I think it might be appropriate to also look at mourning rituals. We in the SCA do not get to have the obvious break that comes with death in battle, as many squires would have known in the Middle Ages. Most often, a knight in the SCA dies well away from their squires and those last moments are secret. Continuing to wear that belt is, in some ways, an attempt to grasp for that last contact that never was allowed. It may not be particularly medieval to continue to wear the belt for some time, but it may be some relation to mourning practices that have yet to be researched. That all being said: While the fealty contract ends in death, that would be a rather faithless ex-enfeoffed person who quits the field the moment his lord fell in battle. Legally acceptable, as they then have no legal obligation to continue fighting, but not particularly in line with the virtues nor even the expected reaction in violent culture to seek immediate retribution. So SCA-wise, a month or so until some act may be done to show appropriate respect to the fallen knight (deed of arms, carrying the Knight's shield or colors into battle, hosting a feast and ball, etc) would not in this case seem untoward. Years, well, that would border on necrophillic.
Getting well outside medieval precedent- to some people, being a squire to a certain Knight becomes part of their identity (I would suspect in many cases that Knights still hold some part of their identity as their relationship to the Knight who mentored them). Giving up part of one's identity is hard, and harder for some than for others. I have a friend who's knight passed a couple years ago. He is typically a person of somewhat robust personality. However, the loss of his knight heavily impacted his view of who he was. He was quite distraught because such a part of his self-identity was as a member of this late-knight's house. It worked out that the first squire of the late knight, who was now many years a knight himself, offered a new contract in which the squire would retain the trappings and identity under tutelage of the second Knight. It wasn't at all a matter of prestige, but of loyalty and identity.
That all being said: While the fealty contract ends in death, that would be a rather faithless ex-enfeoffed person who quits the field the moment his lord fell in battle. Legally acceptable, as they then have no legal obligation to continue fighting, but not particularly in line with the virtues nor even the expected reaction in violent culture to seek immediate retribution.
So SCA-wise, a month or so until some act may be done to show appropriate respect to the fallen knight (deed of arms, carrying the Knight's shield or colors into battle, hosting a feast and ball, etc) would not in this case seem untoward. Years, well, that would border on necrophillic.
Getting well outside medieval precedent- to some people, being a squire to a certain Knight becomes part of their identity (I would suspect in many cases that Knights still hold some part of their identity as their relationship to the Knight who mentored them). Giving up part of one's identity is hard, and harder for some than for others. I have a friend who's knight passed a couple years ago. He is typically a person of somewhat robust personality. However, the loss of his knight heavily impacted his view of who he was. He was quite distraught because such a part of his self-identity was as a member of this late-knight's house. It worked out that the first squire of the late knight, who was now many years a knight himself, offered a new contract in which the squire would retain the trappings and identity under tutelage of the second Knight. It wasn't at all a matter of prestige, but of loyalty and identity.
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