In conjunction with Known Word Heralds and Scribes Symposium being held this weekend, there will be a Virtual Heralds Point! See below for signups to join in and consult on names and arms for gentles From across the Known World!
Cheers, Brandubh, Silver Buccle
The SCA College of Arms will be hosting a Virtual Heralds Point for three weeks beginning on Sunday, Jan 24th. Whether you’ve been meaning to get something registered for a while but can’t find your local herald, or you’re a herald looking for a little more consulting work, this is a great opportunity to get something moving. Links to the sign-up forms can be found at http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldspoint/.
The best part of this consulting table is that we’ll be taking electronic payments via Paypal for submissions. So if you’ve been putting off submitting, this is the time to do it! The hope is that it will be very flexible, a submitter can enter their ideas and preferred forms of contact, and a herald will get in touch and try to help them through the process, either slowly by email over the course of a number of days, or in one hit over a zoom meeting, whatever it takes. Sign up today over at http://heraldry.sca.org/heraldspoint/.
As many of you know, there are 43 couple combatants in Crown Tournament. Which means we will be in need of voice heralds so that the combatants can be brought into the royal presence.
If you are a combatant/consort, please contact me and let me know if you have a herald for that day or you need a herald that day.
If you are a herald and willing to help herald the lysts, or combatants for Crown Tournament, please let me know at sycamoreherald@aeheralds.net.
In service,
Maighstir Liam Mac antSaoir
Sycamore Herald
An achievement of arms is what you usually see when people in the mundane world try to sell you merchandise with ‘your family coat of arms’ on it. It’s a display of arms with decorative elements which are meaningful to the arms bearer. As most SCAdians know, a coat of arms does NOT belong to anyone with the same family name and only the eldest member of the family is entitled to it, if the family does have arms. The rules for succession are not unlike the rules for who gets to wear the crown of England. In the SCA, each individual can register their own arms.
The purpose of this article is to explain the parts of an achievement to encourage others to design and use their own achievements to increase the heraldic display at events.
“Fourteen Kingdoms regulate by law or custom the components of Arms. Those fourteen kingdoms are: An Tir, Ansteorra, Artemesia, Atenveldt, Atlantia, Caid, Calontir, Ealdormere, Gleann Abhann, Meridies, Middle, Outlands, Trimaris, West. The remaining five do not: AEthelmearc, Drachenwald, East, Lochac, Northshield” [1]
The paper includes an easy-to-read chart of what is restricted where. This document was recently discussed on the SCA Heraldry Chat Facebook page and there have been a few minor changes since the article was written.
AEthelmearc does NOT have any laws or restrictions regarding what you can include in your achievement, however courtesy demands that you only include regalia your persona is entitled to. The practical list of restricted regalia may be found at http://tasha.gallowglass.org/sca/sumptuary.html. All parts of an achievement are optional, and everything except the shield (your registered device) may be changed at will.
SHIELD — This is your registered heraldic device. This is the only part that cannot be changed at will. What’s the difference between ‘heraldic device’ and ‘arms’? Virtually nothing. The latter says that you have been awarded arms but the terms are used nearly interchangeably.
SUPPORTERS — The figures to either side that hold up or ‘support’ the shield. In modern England, the use of supporters is only allowed to the peerage.
“In England the right to bear supporters is confined to those to whom they have been granted or recorded, but such grant is very rigidly confined to peers, to Knights of the Garter, Thistle, and St. Patrick, and to Knights Grand Cross and Knights Grand Commanders (as the case may be) of other Orders. […] Baronets of England, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom as such are not entitled to claim grants of supporters…”[2]
Some kingdoms allow one supporter for anyone having a grant of arms and two supporters for anyone with a peerage. Other kingdoms only allow supporters to people with an augmentation of arms. AEthelmearc has no rules regarding supporters.
The modern arms of England have a lion and a unicorn representing England and Scotland. Historically, other animal supporters have included Boars, Antelopes, Eagles and Dragons depending upon who was on the throne at the time. [3] I’m utterly convinced that this is the origin of football mascots, but I can’t prove it. I can picture medieval knights in a tournament having their junior-most squires holding their banner while dressed as their supporters. From there, it’s just a small jump to a guy in an animal costume at a football rally.
