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A diverse group of professionals working together
The staff at Randy Burkett Lighting Design have a wide range of backgrounds and history, working together to leverage their diverse skill sets.
Randy Burkett, FIALD, FIES, LC
President and Design Principal
Randy Burkett is the President and Design Principal of Randy Burkett Lighting Design, Inc. As Principal he establishes design direction and oversees the management of the firm's projects. Since he began professional practice, he has been responsible for the lighting of numerous national and international commissions. His diverse portfolio comprises museums, retail malls and stores, corporate headquarters, offices, health care and laboratory facilities, urban parks, site developments and building exteriors. Before establishing his own firm in 1988, he was Director of Lighting Design at Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum.
Randy is an active member of the International Association of Lighting Designers and is a past President and former Board member of the organization. He is engaged in Illuminating Engineering Society Technical and Design committees including the Color Metric Task Force, Quality of the Visual Environment, and Lighting for Outdoor Public Spaces. He has authored design and technical articles appearing in publications in over 40 countries. He is a frequent speaker to professional organizations on a variety of lighting design subjects and has served as an instructor at the University of Colorado in Boulder and Maryville University in St. Louis. He is currently a member of the Adjunct Faculty of Washington University's Graduate School of Architecture.
Ronald D. Kurtz, IALD, IESNA, LEED AP
Associate and Senior Lighting Designer
Ron Kurtz has been with Randy Burkett Lighting Design since 1990. Ron's responsibilities as the Senior Lighting Designer and Project Manager include the development of conceptual design which involves the determination of both aesthetic and technical requirements, the preparation of contract documents and specifications, as well as construction phase coordination and field observation. His lighting design experience includes three years with Grenald Associates, Ltd. in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Ron has been responsible for the design of large public spaces and lobbies, hospitality and conference facilities, office environments, exterior landscape and building floodlighting, themed entertainment parks, casinos and exhibits.
Ron is an active member of the International Association of Lighting Designers, currently serving on the Board of Directors and is a LEED Accredited Professional. He is also involved in the IESNA on both a local and national level, participating on the Energy Management Committee and was a member of ASHRAE's 90.1 Energy Standards Committee from 2001 to 2011. He has been a speaker on a number of lighting topics at professional and educational conferences.
Susan Jennings, Associate IALD
Susan has been with Randy Burkett Lighting Design, Inc. since 1998. As one of the firm's most experienced designers, she is responsible for design concept development and project management. Susan holds a degree in Interior Design from Maryville University joining the firm at graduation.
She has been a part of the lighting design team on a wide range of successful projects including: the Gateway Arch in Saint Louis; Bearden Park in Charlotte; Citygarden in Saint Louis; Hyatt Regency St. Louis; Chihuly at the Garden; Lumiere Place in Saint Louis; and various Bass Pro Shops locations.
Richard Fisher, Associate IALD
Richard Fisher is a Designer with Randy Burkett Lighting Design, Inc. serving as a project level designer and project manager. His responsibilities include the development and documentation of lighting and lighting control system designs, preparation and coordination of contract documents and specifications, as well as construction phase management and field observation. He performed similar duties for three and a half years in a multi-disciplinary role within the performance venue and lighting design groups for the New York office of ARUP. Rich's lighting project experience includes design for museums, architectural exhibits, hospitality, commercial and public spaces, infrastructure, landscape, exterior building illumination, and performance spaces.
Outside the office, Rich is the Regional Coordinator for the St. Louis area membership of the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD). His volunteer work includes serving as an organizing board member and producer of 'Grub and Groove', a one-day festival benefiting the non-profit Friends of Francis Park in St. Louis. In the fall of 2018, he was a member of Focus St. Louis' Emerging Leaders cohort, completing the program and continuing his engagement within the larger St. Louis community.
Vickie Hayden
Office and Accounts Manager
Vickie joined Randy Burkett Lighting Design, Inc. in 1995. She has principal responsibility for the Firm's office management, billing, collections, marketing and various others tasks.
Since beginning her time with Randy Burkett Lighting Design, Inc., Vickie was Chair of Canstruction St. Louis for 6 years. In her personal time she is passionate about charity work where she's spent a lot of time with the Ronald McDonald House Charities as well as spending time with her family and traveling.


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MCHS (MCHS) Class of 1983 Alumni List
Help us Update the MCHS 1983 Class List by adding any names missing from the list below:
Registered Alumni
1983 Class List
- Anjanette Beason
- Melissa Berry
- Dewayne Branson
- Tony Brewer
- Kelley Clark
- Chris Dargo
- Greg Jeffers
- Rachelle Ledsinger
- Jennifer Phillips
- Beverly Privett
- Beth Spangler
- Robin Spangler
- William Stacey
- Rebecca Stevens
- Ronald Strean
- Lisa Strong
- James Thomas
- Anjanette Townsend
- Dianne Vorhees
- Sherry Voytek
- Kelly Wentz
- Preston Williams
Know MCHS Class of 1983 graduates that are NOT on this List? Help us Update the 1983 Class List by adding missing names.
1983 Muncie Central High School Yearbook
1983 Muncie Central High School Yearbook
Click here to view at Classmates.com®
The top movie in theaters during 1983 was Star Wars Ep. VI: Return of the Jedi, grossing over $309,205,079 in its lifetime. The most popular television series for 1983 was 60 Minutes
Hit Songs From 1983
Hit Movies From 1983
Hit TV Shows From 1983
Reunions and Muncie Central High School News
More 1983 alumni from Muncie Central HS have posted profiles on Classmates.com®. Click here to register for free at Classmates.com® and view other 1983 alumni.
If you are trying to find people that graduated in '83 at Muncie Central High in Muncie, IN, check the alumni list below that shows the class of 1983.
You can also find out what other graduates are doing now, share memories with other alumn, upload pictures from Muncie Central and find other alumni.

subset: commoncrawl


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Thanks to all for making it happen. Thank you to all for attending. I hope you had an opportunity to have a chat with our guests whether on the road or in the reception. Thank you to Sean Rowe for recording for posterity. Several images credits: Sean Rowe and various club members.
Double Click the image to see enlarged versions.
What a weekend.


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- Overview
- Specifications
Multichannel Sound Card VX441e
Key Workflow: Linear PCM multichannel stereo sound card for professional audio workstations
VX441e is a professional linear (PCM) multichannel sound card based on the PCI Express bus interface. It is designed for use in any professional system running under Windows or Linux. It is a reference card in radio broadcast automation for applications such as automated recording and play-out and multichannel production.
At a glance
VX441e features four input and output channels through AES/EBU connectivity, with the possibility to synchronize on an external clock (AES11, Word clock, black burst video). It can be used under Windows or Linux operating systems, with software applications based on standard driver interfaces such as DirectSound, Wasapi, and ASIO for Windows, and Alsa for Linux.
