ANST - Award Charters

[Susan Bowen]

Our current system of creating and presenting charters has evolved over a long
time, by the work of many people working diligently to create the best work
they could as efficiently as possible. It is working very well (except for
frazzling scribes with last minute work). The old saying comes to mind...If it
ain't broke, don't fix it.

I think that it is good that we recognize that the way we do it is not period,
and that we educate people about it. However, I don't think anyone would
mistake our courts for a period court. If we are going to worry this much
about what the paper looks like that awards are printed on, then we better get
busy and overhaul the whole way we do court. We need to start concentrating on
land disputes, and disputes over feudal obligations, and taxation problems,
etc. This would solve our charter problem; they didn't spend much time in real
courts creating new lords and ladies.

My oldest pieces of paper with award stuff on them (they weren't called
charters at the time) have just calligraphy with a decorative border on them.
One of them used to have a seal, but it cracked and crumbled away years ago. I
am glad I have them, but I only show them to people for their historical
value. Most of my scrolls are pre-printed and hand painted. They are
beautiful, and the ones that have the most meaning to me are hanging on my
wall. I have four hand-created ones on my wall. I am most proud of those
because I know how long they took, and how much love went into them, and how
rare they are. That's what makes them signifcant to me.

How something will look on the wall of a 20th century house *can't* be a
reason for how we do scrolls, but the fact that so many of us do put them on
the wall is an indicator of 2 things. We are proud of our accomplishments, and
we like the way they look. Either one by itself would probably not be
sufficient to earn them a place on our wall.

One last thought. It sounds like we need to train more calligraphers. We have
had a lot of success in training illuminators because we have a relatively
easy way for people to get their feet wet and then develop skill by painting
scrolls. Can we come up with a similar way to encourage people to try calligraphy?

Philippa Rookhaven
Baroness of the Court of Ansteorra
Lion of Ansteorra
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