To: The Members of the College of Arms
From: Master Wilhelm von Schlüssel, OL, OP, OLM, QOG, Laurel King of Arms.
Greetings:
Enclosed herein is this month's Letter of Acceptances and Rejections.
My new address is 2733 Sacramento Street, Berkeley, California
94703, (415) 540-7079, with my work phone still (415) 486-5246.
I have finished moving in but the office is still somewhat disorganized.
With this letter I have completed work on all the letters of intent
from 1979 and before. Next month I will process the letters of
intent from January.
The first draft of the updated computerized SCA Armorial and Ordinary
is done and sitting on my desk. As soon as all of the known corrections
are entered into it and the last tunings on the conversion to
a Papworth-style format are finished copies of the second draft
will be sent out as soon as I can get them. First priority will
go to the Principal Heralds, then the rest of the College. Anyone
who sends me a magnetic tape (as Atlantia has done) will get it
back with a copy of the output file so they can print up their
own copies on their own computers. I do not as yet have access
to anyplace where I can get copies made in large numbers.
In recognition of his achievement in putting out the first ordinary
in three years and because he will continue to do so and to perform
other activities as my deputy, I am appointing Master Renfield
Wanderscribe to the position of Clarion King of Arms. He also
assumes the duties of Morsulus Herald, and that title is now in
abeyance until needed again at some other time. Anyone having
corrections for the Ordinary should send copies to him c/o Ed
Rush, 10417 Johnson Ave., Cupertino, Cal. 95014, (408) 257-4288.
You need not send him copies of letters of intent or comments
unless they directly concern the Ordinary.
Upon due consideration of the feedback I have gotten, I have decided
not to require the Principal heralds to send out copies of all
emblazons. They should however send out small drawings of unusual
charges or devices with difficult blazons along with the letter
of intent, so that the CoA members can see what they are talking
about. Everyone knows what a lion looks like, but few would know
what a zax is. (It's a tool for cutting roof tile.)
With regard to name documentation, please cite the source for
any translations of names so we know where to look to check them.
Again, for any new charges not previously used in the SCA please
cite a reference to them or even better include a photocopy of
the page(s) that show the charge and establish that it is period.
These photocopies need only go to me, but the letter of intent
should mention them.
With regard to small details on animals, such as claws and teeth,
these really shouldn't clutter up the blazon unless really necessary.
They should either be of the same tincture as the animal, or else
colored to stand out in contrast. The standard tincture for such
if the animal is Or or argent is gules, unless the field is gules,
in which case it is azure. If the animal is colored then the standard
tincture for the small details is argent, unless the field is
argent, in which case it is Or. Rather than clutter up the blazon
it is much better to just use the space for notes to the scribe
or artist on the picture sheet to detail just how to color the
small details. Large details, such as a horse's mane, should be
described in the blazon.
Next month I will list those members of the College of Arms who
are active and who should continue to receive copies of letters.
This is your last change to comment and remain on the list. Thereafter
if someone wants to get on the list (other than a Principal Herald)
they will have to comment first to show they can. By this I mean
that they would have to obtain copies of recent letters from their
Principal Herald or other CoA member and then send out comments
to the College. This would demonstrate their enthusiasm. If anyone
goes three months without commenting I will drop them from the
list. Principal Heralds or their representatives will remain on
the list, but will be prodded, and if necessary removed from office.
I was very heartened by the increased number of comments in the
last two months, as it makes my job easier and shows that the
College is beginning to function the way it should.
I have another proposal to consider. At present when we consider
a person's device we also consider the counterchange of the device,
and so it is forced to avoid conflict with all other arms, devices,
and badges in the SCA and the mundane world, and with the counterchange
of all of these. This can make it much harder to get simple devices
through. The reason for this restrictive policy is that this way
a person is guaranteed his counterchange is also free of conflict
so that if he wants to he can later allow his lady to register
the counterchange of his device without fear that it will conflict
(and vice versa). This is a nice idea, but it is almost never
done. I can only recall one case of it in the last several years.
This leads to the question, "Do we want to continue to do
so, or shall we allow counterchanging to become a point of difference?"
It would be at most one point. Please let me know what you think
on this.
Another sticky point is the case of someone registering a device
consisting only of a field. In regards to other arms and devices
consisting only a field there is only one possible point of difference,
ie the field. What about someone else who has that field with
a charge on it? The person with just the field can hardly be said
to be a cadet branch of the family with the field and the charge,
because one doesn't show a relationship by removing the main charge.
