Opening and Closing Voice Heraldry for Baronial Courts By Lord Ivo Blackhawk (This article is free for unmodified publication, reproduction, and distribution provided that the original author is properly credited by SCA name with the article.)
When it comes down to it, one of the things that helps define the SCA is the event of the noble or royal court. This is where the barons, baroness, princes, princesses, kings and queens are given their chance to shine before an audience in a way unlike any other. Courts and all of their trappings are among the few things that truly define the society as separate from about 99% of the other recreational activities in the United States, and as such, there is, understandably, a lot of pressure to make it look good. Alas, this pressure invariably falls on the shoulders of the herald and, more often than not, the herald for a given court is nowhere near as experienced as they want to be in the art of opening and closing a baronial court. In reality, the process is not overly complicated, but since it is defined by tradition as much as logic, it is not something that is intuitive for new herald.
With this distinct in mind, opening a court is a fairly straight forward process. If it is a royal court, you declare the court of the king and queen open in the presence of the landed nobles. In plain English, you are effectively saying that the Baron and Baroness are standing in for the king and Queen. A basic example of a royal court held
by a baron and baroness… If it is unclear exactly what goes into each blank, there are people whose job it is to know. Usually a more veteran herald within the group will be able to help with local names and titles. And if all else fails, the Baron and Baroness themselves will certainly know how they should be announced. Strictly speaking, it is sufficient to say “this does now open the court of their stellar Majesties, Rex and Regina Ansteorra…” in order to open a royal court. In a pinch, and with no warning, a number of heralds will use this option in order to keep things simple. However, if time and resources permit, it is considered highly preferable to use the full name of each royal in the opening of their court. It is the specific job of the Golden Staff herald (the personal voice herald to the crown) to know the proper names and titles that the current crown wants used. Some crowns, for example may elect to use a title other than “Rex and Regina,” and this is their prerogative. Again, if time permits, it is always preferable to consult with the Golden staff about particulars for that reign. But, if this is not an option, no fault can be found for using the time honored Latin titles. However… if the only maters of business being addressed are baronial, than the only opening necessary is that for a baronial court. That is a straight forward process; “This does now open the court of There Excellencies [Baron’s name] and [Baroness’s name] Baron and Baroness of [title of barony…and so on…].” The good news is that in this case, all but the newest landed nobles will be able to provide their full titles for the opening cries. The business of court itself is relatively individualized by group, and even then the “rules” can change between nobles, and even between courts at the same event. So the order of announcements, awards and type of court “shtick” has few if any rules governing it at a kingdom level. The closing of court is frequently a tripping point for heralds, especially new ones. After no small measure of time standing in front of an audience, organizing people and paperwork, usually with less than desired sleep and preparation, the long and verbose list of vivats and names can be a little more than most heralds want to try from memory. The first part of a court closing cry is to undo what was said at the beginning, which means simply replacing “open” with “close” in the text. If you opened a Royal court, you close it with: “This does now close the court of their stellar majesties [King’s name], and [queen’s name], Rex and Regina Ansteorra, held in the presence of There Excellencies [Baron’s name] and [Baroness’s name] Baron and Baroness of [title of barony…and so on…].” And if you just opened a baronial court, you close it with: “This does now close the court of There Excellencies [Baron’s name] and [Baroness’s name] Baron and Baroness of [title of barony…and so on…].” The next part, the “Vivats” is the part that most new court heralds traditionally sweat bullets over. To a first-timer, the impression is that they have to salute everyone on the SCA membership rolls. While not literally the case, the impression is still a lasting one, and the source of no small measure of hesitation for some heralds. The fact of the mater is that there is not one, singular approved method of doing closing vivats. Most recently, a conversation between some of the more experienced court heralds in the kingdom concluded that there were at least two methods of ordering the salutes that had traditional precedence, and there for were acceptable. The first and, what is widely agreed to be the most common presently, groups the names and places together by association. First you salute the baron and baroness, and then all of their cantons from youngest to oldest, and then the barony itself. And then you salute the prince and princess (if there is one), and then you salute the king and queen and then you salute the kingdom. The second method salutes the people in ascending order, and then the groups in ascending order. So in that case you will salute the baron, the baroness, the prince, the princess the king, the queen, the cantons, the barony and then the kingdom. While its not clear which order is actually older in SCA practice, the second of the two is presently referred to as “the old school method” by some, though this is hardly a universal reference. An example of the first method, using the Barony of Northkeep:
Vivat Baron Vivat Baroness Vivat Chemin Noir Vivat Northkeep Vivat Princeps Vivat Princepessa Vivat Rex Vivat Regina Vivat Ansteorra
The same group using the second method would look like this:
Vivat Baron Vivat Baroness Vivat Princeps Vivat Princepessa Vivat Rex Vivat Regina Vivat Chemin Noir Vivat Northkeep Vivat Ansteorra
On a side note, the use of Latin in the closing salutes is a time-honored tradition within the Kingdom, and is based in part on historical court documents and practices in several countries across the Europe. “Vivat” translates—more or less—to “long live” in English. While most Ansteorrans at least recognize “Vivat” and “Long Live,” these are by no means the only salutes used in the SCA. The Kingdom of Midrealm uses the charge “Hoobla Midrealm” in their salutes, there are unconfirmed stories of baronial level salutes done in German, Russian, Japanese or even Mandarin at some locations. The point is that “Vivat” is not the universal standard, even within our own kingdom. All members of the royal family have the prerogative of requesting a salute be done in a given way. Within the past ten years, there have been more than a few local courts where the barony and the nobility were “Vivat-ed,” and the Royals were saluted with “Long Live,” for example. In practice, few if any heralds can be faulted for falling back on the Latin tradition if they are unsure of what to specifically do. And if there are any questions about the specifics of how a crown or heir wishes to be saluted, it is usually best to contact their personal herald, or possibly the head of their entourage. And lastly, simplicity is arguably the best policy with the closing salutes. As the audience is supposed to reply to each “Vivat,” or “Long Live,” it is important to not only keep your choice of words economical, but also it is important to not stray too far from what the audience is expecting. If a particular herald fells up to he, he may use as many adjectives as he desires in the phrasing leading up to the salute, but the salute itself should be as short and simple as possible. For example, the following would be perfectly acceptable (if still verbose) “For his stellar majesty, ruler by right of arms, crown over all the kingdom; Vivat Rex!” The Audience only has to repeat the last two words, and the end result will more likely than not be a thunderous, unified reply from the audience. However, it is very easy to jumble a salute. “Vivat his royal majesty Ansteorra!” It can almost be guaranteed that the attending crowd will be divided between people to reply “Vivat Rex” out of reflex, people who reply “Vivat Ansteorra” because they heard the kingdom name and just assumed that was the proper salute, and People who try—and fail—to repeat the full text of the salute. The result will be a broken, unified sound from the audience, and probably more than a few frustrated off duty-heralds on top of that, not counting the person who actually issued the charge. The K.I.S.S. principle is one to take to heart with most heraldry, and doubly so when crying courts or meetings. Perhaps one of the most important things that any court herald should take away from this is that there is absolutely no requirement that these be committed to memory. While the most experienced and seasoned of the voice heralding corps within the kingdom can rattle off such litanies in their sleep with less than thirty seconds notice, these are people who have been doing this for years, and is many cases decades. Even they will be the first to tell an up and coming herald to take notes where necessary, and to fell free to script out the opening and closing of a court if they have time in advance. What is important in a court is if the final product, as viewed from the audience, is a professional, and “spot on” as possible given the resources at hand. As a herald, if writing out a working script for court is what is needed to make your nobles (and you) look that much better, then do not hesitate to do so. |