Covenants, The Basic Social Unit of the Order
Covenants are much more than just a convenience or source of resources. They are vitally important to the way that Magi see the world in multiple ways.
So that said a not uncommon question of new Ars Magica players then is ... What is a Covenant?
ArM5 pg 8:
Covenant: Strictly, a group of magi bound together by an agreement going beyond the Code of Hermes. By extension, the place where those magi live, and all the other people who live there with them. Almost all Ars Magica sagas center on a single covenant.
A Covenant then is a group of Magi that have made a formal declaration of alliance or working together for mutual benefit. Perhaps to use a term from today and say a group of Magi that have incorporated together would be an apt comparison.
The concept of the Covenant is in many ways foundational to the vision of a positive and cohesive magical society shared by most of the Order of Hermes. While there are some few exceptions and regional ideas about when or how it is acceptable to do otherwise by and large the stereotypical idea throughout the Order of Hermes as to what constitutes a "Good Mage" is a member in good standing of a Covenant that is on good/acceptable terms with their Tribunal. Indeed many Tribunals regard lack of Covenant Membership in a Tribunal Resident to be the Hermetic Crime of Vagrancy. These provisions of Tribunal Peripheral Codes are considered normative, positive, and are enforced to varying degrees depending on the Tribunal.
Membership in a Covenant, a Covenant that is in good standing and a positive force in Hermetic Society, is in many ways seen as the essential foundation to a Mage being a "good citizen" of the Order. Mages provide contributions and service to their Covenants to build them up as part of being a good and positive member of the Covenant. Covenants provide contributions and service to their Tribunal for ostensibly the same reason. A comparison then could be made between the Covenant in Magical Society and the Nuclear Family in Mundane Society, as being the basic unit from which larger society is ultimately composed.
The Magical World, if you will, also sees itself as a society apart from Mundane Society. The Gift largely prevents the vast majority of Magi from being accepted to any meaningful degree by Mundane Society. Covenants also directly answer this need by providing the support network, social structure, and resources/industry to give Mages their own place in the world. To provide the resources and immediate safety / meeting of needs that allow Magi to spend their time working in the lab and creating magic/wonders instead of worrying about where their next meal will come from. Covenants compose this alternate societal structure largely outside of the feudal hierarchy and thus are very unique and different places compared to even what may be next door one village over.
Covenants also serve the function of mixing Magi of different Houses, Magical Traditions, and Magical Lineages together. This, especially after the Schism War, is seen as an essential function. With the exception at times of Domus Magnae (the capitol Covenants of the Houses so to speak) Covenants are greatly encouraged in Hermetic culture to have a diverse composition of multiple Houses/lineages etc. This is seen to foster greater trust and understanding of otherwise very different stripes of Magi. Many blame the lack of this mixing and diversification in prior eras for the eventual conflict of the Schism War as Houses turned on one another and harbored deep grudges due to their differences. The contemporary Order desires for a great deal more amity and understanding among the Houses and mixed tradition Covenants are seen as foundational to this.
A Magus who shuns membership in a Covenant then is largely also shunning positive interaction and standing with the Order at large and this is something that can draw negative attention even beyond accusations of Vagrancy.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:10, Wed 17 June 2020.