Photos from our Pilgrimage

Here are some photos from the pilgrimage and us in more "Squire-like" clothes. Enjoy. I will post more later.

A brief history of the post of Squire:

According to Wikipedia: “The English word squire comes from the Old French escuier (modern French écuyer), itself derived from the Late Latin scutarius ("shield bearer"), in medieval or Old English a scutifer. The Classical Latin equivalent was armiger, "arms bearer".
In days of old, a young man who aspired to be a knight would spend a term as a page where they would learn a variety of courtly functions, and then at age 14 they would become a squire. The squire would train to become a knight. They would learn the rules of fight and chivalry. As time wore on and they distinguished themselves in battles and functions, generally around the age of 21 they would be chosen to become a full knight.
The role of the “Squire” was not originally considered a title. It was a post, and a modest one at that. They could fight as needed, and would as needed. Of course, a peasant with a pitchfork could become a warrior when called upon to act. However, this role began to change. Eventually, the process of knighting was controlled only by monarchs (and as I stated before, some church bodies). This meant there was no certainty that a “Squire” would become more then a squire. This could be the end of their career path.
As time wore on, from the late 17th century until the 20th century, the local leader of a community, or the person who possessed the most land or owned the largest house was often respectfully called a “Squire”. From their social status, many of these people would already hold some local leadership, and without any fancier title, the title of Squire was chosen. Of course, if they were a Lord, or if they were actually knighted they could be known by that title, but without this, the “Squire” title was the best choice.
A secondary reason why “Squire” continued as a designation was the fact that it was costly to transition from Squire to Knight. The knight needed a significant amount of equipment, a horse, armour, weapons, etc. This was a financial burden. Now that the role of the Squire held almost as much social regard, there was little reason to put out the financial costs of a “public image promotion”.
In the Western world including the United States (where titles are generally not used), the legal profession did (and sometimes still does) still use the title Squire generally this is recognized by adding the initials Esq. at the end on one’s name. Also, among the commonwealth countries (including Canada) the banking profession would often add the title to a banker who did not possess a higher ranking among the gentry.
In case you are not familiar with the lowest rankings among the gentry, I will set them out as I understand them (remember, I was born and raised in the USA)
-Mister
-Squire
-Sir (knight)
-Lord
(peerage gentry)
-Baron *(Children of Barons are called Mister and Miss)
-Vicount
-Earl (or Count) *children of an Earl (except the firstborn are called “Honourable ____”
-Marquee
-Duke
-Monarch (King or Queen)

Just so you know, through the modern medium, you can now purchase a royal title using a credit card. If anyone is interested, I have listed the link below.
http://www.regaltitles.com/
Not my choice, but to each his own.