- Developed for the broadcast industry
- AES/EBU connectivity
- Interoperable with most third party software applications for audio production, under Windows and Linux
Key features
- Multichannel linear PCM sound card
- PCI Express bus interface
- Two stereo AES/EBU inputs/outputs, with hardware sample rate converter on each AES/EBU input
- Adjustable input and output digital gains
- On-board 3-band parametric EQ and Maximizer effects
- Support for Linux (Alsa driver) and Windows 32-bit and 64-bit (WDM Kernel streaming, DirectSound, Wasapi, ASIO)
- Breakout cable with XLR connectors for audio connectivity
- The card
- Breakout cable (optional for OEMs)
- Drivers and manuals can be downloaded from the Digigram Website
SPECIFICATIONS VX441e
|PCI EXPRESS™ (PCIe®) x1 (x2, x4, x8, x16, x32 compatible)
|168 mm x 111 mm x 20 mm
|Power requirements (+3.3V / +12V)
|Operating: temp / humidity
|Storage: temp / humidity (non-condensing)
|Digital inputs (stereo)
|2 AES/EBU with hw Sample Rate Converters,
7.5:1 to 1:8, up to 192 kHz
|Programmable input gain
|from –110 dB à +18 dB
|Other inputs
|AES/EBU Sync (up to 192 kHz),
Word clock (up to 96 kHz), LTC, Video
|AES11 synchronization
|Digital outputs (stereo)
|2 AES/EBU, up to 192 kHz
|Programmable output gain
|from –110 dB to +18 dB
|Other outputs
|Word clock (up to 96 kHz)
|External connector
|68-pin SCSI MDR
|Digigram accessories available
|Breakout cable
Audio specifications
|Sampling frequencies available
|Programmable from 32 to 192 kHz
|Supported audio formats
|PCM (8, 16, 24 bits), Float IEEE754
Development environments
|Standard driver interfaces
|ASIO, DirectSound,WASAPI, ALSA
|Digigram management
|np SDK (PCM only)
Allows for the following functions: real-time mixing, level adjustment, panning, cross-fade, punch-in/punch-out, scrubbing
|OS supported
|Windows 32bit and 64 bit versions
|Main on-board processing features (available through the Digigram np SDK)
|PCM play, rec, Float IEEE754, direct monitoring, real-time mixing, level adjustment, panning, cross-fade, punch-in/punch-out, scrubbing
- Low OPEX: low failure rate and high reliability
- Low TCO & future-proofed
- Ongoing product support: from Digigram and its Development Partners


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In June 2014 I was interviewed about my You Choose books on ABC3′s Studio 3 programme. It was a very interesting interview during which I was slammed in the face with multiple cream pies. I did a second interview, sans pies, that was used as an ABC3 website exclusive.
In October 2011 I was interviewed at the Armageddon Pop Culture Expo for the Level 3 games programme on Channel 31.
In June 2010 I was interviewed on Chanell 31′s breakfast show Get Cereal. Here's the vid:
Radio & Podcasts
Friday Magazine, 88.3 Southern FM, 11 December 2015 — Interviewed by Graeme Johnstone about my writing career.
Published or Not, 3CR, 12 August 2015 — I'm interviewed by David McLean about my You Choose books.
Listen to the podcast
The Author's Shelf, 2SSR 99.7FM, 29 December 2013 — I'm interviewed by Georgie Donaghey about my life as a writer and about my writing process. Gamers' Rebellion and Life, Death and Detention feature strongly in this in-depth interview that runs for about 30 minutes.
Listen to the podcast
Published or Not, 3CR, 1 August 2013 — I'm interviewed by Jan Goldsmith about my new novel Gamers' Rebellion. The interview is at the 14min mark.
Splendid Chaps Podcast — "Spoilers and Surprises"
Recorded at Continuum 9 on 8 June 2013.
Listen to the podcast
Flick the Page, 612 ABC Brisbane, 3 June 2013
Listen to the podcast
Write Now, Southern FM, 16 May 2013 — I talked about the upcoming release of Gamers' Rebellion and my attendance at Continuum 9.
Get Cereal, SYN FM, Friday 9 November 2012
Listen to the podcast
Published or Not, 3CR, 9 August 2012 — I'm interviewed by David McLean about my YA short story collection Life, Death and Detention. The interview is at the 15min mark.
Write Now, Southern FM, 19 July 2012 — Host, Gaytana Adorna, and I chatted about masculinity in literature.
Write Now, Southern FM, 24 May 2012 — Host, Gaytana Adorna, and I chatted about what we had been reading.
Write Now, Southern FM, 22 March 2012 — David Campbell and I did a few readings.
Write Now, Southern FM, 23 February 2012 — David Campbell and I chat with host, Gaytana Adorna, about the National Year of Reading and about encouraging people to read.
Listen to the podcast
Published or Not, 3CR, 8 December 2011 — I'm interviewed along with Miles Vertigan and Francisco Antonio Seguin.
The Compulsive Reader, Blogtalk Radio, 19 October 2011
Listen to the podcast
Write Now, Southern FM, 6 October 2011
Get Cereal, SYN FM, June 2010
Download the MP3
Zero-G, 3RRR, April 2010
Download the MP3
Published or Not, 3CR, March 2010 — I'm interviewed along with Hazel Edwards
The Outland Institute, JOY94.9
Download episode 18 — My interview is at the 19 minute mark.


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PC MEMBERS PRESENT: G. Heyer, A. Lemieux, M. Hunziker, R. Wimble, D. Brown
7:30 PM G. Heyer called the meeting to order. The minutes from June 17, 2008 and July 15, 2008 were discussed. A. Lemieux made a motion to accept the Minutes from June 17, 2008. R. Wimble second. All in favor. M. Hunziker made a motion to accept the Minutes from the Public Hearing on July 15, 2008.
D. Brown second. All in favor.
The Public Hearing that was held for the revision to the Town Plan was discussed. Various topics were brought up during the meeting such as trees, roads, Amendments to Ordinances, sizes of directional signs, etc. The Board discussed a list of suggestions for fixes to the August 2007 Bylaws. M. Hunziker asked C. Raymond to do a search of the Bylaws for the word "structure" in the current Bylaws and Subdivision Regulations. The Planning Commission will invite the Selectboard to a joint meeting to discuss various issues. At a future date the Planning Commission will invite the Development Review Board for a similar meeting.
8:20 PM M. Hunziker made a motion to adjourn. A. Lemieux second. All in favor.
The next meeting will be on August 19, 2008.
Respectfully Submitted,
Cathy Raymond, Zoning and Planning Assistant
Approved_____________________________________ Date______________, 2008
These minutes are unofficial until approved at the next regularly scheduled meeting.


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You have to visit a cosmetic dentist as option of selective grinding is there but it cannot be trimmed like that. You can develop sensitivity in the teeth. so only dentist can do it after examination and can decide how much grinding can be done. As far gap is concerned, depending on the amount of gap, this can be closed with composite fillings. for more info on cosmetic dentistry you can check this link in our website... http://www.identalhub.com/articlecategory-children-dentistry-33.aspx
Free Dental Consultation


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The Objective
Copenhagen Invitational aims to reach out and obtain as many international relationships with as many top teams and National Basketball Federations as possible. We strive to maintain these relationships year in and out, and continue to work with them, as a tournament option for their talent development program.
The aim of the tournament is to serve the National Federations in the development of their players, coaches and referees. This is done by creating a tournament, giving all three parties, the best possible conditions to prepare and develop for the next level. The event is created in a competitive, friendly and safe environment.


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Hello ladies and gents,
I'm back in gear with this whole blogging thing. My first post of the year is dedicated to "The Love Hour," a internet based radio show that I host at Rutgers-Newark. Topics usually center around love, sex, dating, relationships, and single hood. Along the way, we tend to be accompanied by special guests. Normally the show airs on Wednesdays 6-8pm. However, this spring semester we want to try something different. Our new time slot, starting next week, is now Tuesday 6-8pm. To listen, all you have to do is go to wrnu.info and click LISTEN LIVE. I will also provide a link below. Additionally, the station has made it possible to access shows via your mobile device.
Throughout the rest of the year, you can look to Unscriptedlovers (this blog) for the latest on the "Love Hour" and WRNU.


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Taking on some of the best cross country competition in the nation, members of the Barton Community College women's team competed this past Saturday in the collegiate division at the 27th annual Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival hosted by the 10th ranked University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The No. 8 ranked Lady Cougars placed 18th out of 33 collegiate teams in the 5k race competing against 436 competitors. The No. 10 Razorbacks took home the university title in the seventeen team NCAA Division I field.
Lydia Mato finished 34th overall and ninth in the collegiate division in a time of 17:23.41. Cracking the top 100 of the 215 collegiate runners, Asha Douglas placed 78th and 177th overall in 18:58.21.
Improving from her freshman appearance at the Festival, Holly Pierce came in over two minutes faster at 19:29.74, good for a 227th overall finish and 106th in the division. Mariah Stein placed fourth of the Barton runners coming in 351st and 168th in the division at 20:57.34. Julee McAtee's 22:14.66 placed 197th and 406th overall while Emilykate Hopson-Boyd finished 418th and 205th in the division crossing the line in 23:04.23.
Barton will next compete this coming Saturday, October 10, at the Fort Hays State University Tiger Open in Victoria, Kansas. Race time is set to begin at 9:00 a.m.
