Society for Creative Anachronism College of Arms 16308 SE 165th St Renton, WA 98058-8221 +1-425-277-0763 herald@sca.org For the March 2007 meetings, printed June 15, 2007 To all the College of Arms and all others who may read this missive, from Elisabeth Laurel, Jeanne Marie Wreath, and Margaret Pelican, greetings. For information about future scheduling, please review the status table located on the Web at http://oscar.sca.org/index.php?action=137 The March Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican held on Saturday, March 24, 2007, at the Wreath meeting held on Sunday, March 18, 2007, at the Gulf Wars Roadshow on Wednesday, March 14, 2007, and at the Northshield Heraldic Symposium Roadshow held Saturday, March 24, 2007. The meetings considered the following Letters of Intent: Laurel (13 Nov 2006), Lochac (13 Nov 2006), Atenveldt (17 Nov 2006), Ealdormere (18 Nov 2006), Drachenwald (20 Nov 2006), Ansteorra (21 Nov 2006), {AE}thelmearc (22 Nov 2006), Caid (22 Nov 2006), East (22 Nov 2006), Atlantia (27 Nov 2006), Meridies (27 Nov 2006), Northshield (27 Nov 2006), Outlands (27 Nov 2006), and An Tir (28 Nov 2006). *Original commentary on these letters should have been in the College's hands no later than January 31, 2007. Responses and rebuttals to commentary should have been in the College's hands no later than February 28, 2007.* The April Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held Saturday, April 28, 2007 and Wreath meeting held on Sunday, April 29, 2007. The meetings considered the following Letters of Intent: West (6 Dec 2006), Calontir (11 Dec 2006), Gleann Abhann (14 Dec 2006), Laurel (15 Dec 2006), Middle (16 Dec 2006), Ansteorra (20 Dec 2006), Artemisia (20 Dec 2006), Atenveldt (20 Dec 2006), {AE}thelmearc (20 Dec 2006), Caid (20 Dec 2006), Drachenwald (20 Dec 2006), Atlantia (26 Dec 2006), Middle (26 Dec 2006), Outlands (27 Dec 2006), and Trimaris (30 Dec 2006). *Original commentary on these letters should have been be in the College's hands no later than February 28, 2007. Responses and rebuttals to commentary should have been in the College's hands no later than March 31, 2007.* The May Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican meeting held Sunday, May 13, 2007 and the Wreath meeting held Sunday, May 20, 2007. These meetings considered the following Letters of Intent: West (17 Jan 2007), Atenveldt (19 Jan 2007), [Drachenwald (20 Jan 2007)], [Lochac (22 Jan 2007)], Ansteorra (23 Jan 2007), Calontir (23 Jan 2007), Caid (24 Jan 2007), Artemisia (24 Jan 2007), {AE}thelmearc (25 Jan 2007), Ealdormere (26 Jan 2007), Outlands (27 Jan 2007), Atlantia (28 Jan 2007), Meridies (29 Jan 2007), East (30 Jan 2007), and Laurel (31 Jan 2007). *Original commentary on these letters should have been in in the College's hands no later than March 31, 2007. Responses and rebuttals to commentary should have been in the College's hands no later than April 30, 2007.* The June Laurel decisions were made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held Sunday June 10, 2007 and at the KWHSS on Sunday, June 17, 2007. These meetings will consider the following Letters of Intent: East (6 Feb 2007), [Drachenwald (19 Feb 2007)], Gleann Abhann (20 Feb 2007), [Lochac (20 Feb 2007)], Meridies (21 Feb 2007), West (21 Feb 2007), Calontir (22 Feb 2007), Laurel LoPaD (23 Feb 2007), Laurel LoI (23 Feb 2007), Atlantia (26 Feb 2007), Ansteorra (27 Feb 2007), Atenveldt (27 Feb 2007), Outlands (27 Feb 2007), and Trimaris (28 Feb 2007). *Original commentary on these letters should have been in the College's hands no later than April 30, 2007. Responses and rebuttals to commentary should have been in the College's hands no later than May 31, 2007.* The July Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican meeting held Saturday, July 21 and Wreath meetings held in July 2007. These meetings will consider the following Letters of Intent: East (6 Mar 2007), [Middle (11 Mar 2007)], Artemisia (20 Mar 2007), Lochac (20 Mar 2007), Laurel (23 Mar 2007), [Caid (24 Mar 2007)], [Drachenwald (24 Mar 2007)], {AE}thelmearc (25 Mar 2007), Atenveldt (26 Mar 2007), Calontir (26 Mar 2007), Meridies (26 Mar 2007), [Atlantia (27 Mar 2007)], Outlands (27 Mar 2007), [Ansteorra (28 Mar 2007)], [Ealdormere (29 Mar 2007)], West (30 Mar 2007), and [An Tir (31 Mar 2007)]. *Original commentary on these letters should have been in the College's hands no later than May 31, 2007. Responses and rebuttals to commentary must be in the Colleges hands no later than June 30, 2007.* The August Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in August 2007 and at Pennsic. These meetings will consider the following Letters of Intent: East (3 Apr 2007), Northshield (6 Apr 2007), [{AE}thelmearc (15 Apr 2007)], [Middle (15 Apr 2007)], [Drachenwald (21 Apr 2007)], [Caid (25 Apr 2007)], [Meridies (25 Apr 2007)], West (25 Apr 2007), [Ansteorra (27 Apr 2007)], [Atenveldt (27 Apr 2007)], Laurel (27 Apr 2007), [Outlands (27 Apr 2007)], [Atlantia (29 Apr 2007)], [An Tir (30 Apr 2007)], and [Trimaris (30 Apr 2007)]. *Original commentary on these letters should be in the College's hands no later than June 30, 2007. Responses and rebuttals to commentary must be in the Colleges hands no later than July 31, 2007.