One of the things we try to do in the society, is recreate some of the pomp and pageantry of bygone times.

When the society was first founded back in the 1960s, it started with a Tournament where the winner and their consort were celebrated.  There were knighting ceremonies and other celebrations of achievement recognised.  There was even a King and a Queen, albeit temporarily.

Nowadays, when a group in the society has achieved the membership numbers necessary to obtain the status of a full and independent Kingdom, they then gain the permission to have their own Royalty (gender is immaterial).  According to the society statutes, sitting Royalty "reign" for 6 months.  During those 6 months they act legally as Presidents of the Society for that kingdom, with the power to alter and amends laws of the society.  They also act as figureheads and give awards to members who are recommended to them as having done good work in one area or another.  Again, according to the society statutes, Royalty is selected by competition: specifically by Armoured Combat Tournament, where a fighter takes part for the honour and inspiration of a chosen consort (both irrespective of gender).  Both fighter and consort have to meet certain

criteria: they must both be members and have attended a minimum number of events in the preceding 6 months.  The winners of the tournament step up as heirs to the throne for the next 3 months during which time they get to prepare.  They then have their coronation and reign for the following 6 months.  Three months after their coronation, another tournament is held where their heirs are decided.  And so it continues.

Similarly, if a group has attained the status of a Principality - they will have reigning Princes/Princesses who are chosen in the same method. Our Princes/Princesses rule for 9 months.  A group that has attained Baronial status, get to select Barons/Baronesses by election.  Barons/Baronesses "reign" for 2 years.  This is typically because the groups are smaller and therefore the pool of members is also smaller.

Coronations are splendid affairs where everyone dresses in their very best, wears all their bling and the cooks outdo themselves!

But apart from that, what happens at Court?

Courts can be held by any type of Royalty: A Prince and Princess within their territory and Baron/Baroness within theirs.  The purpose of Court, apart from having a theatrical and pageant-filled hour on the schedule, is to make announcements of importance (law changes, status changes of groups or people, new initiatives etc.), and give awards to deserving people.

The society has a very well structured system of awards.  They are there to recognise the hard work people put into society by way of their time, effort and skills.  The entire SCA runs on volunteers: those who organise and run the events, those who make, hand out, teach, train and research thereby adding to the collective knowledge of the society.  We have hundreds of members just in the British Isles, similarly on the continent, while the groups in Sweden and Finland have many more.  The Kings/Queens cannot know of the achievements of members in smaller groups in different countries, so we rely on a system of recommendations.  Anyone can recommend anyone for an award if they see them doing consistently good work.  We also have a database people can check to see if that person already has that award.

Awards are usually based on combat skills in the various types, Arts & sciences skill and Service to the society (teaching, holding office, organisation etc.).  These can be given out at 3 separate levels based on the Medieval Heraldic system. Each award has a fancy title that describes some symbol of the area it is an award for.  The first level is an Award of Arms (AoA), the second is a Grant of Arms (GoA) and the third is a Patent of Arms.  All awards fall on one of these levels.  So a person very good at Archery could first get the AoA level award for Archery, then some years later if they improve, could get the GoA level award for Archery and so on.  Awards are not easy to achieve and are measured against similar skill in that area, done by others across the European group.  The higher level of the award, the harder they are to achieve.  The highest level awards - the Patent of Arms, is measured against skills across the entire Society, not just the European group.  So they mean a lot for the recipients and the bestowel of these awards are often times of high emotion.  At Courts you will see these awards being given and will note how people react to them and receive them.  In most cases they will have been recommended for these awards by members of their own group.

To commemorate the receipt of an award, the recipient is usually given a "scroll".  This is an illuminated and calligraphied document that acts like a certificate of the award and will include a citation that gives the reasons why, for whom, by whom, date and occasion.  These scrolls are made by volunteers who have a particular interest in this art.  It is worth taking a closer look at them when you have a chance, they really are works of art.  The office of the Clerk Signet (the person who co-ordinates scroll commissions for awards) always welcomes interest and offers from new people.  Making scrolls is a great way to learn and improve in skill, and making them for other people adds incentive.

Other things that happen during Court includes giving public thanke to the event organising team, the invitation to new comers to come up before the thrones to be thanked for their interest and attendance (so for you newcomers - that means you get to go up and presented to everyone!), sometimes there will be encouragement and praise of any children present, and any other people that the presiding Royalty wish to thank or highlight.

Principality and Baronial-level awards are not part of the same award structure, but are very similar and are great for encouraging beginners and recognising members who may not travel outside their own groups much and may therefore not be well known in the society yet.

For more information on Eplaheimr awards
For more information on the Principality of Insulae Draconis awards (British Isles and Iceland)
For more information on Kingdom of Drachenwald awards (Europe and South Africa)

More information you may like to read:
What is the SCA?
What is an Event?