Complete women's 5k results


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A few day ago I released my dog, a German Shepard, off leash, to go to the toilet in our front yard. A pitbull, on leash, with the owner was there walking by our house on the sidewalk. My dog, out of curiosity, went and approached the pitbull, because my dog knew the owner and was a friend of ours. My dog was just sniffing the pitbull in a friendly manner. Then, the pitbull bit my dog on the neck.
Out of panic, I ran to the dogs to pull them away. I tried to punch and kick the pitbull off my dog, but it wouldn't let go. I got multiple cuts and bruises trying to pull my dog away. It held on for a whole 5 minutes. I was screaming for help when a neighbor intervened and helped pry the pitbull off my dog.
The day after I brought my dog to an animal hospital, and she immediately had to undergo surgery (trauma on neck muscles, bad infection, fever, stitches on bite wounds). If we didn't, my dog would have died. My dog and I both suffered a significant amount of physical and mental trauma.
Property/Physical damage: Potential death of pet, surgery and care costs approximately $1300-$1500.
Actions Taken: Confrontation to Pitbull's owner, preparing for Injury claim in court.
What can we do? Thank you.
Disclaimer: Our response is not formal legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is generic legal information based on the very limited information provided. Do not rely upon the information in our response, or anywhere else on this site, when deciding the proper course of a legal matter. Always get a personalized case review from a local attorney.
Dear Ray,
While the circumstances of the event must have been traumatic, California law does not allow compensation for mental anguish or emotional distress in cases of dog bites, regardless of the apparent trauma to the dog, or its owner.
Unless your cuts and bruises required medical treatment, you do not have a sufficient basis for a personal injury claim for yourself against the Pitbull owner. You do though, have a basis of a claim only for the veterinary bills resulting from your dog's treatment.
In many cases, homeowner's insurance will cover injuries to persons and for property damage. (As cold as it may sound, in the eyes of the law a dog is considered property.) Filing a homeowners claim would avoid you having to go to court. Ask the Pitbull owner if he or she has homeowners insurance. If so, ask for the name of the insurance company, along with contact information and policy number.
If the Pitbull owner does not have homeowners insurance and will not agree to pay the veterinary bills, you may continue your claim in court.
Learn more here: Who Pays When a Dog Bites Another Dog?
The above is general information. Laws change frequently, and across jurisdictions. You should get a personalized case evaluation from a licensed attorney. Find a local attorney to give you a free case review here , or call (888) 647-2490.
Best of luck with your claim,
How Much is Your Injury Claim Worth?
Find out now with a FREE case review from an attorney…


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The knight said, Fair son, I am an old man, feeble, and I may not live much longer. And therefore this little book that [I have] made for the devotion, loyalty and ordinances of knighthood, a knight ought to have [it to] hold his order, and you should bear it with you now to the Court and show it to all those who would be made knights .
I think a sadness would creep into Ramons eyes, for it is evident in reading his work that even as he retired from knighthood to take up the life of a cleric, the essence of the chivalric ideal was his passion. It was his wish to see the institution of Knighthood flourish and grow, defending the Church and the masses with virtue and charity. Ramon clearly saw the power of chivalry as something that could improve the quality of mens character, and through this led their immortal salvation. (Keen, 9)
But if Ramon were to hook up to the Internet through the World Wide Web, conducting even a rudimentary search under Knight, or Knighthood, or Chivalry, (In English--not his original Catalan), he would not first find any of these noble institutions, but would probably be guided to a homepage of a living, breathing knightly community, a modern tournament company. These bands of knights, hybrids between the tournament society of the 14th and 15th centuries, historical re-enactors and martial artists, strive to improve the quality of their members by martial tests of prowess and skill through philosophic debate and physical competition. (Price, 5) They would be, I think, interesting to Ramon because in a very real sense they do study and strive to understand the idea of chivalry as practice the knightly arts, applying the study as a guide to their conduct, both as a rule structure within their sport and in their lives beyond it.
The Internet has, in a very real way, breathed new life into the idea of chivalry, connecting like-minded persons together into a growing network of passionate enthusiasts that has done a miracle; it has resurrected Ramon and brought him into the new, alien world of electronic community. In their thirst to learn more of chivalry and knighthood, members of these societies have rediscovered Lulls work. Through this network they have become aware of the writings of Geoffrey de Charny, of the Ordene de Chevalerie, of the newly translated romances that form the core of chivalric literature. And through the Internet they have rekindled debates posed by this literature, reawakening the authors of these works not in a scholarly way but through living discussions meant to accomplish what the authors themselves intended: to improve the character of those claiming to the knights and to affect the world, ever so slightly, through their efforts.
The modern tournament companies of today are confraternal chivalric societies, twentieth-century interpretations of the chivalric myth that strive to capture the inspirational magic inherent in the chivalric idea, harnessing that essence to entertain and to educate. They are a form of popular medievalism, a yearning for a loosely grasped vision of the knightly ideal and romanticized medieval life. Yet they are comprised of amateur historians, highly skilled artisans, and professionals whose interest in the Middle Ages transcends a passing fancy, driving them to conduct research, create decorative arts, and compete in tournaments not as an escape but as a martial art, in an attempt to build both skill and character. The goal of tournament societies goes beyond the component cultures that have spawned them; they strive to build better citizens using the timeless model of an unreachable popular ideal rooted in the virtues common to knights throughout the ages.
As just one example of a community supported and bound by the emerging
medium we call the Internet, the modern tournament society can serve today
as a marker for the thousands of other communities that have long languished
due to their narrow band of appeal. Now they flourish as their distantly
located members discover and interact with one another electronically.
As the Internet grows, new standards of behavior, techniques of social
interaction and governing tools will germinate, redefining the nature of
relationships between the individual and what he identifies as his local
society. The impacts of these relationships on the meaning of government
and society are not well understood, but they will prove fascinating and,
possibly, even revolutionary.
The Role of Chivalric Patrons in Evolving Knightly Virtue
As Maurice Keen has observed, three groups of often-competing interests shaped and were shaped by visions of the chivalric ideal. The warriors themselves, members of a growing international caste; the medieval church; and the demands of the court, as articulated through both prince and lady. Often competing with one another for the knights devotion, each strove to mold the image of the ideal knight for purposes both pure and political. The ideals as we know them represent various syntheses of these influences. (Keen, 17)
The medieval church presented the most obvious source for ideological articulation. The tripartite image of clergy, knight and peasant was a pervasive one. The church, driven by a dual desire to consolidate ecclesiastical power and to improve the lives of those souls charged to its care, was anxious to enlist the warriors support in their objectives. The Peace of God, the Crusades, the infusion of humility, piety and Christian duties to the knightly virtues, and the great Knightly orders led by the Templars, Hospitallars, and Teutonic Knights were just a few of the more visible results of this multi-century long campaign. (Keen, 44-63)
The knights themselves were probably the strongest influence governing their self image and role in society, since the fraternal nature of their caste tied them together in a bond that sometimes proved stronger than the feudal or religious. (Kennedy, 70) From their traditions came the laws of war, the idea concerning proper conduct for an officer, conventions governing the role of combatants and non-combatants in warfare. They glorified their station through tournaments, jousts, hunts and warfare, building the duty of their station solidly on the principles of feudal obligation. Knights such as Ramon Lull, Geoffrey de Charny and Wolfram von Eshenbach mused about idyllic chivalry in romance and prose, influencing generations of knights who followed.
But it was the influence of court that brought the ideals of chivalry to their full strength. I say this because it is the literature and images produced by this class of advocate that have survived through the ages and proven a powerful motivator, even today, long after the social institutions of knighthood of perished. The patronage and powerful influence of ladies at court drove much of the romantic literature (Keen, 21-2), from which most surviving Arthurian tales are derived. Marie de Champagne, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Phillipa of Hainault stand as powerful patronesses of the arts, the force of their beliefs still echoing in the literature of Chrètien de Troyes, Andreas Cappallanus, the annals of Froissart.