* The September Laurel decisions will be made at the Pelican and Wreath meetings held in September 2007. These meetings will consider the following letters of intent: [Calontir (06 May 2007)], [Lochac (13 May 2007)], [AEthelmearc (15 May 2007)], [Drachenwald (20 May 2007)], Laurel LoPaD (21 May 2007), [East (21 May 2007)], [Artemisia (22 May 2007)], [An Tir (23 May 2007)], [Lochac (27 May 2007)], [Atlantia (28 May 2007)], Ansteorra [(29 May 2007)], Atenveldt [(29 May 2007)], and [West (31 May 2007). *All commentary, responses, and rebuttals should be entered into OSCAR by August 31, 2007.* _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 Laurel: Format for Letters of Intent **** Quoth the Administrative Handbook, V.B.2.b.: "Enumeration - Each proposed submission should be numbered using a standard numbering system (usually Arabic numbers). A name submission and a single piece of closely associated armory should bear the same number, but otherwise each submission should be separately numbered." Some Letters of Intent have been posted in which a submitter's name and armory have been enumerated as two separate items. As per the above, please remember to keep them together, under the same number. **** From Laurel: Call for Applications **** Laurel Principal Sovereign of Arms The Laurel Principal Sovereign of Arms (Laurel) is the principal heraldic officer of the Society and the head of the College of Arms. Laurel is responsible for fostering the study and practice of heraldry, supervising the processing of submissions, and overseeing the heraldic activities of the Known World. Laurel is an unpaid position, currently requiring approximately 20 hours a week. The position requires considerable tact and patience, armory and onomastic knowledge, supervisory ability, the ability to work within tight deadlines and coordinate closely with Wreath, Pelican and other staff to produce a Laurel letter of Acceptance and Return monthly, some computer literacy and word processing skills, e-mail and telephone access, and time and ability to travel. Resumes must be made in hard copy to Laurel Resume, SCA Inc., Box 360789, Milpitas CA 95036. Resumes must be received by December 1, 2007. The present Laurel's warrant expires in April 2008. Wreath Sovereign of Arms The Wreath Sovereign of Arms is an educational deputy of the Laurel Principal Sovereign of Arms, responsible for the consideration of and decisions concerning armory submitted for registration by the College of Arms. Wreath is an unpaid position, currently requiring approximately 25 hours a week. Some knowledge of period heraldry is useful; knowledge of SCA heraldry is essential. The position requires considerable tact and patience, research and reasoning ability, a clear understanding of the Rules for Submission and past Laurel rulings, the ability to write clearly and succinctly, the ability to work within tight deadlines and coordinate closely with Pelican, Laurel and other staff to produce a Laurel letter of Acceptance and Return monthly, some computer literacy and word processing skills, e-mail and telephone access, and time and ability to travel. Given the current structure of the office, a high-speed internet connection is useful but it is not required. Resumes must be made in hard copy to Laurel Resume, SCA Inc., Box 360789, Milpitas CA 95036. Resumes must be received by December 1, 2007. The present Wreath's warrant expires in June 2008. Pelican Sovereign of Arms The Pelican Sovereign of Arms is an educational deputy of the Laurel Principal Sovereign of Arms, responsible for the consideration of and decisions concerning names submitted for registration by the College of Arms. Pelican is an unpaid position, currently requiring approximately 25 hours a week. The position requires considerable tact and patience, onomastic knowledge, research and reasoning ability, a clear understanding of the Rules for Submission and past Laurel rulings, the ability to write clearly and succinctly, the ability to work within tight deadlines and coordinate closely with Wreath, Laurel and other staff to produce a Laurel letter of Acceptance and Return monthly, some computer literacy and word processing skills, e-mail and telephone access, and time and ability to travel. Access to a good research library is desirable but not required. Resumes must be made in hard copy to Laurel Resume, SCA Inc., Box 360789, Milpitas CA 95036. Resumes must be received by December 1, 2007. The present Pelican's warrant expires with the present Laurel's in April 2008. **** From Pelican: Changes to Alternative Titles for Turkish **** In January and February 2007, Ursula Georges, Loyall Herald, submitted Letters of Intent to change the Turkish alternative titles for Queen, Prince, and Princess. In light of the arguments presented in these letters, the following titles are no longer approved alternative Turkish titles: * _Kralice_ (Queen) - Loyall argues "This appears to be a feminine counterpart of the modern Turkish word _kral_. I have not found any evidence that _kralice_ was used to refer to Turkish women in our period. * _Prens_ (Prince) - "This appears to be a modern borrowing of the English word _prince_ into Turkish. I have found no evidence that this word was used in Turkish in our period. * _Emir_ (Prince) - "I have found neither evidence that was used as a title in direct combination with a given name in Ottoman Turkey, nor that _emir_ was used to refer to the sons of sultans." * _Prenses_ (Princess) - "This appears to be a modern borrowing of the English word _princess_ into Turkish. I have found no evidence that this word was used in Turkish in our period. These are the list of new approved titles for Turkish for Queen, Prince, and Princess: * _[given name] + Sultan_ (Queen) - Loyall argues, "the mothers and favored concubines of the Ottoman Sultan used the title _Sultan_ following their given names...The valide sultan (queen mother) was the most powerful woman in the sultan's harem. The title of the woman whose child was or would be sultan is the best equivalent to English _Queen_." * _Sultan + [given name]_ (Prince) - "The children of Ottoman sultans were addressed by the title _Sultan_. Princes, such as Sultan Mehmed, the son of Suleiman the Magnificent, bore the title before their given name." * _Shahzade_ (Prince or Princess) - Loyall provides examples of this title used as a title by both sons and daughters of sultans in the 15th and 16th C. In this case, both the regular English transliteration _Shahzade_ and the more scholarly transliteration that relies on special SCA conventions to render special characters, _{S,}ehz{a^}de_ were discussed. We have chosen to accept only a single transliteration of each name -- the one that uses standard Roman characters. * _[given name] + Sultan_ (Princess) - "The children of Ottoman sultans were addressed by the title _Sultan_. Princesses, such as Mihrimah Sultan, the daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent, bore the title after their given name." Three more changes were submitted on these letters - the addition of _Hatun_ and _Khatun_ for _Princess_ and the change of _Bey_ from _Baron_ to _Prince_. While Loyall demonstrates that the title _Hatun_ or _Khatun_ was used by concubines and children of various sultans, her article "16th C Turkish Names" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/ursula/ottoman/) states, "Several people in this list were identified by titles such as Hatun, 'lady' or 'Mrs.'." While there is a long and honorable tradition in the SCA of restricting titles used by large ranges of social groups to a particular rank, in this case, there is no pressing reason to do so. There are already adequate period alternative Turkish titles for the rank of Princess. The fact that the available information suggest this title was used by women of a variety social class, from members of the royal harem to freed slaves, is a strong argument against restricting its use to a particular rank. Therefore, we decline to add _Hatun_ or _Khatun_ to the list of alternative Turkish titles for Princess. This leaves the matter of whether _Bey_ should be released as an alternative title for Baron. Loyall presents this information about the title: In the earlier Ottoman empire, was used by the sons of sultans. A royal order sent to the Ottoman prince Selim in 1491 addressed him as . Leslie Peirce examined the Ottoman imperial gift register for 1503-23 and found that the sons of Bayezid II had both and as titles, but that by the end of the register was used only for "lesser male members of the dynasty, such as sons of princesses". (Peirce, p. 293) By the end of our period, was used by members of the elite who were not connected with the Ottoman ruling dynasty: the Encyclopedia of Islam says that it was used by "tribal leaders, high civil and military functionaries, and the sons of the great, particularly pashas. Given this, it does not seem unreasonable to let this title remain on the alternative titles list. While the title was used across a range of ranks, those who used it appear to have been either of royal rank, or recognized as tribal leaders or governors; they are men of rank and station. The duties and station of Baron in the SCA, especially a territorial baron, is a fairly good fit for a tribal leader or a member of the elite not connected by blood or marriage to the ruling dynasty. Therefore, we are not inclined to drop _Bey_ from its place in the alternative titles list. **** From Wreath: Invected and Engrailed **** A couple of recent submissions have caused us to revisit the College's definitions of field divisions _invected_ and _engrailed_ - particularly _Per pale invected/engrailed_. There has been a great deal of confusion regarding these lines, due to their inherent asymmetry. The _engrailed_ line is one of the earliest complex lines, dating from the 13th Century at least. The term was used interchangeably with _indented_, but was frequently drawn as it's commonly known today: a series of semi-circles carved into the edge of the ordinary to form little cups ("grails"). _Invected_ (or _invecked_), on the other hand, is a relative latecomer: our earliest citation of it is from Tudor times, in the Book of St. Albans. It's the opposite of _engrailed_: a series of semi-circles forming lobes out from the ordinary, rather than notches into it. Both _invected_ and _engrailed_ were originally applied to charges, not field divisions. While there are frequent period examples of divisions with symmetric complex lines (e.g., _indented_, _wavy_ or _embattled_), there were few that were _engrailed_ or _invected_. This may well have been because, being asymmetric, it was difficult to apply them to a field as opposed to a charge. Fox-Davies' _Complete Guide to Heraldry_, p. 73, cites a single example, and gives the rule by which modern heralds define _invected/engrailed_ divisions: The only instance I can call to mind where it is so employed is the case of Baird of Ury, the arms of this family being: Per pale engrailed gules and or, a boar passant counterchanged. In this instance the points are turned towards the sinister side of the shield, which would seem to be correct, as, there being no ordinary, they must be outwards from the most important position affected, which in this case undoubtedly is the dexter side of the shield. In the same way 'per fess engrailed' would be presumably depicted with the points outward from the chief line of the shield, that is, they would point downwards; and I should imagine that in 'per bend engrailed' the points of the semicircles would again be placed inclined towards the dexter base of the shield, but I may be wrong in these two latter cases, for they are only supposition. The Society has, of course, evolved its own rule. Probably because, in most heraldry texts, the complex lines are shown as though they were the top edge of a fess, the Society defined _Per fess engrailed_ with the points to chief, rather than to base as described by Fox-Davies; and the other divisions were treated likewise, _*with the exception of Per pale*_. In that case, the College chose to follow the known mundane example. This mix of Society and mundane convention has caused considerable confusion over the years. Reviewing past registrations, it turns out that the same complex Per pale line was registered variously as _Per pale invected_ and _Per pale engrailed_, even though they all had their points to sinister. If we cannot remember the default for the line, it becomes almost meaningless to try to blazon it... or register it. Period heraldic tracts are mostly silent on this point, but Bossewell's _Workes of Armorie_, 1572, does give some insight. Fo. 29 shows an example of _Per fesse envecked_, so blazoned - and the points of the line are to base, following the Society default and not the modern default. Similarly, on fo. 27 we see an example of _Quarterly engrayled_, which is treated like a combination of _Per fess engrailed_ and _Per pale engrailed_. The points are to chief and to sinister. It would therefore seem that, in period, heralds defined the _engrailed/invected_ in the same manner as we do in the Society ? with the same confusion. Given the difficulties in remembering exceptions to the rule, we intend to bring our perennial problem child _Per pale_ into line with the other field divisions. We therefore confirm and expand our current definition: A field division _engrailed_ has the points to the "honorable" part of the shield: _Per fess, per chevron, per bend_ and _per bend sinister engrailed_ have the points to chief, while _Per pale engrailed_ now has the points to dexter. A field division _invected_ has the points to the less honorable part of the shield: _Per fess, per chevron, per bend_ and _per bend sinister invected_ have the points to base, and _Per pale invected_ has the points to sinister. This will require only a handful of blazon corrections, all of _Per pale_ fields. And what of _Quarterly, per saltire_, and _per pall engrailed/invected_? I was afraid you'd ask... These could either be drawn as in Bossewell, as combinations of the above lines (e.g., _Per fess and per pale_ for _Quarterly_), or else the line could "revolve" around the center of the shield (e.g. a _Quarterly invected_ line would have points to sinister at top, points to chief on the dexter limb, points to dexter on the base limb, and points to base on the sinister limb). As long as the emblazon is unambiguous, we'll accept either form. **** Send What to Whom **** Letters of Intent, Comment, Response, Correction, et cetera are to be posted to the OSCAR online system. No paper copies need be sent. 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. Cheques or money orders for submissions, payable to "SCA Inc.-College of Arms" are to: 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, please contact Laurel. Pray know that I remain, In service, Elisabeth de Rossignol Laurel Principal Queen of Arms =============================================================================== Created at 2007-06-19T00:30:13