RF - Awards...

[Lorraine and/or Kief]

Maybe this will give some of you an understanding of how any of the
rest of us figure out what to put down for an award recommendation...

First, Awards are given as defined by Society Law and Custom...
Society Law is purposly vague and Custom is subjective.

THERE ARE NO REQUIREMENTS THAT AWARDS HAVE TO BE AWARDED IF ANYONE
GENERALY FITS THE CRITERIA...THEY ARE ALL AT THE BEHEST AND SUBJECTIVITY OF 
THE CROWN who get their information from THE SUBJECTS THAT WRITE THE 
RECOMMENDATIONS.

And there is no guarentee that anyone will get an award when you think
they deserve it or when they think they deserve it or when it was supposed 
to happen (we won't go into how many awards ended up being awarded at the 
"next event" because the paperwork from the crown did
not show up or they missed someone...)

The document I had published previously about "What to Award to Whom"
was in response to a whole lot of people who either did not have the
time, inclination or ability to look through law and to question people (in 
general...the non-armigerous, those with AoA's, thistles,etc.. I asked over 
100 people, all the way up to the Crown) It was meant to serve as a GENERAL 
guideline, and pretty generally sums up custom.

Here is how I would (and have) gone about recommending someone for a
thistle...

The work or display of knowledge of a gentle/or gentlewoman catches my 
attention...I then watch this person and their work...as time progresses 
they seem to delve more into research and start to produce  works that are 
more and more period style...they may even have attempted a "recreative 
work".  I usually talk to them about that object. I then see how their work 
is benefiting others...sometimes they are teaching others what they have 
researched and sometimes they are teaching others technique...I ask them 
what the period technique would be (if they are not using it already). I pay 
attention to things I read in articles they write on the subject or in the 
documentation they submit for A&S. FOR ME, someone doing something because 
they are interested in it and want to share knowledge ranks a lot higher 
than someone just doing things relatively "by the numbers" so that they 
achieve an award. I do not
form my opinions in a vacume...and behavior is balanced aganist how the 
works and skills of that person benifit the SCA and its stated
scope.

When they have reached a point when something in me says "ya know
that person is doing thistle quality work and knows their research and is 
sharing their knowledge" then I discuss it with several others
for feed back (to see if I have missed something).  I also try to consider 
things like how long that person has been in and how many other awards that 
person has and how much exposure that person is
probably going to get in their SCA career...I like a person to have been in 
at least a year, and have been working at their craft that long. I think it 
is also important that the person be able to have a general understanding of 
the SCA as a culture and be apart of it...not just someone who comes to 
"party in garb" or so that they
will be "entertained" or are doing things just because someone else wants 
them to do it. Do they actually care about the SCA? I also think that 
people's awards should be kind of spaced out, one a year or so; if you get 
people get their awards too soon it usually ruins them - they almost always 
drop out or think that the SCA is about award mongering - and my hope is 
that people will be in the SCA for a VERY LONG time. THIS is all VERY 
SUBJECTIVE.

I then write the Crown

The things that should be included are the person's SCA name (correct 
spelling if possible), modern name, and group of residence...it should also 
include events that person will be attending and your SCA and modern names 
and your group.

Describe how many pieces they have done and to what degree of skill
they are executed in and how "historically" accurate they are.

Include arts competitions entered...research done...classes taught...
prizes donated...articles written...and any other clue that might
remind the Crown or their representative of the artist when the Crown has no 
personal knowledge of that person.


As far as "official requirements" you would use the following document
(The Constitution of the Sable Thistle)as filtered through the Corpora and 
By Laws and Kingdom Law (which follow)...

>From the Constitutions of the Awards of Ansteorra

The Award of the Sable Thistle

I. Establishment of the Award
a. There shall exist in Ansteorra an Award which the Crown, or the various 
Barons and Baronesses-in-fief at the pleasure of the Crown, shall give to 
persons who have shown outstanding work in any field of the Arts and 
Sciences.  This award shall be known as the Award of the Sable Thistle of 
Ansteorra, and shall hereinafter be referred to as the Award.
b. Holders of the Award shall be entitled to be styled and announced in 
procession as, ”Holder of the Sable Thistle for X”, where X is the field or 
fields for which they received the Award.  The Award may be given to an 
individual more than once, but only once for a particular field.