Although each of the three influences provided part of the intellectual framework in which the concept of knighthood and the chivalric ideals developed during the whole of the Middle Ages, it was the patronage of powerful, visionary princes that drove the process. Princes, noblemen and the occasional knight seized upon the potential strength of the chivalric idea, casting it anew for their own ends. Through their efforts the concept of the ideal knight evolved during the ages to accommodate new social realities. The courts of Karoly I (Hungry), Jean Le Bon, King René dAnjou, Edwards I & III are just a few such noteworthies (Loomis, 114)
Patrons used several key tools to articulate and distribute their beliefs. First, through their own knightly reputations--their renown--and their actions, tales of their strength and virtue gave weight to their efforts and to their words. Second, these patrons could, using their own resources, produce events--such as tournaments, festivals and ceremonies--to provide stages upon which they could encourage and reinforce the desired behavior. Third, through their patronage knights they held in high esteem could be made more visible through recognition and high office. Fourth, they could afford to patronize the arts, encouraging heralds, diplomats, poets and clergy to record and distribute deeds that reinforced their objectives. Finally, they could form bands of knightly societies designed to serve dually as exemplars and an internally governing body, both aimed at improving the quality of knights in their court by binding the effort of single individuals into more easily visible and renowned groups.
In each case, the patron recast the chivalric base into the realities of the day by producing new codes of conduct through stories, song, gestures, recognition, largesse and his own word and deed. I believe that it was this projection that provided much of the energy behind the evolution of the chivalric idea. The history of chivalry is one of a continual harkening back to a mythical ideal time when knights acted like knights, an outcry for the knights of today to reach deep into their hearts and perform as knights ought, in accord with the legendary behavior of those who went before. Famous knights such as William Marshal, Gottfried de Bouillon and the Black Prince served both as exemplars in their day, earning for themselves places in the chivalric pantheon following Joshua, Alexander, Charlemagne and the mythical Arthur.
To a lesser degree, regional knights provided the local example that others followed. If these knights could be reached by the visionary through renown and example, then the conduct of many others could be effected. It is for this reason that the knightly order and the tournament companies were founded, as shown by this excerpt from the Charter of the Order of the Golden Fleece:
Then hear, princes and princesses, lords, ladies, and damsels, knights and squires, the Very High, Very Excellent, and Very Puissant Prince, My Lord the Duke of Burgundy, Count of Flanders and Artois, Count Palantine of Burgundy, Count of Namur, etc., makes known to all that for the reverence of God and the maintenance of our Christian Faith, and to honour and exalt the noble order of knighthood, and also for the following three reasons: first to do honor to knights, who for their high and noble deeds are worthy of being recommended; second, so that those who are at present still capable and strong of body and do each day the deeds pertaining to chivalry shall have cause to continue from good to better; and third, so that those knights and gentlemen who shall see worn the order which shall be mentioned below should honour those who wear it, and be encouraged to employ themselves on such customs, that by their valiance they may acquire good renown, and deserve in their time to be chosen to bear the said order; my said lord the Duke has today undertaken and founded an order which is called "the Golden Fleece", in which, with and besides the person of my lord the Duke himself, are twenty-four knights, gentlemen of name and arms without reproach, born and procreated in legal marriage, of whom a declaration of the names and surnames follows. Some of these groups became famous and enduring, as in the case of the Golden Fleece. Others were strong during their day, such as the French Order of the Star, only to perish under the assault of political and military reality. Most orders were small groups of local knights under a regional prince, bound together for political, military, and ideological reasons. A few, as in the case of the German tournament societies of the late 14th century, were groups of equally-ranking knights serving a quasi-commercial purpose echoing the corporate efforts of William the Marshal who used the tournament both to build renown and as a financial enterprise.
The nature of these societies was to echo their leaders ideals, using Arthurs Round Table and the idea of Charlemagnes Twelve Paladins as a mythical yet powerful precedent. This precedent gave the patrons ideas legitimacy, lodging them neatly into a long history of powerful exemplars well known to the knightly audience. The mechanism is no different today.
Knights, particularly the richest ones who held substantial fortunes in land and income, sometimes strove to build their renown, and their self-image, in lavish displays of knightly virtue. During times of peace, the joust, tournament and festival provided this mechanism. The form of the hastilude changed over the centuries, but the essence remained true; to provide a stage upon which knightly deeds could be done and renown won, both in the eyes of knightly peers and the noble ladies present in the gallery.
From the earliest times audiences at martial feats of arms proved an indispensable part of the chivalric infrastructure. Galleries, comprised of noblemen, ladies and heralds, served to record the deeds of the combatants in the common memory, recording some deeds in song and story. Renown came as stories of the knights exploits spread throughout the members of the chivalric class, and with the renown came social prestige, power, and influence. Witness the careers of three famous knights--William Marshal, Ulrich von Lichtenstein, and Geoffrey de Charny--knights separated by three centuries. Each rose from meager origins, built their reputations in tournaments, and as a result of their fame won substantial advancement in the socio-political structures of their time.
Literature and the Tournament
Princely patrons often used literary references as the basis for themed tournaments in the form of Round Tables or Pas dArmes. The 13th century romance prose Lancelot proved particularly useful in this respect, engendering several feats of arms modelled upon it. Just as modern films sometimes use literature modelled into a more accessible modernized format, so did the medieval chivalric patrons draw from literature for their stages. Rather than producing a film, they produced a tournament. Both are designed to entertain, and in some cases, to educate or perform a political purpose.
To quote Dr. Keen, Tournaments were referred to as ecoles de prouesse,
or schools where a whole range of values were exercised and displayed.
(Keen, 99). An example of this can be found in Huon de Mérys Tournament
de lAntechrist (c. 1230), where defenders in a grand pas darmes took
up the identities of various virtues: Chastity, Justice, Mercy, Prowess,
Courtesy, Debonnairite, riding with the heavenly host to act as the group
against which challengers would face during the course of the tournament.
(Keen, 98-9).
Using such stages, princes could at once project a desirable image to improve their political or moral legitimacy and encourage particular forms of knightly virtue, while simultaneously entertaining both the combatants and the gallery.
There is no question that chivalric literature played a substantial role in the tournament. Juliet Barker, writing in the seminal work on medieval hastiludes, cites a number of methods through which literary settings were adapted to feats of arms.
The presence of an unknown knight errant, fighting incognito, has long been a standard artifice of knightly literature. Such errantry encapsulated the Christian duties, warrior virtues, and courtly behavior expected of a knight. Travelling abroad in foreign lands or disguised in his home territory, the image of a solitary knight seeking adventures for the dual purpose of gaining renown and righting wrongs echoes throughout the genre.
In the tournament, this technique found frequent use. The famous Ulrich von Lichtenstein, for example, travelled abroad for more than three years before his knighting. Theobald de Verdun and two others, all wealthy, fought incognito at the Dunstable tournament of 1309. Even Edward III fought incognito on a number of occasions, though it is difficult to imagine anyone being fooled by the play. The recorded instances go on and on.
Scenarios for different forms of hastilude were often drawn directly from literary precedents. In this the 14th century romances Percefrost and Lancelot proved particularly influential. The monumental tournament held in 1278 at Le Hem is perhaps a moderately early and famous example of such a spectacle. Many of these scenarios wove elaborate props into the combat to set the stage, such as the lions and great wheeled ship recorded at the Le Hem tourney.
Role-playing was a common component of tourneying from the mid-13th century. Combatants assumed--for the day or longer to fulfill a martial vow--the roles of various Arthurian characters. Ulrich von Lichtenstein conducted perhaps the earliest such event in 1240. The records through the fifteenth century are ripe with examples; Round Tables held by Edward I in 1254 and again in 1284, by Geoffrey Mortimer (1328), by Edward III in 1344 and again in 1348. Many more are recorded only in passing.
It is uncertain to what degree these round table events were scripted and to what extent they involved competitive fighting. What is certain is that they were employed by chivalric patrons to entertain and to educate, extending something of the chivalric legend to knights of their own day. By competing in these themed tourneys or in feats of arms that drew elements from the legitimizing myth-history of chivalric literature, knights were able to associate themselves with the knights of history and legend. A stage was created, much in the way a modern film sets the tone and framework, upon which opportunities for chivalric expression were found. Because the presence of a gallery was crucial to the success of these events--all of them appear to have been conducted in front of spectators--renown and glory were important components of the exercise.
