it was steel (mostly) swords against (almost entirely) mail and plate. Impressive. I may have more to say about it in a bit


Image: Cole at work.

Boucicaut the younger, another medieval nut case

Boucicaut the younger, as readers of my book Deeds of Arms know, was one of the most prominent fighters of formal combats in the late 14th century. He was, for instance, one of the three French champions at St. Inglevert. His performance as a bold champion raised his profile to the point that he was made a marshal of France, a high command position, by the age of 25. Some people thought him a great hero, obviously, and in his later life there was an entire book written to show that he was an exceptional figure. But I've always thought that he was a military disaster for France, since he was one of the commanders in two of the greatest defeats France suffered on either side of the year 1400, the battle of Nicopolis and the battle of Agincourt. Seems that the people associated with the Chronicle of the Good Duke shared my doubts, back in 1429. See this passage from the account of the crusade to North Africa, just after St. Inglevert.

...it happened that Boucicaut took his turn at the watch, which was always ordered between the Army and the Saracens. Boucicaut was a chivalrous man who went to seek a skirmish where he was, through some interpreter asking whether there was any Saracen who wished to combat him on foot or horse. They replied no. Then Messire Boucicaut asked that if they wished to perform arms 10 against 10 or 20 against 20 he and his company would be ready. So the Saracens responded no, not if the Kings their Lords did not want them to. When Boucicaut saw their refusal he said to them that he would fight in a secure field, 20 Christians versus 40 of their Saracens. As long as this conference lasted it was ordained that they should not make war on each other. And scarcely were these Christian and Saracen negotiators together this astounded the Duke of Bourbon, the Lord of Couci, the count of Eu, the souldich of Estrau, and the other barons, for the whole Army ran to this assembly so that the Lord of Couci, the Count of Eu and others, who saw the Army taking leave of its senses, said to the Duke of Bourbon, “Monseigneur, the people run like beasts over there with Bouicaut and they are not able to keep guard and it seems to us that if you do not order some to retreat, things will turn out badly for us.” Then replied the Duke of Bourbon: “I can’t then send a better message, I’ll go there myself.” So he asked for a mule he always had...

So the Duke mounted his mule left his tent and went off with the people of his household. It was not long before more than 300 gentlemen were following him. The Saracens saw that the Duke of Bourbon whom they recognized by his coat of arms, came to join Messire Boucicaut with many men at arms, and began to retreat towards their tents, and Boucicaut and those with him to chase them. And Boucicaut who saw the Duke of Bourbon coming, gave himself over to pride and chased the Saracens more boldly and the Duke of Bourbon with his company went after to bring about a retreat. When Boucicaut was at the tents, the Moorish Kings and their Saracens put themselves in formation for battle outside their lodgings, and Boucicaut put himself in battle formation with his, awaiting the Duke of Bourbon and those who came with him. And the Duke of Bourbon caught up with those whom he wished to make retreat, and he very violently spoke to Boucicaut, concerning his great follies.

In some of the accounts of deeds of arms I've read there is lurking behind the heroic account a group of people who think that a given deed was presumptuous and foolish. Here the critics come out in the open. It would be interesting to know what "chivalrous" meant to the author and his audience.

Ta-Nehisi Coates writes "How I met your your mother"

An excerpt from the Atlantic:

But mostly I am thinking of you. I want to tell you that I have fallen for Paris. I think you know. I think you know because I am stupid and I am cliché. A serious man should should fall for some village in Moldova, for brandies made from magic apples, or ham taken from a rare and endangered hogs. A serious man should claim to have discovered Nashville, should live in Austin before it is Austin, then leave with tales of the edgy old days. I have been told that serious men are buying homes in Detroit. But I love chicken fingers. And I have never been to Foxwoods or Vegas. And I love New York against my better wishes. And I love Paris with that same familiar feeling--aching, everywhere and thin.

What I am telling you is that you do not need to know to love, and it is right that you feel it all in any moment. And it is right that you see it through--that you are amazed, then curious, then belligerent, then heartbroken, then numb. You have the right to all of it. You must want to own all of it. We will try to ward you away. We will try to explain to you that we have already walked that path. We will try to tell you that we have made your mistakes. We will claim that we are trying to spare you. But you will see our greed and self-service hiding behind our words. You will see us ward you away with one hand, while the other still shakes at the memories. Here is the thing--you have the right to every end of your exploration and no motherfucker anywhere can tell you otherwise.

Canada as bad example

Australia is in the midst of an election where climate change is one of the biggest issues. Climate change is hitting Australia hard now. Guess what country embodies the fears of many political observers?

One of Connor’s biggest fears is that the country emerges from all this political upheaval looking something like Canada has under the anti-environmental government of Conservative PM Stephen Harper.

“I look at Canada as a similar country, and it is my nightmare,” Connor said. “Australia can easily become an international pariah, we are very good at derailing international negotiations as an effective middle power and vicious defender of self interest. Some of the Coalition have been to Canada and seen how they get away with walking away from Kyoto and exploiting the tar sands.

“The transition away from fossil fuels is a very hard one culturally, socially and economically for Australia to make,” Connor continued. “We are on the knife edge of walking backwards or moving forwards in sensible way.”

Canada, nightmare.