The 4 P's of Peerage

The Theory of the 4 "P's"

by Sir Andrew Ward

A new person once asked me what it was going to take for me to get to Knighthood. I was a Huscarl at the time. I grimaced and said "I don't really know." Later, that occurred to me as "wrong" and something I should be able to at least guess at. A week or two later, while driving back home from an event... and trying to stay awake... I figured I'd attempt to tackle the puzzle. I originally came up with this for my personal situation. But, later realized that it could be used for almost any award. Not necessarily a checklist for a person. But, a guideline to let them know where they might be coming up short.

PROWESS - Yep, how good you are at what you do really matters. Be it fighting, archery, service or arts & sciences... this is the core.

PARTICIPATION - How often to folks see you doing that PROWESS? With fighters, I often use the analogy, "You can kick everyone's behind... but, if you are only doing it once every 6 months don't expect to get anywhere with your ability."

PATRIOTISM - Important to Calontiri. As a fighter, how have you supported/participated in the Army? PATRIOTISM and Service can also be synonymous for those on the service track. Arts and sciences, how have you used your skills for the betterment of the Kingdom and its citizens?

PERCEPTION - Some have suggested this should be "PEER-LIKE QUALITIES". I still use my first generic term so it carries more relevance for all the awards. Basically, this means, "What do people think of you?" We are very naive if we think, "Others opinions don't matter." Especially in a Kingdom with "Polling Orders!" But seriously, do people look at you and see a person who fits the ideals of the award to which you aspire?

Now... to rattle cages and possibly be a bit controversial. You need a score of 3.5!!! You can be "short" in one category ~IF~ you have enough in the others. It is very hard to advance if you are coming up short in more than one category.

I will use myself as an example. I figure when I was a Huscarl, I was getting better in the PROWESS department. I had adequate PARTICIPATION. PATRIOTISM was probably pegged out at that point. PERCEPTION was something I had to grow into. So, even with good PARTICIPATION and PATRIOTISM, my PROWESS and/or PERCEPTION had to come up before I was recognized as a member of the Chivalry.

I will continue to speak to the fighters in these next thoughts. However, I hope you can see how you can come up with your own examples in your own situation.

PROWESS - Do you need to do some pell work? Make more practices? Watch and learn from what others are doing? Get a teacher? Get your health into a better situation? (Yes, this matters. With myself just recently... getting the correct care for weight, allergies, asthma and other conditions has allowed me to play more and at a better level.)

PARTICIPATION - How many events are you going to and fighting at? Are you there for the event, or do you just show up, fight, and leave?

PATRIOTISM - How many Wars have you gone to? How many battles did you fight in? Have you helped with the Marshaling responsibilities of the Kingdom?

PERCEPTION - Are you still borrowing armor? What condition is your armor in? When you fight, are you Angry when you mess up? Do you laugh about it, learn and go on? How do you treat the fighters with less experience than you?

There are an almost infinite amount of different descriptions for each of these. People may also disagree on what needs to be put in which category. However, the discussion with those close around you... and the discussions with that person in the mirror... may just bring up some points that give you a sense of what direction to take.

I hope this theory helps some people. It has sure helped me and some of my close associates.

In service,

Sir Andrew