Tournament Companies
Orders of chivalry were another important tool for the development of chivalric ideas during the Middle Ages. Religious orders, such as the Templars and Hospitallars, were founded originally on the model provided by the monasteries. Modern tournament companies take little from these orders because they are secular groups of chivalric enthusiasts, not tied to any particular religious institution. Similar groups of secularly-organized knights existed in the Middle Ages, knights who were motivated by the concerns of the a more worldly nature; it is the example of these societies that drive the modern companies.
Curial orders created by great princes have two objectives. First, political legitimization for the Crown through the creation of princely renown and association with the chivalric mythos. Second, the improvement of the knightly caste through a governing structure and a reward of glory and renown for knights who act as exemplars in the value structure intended by the governing prince. The Orders of the Garter, Star, Golden Fleece, Croissant and the Order of the Band are examples of such curial or monarchical orders.
Votive orders, according to Dr. Boulton, are based around a single vow or chivalric objective. By their nature temporary, such orders were framed in the tradition of the knight errant to provide a framework and support for feats of errancy. Vows made over a peacock or by individual knights to conduct some measure of knightly feat of arms in a foreign country would make their promise, and others would, in the spirit of the moment, echo the vow and accept it. {examples here}
Confraternal orders were societies were more permanent organizations, groups of knights bound together for a common purpose under a governing charter. All such groups possessed such a charter, governed themselves under it (in addition to all other laws), sometimes collected dues, and held regular chapters at which business of the company was dealt with and exploits--both good and bad--heard. Knights of various noble ranking were equal in rank and status within the society itself. Sometimes these knightly societies sponsored tournaments, as with the German tournament societies of the 14th and 15th centuries, while others created books of deeds recording the exploits of their members.
Historical Re-enactments
Playful re-enactment has been a key component of chivalric sports since the early twelfth century. Phillip de Navarre recorded the first tournament re-enactment drawn directly from an ancient literary history c. 1230:
The festivities of this knighting were the greatest and longest ever known overseas. There was much giving and spending, much tourneying and re-enacting the adventures of Britain and of the Round Table, and all manner of games.Such play continued through the end of the 15th century, serving not as the venerable Dr. Huizinga observed as a denigration of the knightly station but as a strengthening tool designed to focus the attention of knights on an earlier, idealized time of chivalry through which knights would hopefully take some measure of inspiration. Even as the Middle Ages drew to a close and the knights social station crashed on the rocks of a rising enterprise culture, the strength of such re-enactments continued even into the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.(Memoires, 1218-1243, Trans. Elspeth Kennedy)
During the 19th century a full-fledged rediscovery of medievalism flowered in the neo-Gothic, Arts & Crafts and Pre-Raphallite movements. The names of talented artists and amateur historians who led the movement still echo today--William Morris, Sir Walter Scott, A.W.N. Pugin. This flirtation with medieval ideas contributed a lasting boost to the art and literature of medieval Europe, and it even spawned at least one tournament re-enactment as it might have been with the Englinton tournament of 1839. The neo-medieval movement lasted the whole of the nineteenth century, extending into the early 20th, where it continued to influence the ideal of a well-behaved, proper gentleman.
Twentieth-century re-enactments here in the United States, England and Europe deal largely with historical events of local or national significance. In England groups recreate elements of life from the Roman Occupation through the Congress of Vienna, each group characterized by a narrow historical period of interest. Wars and military units seems to be the richest fodder for such re-enactments; here in America the largest re-enactments have been those of the Civil War regiments, followed by those of the Revolutionary War. Most of these groups pride themselves on near-absolute accuracy, providing a valuable component of living history that communicates context through the strength of a complete, interactive visual picture.
Alongside this movement rose another popular culture driven not by history but by fantasy following in the footsteps of J.R.R. Tolkien. In the 1950s & 60s, fantasy literature began to find a market in England and in the United States. During the middle and late 1970s, the literature of fantasy and science fiction skyrocketed in popularity, etching a permanent niche into popular culture. As with Tolkien, this early literature built loosely upon the culture of medieval Europe, adding magic and mythical races to the mix. During the1970s and 80s, this interest in fantasy culture began to grow beyond the constraints of literature through the use of Role-Playing Games (RPGs), where the famous Dungeons & Dragons catapulted a new style of popular entertainment onto the cultural stage.
The Society for Creative Anachronism
In 1966, a curious hybrid between the two movements germinated in Berkeley, California. A small band of fantasy/science fiction enthusiasts held a party in the backyard of Ms. Diana Paxton (now a well-known fantasy author), and out of that single party grew a national organization of more than 40,000 romanticized medievalists--the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).
What set the SCA apart from other re-enactment societies was a very wide historical range (600 - 1600) plus a hierarchical social structure roughly approximating medieval nobility, built upon performance in highly competitive tournaments. Early SCA efforts to refine this combat style drove the direction of a new martial art not only within the United States but in Canada, England, Germany, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and even Mexico and South Africa.
In SCA combat, rattan weapons approximate authentic medieval swords, maces, and poleweapons, similar to ash or whalebone weapons used for practice and in the medieval béhourd. Armour that ranges from highly authentic reproductions to modern sporting equipment is adopted according to financial ability and historical awareness. Safety standards are set by the umbrella corporation that provides insurance and a common rules standard. The combat is conducted full-contact, full-speed under the auspices of safety officers who enforce the rules and inspect weapons and armour for safety. SCA tournaments can usually be found in most major US cities during the summer season, ranging from small events where two or three combatants fight round-robin to a Crown tournament where a hundred or more fight in a single- or double-elimination style tournament to see who will, at the end of the day, by virtue of their prowess be named Crown Prince.
Broken down into fourteen geographical regions, SCA kingdoms are populated by gentles with divergent interests in popular medievalism. Some gather merely to socialize; no small number of them arrive at the organization as social misfits and learn valuable social skills--the SCA has been called the worlds finest geek rehabilitator. Some are introduced to the arts and a few of these develop into world-class artisans. Some delve into the combat as a martial art and others into the organization of events. Kingdom groups sometimes meet in mock wars at their borders, where the regional subcultures mix and compete. Some of these wars are quite large, as with the Pennsic War held each August in Slippery Rock, PA, where over ten thousand attend annually.
The SCA recognizes superior performance on the tournament field through knighthoods bestowed by the current King with the agreement of the knights in the candidates region. Similar recognition is bestowed for arts and service, respectively, so that equality of rank can be achieved by those not moved by the martial arts.
Historical accuracy is not the SCAs strong suit. The essence of the culture is such that its casual attitude towards historical accuracy removes it from consideration as a re-enactment group, although the tournament culture that has developed around the martial art stands as a kind of re-enactment of its own, in that the reputations of combatants are made or lost in a setting that would not be unfamiliar to a medieval spectator.
One thing that the SCA does recreate well is medieval politics. Given a social structure mirroring that of medieval Britain, political struggles and factions have driven off a number of splinter groups, all roughly similar to the SCA save for their smaller size and the fact that some of them fight with steel rather than with rattan weapons.
Tournament Companies
Spawned initially within the Society for Creative Anachronism, the idea of a tournament company formed under the stresses expected of so divergent a group. Some members desired a shift in emphasis away from the sport that had grown up around SCA tournaments in favor of a renewed interest in both historical accuracy and an emphasis on the chivalric ideal. Research conducted by founding members into the history of medieval tournaments, knighthood and the chivalric ideal connected with the rich corpus of materials produced by todays medieval scholars such as Dr. Maurice Keen, Professor Sydney Anglo, Juliet Barker and Elspeth Kennedy.
The first of the tournament companies was the Company of Saint George, founded in Los Angeles in 1990. Members of this first company strove to enrich their knowledge of the medieval predecessors by devouring every available (translated) chronicle, history, and secondary study, in the process rediscovering two key tools that have proven the tournament companies most potent methods of communicating and reinforcing the interpretation of the chivalric ideal: the knightly confraternity and the pas darmes.
