My friend Brigida had the boon begged to be admitted to the Order of the Pelican back in August.  She asked me to write her scroll text, of which I was pleased to do so.  Brigida’s persona is from 1200s Munich (hence the von München in her name!)  Tumbling down the rabbit hole that are Holy Roman Empire legal texts, I found  few: a decision of fixing the rank of children born of mixed marriages, 1282, as well as Charles IV Confers Nobility on a Doctor of Both Laws, 1360, and Frederick II Confers Nobility about 1240, all found in A Source Book for Mediæval History: Selected Documents Illustrating the History of Europe in the Middle Age by Thatcher and McNeal.  It’s available as a free eBook from Google Books.

So, I cobbled together a few things.  Brigida is a middle school math teacher in the modern world, and I wanted to tie in that information into her scroll text.  I also knew that the day she was being elevated was St. Martin’s Day, which is celebrated on November 11th.  There were a couple things I had to fill in, such as the name of the church, however, most of writing this scroll text was filing off serial numbers, fitting in appropriate SCA references, and using the text as it largely was.

Damien II and Issabell II, by divine clemency emperor and empress of Calontir, the king and queen of the Heartland, is writing to inform all that while we were holding court at Deodar on Martinstag, our faithful and beloved council of the order of the Pelican were presented the following question for an official decision: If there is one teacher amongst you whose knowledge exists of both heraldic and mathematical, who teaches and serves all who shall come to her, should she be brought into your ranks as a member of the order?  And all who were present declared that one Brigida von München, scholasticus of the College of Heralds, should have this rank and be clothed in the estate of her station.

Therefore, we strictly command all princes, temporal and celestial, counts, chiefs, nobles, and all our other faithful subjects to whom this letter may come, under threat of the loss of imperial favour, to regard, hold, and treat you as such (that is, as a Pelican of the Society), in all places; and out of reverence for the holy empire to admit you to all the rights, privileges, etc., to which nobles are accustomed to enjoy.

Done by our hand this Martinmas day, Anno Societatis LII in our shire of Deodar, in Peterskirche.

Brigida was very happy to hear the text, especially after it was translated into German (which she speaks fluently) by another friend.  In period, it would have been translated into Latin, but the German felt more right.

It was a pleasure to get to participate in her very big day.  Congratulations, Meisterin Brigida!

Personal updates!

At Calontir’s Crown Tournament, I was made a baroness of the court of Damien and Issabell (video here) for service to the Crown with the Dirty Dozen Donation Derby contests I’ve been sponsoring to help the Crown with ensuring They have enough largesse to last through their reign.  I’m currently researching forms of address that are more period for early Byzantine personae to add to the list that Anna and I have been working on.

The coronet is easily one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever owned, and was the work of Finán mac Crimthainn.  Finán did an amazing job on it, and his sister, Ayisha bint Asad, did a phenomenal bit of work on my scroll.  Jakob Bieryage made the most perfect box for my coronet to live in.  Andrixos’ words made me cry.  I am beyond humbled, and hope to live up to expectations.