On the Championship of the College of Saint Bunstable

by Lord Frederic Badger

As a past champion of the College of Saint Bunstable I wanted to share my thoughts and ideas about this position. The championship is not, as with many groups, fought by right of arms, or by the art of duel, but rather as a contest of knowledge, craft, and skill. Since our branch is a college based group, with students coming and going throughout their stay at the University, we thought that it would be best to create a championship based on other ideals. I joined the college midway through the planning and creation of this championship.

In the discussion as to how to choose the champion, the members of the college at the time decided up on a rather interesting approach on how to structure the competition. First a series of discussions was had on what the college stood for, what its ideals were. The end result of this conversation was these three ideals: Knowledge, Community and Passion. The champion, it was decided, should be the person who best embodies these ideals. This lent itself to a championship as a rather free form thing, leaving the methods up to the contestants. The championship was to be run in such a way that the applicants would show, in their own way, the three ideals of the college in some manner.

Lynnette Dragon, the first champion, created a series of pictures of important events in the history of our period, and in her presentation, pulled a member of the audience up to hold each picture to a rope in a timeline, while discussing each of them. She showed her knowledge and research into the period, her passion for art and drawing, and community by involving every one in her presentation.

Frederic Badger, the second champion, chose to enter an arts and science entry complete with documentation, and gave a short class on designing a heraldic badge for personal use to the local community. This showed his knowledge in his research, his passion for heraldry, and gave knowledge to the community.

Ramon de la Vega, the third champion, presented a research paper on medieval ferrets, complete with live ferrets, and displayed his passion for making doublets, by displaying his large collection of handmade doublets, and discussing how he made them, and the things he had learned about them.

As you can see there are a number ways that the three ideals can be presented, and there are many more. Do not feel limited by these examples... If you can think of a way to present the 3 ideals better for you, go for it!

Each champion is charged with representing the college, and championing the Ideals of the college. Also it is suggested that the champion might teach a class or organize a project of some sort. Also, it is generally considered the champions job to organize and run the next championship competition.

--Lord Frederic Badger