The Company of Saint George is a knightly society existing within the social framework of the SCA, yet standing apart in its emphasis on historical accuracy and chivalric virtues. It is a mix of the princely order and the tournament society of 14th - 15th century Germany, a group of gentles bound by a core value set summarized in the Great Charter of the Company:
The Great Charter of the Company of Saint George
May all know by this present charter that we the Company of Saint George
do swear and
declare before God our faithful obeisance unto the noble art of arms.
Whereas we declare that the true joy of combat proceeds not from the
base spirit of pride,
nor of vainly striving one against the other, but is only from honor.
We hereby proclaim that with Gods grace this company shall endeavor
to increase, advance, and uphold the banner of chivalry as it was practiced
by our noble ancestors, and
swearing to do the same do we hereby ordain these maintenances:
That every companion shall strive through speech, manner and appearance
to present forth
the very mirror and example of a gentleman of Christendom.
Also that every companion shall revere such
goodly arts and mysteries of days past
omitting neither their practice nor their patronage.
Also that every companion shall take such care
of his arms, harness, raiment and all
appearances that be in accordance with his conviction that neither shame nor stain
shall befall the company. And that he shall accept such guidance and counsel in
regards to the above as seems meet unto the same.
Also that every companion shall endeavor to
better himself in his use of arms and in
all pursuits that belong to a gentleman.
Also that any who may become a companion may
be in some way known to the
company that his merits and advantages and be known to all.
Also that the companions shall gather no less than once per year for
a special feast, with
their consorts, to address the company and to administer to the same, and to share
agreement together, by custom being the feasts of St. Crispen and St. George.
And also that companions be known by a red garter worn below the left knee, bearing the motto, Honestas Supra Omnia (Honor above all), and by a black cloak bearing a badge of the same garter worn upon the left breast.
May God serve us in our endeavor. Done this Feast of Epiphany in the year Nineteen Hundred and Ninety of our salvation at Urbs Angellorum.
To build renown of individuals and of the Company as a whole a range of tools are used. Regular chapters are held to plan tournaments and vote on new members. Roundtable discussions are held with combatants of all ages to examine the chivalric virtues in detail both in a historical and in modern contexts. A Knight of Honor is elected to investigate any conduct problems brought against companions. A Book of Deeds is kept to record the exploits of the members or others who come to the companions attention. Tokens of etched bronze are distributed by Companions to gentles whose conduct mirrors what the Company believes to be right. Companions are available to talk to school children about the Middle Ages and knighthood, augmenting local coursework with a living history component.
The pas darmes is perhaps the most visible and effective tool in the Companys arsenal. The pas darmes is a kind of challenge tournament popular during the 14th and 15th centuries, where a team of combatants--in this case the Companions of Saint George--declare their intention to hold a place à plaisance for the entertainment of the gallery and for the joi de combat of the combatants themselves. The Company of Saint George rediscovered the pas darmes format and refined it for use in the SCA and other re-enactment groups; it proved an immensely successful format for the encouragement of knightly virtue because it provided a stage upon which conduct mattered more than the objective outcome of a modern single- or double-elimination tree. The tone of the pas darmes emphasized less of a modern sport and more a set of very hard-pressed, but friendly set of competitive fights and interesting challenges. And it brought the gallery back into the tournament proper, enabling them to choose particular challenges the ladies wanted to see or to showcase combatants they felt had inspired them with prowess and courtesy.
The Company published their research and how to articles detailing their experiences with organizing such a company in the print journal Chronique--the Journal of Chivalry, and by 1994 there were four similar companies.
That the pas darmes, chivalric roundtables and confraternal organization proved effective tools came as an exhilarating set of developments. The founders of the Company forsaw some measure of success with the venture, because all of these tools had been well-proven during the 13th - 15th centuries. Given that the core virtues had remained unchanged--in essence if not in interpretation--the model still proved powerful and compelling. What we did not predict was the startling impact of a decidedly modern tool--the Internet.
Tournament Companies on the Web
Since the primary activity of the Company is the tournament as a form of martial art, it cannot be done over the web. However, the Companys ability to project its example and to provide instruction and advice to others--both inside and outside of the Society for Creative Anachronism--has been multiplied many times through the use of the Net.
I started the Knighthood, Chivalry & Tournaments Resource Library (KCT for short) website in 1993. It was intended as another distribution point for some of the St. George ideas as well as a nexus point for other, future companies yet to be founded. It has grown from those meager days to encompass nearly a thousand pages of translations, governing documents, tournament formats, how-to segments, essays, chat, forum discussions, and historical references for those interested in the medieval knight, not simply re-enactors.
Using various Internet tools, the Company of Saint George has been able to foster the development of more than fifteen other Companies. The Internet has proven immensely valuable in inter-company communications, in distributing written templates and how-to instructions, and even in one of the Companys primary tools--the holding of philosophic roundtables.
Using Java-based chat software, members are able to communicate real-time in moderated roundtable discussions. In the context of tournament companies this ranges from how to host a pas darmes or create a 14th century bascinet to discussions on chivalric virtue. These discussions can be saved in a file and dressed up for display on the web, preserving the discussion for use by others not able to attend. Email lists help members to take subdiscussions offline into more detailed talks, though these are generally not preserved for the benefit of others.
The Internet as Communications Tool
What is the Internet? At the most basic physical level the Internet is a collection of computers networked together through common connection protocols. Both public and private subnetworks are integrated into the system through common standards; chiefly though not exclusively through the TCP/IP protocol. Client machines request information from established Servers, machines that deliver information upon validated request. Twelve-digit numeric IP (Internet Protocol) addresses are maintained for each member subnet on the system, catalogued by large databases maintained by Network Solutions, Inc., until recently under contract for the National Science Foundation.
To access the Internet, a user logs into to a member subnet with an account maintained locally on that subnet. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are examples of very large subnets that maintain permanent account management for subscribers. Once logged in to a member subnet, the user can access the resources on the Net using a variety of tools appropriate to the various subsystems; the Web, newsgroups, or email, all by pointing to a particular location and using the software to access the system. Recent figures indicate that there are more than twenty million users on the Internet, judging by the numbers of accounts at various ISPs.
The Web
Arguably the most important resource on the Internet, the World Wide Web has been in existence for nearly ten years. Until the early Mosaic browser incorporated graphics into the readers capability, however, the older lynx readers (still common at Universities) could only browse text files. There is common agreement within the Internet community that graphics formed the bridge that connected what was predominantly an expert library-oriented medium into a platform for near-mass consumption.
Websites are actually collections of hypertext pages, each one containing pointers to other pages and graphic components. Recent developments in DHTML and database-driven page generation techniques have raised the bar for compelling site content, since each page no longer exists as a static body of precoded text but can now be scripted to deliver targeted information to the user based on demographic or usage data. Continued development in this area will serve to create a barrier between the small hobby publisher and the more entertainment-conscious and technology-enabled corporations; the days of the web as a completely organic phenomenon are probably over, though one can argue whether this is a good or a bad thing.
One important technological aspect of the WWW is that unlike the old BBS connections popular until a few years ago, connections to the web are stateless; that is, a request is made by the client browser and passed along to the site via an IP pointer. The requested material is returned if found, and the connection dropped. This makes it difficult to create full-fledged applications because an application, by definition, stores and processes data. With Sun Microsystems introduction of the platform independent Java development language, applications are no longer run on the server but on the client. Applications may be downloaded from the page with the usual request and executed on the target machine. Components of these applications may then remain on the server, interacting with the newly downloaded software to form a fully-featured client-server application. Regardless of the outcome of the Microsoft-Sun Micro battle concerning the future of Java, integrated applications coded in some form of Java or Java-like language will probably continue the revolution of the Web, but because of the technical prowess needed to create such applications, a further distinction between the hobby and the professional sites will probably continue to evolve as the technical capabilities improve.
Classifications of Websites
Home Pages
Websites come in four usual varieties. The first are home pages maintained by individuals or small organizations. Although sources disagree concerning the numbers, the most recent and likely reliable figures I have seen come from the industry journal Internet Week, where it was estimated that there were more than seven million home pages on the web. Home pages are used as business or calling cards to give a quick background on the people or enterprises in question. Generally these sites are of a very uneven in their quality in terms of both content and presentation, but hidden in the haystack of homepages are needles of real quality; in Arthuriana and every other imaginable topic.
