Re: trimounts

[telenet!rootbeer!dmontuor@uunet.uu.net (Dave Montuori)]

Greetings to the Merry Rose and to Cheapside from Evan da Collaureo,
Kraken Herald. WARNING! HERALDIC TECHNICAL JARGON. POSSIBLY PEDANTIC
DISCUSSION OF RULES THAT ARE MORE BORING THAN THE PENNSIC LAND RULES.

So, like, I was talking to Mistress Jaelle about this month's Letter
of Intent, and e-mail to Laurel, and she not only gets the Laurel Letters
on disk, she keeps them! So I was able to get from her the actual text of
the Laurel decision.

Henry Best (He of the Fabulous Ankles) wrote:

>Evan, thank you for your quick and courteous reply. Of course, I have
>questions. Please doublecheck the policy for me and get the One True
>Wording.

Here is the Laurel cover letter and acceptance on trimounts in full,
except that diacritical marks are missing (ASCII text dump). I will
be at Collegium Borealis (look for the Stupid Herald Tricks course --
Heraldically Correct Humor) so we can talk heraldry after class if
you'd like.

-=-=-=-=-

(From the LoAR, November 1993, Cover Letter:)

VERT TRIMOUNTS ON AZURE FIELDS (or, When Does VIII.2.b.i. Not Apply?)

Probably the biggest single issue considered at this Laurel meeting was
the appeal of Ordog Magyar Bela, Azure, a demi-wolf contourny argent,
issuant from a trimount vert, holding in its mouth a vol Or.  While this
usage clearly violates the strictures of RfS VIII.2.b.i. ("The field must
have good contrast with every charge placed directly on it and with
charged placed overall."), as with its earlier submission, it "engendered
no little discussion" and was the most discussed issue in the commentary
(four and a half pages in 10 point type, in addition to the evidence
submitted in the appeal itself).

The evidence submitted with this appeal goes beyond the bounds of "regional
style".  Of the forty-eight pieces of armory cited to support this
submission, three were from Austria, one from England, twenty-five from
the Holy Roman Empire, twelve from Hungary, five from Italy, and two
from Portugal.  Clearly, then, we are discussing a practice which
surpasses the bounds of a single "regional" style.

It was noted that the Rule of Contrast, as codified in VIII.2.b. of the
Rules for Submissions, is one of our most inviolate, and that exceptions
should only be made to it with due and extremely careful consideration.
On the other hand, it is equally true that the Rule of Contrast is our
rule, and that just as we chose to adopt it we are equally free to choose
to allow exceptions to it, under circumstances of our choosing.

In this case, I believe that the evidence presented adequately
demonstrates through multiple period examples that vert trimounts were
used on azure fields across Europe.  As a consequence, and as you will
note in the attached LoAR, we are registering the device proposal of
Ordog Magyar Bela.

The next question, of course, is that having now made one exception to
the Rule of Contrast, what are the standards for future possible
exceptions?  I believe the standards proposed by Master Bruce in his
thoughts on this submission are the ones to be applied to submissions
requesting an exception to any of our Rules in the future.

    The documentation must consist of multiple examples, not
    two or three but at least a dozen, and not limited to a single
    heraldic regime, but be from across Europe.  The examples
    must be of the exact form used in the submission: if the
    submitter wants a green trimount on blue, that's what must be
    documented -- and that documentation cannot then be used as
    an argument for, say, a green fess on blue.  The examples
    must be of comparable simplicity and style as the submission.
    And finally, even if the evidence is accepted, it only applies
    to the item at hand.

In other words, any future submission requesting an exception to any of
the Rules for Submission must be documented (1) by multiple period
examples, (2) from a number of heraldic jurisdictions, (3) in the exact
form of the proposed armory, (4) of comparable simplicity and style as
the proposed armory, (5) which apply only to that submission.  We do
not believe these restrictions to be too onerous, and hope that, if
anything, they will stimulate our submitters to do some research on their
own.

(from the "Acceptances" section:)

Ordog Magyar Bela.  Device.  Azure, a demi-wolf contourny argent,
issuant from a trimount proper, vorant a vol Or.
    The research on the use of green trimounts on colored fields not
    only in Hungary but throughout Europe was very well done and
    extremely interesting.  Given this extremely widespread use, we are
    inclined to allow its use in the SCA in spite of the contrast
    requirements of RfS VIII.2.b.i.  Please see the Cover Letter
    accompanying this LoAR for a discussion in greater detail of the
    issues presented here. 11/93

-=-=-=-=-

(Thanks Jaelle -Evan)