THE COMPARTMENT — Simply the base that supporters stand on. It’s usually a green hill, ‘a mount vert’, in heraldic parlanance. It’s optional and supporters can stand on the scrollwork of the motto if you don’t want to have a compartment. In Real World heraldry, members of an order of knighthood often place a symbol of the order in their compartment. You can do this as well, but too many symbols may make the achievement look cluttered, simple is best.
SCROLL, RIBBON AND MOTTO — Most mottos scroll along the bottom around the achievement, some scroll along the top around the mantling. A few have both. The motto can be in any language you want. If you want something in a language you’re not fluent in, ask a herald for help, we may be able to steer you towards someone who is fluent in the language you want. After all, you want your motto to say “Get a Life”, not “Take a Life”!
If the armiger is a member of an order, the order’s motto can be inscribed on a ribbon which circumscribes the shield. England has “Dieu et mon droit” (“God and my right”) on a scroll in the compartment and the Order of the Garter’s motto, “Honi soit qui mal y pense” (“Evil to him who thinks evil”) on a garter or belt encircling the shield.[3]
HELMET — The helmet sits upon top of the shield. Traditionally, clergical arms and women who display their arms on lozenges would not have a helm. Most SCAdians would use a helmet that was appropriate to their persona’s time and place. In modern heraldry, the helm is used to indicate the armiger’s rank.
This is NOT a period practice.
“…at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries, when the helmet was being fast relegated to ceremonial usage and pictorial emblazonment, ingenious heralds began to evolve the system by which rank and degree were indicated by the helmet.” [4]
However, for those who want to;
“as one of the fundamental laws of the achievement, that the helmet by its shape and position was indicative of rank ; and we early learnt by rote that the esquire’s helmet was of steel, and was placed in profile, with the visor closed : that the helmet of the knight and baronet was to be open and affronté ; that the helmet of the peer must be of silver, guarded by grilles and placed in profile; and that the royal helmet was of gold, with grilles, and affronté. … These regulations, like some other adjuncts of heraldic art, are comparatively speaking of modern origin. Heraldry in its earlier and better days knew them not, and they came into vogue about the Stuart times, when heraldic art was distinctly on the wane.” [5]
TORSE AND MANTLING — The torse is a twisted ring of fabric which holds the mantling in place on a knight’s helmet. The mantling itself was fabric which was used to keep the hot sun off a crusader’s metal helmet and most likely evolved around the time of the First Crusade.[6]
“Generally, mantling is blazoned ‘mantled x, doubled (lined) y'” [7]
The tinctures x and y should be strongly contrasting, usually a color and a metal, however the arms of the United Kingdom are mantled Or and ermine.[3] I have never seen a torse of different tinctures than the mantle, but I don’t know of any reason why it couldn’t be done.
CROWN / CORONET — A crown can be placed atop a torse or as a replacement for it. A coronet can be placed in the same position as a crown or around the neck of the helm or a supporter. For reasons of courtesy, you should only have a crown or coronet on your achievement if your persona is allowed one. An SCA ducal coronet has strawberry leaves on it. A county coronet has an embattled top edge. A baronial coronet has six pearls on it. If you are entitled to more than one type of tin hat, you could have both of them in your achievement, if you wished. The arms of the United Kingdom have crowns on the helm, on the head of the lion supporter, on the head of the lion crest and a coronet around the neck of the unicorn supporter [3]
CREST — Primarily used as a decoration in tournament, the crest goes atop the helm. It is possible for a heraldic crest to be something that couldn’t be used in real life. The crest of Sir Francis Drake granted in 1581 consisted of a disembodied hand issuing from clouds and leading a ship around the globe representing God’s guidance [8][9]
RESERVED REGALIA — As I said above, as a matter of courtesy, you should have reserved symbols or regalia on your achievement only if your persona is entitled to it. A pelican would be entitled to use a pelican as a supporter or their crest, or replacing the crown / torse with a cap of maintenance (a red ‘robin hood’ cap trimmed with white that has little red drops of blood on it) A knight could his a white belt or a gold chain as a ribbon surrounding the shield. A Master of Arms would have a white baldric instead of a white belt. In a similar fashion, a lady of the rose could have a wreath of roses or a laurel
could have a laurel wreath.