The web has extended the concept of desktop publishing to something like worldview publishing; the only problem is that in order to be seen by the world a site must first be found. On that basis the web has been popularly tagged the world wide morass. For this reason the largest of the search engines--Yahoo, Excite, Infoseek and Lycos (in that order)--have made successful business starts as key nexus points. Recent efforts by those companies to extend their business beyond the nexus echelon where people do a quick search and leave have not yet been proven successful, though real dollars have been spent by all four in an attempt to evolve their service offerings.
Commerce Sites
Commerce sites are those sponsored as commercial ventures by business entities in manufacturing, retail, service and entertainment sectors, designed to attract customers and use the Web medium to generate revenue. Whole new businesses--such as Amazon.com or Travelocity--have been created based on the capabilities of the Web to deliver database-driven information and credit-card authorized sales. Entertainment and media companies are currently developing new applications on the web, currently leveraging non-web properties in film, music, or video games. Over time new web-based properties will doubtless be created, most probably through the efforts of the entertainment giants.
Informational sites
Those sites I have classed as Informational are those, like KCT or xxx {Arthurian site}, where repositories of information are kept or catalogued. Usually these sites are classed broadly according to topical interest, contrasted with the usual home pages where many different types of interest information might be found in the same site. Informational sites might sometimes have commerce offerings, though these are usually not the main focus of the site.
One barrier to Informational and some content-based commerce sites (especially those leveraging entertainment properties such as Disney, Warner Brothers or even Adobe Systems [who hold patents on Postcript font/page description files]) is the massive problem posed by the ease of content piracy. Using common tools any component of any publicly available (and some firewall-protected) web sites, text or graphics can be easily copied and recast. Traditional copyrights and intellectual property law developed to fit the print and broadcast media sectors, but as yet such laws and controlling technologies are still in a stage of infancy. As technology and legal precedent race to extend copyright protection to the Internet, most of the enforcement comes not from compulsory tools or laws but from organic Netiquette. In the excitement to explore the new medium, authors and artists rights have frequently been violated; because of the ease-of-theft and the lack of royalty mechanisms, authors and content providers have been reticent to place their better material on the Net. Once these mechanisms are commonly accepted and in place, another explosion of content will find its way to the content- or informationally-based site.
Nexus Sites
Nexus sites (not to be confused with the legal research tool of the same name) are basically compilations of links to resources not listed in host site itself. These nexus collections build by popularity around a given topic. Topical nexus sites are those created by passionate advocates of a given topic, frequently they contain reviews or some kind of rating system, possibly as simple as editorial comments about each site that can speed informational searches.
General nexus sites are the search-engines everyone is familiar with as starting places. Each of the general nexus sites has particular strengths useful for research. Yahoo!, the largest of the sites, offers information with a convenient classification system. Finding the largest sites on Yahoo! is thus relatively easy. Excite! is the next largest nexus, offering a different classification system. Infoseek, arguably the third-largest of the informational sites, uses a different search algorithm and for some reason returns a different set of sites, unclassified but rich in diversity. Finding obscure references is easiest on Infoseek. One recommended search tip is to use Yahoo! or Excite! to find the key nexus sites in a given field, then use the topical nexus sites to extend the search in a narrower fashion.
Adding Community (identity, character)
Through the use of Java and other Internet community based tools, informational, nexus and commerce sites can become community-based affinity centers. Becoming an affinity center is the key to catapulting a site from obscurity to prosperity, whether the intent is commercial or informational. Community based affinity sites draw like-minded users together through the emerging technology medium and provide tools for them to communicate, evaluate, and to some extent govern a fledgling affinity-community.
An Internet community offers the user some form of identity, be it an email address; a nickname, or a fabricated persona in the form of a character. It doesnt matter whether the theme of the community is real or imagined. There is as much community around the largest fantasy-role playing games such as Ultima Online or The Realm as there is on the NASA chat forums or the Arthuriana mailing list.
Essential Anonymity
An important characteristic of Internet identity is that the online persona may bear little surface resemblance to the real person at the other end of the keyboard in terms of name, skill, race or even gender. In the context of our discussion I have termed this the black knight syndrome, since the essential anonymity of Internet communities dictates certain barriers in terms of evaluating the veracity of information received from the various actors within a given community.
Community Technologies and Tools
By far and away the most popular community-enabling tool is electronic mail, Email for short. The primary networking tool of all Net users, email is now available not only to Internet account holders of various sorts but free through a variety of services.
Email allows personal, usually unencrypted communication between two or more users. In a community sense mail is most often used to continue a dialog formed within public spaces, serving as a personal messaging service. Once contact with a desired party is established in the public forum of the newsgroup, email list, web forum, a quasi-private flow of information is available. New technologies will eventually provide for public- and private key encryption that can provide an additional layer of security.
Although security is a concern on the Net, so-called Spam is perhaps a larger problem. Thousands of pyramid schemers, get-rich-quick artists, and outright cons can purchase massive lists of email addresses for a few hundred dollars, sending unwanted marketing messages to millions of users through dummy addresses. The result is a clogging of the email system with a high percentage of garbage mail that reduces the appeal of email because users must either delete the unwanted messages or try to enable filtering to reduce the incoming trash, risking the accidental deletion of a critical message. ISPs struggle with reducing spam through the same techniques and through various IP address banishment lists and semi-sophisticated screening software. Various legislatures are considering legislation in an attempt to regulate spam, but the techniques to be used in such regulation remain undefined. The future on this issue remains unclear.
Mailing Lists
Lists of email accounts can be managed to deliver mail to a select group of recipients. Short lists of interested users can be copied on a themed message from the personal address book, now available on all major Windows platforms. Powerful UNIX tools such as MajorDomo can provide sophisiticated maillist management for larger lists, allowing users to subscribe, post to a moderated or unmoderated list. Arthurnet is one such list.
Moderated discussions filter messages through a central point to reduce the Spam and to insure that postings to the list fall into the topics of discussion. Unmoderated lists allow anyone to post. While this is lower maintenance and certainly more organic, it does tend to allow commercial messages and off-topic postings.
Email list discussions tend to be a series of postings and answers grouped loosely into discussion threads. These threads are sometimes archived for future reference, but usually they are not. When a thread digresses to a point where it interests only a couple of individuals or the content might prove offensive to the list as a whole, the usual practice is to continue the discussion offline, meaning through private email.
Flames are negative posts or messages relating to a specific posting or Net persona. Flames can be public or private. Because of the black knight essential anonymity of the Net, such flames can often be far more abusive and aggressive than would be practiced if the users real identity were known. Internet communities have long been dealing with flames through peer pressure and simple banishment tools.
As a community-management tool, email lists are extremely useful in that they can operate without a predefined space or website. Community members conduct all communications in the open, filtered in a moderated list (which taxes the moderator) or unfiltered in a open list (which opens the door for inappropriate material). The great benefit to such lists is that they can focus clearly on a single set of issues, spawning new lists when existing discussions become too cumbersome. Users can subscribe to lists according to affinity interest; this flexibility provides for an extremely organic development structure to the millions of legitimate email lists functioning in academia, business, and in affinity-communities.
Non-web based forums, Newsgroups exist for nearly every imaginable topic. Running a newsgroup, however, requires a dedicated server, so most reside on University-sponsored machines. Because software is needed to access a newsgroup, acceptance of it as a technology with the general public has been very slow. Web-based forums seem to be growing at a far faster pace, though Newsgroups will likely continue for some time.
Web-based Forums
Web-based forums work exactly as email lists, except that instead of receiving posts to the email box, they are instead written to a publicly available web page. The advantage in such forums are that the desired threads are available for perusal via the WWW at anytime, whereas with unarchived lists you receive only the mail since the user subscribed. Users can of course peruse archives if they exist, but there is a usage barrier to such perusal as most people dont seem to know how to access such an archive.