II. Arms and Precedence
a.    The Award shall carry with it, at the pleasure of the Crown, an Award 
of Arms.  The Award     of the Sable Thistle and the Sable Crane of 
Ansteorra are to be held of equal precedence and shall be considered as one 
group.  Holders of the Award shall take precedence after Holders of the 
King’s Gauntlet and the Queen’s Glove of Ansteorra, but before the 
Companions of various baronial orders.
b.    If the Award is given to a person who is already higher in precedence 
than stated above, then           his/her precedence shall remain unchanged.
c.  If the Award is given to a person who does not hold an Award of Arms or 
higher precedence then his/her precedence shall date from his/her acceptance 
of the Award.

III.	Bestowal of the Award
a. The selection of a holder of the Award shall be announced publicly by the 
Crown or granting Baron and/or Baroness at an official event of the SCA.
b. Persons being given the Award must be present to receive the Award.

IV.	Holders of the Award
a.	The number of Awards given shall not be limited, either in number of 
holders of the Award or in number of Awards given to a single individual.  
However, a holder of the Award may not be given a second Award in the same 
field of the Arts and Sciences.
c. Holders of the Award shall retain their Award(s) despite any changes of 
residence.

V. Insignia
a. The badge of the Award shall be, “A blue thistle, sable, slipped and 
leaved Or.” (Registered August 13, 1981).
b. Holders of the Award shall be entitled to wear a medallion depicting the  
badge of the Award dependant from a ribbon about the neck.

In Corpora
Under VII.B Other Awards

2. 	Armigerous Awards and Orders.  Kingdoms may establish awards and orders 
conferring Awards or Grants of Arms, and the Crown may award membership in 
such orders according to the laws and customs of the kingdoms.

In the Bylaws
Article III: Objectives and Purposes

The Society shall be dedicated primarily to the promotion of research and 
re-creation in the field of pre-17th-century Western culture, as stated in 
greater detail in Article II of the Society’s Articles of Incorporation.

In the Articles of Incorporation, section II

This corporation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is not 
organized for the private gain of any person.  It is organized under the 
Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law for charitable purposes.  The 
purposes for which this corporation is formed include:

A	Research and education in the field of pre-17th-Century Western Culture.
B	Generally, to engage in research; publish material of relevance and 
interest to the field of pre-17th-Century Western Culture; to present 
activities and events which re-create the environment of said era, such as, 
but not limited to, tournaments, jousts, fairs, dances, classes, et cetera; 
to acquire authentic or reproduced  replicas of chattels representative of 
said era; and to collect a library.

Under “Scope of the Society: Period and Culture”
(part of the Articles of Incorporation)

The Society is based on the landed nobility of the European Middle Ages and 
Renaissance.  Their dress and music, their literature and sports, and above 
all the chivalric ideals of their period, all serve to unify our events and 
activities.  Our regional and local organization sets aside the modern 
pattern of elected representatives to give us a sense of what it was like to 
live in the world of court and castle, so that our studies can go beyond 
literature and artifacts into the emotional reality of former times.

Our activities range very widely, including a much broader span of time and 
culture than most groups in the “living history” movement try to sample.  
The people we’ve chosen for models were fond of play-acting and pageantry;  
they would happily base tournaments and revels on ancient history and 
distant lands, so we can use themes from outside medieval and Renaissance 
Europe as long as we keep our main period as an anchor.  They also reached 
remote parts of the world, despite the limits of their technology, and 
people born in other civilizations traveled too, so we can allow for 
individuals and information from almost anywhere.  The task is to weave all 
this together, so that the events we sponsor are recognizably our own.

…

In Ansteoran Kindom Law (most recent version and previous versions)

Article IV: Rights and Duties of the Populace
Section 1
The primary right and duty of each Subject of Ansteorra is, by their 
presence, participation, research, and interaction, to assist the Kingdom in 
recreating the environment of pre-Seventeenth Century culture at activities 
and events such as, but not limited to , tournaments, fairs, parties, 
dances, classes, et cetera.

Section 5: Maintainenance of Period Ambiance

A	 No object, conduct, or manner of dress which is blatantly modern shall be 
publicly displayed at SCA events unless permission has been obtained from 
the autocrat or the Crown.

b. 	Any person who displays a blatantly modern appearance shall by open to 
public censure by the Crown or its representative.




Lorraine



_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com