Some examples:
“Barry wavy vert and argent, a unicorn’s head sable, armed (teeth and horn), orbed (eyed), and crined (maned), a chief wavy Or; for a Crest, atop a helm to dexter argent, a raven proper; a torse and mantle argent and doubled vert; for Supporters, two unicorns sable armed, orbed and crined Or, on a mount vert; Motto ‘Post Mortum Concedo’ (After Death, I will yield) argent lettered sable.”
The supporters on my achievement are black unicorns to match my device. My steel-colored helm faces to the side as a citizen. My crest is a raven as a tribute to my wife (Cigfran is the Welsh word for ‘raven’)
“This uncredited leather project shows the heraldic achievement of the Rhydderich Hael. The original artwork was designed by Master Dagonell. Master Dagonell reports: ‘The shield is the arms of the Rhydderich Hael. The helm faces to the side instead of forward because only royalty face forward. (Out of period practice, but still widely used) The mantle and torse are supposed to be green and yellow with black gunstones to represent the Hael livery colors and Haelstones (Hael service award).
The crest is a ram skull taken from the arms of the first baroness Morgan Elandris. The supporters are a blue tyger to represent that we started in the East and a heron in it’s vigilance to represent The Shire of Heronter which spun off from us. The compartment (ground) contains a Catherine’s wheel and a fountain to represent Winter’s Edge and Beau Fleuve (cantons). The scroll is supposed to contain the motto, Non Sine Labora “Nothing is without Effort”‘. Who decided to use this for a leather project or why is unknown. Sadly the leather is worn with time and the project was never finished.” [10]
This is an achievement I designed for The AEstel back when Lord Gareth the Eccentric was chronicler. The supporters are blue tyger engorged of a coronet as a reminder that we were once part of the East, and a golden alce to represent the Golden Alce, the third original order of merit. Technically, the tyger should have a crown, but I liked the aesthetics of the coronet around his neck better. 🙂
Instead of a ribbon encircling the shield, I crossed a sword and a marshal’s baton behind it to represent the Pennsic War which takes place in our kingdom. The helm faces forward as this is a royal achievement, and wears a copy of the crown that was being used at the time the achievement was drawn.
The crest is a sea-lion, a reference to the Great Lakes. One of the names submitted for the original principality was ‘The Principality of the Lakes’. The compartment contains a sycamore leaf and a keystone and to represent two of AEthelmearc’s original orders of the Keystone and Sycamore.
This is a photo of the scroll carrier used in royal court to carry the scrolls. Photo by Master Kameshima Zentarou Umakai, Silver Buccle Herald Emeritus and used with permission.
The artist is unknown. The supporters are golden alces, there is no compartment or motto on the scroll. The helmet faces to dexter, but is crowned.
This is a photo of the T-shirts that were sold at the Coronation of Yngvar and Caryl.
Photo by Mistress Hilderun Hugelmann, and used with permission. The artist is unknown.
This is a photo, taken by me of the program booklet for the First Coronation. The supporters are Alces, the compartment contains a sycamore leaf and a keystone, the helm faces forward and is crowned. The artist is unknown.
This is the achievement from the Midrealm’s Great Book of scroll wordings found at: http://www.midrealm.org/mkgb/GreatBookContents.html. The mantling is ermine and gules, rather than argent and gules, the helm faces to the side, but is crowned. The supporters and crest are dragons to match the midrealm shield. The artist is unknown.
