White leather belt,
golden spurs, and a golden spiral 4-in-1 mail chain. Actually, they're
brass, but they look good!
The rowel spurs look nice, but are a tripping hazard. I've already bent
them slightly after wearing them for only a few minutes. The prick
spurs might be a little better, but they're sharp and they won't
fit over larger boots, so I'll have to use them with turnshoes or something.
I don't know that a spiral chain would ever have been used as a
symbol of knighthood, specifically, but various gilded chains have
quite a bit of historical precedent. The gilded spurs seam to be a bit
more universal.
I finally got my hands on a white leather belt. I don't know of much historical
evidence for these, though the SCA uses them widely as their primary
symbol for knighthood. I won't wear it to any of their events, out
of respect for the society's rules. In terms of the authenticity, as
far as I know, the only major period reference to the white belt is in
Geoffroi de Charny's "Book of Chivalry", in which he mentions it as one
of many symbols in the knighting ceremony. I dont know if there was
any on-going symbolism in the day to day life for a knight that involed
it. Then again, the spurs are also part of the ceremony, but unlike
the white belt, they are mentioned frequently in a wide range of period
sources.
(1024x768 or better resolution is recommended for this site)
