Re: coat of arms research

[Dave Montuori <damont@wolfstar.com>]

Poster: Dave Montuori <damont@wolfstar.com>


The short answer is: No, one's arms are not required to match one's
persona (though having them match is often A Good Thing). But that's
actually not terribly relevant in this instance.

Scripsit Tristan:
> I was told, but St Gabriel, that my arms would not be passed b/c they
> are not a "French" design for coats of arms in period.

Please note: I am a semi-active member of the Academy, and the final
report (which I quote below) is on a publicly accessible website (though I
don't have the URL to hand). The report could have been written more
clearly, and you drew an inference that, while not unreasonable from the
wording, isn't actually the case.

     You also asked about arms blazoned "Gules, on a pile inverted azure,
     a sword proper charged on the hilt with a decrescent argent"

The report states that these arms would not be registerable by the SCA
College of Arms, and that they don't match your name's time/place. What it
failed to make clear is that those two points are independent of each
other. The device won't pass, but *not* because it doesn't match your
persona; it won't pass because it violates the Rules for Submissions.

> They also listed that they couldn't find anything by a M. de Roquelaure
> in the 16th century, though I managed to find period information of a
> person by the name of "de Roquelaure" in period...

Um, Tristan, you read it wrong. S. Gabriel *did* find a "M. de Roquelaure"
in the 16th century, but without a more specific date than that:

     We're confident that the surname <de Roquelaure> is fine for a  
     late-period French name.  We didn't find dated examples in period,
     but there was a <M. de Roquelaure> in 16th century France.  There
     are two places called <Roquelaure> in southern France today.

So, to sum up, your name is just fine -- get those submission forms in
gear! :-) :-) But the armory needs further work just to pass regardless of
whether it matches your persona or not.

Evan

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