This is the achievement from Ealdormere’s History Blog found at: http://ealdormerehistory.blogspot.com/2013/10/rise.html, designed by Her Excellency Liadin. The mantling is gules and argent to match their arms, the helm is to the side but crowned, the supporters are collared wild dogs, the crest is a wild dog passant with a trillium flag to match their arms, the compartment is a field of trillium blossoms, the motto is “We Wear the Scarlet Proudly”. I do not know the symbolism of the wild dogs.
The official blazon of the Royal Arms is:
“Quarterly, first and fourth Gules three lions passant gardant in pale Or armed and langued Azure (for England), second quarter Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules (for Scotland), third quarter Azure a harp Or stringed Argent (for Ireland), the whole surrounded by the Garter; for a Crest, upon the Royal helm the imperial crown Proper, thereon a lion statant gardant Or imperially crowned Proper; Mantling Or and ermine; for Supporters, dexter a lion rampant gardant Or crowned as the Crest, sinister a unicorn Argent armed, crined and unguled Proper, gorged with a coronet Or composed of crosses patée and fleurs de lis a chain affixed thereto passing between the forelegs and reflexed over the back also Or. Motto ‘Dieu et mon Droit’ in the compartment below the shield, with the Union rose, shamrock and thistle engrafted on the same stem.” [3]
Serious heraldry squee!! On October 2nd, 2017, former astronaut Julie Payette was installed as the 29th Governor General of Canada. Her arms were designed by the Canadian Heraldic Authority under the approval of Claire Boudreau, chief herald of Canada. For full details, check the links in the footnotes, I’m summarizing here for simplicity. [11] [12] BTW, the Ridley Hall mentioned in the articles, is the official residence of the Governor General. It’s the Canadian version of ‘the White House said…’
ARMS — “Per pale azure and sable, overall a sinister wing, in dexter chief a royal crown, all argent.” — the blazon for her arms, I haven’t seen an official citation, but I’m a herald. 🙂
“A symbol of exploration and liberty, an open wing embodies our desire to reach higher and expand our horizons. As with birds protecting their young, the wing also conveys the strength and safety of family ties. Moreover, it represents Ms. Payette’s career as an aviator and astronaut. The Royal Crown symbolizes the viceregal office and service to all Canadians.”[12]
RIBBON — The red ribbon encircling her arms is labelled in gold. DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PARIAM, which translates to “desiring a better country,” the official motto of the Order of Canada.
SUPPORTERS — “Making a nod to the cat perched atop “La fusée de Julie,” the emblem created by Quebec artist Gérard Dansereau of Ms. Payette’s first space mission, STS-96, the two lynx, proud and strong, represent us, the people of Canada. An elusive feline, the Canada lynx is remarkably well adapted to northern territories, particularly because of its enormous paws that allow it to move easily through the snow. The stars around their necks represent the spark of passion in each of us, inspiring us to dare to dream. They also evoke space travel and the work environment of astronauts. The laurel leaves – laurier in French – depicted alongside the stars represent Laurier, Ms. Payette’s son.”[12]
HELMET, TORSE, MANTLING — Her helmet is an astronaut’s helmet representing her former career as an astronaut. Squee!! The torse and mantling is azure, sable and argent, the tinctures of her arms.
CREST — “At the top, a musical stave, a melody, symbolizes the creativity, sensitivity and remarkable virtuosity of human beings. The first notes of the second movement of Alessandro Marcello’s ‘Oboe Concerto in D Minor’ evoke Ms. Payette’s lifelong interest in singing and classical music, particularly from the Baroque period.[12]
COMPARTMENT — “Represented here as seen from space, without borders and surrounded by a thin layer of atmosphere, our planet resembles a blue marble on a backdrop of darkness. It remains the only place where humans can live. The mathematical symbol for the sum, S (sigma), placed in its centre, illustrates the power of facts and science, and reminds us that we share the Earth and a responsibility to care for it.”[12]
“The coat of arms is supported by the planet Earth, without borders, the way Payette would have seen it from space. Payette is a Companion of the Order of Canada (of which she is now Chancellor) and a Knight of the National Order of Quebec, and those two honours are depicted over the Earth.” [11]
MOTTO — “Translated from Latin ‘Per Aspera Ad Astra’ means ‘Through hardship to the stars.’ It’s a motto used by Payette and her fellow astronauts to symbolize that there is hope in every situation, we just need to look for it.”[11]
Lord Whitehorn Herald and Lady Heronter Herald announce that the Third Heraldry Breakfast of 2016 will be in the Blackwater / Hartstone area!
