I can’t find it now, but there’s a section in the old Irish Brehon laws about personal injuries and fines, and it states that the length of the pin on a penannular broach is important.
If your pin extends past your shoulder (like, if you’re showing off with a massive expensive bejewelled broach, with huge knitting-needle spikes poking out), and someone is stuck by it, then they get to demand a fine from you in recompense, depending on the seriousness of the injury and relative social ranks.
If, on the other hand, your cloak pin is modest in size and doesn’t extend past your shoulder, then they don’t get to demand squat from you if they’re injured by it. Because if they were injured by your pin in that case, then they were too close and it’s their own damn fault.
I don’t know if this is relevant, it’s just something random that leapt to mind, and refused to leave until I told someone.
