[Ansteorra] Of SCA membership interest

[Don and Monica]

Greetings Freinds

I would encourage every one, before taking any action, to read the full
content and intent of this Ruling by Laurel Sovereign of Arms. The topic at
hand is not weather or not the Queens of our noble kingdoms are "merely
women" but rather does this practice that affects both _men and women_
entering a Crown list, as well as their consorts, match the stated scope and
intent of our Society to study and recreate Medieval and Renaissance
cultures.

I know the current Laurel Sovereign well, he is both a friend and a fellow
Ansteorran. I do not believe he would make any discussion of this magnitude
with out careful research and consultation with his staff, including Pelican
_Queen_ of Arms and Wreath _Queen_ of Arms and in addition any knowledgeable
herald he could nail down long enough to discuss the subject in it's
entirety.

I have maintained the Text of the Actual Ruling here, please read it, ask
questions, and form your own opinion based on the information.

In Faith
Darius of the Bells, OL
Star Signet of Ansteorra

(Please feel free to forward this message in it's entirety to any one you
want.)

> François la Flamme (R. Wendel Bordelon)
> herald@ sca.org (remove space)
>
> >From Laurel: Devices for Consorts and Royal Heirs
>
> This month we were called upon to reflect on the SCA's policy of
> registering devices for a consort (either for a kingdom or a
> princpality), or for royal heirs apparent (also for a kingdom or
> principality). We have no evidence of a real-world consort having arms
> that differed from her husband's (except for marshalling). We likewise
> have no evidence of an heir apparent having arms that were not a
> differenced version of the arms of their parent, except for
> marshalling, and for fiefs that the heir apparent might have had (such
> as the Dauphiné, ruled by the dauphin, the heir to the French throne).
>
> The practice of registering devices for the consort and heirs is
> falling out of favor in the SCA in general. Some of the newer kingdoms
> have not registered devices for their consorts and their heirs. We
> applaud the trend to a more period practice with regards to arms,
> or lack of separate armory for the consort and heirs.
>
> Because the SCA device is parallel to real-world practices for arms,
> the SCA shall no longer register devices for consorts or for heirs to
> a kingdom or principality after July 2004.
>
> Under this decision, consorts in kingdoms or principalities without
> consort's arms may use the undifferenced kingdom arms, and kingdoms
> may elect to allow both heirs to the throne to display the
> kingdom arms differenced by a label or other standard mark of cadency.
> This matches some period armorial display for royal arms.
>
> Kingdoms and principalites that currently have arms registered for the
> consort or heirs may submit changes to the registered armory via the
> application of the grandfather clause. We shall require a poll of the
> populace showing support for changes to the armory. Note that this
> poll has not previously been explicitly required for the armory of the
> heirs apparent, but it seems appropriate to require such a poll, which
> is already required for consorts.
>
> Kingdoms and principalities that currently have arms registered for
> the consort or heirs are encouraged to consider following period
> practice and to discontinue the use of the armory.