We will meet on Sunday, October 16th, 2016 at 11 AM at Sprague’s Maple Farms. [ Sprague’s Maple Farms, 1048 Route 305, Portville NY 14770, (716) 933-6637, https://spraguesmaplefarms.com ]
• We will discuss the most recent internal and external Æthelmearc letters.
• We will eat breakfast, including tasty bacon.
• We will discuss YOUR recent heraldry submissions.
• We will eat tasty bacon!
• We will discuss neat ways to display your heraldry once it’s registered.
• Did we mention eating tasty bacon?
Beginners welcome! This is intended for people who want to learn heraldry.
No experience necessary. Please forward this to any websites or groups that may be interested.
Directions:
Take Route 86 East to the Cuba Exit 28. From the exit ramp take a right on to Route 305 South. This will take you through the Village of Cuba. Stay on Route 305 for approximately 14 miles. Sprague’s is on the left about 1 mile from the Village of Portville.
The next Heraldry Breakfast will hopefully be in Thescorre sometime in November.
In Heraldic Service,
Dagonell Whitehorn, Western NY Herald
Cigfran Heronter, Heronter Herald
Master Dagonell, Whitehorn Herald for Western New York region, asked the Gazette to share the following with the populace:
photo by THL Rhiannon
I had the honor last weekend to serve as Royal Herald at Palfreys and Polearms, which was both the Rhydderich Hael’s Champions event and the Royal Equestrian Championship.
Attending an SCA event is like watching a swan floating across a pond. On top, all is peaceful, calm, beautiful, and serene. Under the surface, things are churning like mad to make it that way. Royal Court ran like a well-oiled machine and I owe it all to the many volunteers who worked hard to make it that way.
First, my thanks to Baroness Ekaterina, the current Ice Dragon Herald. The changes to the court docket started a week before the event and ended as we were lining up for court. She took every curveball I tossed and rolled with it. Court went off as though everything had been set it stone from the start. As we processed in, her brag not only beat mine but out-did a number of former Silver Buccles I’ve heard. Whoever is running Heralds and Scribes this fall: make her teach a class on Heraldic Boasting.
A big thank-you also to Baroness Gwendolyn, Jewel Herald, who provided me the docket prior to the event, and helped to coordinate with Baroness Ekat so that everyone was on the same page.
The biggest headache for a herald is getting all the scrolls in one place. My thanks to Baroness Alex and Baroness Juliana, Sylvan and Ice Dragon Signet Clerks respectively, who took over the tasks and gathered all the scrolls and carriers for both courts. I didn’t need to touch a scroll until it came time for them to be signed.
To the artists, scribes, calligraphers, and illuminators who produced all the scrolls for this weekend, I am in awe. I saw so much gorgeous artwork at this event, I was starting to wonder if Their Excellencies were holding the entire Order of the Laurel hostage. 🙂
[An aside to Baron Caleb: I always find a private place before court and read the scroll aloud quietly to myself. This helps me catch any exotic names or unusual turns of phrase that might give me a problem. I caught the horrid pun you inserted in the middle of the scroll documentation hoping I’d read it aloud in court. I’m still trying to decide if I should warn the other heralds about you or stand by quietly and see who you catch the next time. 🙂 ]
My thanks to THL Renata and to m’lady Mina, Baroness Miriel’s young daughter, who took very seriously her job of handing out scroll carriers to protect the lovely scrolls. As each recipient was being cheered, Mina took a carrier from Ren, walked up to stand behind them in court and, when they turned to leave, gave them the carrier and escorted them to Joe the Just (Maestro Giuseppe) to have their picture taken. Speaking of which, His Majesty requested that all scrolls be photographed. Maestro Giuseppe volunteered to photograph each scroll, and each recipient with their scroll, for both royal and baronial courts. Thank you so much.
