Re: Company of Saynte George

["Werner Froehlich"]

dear mr. embleton, dear friends!

due to serious health problems i have lost contact with the
company almost three years ago, but i consider myself still  a
loyal member and feel strong sympathy for the company.

your intentions confuse me and i seem to have missed more than
only some events.

since i feel still strong sympathy for the company, its members
and its officers i dare to ask you for further explanations.

about a year ago i had problems too with the new style of
communication within the company.
when i asked for the reasons why we had to change our livery i
was told two reasons from mathieu harleaut:
1.: because we (the officers) have decided it.
2.: because we have done thorough research.

-at- 1.: trying to reenact a certain period in history means for me
to wear certain clothes because there is scientific proof, that
the clothes i wear for the reenactment are as close to those worn
in the 15th century as possible. i don´t wear certain clothes in
reenactment because someone else has decided that i should wear
them. then i think  i should rather join a role-playing group
which demands from its members to wear a certain type of uniform
when they wish to attend the group´s events.

-at-2.: i do not doubt at all that our officers have done thorough
research, but even the most careful research can lead to odd
ends. i don´t want to suggest that their research has lead them
to odd ends, but i rather wished back then to gain knowledge
about their research to refine my own research and to be able to
make up my mind whether their research was done carefully enough
and wheter i can support it wholeheartedly, i.e. wear the new
livery confidently at events and confidently explain the audience
and other reenactors why i am doing so.
but: no chance ...

christian folini and anybody else who has done scientific studies
at the university will tell you that no scientific discussion can
be done on the basis of a statement like: "it´s a fact because
i´ve found it out during my researches". in any scientific
discussion you will have to name your reasons ("reasons" meaning:
not being the research itself, but the scientific evidence for
your conclusions) otherwise the other people involved in the
discussion will not be able to follow your reasons, and will also
refuse to follow your suggestions and conclusions.

i expected this sharing of scientific reasons from a group like
the company. even at a forum like the tempus-vivit people usually
share the information which is the basis for their suggestions.

i do neither claim that the officers have made an ex-cathedra
decision in that case nor that they have no will to communicate
with the members. what i want to remark is, that i see a lack of
will to share information with simple members and to integrate
simple members into the fact-finding and decision-making process.

and there is another - very simple -  problem for me as a
reenactor: if somebody asks me at an event, why i wear a certain
livery, i want to be able to tell the person the historical
sources which formed the basis for the construction of my
costume, and i do not want to have to tell them, that i wear a
certain costume, because my officers decided, that i have to wear
it.

another problem i have realized in the past years is the hubris
which has been spilled over the efforts of dietrich pott to keep
the company alive.
alive in two senses: active, open-minded, open for progress, open
for new people interested in quality-reenactment.
alive also in the sense of keeping it present at events, present
in the mind of the reenactors, and the audience, including both
simple tourists and scientists as well, upon whom we both rely.
many people decided to support dietrich, to join and support his
efforts.
some within the compony decided not to join this, and those
finally decided that the company does not wish to be involved in
those efforts.

... and i had also a slightly paranoid feeling about the
existence of a kind of anti-german league within the company. but
i know,  that this is a  paranoia without any evidence at all.

yet those are only very personal experiences and i nevertheless
consider myself a loyal supporter of the company.

but your explanations and intentions are making me extremely
nervous.

it seems that i have not been the only one with such problems and
that there have been problems, a lot more serious than mine.

efforts of the officers(?) for changing the company ordinances
and even the name of the company sound quite puzzling.
your information, that the philosophy and the rules of ye goode
olde companye is to be changed by the officers or the secretary
(excuse me sir, but i don´t understand your explanations there
clearly) make me nervous.

i know, that i have lost close contact with the company, and
missed a lot of what was going on behind the scenes, so i would
be grateful to get more information on that topic, because it
would make it easier for me (and perhaps for other people too) ,
to make up my mind.


it would be quite interesting for me (for other members perhaps
too) to hear the position of the secretary, especially why he
wants to change the name of the company and the ordinances, and
how the new ordinances should look like!

a little bit more information of how he wants to run the company
and how he wants to change it, would be very interesting - and i
promise that i will look at his statements with an open mind and
without any prejudices.
any response will be welcome!

thank you.

regards,
   werner froehlich