Forgiveness - Chapter 5

[Alkari]

In that society, if you inherited land, you had to be able to defend that land and your people there.   And regardless of their own wishes or preferences, eldest sons of nobles had to have the basic military skills and be able to raise levies and lead armies if required.  That was simply a normal part of their upbringing, a cultural expectation, and as we saw with people like Camber and Duncan, even second or third sons were taught the basics.  I'm sure most of them weren't military geniuses, and as we see, there are men like Generals Gloddruth and Remie who'd be able to give advice and do much of the practial running of an army in the field.  Rogan, the Hort of Orsal's second son, clearly preferred the scholarly life - but you can bet he could still ride a horse and wield a sword if he really had to, albeit not perhaps with any great skill.

And there would also have been many cases where a younger son had all the military skills, in which case they had a good opportunity to develop a useful career assisting older brother in the longer term.   

[Evie]

A wife or daughter with a keen grasp of military strategy would have been an asset as well, because even though ladies didn't ride off to war (well, almost never, though there are the rare documented cases of that), they were expected to know how to defend their homes if their husbands were away and the castle came under siege.  Granted, there would generally be a steward and some other able-bodied men able to provide the actual defense in such a situation, but it was the lady of the manor or castle who was still in charge, at least nominally, while her lord was away, and a woman who knows how to organize the castle's or manor's defenses is a definite asset.

[Jerusha]

A delightful chapter - somehow I managed to miss that it was posted and didn't notice it until today.  There are worse ways to spend a Monday than catching up on all the conversation.

A woman with keen mind for military strategy would also be prized for her ability to pass this this on to her children, especially her sons.  Though her husband may be a bit annoyed when she continually defeats him at cardounet. 

[AnnieUK]

A woman with keen mind for military strategy would also be prized for her ability to pass this this on to her children, especially her sons.  Though her husband may be a bit annoyed when she continually defeats him at cardounet. 

*cough* Bran *cough*

[Alkari]

Richenda has already started teaching Briony the basics of cardounet.   "Such a useful skill for a young lady, in many ways."   

[Rahere]

One interesting real-world case was Mathilda of Tuscany, the inspiration of the Cistercian monastery at Orval where not only do they produce decent beer, but also produced both the Templars and Saint Malachy - I discount Nostradamus as I agree with René Cambier that he copied a text of Yves de Lessines in the Library supporting my other thesis, that the Templar Treasury was sent to Orval but got nabbed in Brussels.
Mathilda is said to have been one of the legendary Melusines.

[Evie]

Yes, Mathilda's one fascinating lady, and one of those "rare documented cases" I mentioned earlier.   

[Elkhound]

"M'lord, the boy tries; he really does.  But he's so inept that sooner or later he'll hurt himself or someone else."

"M'lady, it is, I agree, unseemly that the demoselle be engaging in these rough-and-tumble games with the boys--but she's so good at it.  She beats the pants of them eight out of ten times, m'lady!  Would it not be a sin not to develop the talent that God--who must, indeed have a sense of humor--has seen fit to grant her?"