My second for court was Lady Cigfran, Heronter Herald, my wife of a quarter century and my other right hand. If court functioned like a Swiss watch, it was due to her organization, not mine. She declined to stand in court, but it wouldn’t have happened nearly so smoothly if not for her.
And, while it is not the place of a herald to thank the Royalty he serves, let me just say that His Majesty, King Byron is a joy to work for.
Finally, my thanks to all the volunteers who made offers to help, either in general or with specific tasks, that I had to turn down because it was already taken care of. We heralds talk about this sort of thing on the Heraldry FB pages and people think we’re BSing them, because everyone “knows” that heralds have to beg for help and end up doing most of work themselves. I’m proud to live in Æthelmearc, a shining jewel in the SCA.
Medievally speaking, what gets your creative juices flowing?
Is it getting your hands dirty making stuff?
Is it figuring out how things were done?
Delving into the when and where and why of medieval life?
Is it learning something you didn’t know before?
Is it learning more about something that intrigues you?
If you answered “YES!” to any of these questions, consider teaching at Æthelmearc Æcademy and War College, hosted by the Shire of Ballachlagan (Wheeling, WV), on June 11.
So far, we have 25 classes (that’s 31 class-hours!) scheduled, on these topics: Bardic, Brewing, Clothing, Dance, Embroidery, Heraldry, History, Metalworking, Research, SCA Life, Scribal, Youth Track, War College — Fencing (for a listing of class titles and descriptions, please visit the Æcademy website).
But sadly, there are NO classes (yet) in Cooking, Equestrian Arts, or Fiber Arts. If you’ve never taught at Æcademy (or if it’s been a while), no problem! It’s easy to register — Just go to the Æcademy registration page and supply the requested information about yourself and your class.
If you’ve never taught a class (or have taught but are still a bit nervous about teaching), I have a solution! On Saturday of Æthelmearc War Practice, from 3 to 4 pm, I’ll be teaching a class called “Documentation to Class,” which will give you ideas to turn what you know into a successful class.
If you have signed up to teach at Pennsic, consider teaching at Æcademy as a “dress rehearsal.” Teaching in June will give you time to fine-tune your class. Plus, the feedback and experience will boost your confidence.
An SCA device can be viewed as a Rohrschach test to learn more about the Scadian who registered it. Let’s see what these devices tell us about their owners, shall we?
Last year this was one of our most popular articles. Who knew? So since we are all about shamelessly racking up the views, we’re doing it again!
These are some actual registered devices of people in Æthelmearc. Please note that this is all intended in good fun, and since these belong to people we call friends, we hope it’s taken that way!
Stop by later to learn who these arms belong to!
If you’re driving down the road in Calontir and see these things hovering on the horizon, turn around. Fast.
Lord Whitehorn Herald and Lady Heronter Herald announce their second Heraldry Breakfast of 2016!
We will meet in the Barony of the Rhydderich Hael on Sunday, March 6th, 2016 at 10 AM at The Corner Bakery Cafe in Amherst NY.
[ Corner Bakery Cafe, 1551 Niagara Falls Boulevard, Amherst NY 14228, (716) 725-6280 ]
• We will discuss the most recent internal and external Æthelmearc letters.
• We will eat breakfast, including tasty bacon.
• We will discuss YOUR recent heraldry submissions.
• We will eat tasty bacon!
• We will discuss neat ways to display your heraldry once it’s registered.
• Did we mention eating tasty bacon?
Beginners welcome! This is intended for people who want to learn heraldry.
No experience necessary. Please forward this to any websites or groups that may be interested.
Directions:
Take your best route to Route 290, Exit #3 for US Route 62/Niagara Falls Boulevard. Turn south. Travel a half mile and turn left onto Romney Drive to enter the Burlington Coat Factory plaza. Corner Bakery Cafe is in the plaza.
The next Heraldry Breakfast will be in yet-to-be-determined location after Ice Dragon.
