Society for Creative Anachronism

College of Arms

16308 SE 165th St

Renton, WA 98058-8221

+1-425-277-0763

herald@sca.org

For the September 2005 meetings, printed December 6, 2005

To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Elisabeth Laurel, Jeanne Marie Wreath, and Margaret Pelican, greetings.

The September Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, September 17, 2005 and the Wreath decision meeting held on Saturday, September 10, 2005. There was also a Wreath roadshow on Sunday, September 25, 2005. The meetings considered the following letters of intent: Atenveldt (13 May 05), Laurel (16 May 05), Meridies (20 May 05), West (25 May 05), An Tir (26 May 05), Atlantia (26 May 05), Drachenwald (26 May 05), East (26 May 05), Middle (26 May 05), Northshield (27 May 05), Outlands (28 May 05), Lochac (29 May 05), Laurel (31 May 05), and Trimaris (31 May 05).

The October Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Sunday, October 30, 2005 and the Wreath decision meeting held on Sunday, October 23, 2005. The meetings considered the following letters of intent: Calontir (10 Jun 05), Artemisia (20 Jun 05), Æthelmearc (22 Jun 05), Caid LoItP (22 Jun 05), West (22 Jun 05), Ansteorra (23 Jun 05), Atlantia (23 Jun 05), Ealdormere (23 Jun 05), Caid (24 Jun 05), Drachenwald (24 Jun 05), Meridies (25 Jun 05), Middle (25 Jun 05), An Tir (27 Jun 05), Atenveldt (30 Jun 05), and Trimaris (30 Jun 05).

The November Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held on Saturday, November 12, 2005 and the Wreath decision meeting held on Sunday, November 27, 2005. The meetings considered the following letters of intent: Æthelmearc (20 Jul 05), East (20 Jul 05), Middle (20 Jul 05), Ansteorra (21 Jul 05), Atlantia (21 Jul 05), Meridies (21 Jul 05), Drachenwald (24 Jul 05), Outlands (25 Jul 05), West (26 Jul 05), Lochac (27 Jul 05), Atenveldt (29 Jul 05), Laurel (29 Jul 05), Gleann Abhann (30 Jun 05), and An Tir (31 Jul 05).

For the information about future scheduling please review the status table located on the web at: http://www.sca.org/heraldry/status.html.

Not all letters of intent may be considered when they are originally scheduled on this cover letter. The date of mailing of the LoI, date of receipt of the Laurel packet, or other factors may delay consideration of certain letters of intent. Additionally, some letters of intent received may not have been scheduled because the administrative requirements (receipt of the forms packet, receipt of the necessary fees, et cetera) have not yet been met.

REMINDER: Until all administrative requirements are met, the letter may not be scheduled.

From Wreath: The Counts of Gelre

In commenting on the submission for Caesaria Beribroun (from the An Tir Letter of Intent), Nebuly argued that the arms of the Counts of Gelre should be protected. Normally Caesaria's submission would have been pended to allow for this discussion; however, it was returned for other conflicts. Nebuly's arguments for protecting the Gelre arms are included below and on the Letter of Pends and Discussion (LoPaD). The pictures included in Nebuly's LoC are not included below.

...conflict with the arms of the Counts of Gelre: Azure, a lion rampant queue-forchy Or, which I feel should be protected. Note that we already protect the heraldic title Gelre because of the famous 14th century armorial produced by the herald Claes Heinenzoon, who held that title. In his self-portrait (shown below, left) he wears a cape of the Gelre arms. These arms are today marshalled in the arms of the Duchy of Gelderland (shown below, right), with the arms of Gelre to dexter and the arms of Gulik to sinister. These two duchies united in 1371 to form the combined Duchy of Gelderland. [Flags (Eyewitness series)]

The earliest arms used by a Counts of Gelre were: Or, three cinquefoils gules, but these arms do not seem to have persisted beyond the 12th century Gelre, as an independent county under Otto II in the 13th century, used the arms: Azure billety, a lion rampant Or, which are the arms upon which the modern arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are based.

In 1339, the counts of Gelre were elevated to the status of dukes. At that time, the billets were removed, the tail doubled, and a crown added. [http://www.ngw.nl/] In the late 14th century, Maria (a descendant of Otto II via the complicated royal genealogies common in Europe at the time) became both duchess of Gelre and countess of Gulik (now located in Germany). [de Vries, Hubert. Wapens van de Nederlanden (Amsterdam: Jan Mets, 1995)] It is with the Duchess Maria, that the arms of the two regions came to be impaled for the first time, as in her seal (though the lions are not combattant in this seal, but instead both faced to dexter!). Her heirs would come to rule a combined region known as Gelderland. Both of these two component arms appear in the Gelre Armorial separately; Gulik (p.87, item 1127) and Gelre (p.88 vº, item 1169). [Gelre - Bibliothèque Royale Albert Ier. Gelre (Leuven: Jan van Helmont, facsimile edition, 1992)] It was apparently not settled yet that the two regions would be permanently united.

The arms of the Counts of Gelre are most familiar to heralds because of their prominent appearance in the Gelre Armorial. The Gelre arms are worn as a cape in the self-portrait of the compiling herald Claes Heinenzoon, and this portrait is reproduced in countless books of heraldry (e.g. Neubecker p.11).

Thus we have two strong reasons to protect the arms of the Counts of Gelre. First, there is the historical importance of these arms as the inspiration for the national arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, a set of national arms that we already protect. Second, the arms are well-known in heraldic circles because they have been reproduced often in books on heraldry. Because of the historical importance and familiarity of the arms, and because of their critical importance and prominence in the well-known Gelre Armorial, I feel that the real-world arms of the Counts of Gelre: Azure, a lion rampant queue-forchy Or should be protected.

Send What to Whom

For all Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, Correction, et cetera, send one paper copy directly to each of the Sovereigns of Arms, Laurel, Pelican and Wreath at their mailing addresses as shown on the College of Arms Roster.

Send Laurel office copies of all submissions-related paper, including

-	Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, Correction, et cetera (note: such paper copies are in addition to the personal copies for Laurel, Pelican and Wreath mentioned above)

-	Submission packets (one copy of each name form plus documentation, including petitions; two colored copies of each armory form plus two copies of any associated documentation, including petitions)

to the SCA College of Arms, PO Box 31755, Billings, MT 59107-1755.

Send the required electronic copies of all submissions-related files to submissions@sca.org. This applies to all LoIs, LoCs, LoRs, et cetera.

Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to be sent directly to the Society Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is temporarily acting as Laurel's chancellor of the exchequer, at Laurel Chancellor of Exchequer, 4N400 Church Rd, Bensenville, IL 60106-2928.

Send roster changes and corrections to Laurel. College of Arms members may also request a copy of the current roster from Laurel.

For a paper copy of a LoAR, please contact Laurel, at the address above. The cost for one LoAR is $3. Please make all checks or money orders payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms". For subscriptions to the electronic copy of the LoAR, please contact Laurel at herald@sca.org. The electronic copy is available free of charge.

For all administrative matters, or for questions about whom to send to, please contact Laurel.

Pray know that I remain,

In service,

Elisabeth de Rossignol

Laurel Principal Queen of Arms