Falko von der Weser aka Axel Tegtmeier 101 Champions Green Dr Madison, AL 35758 herald_falko@hotmail.com

Proposals for the Tapestries of the Lineages of the Peers of Meridies General Remarks In researching the lineages of the four peerage groups of Meridies for this project, I found that for none of them a “classical” tree structure could be applied. There is no straightforward lineage for the Pelicans, Laurels and Chivalry, but for all of them exist separate, distinguished lineages within the peer group. The best example can be made for the Chivalry (see section below), where the complete lineage is posted on the internet. But the basic rules will apply to Laurel and Pelican as well. For the Royal lineage, a classical tree structure can also not be applied, because there are no branches – only direct successors. This in mind, I tried to find a way to accommodate all the twists and turns these lineages present to the Herald. Also, I chose to keep the designs simple – very simple. Because for the Royal Lineage alone, one had to paint 120 different devices, which is a mammoth task and should not leave much time for embellishments or the like. The sketches I did are very rough and serve only to illustrate my ideas, which I wrote down for each tapestry. Also, knowing what wonderful artists we have in our Kingdom, I would feel rather uncomfortable to exactly tell them in detail how to do their work. Supply only the general idea and let them do their magic – the result will be beautiful, for sure.

Proposal for a Tapestry of the Laurels of Meridies

1. Lineage Issues

According to the Meridies Online Order of Precedence, there are 118 Laurels in the Kingdom. Lineage information is not available, but a sure bet is that it does not differ too much from the scheme found with the Knighthood of Meridies.

That means, that no straightforward lineage can be assumed, but again a diversion into several ‘roots’ of varying depth, and also single Pelicans without any affiliation.

Therefore, a classical tree structure is again not possible here. 2. Conceptual Idea The lineage begins at the “Tree of Knowledge”, which grows in the pillared pavilion that is the customary symbol in the SCA for the Arts&Sciences( instead of the flame, that is usually shown). From there, the tree branches out to the distinguished lineages formed by the Laurels of the Kingdom. Each Laurel is represented by their Heraldic Shield, surrounded by a Laurel wreath. The lineage layout follows usual customs of lineage trees. There will undoubtedly be Laurels without any affiliation. Those are represented by single Laurel wreaths, which are not connected to the tree. 3. Artistic Design The sketch shows a possible layout with the main elements. The design itself is very simple. But to paint 118 different devices plus the Laurel wreaths plus the tree plus the connecting Laurel branches will present a big enough challenge, without having to care about embellishments, decorations and adornments. The Heraldic Shields are surrounded by green Laurel wreaths and the “lineage connectors” are also drawn as green Laurel branches. 4. Open Questions The dimensions of the elements (i.e. shield height, pavilion height, width of branches etc) would have to be determined by the executing artist. The size of the tapestry can easily be adjusted to fit every available space by increasing or downsizing one or all of the relevant elements.

Also, whether the inactive, out of state, or emeritus Laurels should be considered for the tapestry is up to their Majesties and possibly to the Order itself. The design supports any decision on that.

Another question to answer is, whether the name of the Laurels and/or date of the elevation should be written above their devices. For shear informational content, this would be preferable, for answering the question if this would clutter the overall appearance of the tapestry, this had to be tried out first. This decision also should be left to the actual painter.

Proposal for a Tapestry of the Pelicans of Meridies

1. Lineage Issues

According to the official website of the order at www.net-connection.com, there are 41 active Pelicans in the Kingdom. Lineage information is not available, but a sure bet is that it does not differ too much from that found with the Knighthood of Meridies.

That means, that no straightforward lineage can be assumed, but again a diversion into several ‘roots’ of varying depth, and also single Pelicans without any affiliation.

Therefore, a classical tree structure is again not possible here. 2. Conceptual Idea The lineage begins in mystical ways, with the Pelican mother. From her nest, the offspring set out to walk the land and provide comfort and help to anybody in need themselves. The tents symbolize the shelter, assistance and nourishment one gets from a Pelican. The Pelican will open its tent to everybody and inside there is food, a dry space to rest and maybe even some entertainment. This follows the centuries old custom of the desert people, who share with you what they have – my house is your house. The roads between the tents represent “the extra mile” a Pelican will go when needed, or the “long and winding road” the efforts of the Pelicans sometimes turn out to be. The ‘roots’ are all directly connected with the mythical “original Pelican” and then branch out with their own lineage. There will undoubtedly Pelicans without any affiliation. Those are represented by single tents, which are not connected to any road. 3. Artistic Design The sketch shows a possible layout with the main elements. The design itself is very simple. But to paint 41 different devices plus the tents will present a big enough challenge, without having to care about embellishments, decorations and adornments. Also, the whole nature of a Pelican is to avoid all glitter and “Glanz” and just do the work. Any floral, ornamental or other decoration would not fit the character of this order. The main tent in the upper left corner is drawn slightly bigger than all others, which are the same size. This tent hosts the “original Pelican” – the depiction was taken from the official website of the Order.