If your Region Four group would be interested in hosting the next breakfast, drop me a line at dagonell@hotmail.com
In Heraldic Service,
Dagonell Whitehorn, Western NY Herald
Cigfran Heronter, Heronter Herald
Unto the Kingdom, greetings from Kameshima Silver Buccle! With the recent announcement by our Eastern neighbors regarding the precedence of some of their awards, there have been a lot of questions raised about exactly what precedence is, and how it is applied in certain technical situations. Never fear, your Friendly Neighborhood Kingdom Herald is here with the answers!
What exactly is precedence, anyway? Remember that the SCA attempts to recreate a Western European style medieval society. In that time, we were a much more class-oriented society than we are now, so people were defined a lot more by their rank in society. Now, in the SCA we assume that everyone is at least a minor noble so that nobody has to be a peasant, but we’ve defined three general “ranks” of precedence:
An Award of Arms (or “AoA”) is the first rank, and allows you to use the title of “Lord” or “Lady.” Most people will receive their Award of Arms by itself. However, if you are made a member of the Order of the Golden Alce, Golden Stirrup, Keystone or Sycamore, membership in those orders conveys an Award of Arms if you don’t already have one. For this reason, those four awards are known as “AoA-level orders.”
A Grant of Arms (“GoA”) is the second rank, and allows you to use the titles of “Honorable Lord/Lady” or “Lordship/Ladyship.” Some Kingdoms will give lots of what are called “naked Grants” — how scandalous! — which means the recipient is given a Grant of Arms without membership in one of the “Grant-level orders.” In Æthelmearc, however, that is relatively rare; most people receive their GoA along with membership in one of the Grant-level orders: the Fleur d’Æthelmearc, the Gage, the Golden Lance of Æthelmearc, the Millrind, the Scarlet Battery, the Scarlet Guard, the White Horn, and the White Scarf of Æthelmearc. Landed Barons and Baronesses are also given Grants of Arms, if they don’t already have them, when they are invested.
A Patent of Arms (“PoA”) is the third and highest rank, and is reserved for members of the Peerage Orders (Knights, Laurels, Masters at Arms, Masters of Defense, Pelicans, and the Royal Peers). Each of these Orders has its own titles that go along with it.
It can’t be that easy. Well… it’s not. Within each rank, there are further levels. Each Kingdom has the right to rank these slightly differently, but in Æthelmearc, here’s the much more detailed breakdown, from highest to lowest:
Dukes and Duchesses
Counts, Earls and Countesses
Viscounts and Viscountesses
Other Peerages (Knights, Laurels, Masters at Arms, Masters of Defense, Pelicans)
Those with Patents of Arms but no Patent-level Orders (there are none that I know of, but it could happen)
Ladies of the Rose and Garnet
Landed Barons and Baronesses
Former Landed Barons and Baronesses
Grant-level Orders (see above)
Those with Grants of Arms but no Grant-level Orders
Court Barons and Baronesses
AoA-level Orders (see above)
Those with Awards of Arms but no AoA-level Orders
Those with “non-armigerous awards” (awards that have no precedence attached to them)
Those who have not yet received any awards
What category am I in, and where do I fit within it? You’re in whatever category corresponds to the highest award you’ve gotten in the SCA. If you have an AoA and nothing else, you’re in category 13. If the next thing you get is a Millrind, you’ve jumped up to category 9. If you then get a Sycamore, you’re… still in category 9.
The people in each category are ranked by seniority, based on the first time you got into that category. So, if you got your first Grant-level award 5 years ago, you’d be above someone who got their first Grant-level award 2 years ago, but below someone who got theirs 10 years ago. The number of Grant-level awards you have doesn’t matter. If you have 2 and I have 1, but I got my 1 before you got either of yours, I still outrank you.
Peerages, and even Royal Peerages, work the same way. No matter how many times someone serves as monarch, for example, once they’re a Duke or Duchess, that’s where they’ll be in the Order of Precedence (or “OP”). If I’ve been King five times, and you’ve been King twice, but you became a Duke before I did, you outrank me, period, end of story. Similarly, no matter how many different Peerages someone has, it’s just the date of the first one that counts.