I talked this over with my assistants and we came to the following
solution. If two devices in the SCA consist of only one field,
then there must be two points of difference in the field. This
could be one point of color and one point for type of partition
used. Two changes of color would leave the outline the same and
would not suffice. Thus Paly bendy azure and Or would sufficiently
different from Barry bendy gules and Or, but would conflict with
Paly bendy ermine and gules. A device consisting of only a field
would have to be somewhat more than one point of difference away
from a mundane arms that was also just a field. In this case two
changes of color would suffice, but not just one. If a mundane
coat of arms is Paly of six azure and Or then you could avoid
conflict with Paly of six gules and argent, or with Paly of eight
gules and Or, or with Paly wavy of six gules and Or. Paly wavy
of six azure and Or would still conflict.
The next case is the device with just the field being considered
against SCA devices with that field and a charge. In this case
the rule of complete difference of charge does not apply. The
absence of the single charge is one point of difference. There
will thus have to also be a point of difference in the field,
either in color or partition. In the case of field-only device
versus mundane arms with the exact same field and one charge,
I would say that the rule does apply, so that they would not conflict,
so long as the one charge in the mundane arms was a central major
charge. In the case of badges only one point is required in all
cases.
Here's something else to consider. In the mundane world, since
the fifteenth century, it has been the privilege of corporations
as well as individuals to bear arms. These arms belong to the
corporation as represented by the governing board of the corporation,
and are displayed in ever office of the corporation. In the SCA
we have already faced with the accomplished fact of kings giving
Awards of Arms to groups, such as the University of Ithra in the
West. We have also had the case of Royal Charters being granted,
such as to Headless House. At this time all groups that are not
official SCA branches or offices are required to be registered
as a badge under the name of a spokesman. In the case of the a
Cook's Guild or a Mercenary Band this is really not appropriate,
as this treats them in the same manner as if they were the spokesman's
personal household. In the SCA, official branches and offices
register arms, not devices. Households register badges under the
head of the household. It seems to me that the logical thing to
do is to allow non-household groups to register a device under
their own name, with the name and address of a spokesman on the
information sheet so we can contact them. This puts us in accord
with actual medieval practice. Then every member of the group
would have the right to display the device of the group WHEN
AND ONLY WHEN they were acting as a member of the group. Thus
if a member of the Cook's Guild is giving a cooking lesson at
an event in the name of the Guild, the member could rightly display
on a banner the device of the Guild. If a Mercenary unit was fighting
as a unit in a wary, they could all paint the device of their
unit on their shields, thereby fighting for the honor of their
unit. It would not be proper for a member of the unit to later
use such a shield in an individual challenge match when he is
fighting under his own name unless it was because his own shield
broke and he was just using it for this one fight. This is of
course done all the time as few can afford to own more than own
personal shield.
Notice that this would cure the problem that Triton was complaining
about, namely the display of non-heraldic badges as if they were
devices. Since the groups would be registering devices they would
have to obey all of the rules for devices, and so their banners
would be properly heraldic. Then the badge category would become
more of what it was intended to be, symbols of personal identification
or symbols of awards or orders. Let me know what you think about
this.
Coupled with this change would be the classification of flags
and ensigns as devices so they would have to obey all the rules
of heraldry. Each branch would have its arms, which are born by
the ruling noble of the branch (or by the Seneschal if there is
no ruling noble). Each branch should also have an ensign which
could be displayed by all members of the branch. One easy way
to do this would be to replace the arms. Eliminating the laurel
wreath might lead to conflict problems. Only the arms of
an SCA branch can have a laurel wreath!
Vesper and I are making plans to update the West Kingdom Heralds
Handbook. One idea that came to me was to make it a Society Handbook.
The sections dealing with SCA Heraldry in general would be moved
to the front two-thirds. The back third would deal with the specific
heraldic systems and ceremonies and texts used in a kingdom. Thus
we could have a Society wide handbook with editions tailored to
each kingdom. Thus the West could take the first part and add
the ceremonies, scroll texts, college history, roster and organizational
procedures of the West. Atenveldt could take the first part and
add its own material. And so on. This way we could have a handbook
used in more than one area, thus saving on printing costs and
making it easier for a herald to pick up on what's happening.
When he moves to another kingdom. I would like to see each kingdom
have a handbook of some sort so their heralds can buy a copy.
It has really made a difference out here. I know that the Middle
and Atlantia have their own handbooks, but are any of the rest
of you interested? You would have to furnish the section for your
kingdom.
Pray believe, my Lords and my Ladies, that I remain,
Your Servant,
Wilhelm von Schlüssel, OL, OP, OLM, QOG
Laurel King of Arms