Each “offspring” tent hosts the heraldic shield of one Pelican. Whether these should indeed be drawn slanted or not, is a question of artistic taste and not really important in this context. The tents itself are of the typical circular fashion – a rather generic look but it serves the purpose. They should be colored in a beige tent color, with yellow trims. The road between the tents is colored in yellow – the color of the protégées belt. 4. Open Questions The dimensions of the elements (i.e. shield height, tent height, width of the road) would have to be determined by the executing artist. The size of the tapestry can easily be adjusted to fit every available space by increasing or downsizing one or all of the relevant elements. Also, whether the inactive, out of state, or emeritus Pelicans should be considered for the tapestry is up to their Majesties and possibly to the Order itself. The design supports any decision on that. To denote out of state status, the pennon on the tent could be adorned with the heraldic colors or device of the present Kingdom of the Pelican. For those inactive or in emeritus status, the pennon could be removed altogether.

Another question to answer is, whether the name of the Pelicans and/or date of the elevation should be written below their devices. For shear informational content, this would be preferable, for answering the question if this would clutter the overall appearance of the tapestry, this had to be tried out first. This decision also should be left to the actual painter.

Furthermore, it could prove a feasible idea to paint the Meridies Populace Badge on each of the Pennons on the tents, instead of just having them painted in one color (yellow). This, of course, would mean additional work and only the painting party can determine whether the time for this is available or not.

Proposal for a Tapestry of the Lineage of the Knights of Meridies 1. Lineage Issues The Lineage of the Knights of Meridies is no straightforward line of branches that all come from a single source, like with the Royal lineage. Instead, there are many “beginnings” in the lineage - “roots” with numerous follow-on branches, or with only a few (Source: The official website for the Order of the Chivalry in Meridies at http://net-connection.com/knights/knights_tree.html ). There are 4 distinctive roots in the lineage, which represent the majority of Meridies Knight’s today:

• 18 Knights can trace their lineage back to Andrew of Seldom Rest (not squired, knighted in 1971)

• 17 Knights can trace their lineage back to Sven of Vandalalven, called the Fierce (not squired, knighted in 1974)

• 48 Knights can trace their lineage back to Francois Duvant (not squired, knighted in 1974)

• 19 Knights can trace their lineage back to Kane Redfeather (not squired, knighted in 1988)

There are 12 knightly lines with 2 to 4 members, and there are 7 Knights without any connection to a lineage. This somewhat unusual composition presents a dilemma for displaying a consecutive and uninterrupted lineage tree – there is no such thing here. There are, however, 23 separate branches, which have only one thing in common: the members are all Knights of Meridies. Therefore, a classic tree structure for the lineage does not work here. Instead, a way must be found to display a comprehensive exhibition of the Knight’s of Meridies and their diverse lineages. 2. Conceptual Idea Each separate lineage is represented by a horsed knight. The members of the lineage are represented by their Heraldic Shield on the pennant the Knight carries. The design of the tapestry is straightforward and the actual painting should not be a real challenging endeavor, yet through the shear number of device that had to be painted, reveal itself as a somewhat time consuming matter. In the attached depiction of the proposal, four distinctive lineages are shown, representative of the overall 23 that have to be shown on the actual tapestry. The heraldic devices are left out instead numbers are depicted to identify them in the lineage tree. The

original tapestry would, of course, substitute the black shield and white numbers with the actual heraldic device of the Knight. Example for one of the 4 premiere lineages:

• 1 Andrew of Seldom Rest (not squired) 1971 o 2 William Aboinen called the Finn 1981

3 Richard of RaeFen 1985 4 Robert Greenheart 1989

5 Simon MacLeod 1996 6 Boru (Bearrach) Aelwyn the Wolfhead 1992

7 Aidan McKay 2007 8 Conor mac Bruaidin 2008

9 Conal MacDale 1993 10 Iain Geirmundsson 2000 11 Ulrich von Brandenburg 2006

12 Malachi Halfdan Brightskull 1994 13 Ragnar of Sandcastle 1999 (out of Kingdom) 14 Tycho Julsi 2001 (out of Kingdom) 15 Helgi hrafnfaeoir 2003 (out of Kingdom) 16 Kolfinna kottr 2005 (out of Kingdom)

17 Cona Macpherson 1998 18 Alexander Brighthelmston 2002

19 Ryan von Gunterburg 1992

Example for a lone Knight without any lineage:

• 20 Gilrae of Moorburn, called The Fox 1974 Example for a Knight with Lineage out-of Kingdom:

• 21 Maelgwyn de Lyonesse (out of Kingdom) o 22 Trelon of the Wood 1979

Another example for one of the 4 premiere lineages:

• 23 Kane Redfeather (not squired) 1988 o 24 Stephen Wolfe 1989

25 Elazar of Northumbria 1993 26 William Read of Alnwick 1999

27 Aengus Mac Owein 1996

28 Seth of Newcastle 2002 29 Rashid ibn Hilal 1998 30 Eric of Chester 1999 31 Caillin Macleod 2002 32 Torgan Gal 2002 33 Robert Gethan Albricht 2003

o 34 Brian Mac Brand 1992 35 Nikolai Falassievich Osetrove 1995

o 36 Loric Silvestris 1995 37 John the Pursuwer 1998

38 Cydrych Wallas 2007 o 39 Kaus Eisenhand 1998

40 Vebrand of the Iron Hills 2000 o 41 Connor McEldridge 2001 o 42 Tar Radu 2002

3. Artistic Design Each ‘root’ is represented by a mounted Knight. This Knight is of a generic nature and bears no distinctive features. In his hand, he holds a pole, on which end a banner is affixed. The Banner encloses the lineage of this ‘root’. The members of this lineage are represented by their heraldic devices. At the beginning of the banner, the populace badge of Meridies is shown, to depict this lineages root in the Kingdom of Meridies. Banners of ‘Root’-Knights, who are out-of Kingdom, lack this symbol. The first heraldic device shown on the banner is that of the ‘Root’-Knight. The following devices are the members of his lineage in a horizontal tree system. The border of the tapestry is made of a line of blue and red oak leaves. 4. Open Questions The colors to be used for the border, banner, Knight, horse, etc should be left to the group/individual that carries out the handiwork eventually. The dimensions of the elements (i.e. shield height, Knights, etc) would have to be determined by the executing artist. The size of the tapestry can easily be adjusted to fit every available space by increasing or downsizing one or all of the relevant elements. Another question to answer is, whether the name and/or date of elevation of the individual Knight should be written above (or below) their device. For shear informational content, this would be preferable, for answering the question if this would clutter the overall appearance of the tapestry, this had to be tried out first. This decision also should be left to the actual painter.

Proposal for a Tapestry of the Royal Lineage of Meridies

1. Lineage Issues

The Royal Lineage of Meridies is very straightforward – it has a defined beginning and a defined (current) end, and in between a line of successors.

All in all, the lineage so far consists of 120 Royal Peers – 60 former Kings and 60 former Queens.

Because of the direct succession of the Kings and Queens, a tree structure cannot be applied here. There are no branches to be incorporated; the tree would only consist of a single trunk. Therefore, a better form of showing the successive line of Royal Peers has to be found. 2. Conceptual Idea The Royal Lineage of Meridies, as straightforward as described above, is best shown as a constant, unbroken and unswerving line. Simple enough, but there are a few possible layouts – straight, rectangular, spiraling … To show that the lineage is not a closed matter, but has a current end with more to come, a closed line like a circle cannot be used. The spiral seems to be a good solution, instead. It starts at the beginning, with the current Royals the farthest away from the start. It therefore represents a timeline of succession. Also, it presents the opportunity to have some symbolism in the middle, so to depict the cause of the tapestry. 3. Artistic Design The sketch shows a possible layout with all sixty device-pairs. The design itself is indeed very simple. But to paint 120 different devices will present a big enough challenge, without having to care about embellishments, decorations and adornments. In the center, the full heraldic achievement of Meridies is presented. The spiral with the Royal devices on it originates from the tail of the right horse supporter. The spiral is defined by simple black borders, the background should be left unpainted. On the spiral, the heraldic devices for each Royal pair are shown side by side. The slanting of the shield against each other is artistic license and need not to be done necessarily.

The end of the spiral terminates in a star, so the whole spiral could also be seen as a comet – which is a common emblem in Meridies, which is used for a Populace Badge and an Award for instance. 4. Open Questions The dimensions of the elements (i.e. shield height, spiral width, width and height of centerpiece) would have to be determined by the executing artist. The size of the tapestry can easily be adjusted to fit every available space by increasing or downsizing one or all of the relevant elements.

Another question to answer is, whether the name of the Royal Peers and/or date of the respective Royal reign should be written above (or below) their devices. For shear informational content, this would be preferable, for answering the question if this would clutter the overall appearance of the tapestry, this had to be tried out first. This decision also should be left to the actual painter.