How can I see my awards and who’s around me? Go to the Order of Precedence page of the Æthelmearc College of Heralds web site. Click the “Alphabetically” link on the left side to see everyone’s awards listed alphabetically by name, or the “Order of March” link to see everyone listed in Precedence order. Search for your name to find out where you rank!
This is also great when you’re thinking about writing a letter to the Royalty to recommend someone for an award. You can use this to check who already has an award, and who might have been overlooked! (“What do you mean, this person’s been playing for 15 years and don’t have an AoA?!”)
What about people from out of Kingdom? How do their awards equate? Each Kingdom has their own AoA and/or Grant-level awards. (Some Kingdoms have one or the other; some, like us, have both.) All Kingdoms observe the same Peerages. So, if someone who became a Duke in, say, Atenveldt 40 years ago moved to Æthelmearc, their “spot” in the OP would still have those 40 years of seniority. A Grant of Arms in one Kingdom is just as good as a Grant of Arms in another, and all those with Grants of Arms are treated equally within a Kingdom.
That means it’s very important that, if you move to a new Kingdom, you should look on their Kingdom Heraldry web page, find their Deputy Herald for the Order of Precedence, and make sure they know that you’ve moved in and where they can find your current Precedence Listing.
(Remember what I said earlier, though, about different Kingdoms ranking the categories slightly differently. A Court Barony, for example, might be ranked higher or lower in another Kingdom than they are here!)
Each Kingdom’s awards, protocols, the reasons behind why they made the precedence and award decisions that they did, and so on, are a few fascinating facets of what we call Inter-Kingdom Anthropology, which is a fancy term for “being an SCA geek about more than one Kingdom.” Inter-Kingdom Anthropology, or IKA, is one of those things that people like heralds and historians love to dig into. If it’s something that interests you too, talk to your local herald or historian, or your Kingdom Herald or Historian, for more details.
OK, I’ve got the basics. Now tell me about what the East just did. So the East Kingdom has the Orders of the Tygers Combatant, Silver Crescent, Maunch, Golden Rapier, Golden Lance of the East, and Sagittarius. Up until now, those were AoA-level Orders. However, recently, Their Majesties Brennan and Caoilfhionn — for those of you not familiar with Gaelic, by the way, that’s pronounced “KEE-linn” — decided to change East Kingdom law and make them Grant-level Orders instead. That’s the easy part.
The tricky part is this: “Furthermore, included in this change, the existing Companions of the aforesaid Orders shall be considered to have received a Grant of Arms retroactively to the date of the original induction into their first Order of High Merit.” That means that, if you got your first Grant-level award (let’s say your Maunch) 10 years ago, and you haven’t gotten anything higher since, your place in the Order of Precedence will now change to reflect the fact that you got a Grant of Arms 10 years ago.
This can affect other Kingdoms because of what I said earlier about a Grant of Arms in one Kingdom being just as good as a Grant of Arms in another. If you’re that person I just talked about who got your Maunch 10 years ago, but you live in Æthelmearc now, your precedence order in our OP can change because now you’re higher in precedence than all the young whippersnappers who got their Millrinds and Gages last week.
So who does this affect? This affects only those people who:
Has one or more of those Orders, and
Had no Grant of Arms or Grant-level Orders before that, and
Has no higher-precedence awards (that’s anything in categories 1-8 of my list up above) either before or since.According to our Precedence Deputy Herald (Golden Alce Herald), that’s about 75 people in the entire Kingdom of Æthelmearc. So, not a whole lot of people. But for those people, it’s very important! I have other questions…Great! We love questions! (Why is the sky blue? So it will have good contrast with the clouds, of course!) If you’re interested in learning about precedence, or other aspects of heraldry, you can contact any of the following people:
Come join us to support the heraldic process! The meeting will be on Thursday, April 7, beginning at 7 p.m.
Medievally speaking, what gets your creative juices flowing?