For the purposes of community, the web-based forum requires more direct intervention on the part of the administrator/moderator. On most forums not protected by a membership barrier of some kind, discussions wander far afield and outright flame-wars damage the credibility of all participants. However, being recorded in a public place allows new users to skim a forum to locate topics of interest and engage immediately in an informational exchange. Most lists require an email address to place a post, providing a sometimes-used mechanism to take personal or inappropriate discussions offline, or out of the public forum.
Instant Messaging & Chat Tools
For years the largest Internet Service Provider, America Online, operated under the belief that community drives usage, which in turns returns revenue in the form of both connect-time fees and advertising potential. AOL reported in 1997 that 40% of their total connect time was used for chat; members of this mega-community could use AOL tools to contact another user via email or send an instant message, upon which an instant text-based chat session could be invoked. These mechanisms proved simple to use and effective means to create microcommunities throughout the AOL system, although technological limitations limited use to AOL subscribers.
Chat products enable community members to interact realtime, dividing further from affinity-community pools into micro-community subgroups through real-time text-based chat. In a text-based chat environment, users messages are transmitted to a public or private virtual space in something that resembles real-life dialog. Some control tools for operators (chat room docents who insure the tone of the room) allow censorship or banishment for offending room participants, but the majority of the tools are based not on technological tools but on organic community pressures exerted by the members themselves.
Products enabling chat on the WWW have been slow to develop because of the stateless nature of the Web alluded to above. Two techniques have emerged to conduct real-time chat on the WWW without the need for a proprietary network as in the AOL case.
Using complicated CGI (Common Gateway Interface) mechanisms, discussions can actually be conducted dynamically on a web page, though performance is poor and the resulting community members must be very dedicated for the effort to succeed. Few CGI-based chat products are popular on the WWW, except on sexually-oriented sites.
Using still-primitive Java tools, a chat window similar to the AOL or IRC model (see below) can be created. A number of products have entered this space, including Ichat and Parachat. Moving far beyond the CGI-controlled chat environments, Java-chat components will soon allow for multicasting or conferencing allowing one or more hosts to conduct teaching, interviews, and forums to a much wider audience. Current connectivity is limited technologically by number of simultaneous connections; small machines can only support 1-200 connections; in order to conduct such conferencing using current technologies, immensely expensive server production environments must be maintained; these environments are still out of range for all but a few resource-rich corporations.
ICQ, a new desktop application, allows members to page one another and create an instant chat window. Such ICQ addresses are very popular today, although security risks present in the software will either force refinements or open the door for competing products. The future will see more products, possibly worked into future iterations of the Windows operating system.
Outside the web but still on the Internet, IRC (Internet Relay Chat) provides chat services for tens of thousands of users. Tools for IRC have developed organically from the early Net early adopter community, but the continued difficulty in identifying which network (there are three major ones and host of minor ones), in locating a community member and the rapid progress in Java-based chat products insures the eventual replacement of IRC with web components.
Organic Policing Tools & Essential Anonymity
Particularly with topical affinity communities, the vocal expert syndrome often damages affinity-communities as few tools exist to assist with this difficulty by validating the identity of a community member. Identification of children or a self-declared experts bona fides would become easier with some kind of authentication registry, but the nature of the Internet community as a whole is resistant to such registration. Organic responses to harassment--real or imagined--have been developed by the communities for policing purposes, ranging from simple ostracization to technological banishment. Over time a personas underlying character usually becomes apparent even as they shift surface identities, making policing easier for long-time residents of such a group.
In many respects the organic tools derived by passionate affinity-group members are the most interesting developments, but there is insufficient space here to explore these tools in detail. Hopefully this will provide a rich topic for more research.
Future Tools
Avatars & Graphics
The inclusion of graphics, plot-control, and instant-messaging techniques represent the direction of next-generation community tools. Products such as Fujitsus WorldsAway (the product I work on), Electric Communitys Palace, and Microsofts V-Chat are all attempting to enhance the ability to project identity through avatar-based products. Avatars are, in a nutshell, graphical representations of a user that can be manipulated to some degree to increase the expressiveness of simple text-based chat. Additionally, since Avatars interact in a setting of some kind, graphics tools yield rich possibilities for the enhancement of place through graphical rooms, regions or even whole new worlds. Imagine a Camelot world where everyone had the appearance of a knight or lady. Such technologies are currently being tested for market acceptance, and may represent a future direction for online community tools.
Plot-Control tools will be used in conjunction with graphical representations of avatars to allow entertainment oriented sites to use the new technologies to extend the capabilities of role-playing games. Current text-based role-playing games have already demolished the older paper/imagination based games such as Dungeons & Dragons, and as these tools are extended to a less-expert class of users through skillfully designed interfaces and compelling graphics, more communities will form around fantasy elements, including generic fantasy sci/fi and the more mainstream entertainment products such as Star Trek and Babylon-5.
The other set of enhancements will be used for desktop paging, as in the ICQ case. When users can contact one another, hold online conferences capable of moderation, the online communications channel will have truly come into its own, paving the way for exponential expansion of electronically-based microcommunities.
The Net and Tournament Companies
As a communications tool, the Internet has enabled the Company of Saint George to extend its audience far beyond the locality where it is physically active, and to link individuals to the Company or to other Societies, building a networked microcommunity around the confraternal concept.
Providing Information
It is the information-dissemination component of the website that has been the most successful in distributing our concepts of contemporary chivalry. Through essays, articles, published debates and even some fiction, the ideas of key tournament company visionaries have found their way to many parts of the globe.
Today there are more than fifteen tournament companies, only eleven of which are attached to the Society for Creative Anachronism. There are doubtless others that have been founded but have not checked in with the KCT site; I found four last year alone. Each of them had been founded based on the Web material, but they had been too bashful to inquire directly, since they felt their own efforts might prove embarrassing to the more expert members of the tournament society community.
Building Renown
As a communications medium extending well beyond the Tournament Company affinity community, the Internet is perfectly suited for the knightly concept of renown, the aggregate opinion of those who witness or hear tell of an individuals deeds.
Using books of fine deeds, web-forums, email lists, and roundtable chat discussions word of a gentles virtue or denegration can be transmitted to thousands of community members instantly. Adding those whose membership in the microcommunity is only tangential, many more thousands can be reached. The result is a far more instantaneous result for good or poor conduct, an individuals renown adjusted accordingly. The Internet acts as a multiplier for renown earned on the field or through deeds of courtesy, although there is also certainly the potential for abuse and purposeful smearing.
Books, journals and selected craftworks are sold through the website both to finance its maintenance and planned expansion (we are building a childrens site and a guide for teaching chivalry aimed at teachers). For works that are published from a small, undistributed set of publishing houses, there is a chance that such direct marketing avenues may reduce the impact of increasing centralization within the publishing industry, maintaining an desperately needed sales channel for small publishers.
Real-time and delayed-signal communications tools such as email lists and java-based chat has enabled the Company to directly interact with individuals as far away as Sweden, Australia, and South Africa, bringing everyone together into a forum where the chivalric ideas of Ramon Lull, Geoffrey Charny and other chivalric thinkers are re-examined and considered. Ideas are transmitted to a wider audience using these tools, and although they are currently primitive, the potential for even greater expansion has been clearly demonstrated.
Community in the Future
Although time does not permit an in-depth probe into what these electronic communities will become, it is likely that more and more often individuals will consider themselves members of at least one affinity-community whose primary connections are those established through electronic media. Merging this capability with the capacity of entertainment giants to provide compelling alternative electronic worlds, more and more individuals will invest a portion of their identity in the emerging medium. What this means for traditional ideas of community, law and government remain to be seen; but the outcome may well change the way we as human beings interact.
The Internet, even in its infant form, has allowed the affinity-community surrounding the 14th century ideal of a chivalric company to thrive and flourish. It is perhaps ironic that it has taken a renaissance of technology to unleash Ramons dream that knights would undertake a study of chivalry in order to receive the accolade. But I for one find a distinct pleasure in watching the ideals reawaken not merely in the context of history but as living tools adapting once more to a new era, but retaining their essential qualities such that a medieval knight attunded towards the ideals of his day would perhaps recognize the spark of knighthood in someone today. Although the Net presents a host of challenges for both individual and society, it will continue to present the opportunity for greatness and for abuse as the gates are opened for literary ideas of all sorts to find new life.
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