[Scriptoris] Re: [Ansteorra-announce] Charters & Insignia

[Diane Rudin]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]

 Eva Mehlhose <Alexscribe at worldnet.att.net> wrote:

>pardon the silly question? What are painted charters? Having served >recently as Kingdom scribe in Atenveldt that word means the actual >charter of an award to me.


>scratching head...


>Maestra Alex the scribe,OL
>Barony of SunDragon, Atenveldt


Maestra Alex:  What you call "charters" we call "constitutions".  In Ansteorra, "charters" are the documents signed by the Crown certifying receipt of an award.  This is to differentiate those documents from what we usually call "achievement scrolls", which were known in period as "grants of arms" (which is why we can't call them that); "achievement scrolls" are signed by the Star Principal Herald as representative for the SCA College of Arms.  This is because no Crown anywhere in the SCA can specify the form that armory takes; they can only bestow the "right of arms", not the blazon/emblazon itself.  Having two documents like this follows the practice in England, where the Sovereign was much too busy running the country to be bothered with trivial details such as exact armorial bearings.  The power to specify armorial bearings was delegated to the Garter King of Arms & the College of Heralds.



The Crown of Ansteorra is unbelievably generous in recognizing the accomplishments of their people.  The populace of Ansteorra expects to receive documents in court that are beautiful to look at.  For many, many years, going back I believe to the founding of the kingdom, we have taken line-drawn art & calligraphy including appropriate blank spaces, printed many copies, and painted in the artwork.  WE DO NOT DO THIS FOR PEERAGE, LANDED BARONY, OR ROYAL NOBLE TITLES.  Those have always been original works, which is why there is an backlog in the hundreds to produce the things (if everyone so entitled were to request one).



Your next question is probably "why?"  Well, we have about a dozen people in Ansteorra who are willing to do original works, and a few of *them* have some form of crippling hand problems from doing too much.  As I stated above, Ansteorrans are *very* demanding about appearance.  They want lots of paint, and they want it pretty-looking.  Most don't care two hoots & a holler that it's on a pre-printed base, or that theirs looks a lot like most everyone else's.  Other kingdoms have successfully emphasized originality, with people being proud to show off a beginner's effort because someone made it just for them.  I think that's great.  It's just not how Ansteorra has evolved.  We've got a lot of people who have no interest in becoming scribes who can sit down and paint.  Sometimes we convince a top-notch painter to try doing original works, and they discover that they like it, and we gain another scribe.  Most of the "charter painters" are quite happy just painting; they like spending an afternoon or evening doing something to help the kingdom.  (All the free chocolate doesn't hurt, either!)



I hope this explanation helps you understand not only what we do, but why we do it that way.  And...there are no silly questions, only people too silly to ask questions.



--Mistress Serena Lascelles, washed-up crippled old scribe

Former Star Signet of Ansteorra

special deputy of Star Principal Herald for awards texts

"I write the texts that make the heralds cry,

I write the texts that make the scribes want to die..."





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