By Lord Ivo Blackhawk

With special thanks to: Master Robin of Gilwell, OP OL, Master Robert Fitzmorgan OP, HL Haldane Sparhawk, HL Estril Sweet, HL Emma De Featherstone & Lord Reis Ap Tudor

 The household, as both a historical and society institution, is easily one of the oldest concepts to exist in either field. Within the Society, many of the founding members were active participants in what today would likely be considered households. Also, most of the founding members of Mooneschadowe were active members of households as well.

In period, the idea of the ‘household’ was part of how the overall view of how society viewed the world around it. A person was identified in large part by who they worked for, lived with, and were married to. Your affiliations along these lines were part of how you as an individual were defined, and your alliances to or against different principals were often referred to as being for or against a certain household.

Phrases or titles like “A curse upon both your houses,” and  “The fall of the house of Usher” are literary artifacts that hearken back to this mentality. As a point of fact, people not associated with a household were usually hermits, or outlaws, and both were poorly received by society.

One of the more striking artifacts of this is the title of “Houscarl”, or “House Carl” where “carl” (or “karl”) was a fighter roughly analogous to a later period knight in skill. Houscarls were sworn in service to the chieftains or kings in the Scandinavian and early Germanic tribes of Europe. These fearsome warriors were central figures at major battles such as Hastings and Essex Bridge in the late 10^th century, and were usually considered part of the household of the chieftain that oversaw them. Their status as members of the household were not figurative; many such men lived under the same roof as their chieftain and shared his food, fire, and home as payment for their service.

The first SCA households were likely little more than a collection of friends, much as many of them are today. Though from a period standpoint, the Crown, his champions, and his entourage could also be argued to be a household in their own right.

In general terms, households are collections of people who are joined by a common theme. As to what the theme ultimately is can vary greatly. Households exist, or have existed along nearly every possible social, economic, political and practical divide. Furthermore, as the society has grown, so as the variety of alternative names associated with households.

Simply put, a household is any group of people who choose to associate together under a common name. If they so choose, one or two of them may register a name of the household and a joint badge as a symbol of the group. The SCA College of Heralds does not allow households to register arms as a collective group, that privilege is reserved for SCA recognized chapters.  Even the badge of House Wolfstar is still registered to one person, who still technically retains the power to control how that image is used or displayed. 

With this comes a variety of alternative terminologies. Within the Rapier community “ships” are not uncommon, with the membership being referred to as “ships company.” Some fighting households choose to term themselves as “Companies” (a historical militarily term documented as early the Dead Sea scrolls and still used today in most modern militaries). This theme can even extend to tactics and organization within the household, and perhaps the most recognized term for the heads of these households is that of “Company Captain.” Conversely, there are some examples of “Company” being used in its economic tense.  “A company of bards” might be a collection of performers seeking to demonstrate their skills. Or “the Tavern Company” might be a household that excels in setting up and running a Tavern or feast. And others elect to drop the world “household” altogether, with households such as “Dwarves,” and “Foxtails” as just a few examples.

But do not be mistaken, all of these fall under the deliberately broad definition of an SCA household.

One of the most common overlaps presently involving households is the distinction between households and guilds. There is a distinction between them, though this line has been blurred at times, both in the modern society and in history.

In history, guilds were classically very exclusive groups with strictly controlled membership consisting of specialists in a specific craft. This exclusivity was usually intended to preserve trade secrets or to consolidate skills bases in what today might be called an economic monopoly. Skills such as coin striking, goldsmithing, lock making, accounting and some examples of weaving and glass blowing were highly interlaced with guild activity in Europe, and in some locations it was virtually impossible for any party or government to access these types of skills without going through the local guilds.

In some select examples, the differences between historical guilds and households were totally nonexistent. One case being an Italian family who also controlled a substantial portion of the glass bead industry for several generations. While almost completely family controlled, operated and funded (a household in the classic definition), there business practices and economic model, (not to mention there focus on a specific trade skill) also defined them as a guild. This was further reinforced by their interactions and relationships with other guilds in ways that non-guild members would never have been able to accomplish.

Even in history, with total absence of the SCA as a topic, the difference between households and guilds can become murky if the definition is tightened too much.  

SCA Guilds are also traditionally centered on a single art or discipline, much like their historical counterparts. However, while members work to practice and encourage their disciplines, memberships is usually a non-specific issue, with any interested party welcomed to join and consider themselves a member. As opposed to the highly regulated guilds of history, SCA guilds are generally open organizations who tend to be closely aligned with or (at the very least) coordinate with local SCA officers, most typically Ministers of Arts and Sciences.

It should be noted that within Ansteorra, part of our kingdom culture includes a preference for smaller, more local guilds. In other parts of the country some guilds can be much larger and have memberships that actually span several kingdoms at a time. Guilds in places like Atenveldt, West and Atlantia can be major contributing forces to kingdom level projects, where as in Ansteorra, this role is often assumed by the Baronies.

SCA Households, as opposed to guilds, tend to be more formal about their membership. The idea being not only to work within a discipline or activity, but to specifically work with other members of the household on that project. Most households have some framework of internal governance, whether it is a tradition of simple meetings, or an established hierarchy of leaders, administrators and treasurers. Membership is usually far more formal than with guilds, with considerations potentially including how well a prospect fits within the theme of the household, and how well they work with the current membership. Almost all memberships into households are decided by the existing members at some level, and some households are founded with the understanding that the founding membership will likely be the only members, and ergo new membership is not considered.

The functional role of households within the SCA is a vast topic that could easily cover many, many pages. But in basic terms, the history of household activities within the kingdom is not negligible.

Before the establishment of Ansteorra as a kingdom, awards were considerably fewer. One of the earliest service awards was the Pillar of Ansteorra. This principal service award was given to an entire household that had been deemed by the Coronet to support the Principality. In total, eleven such awards were given between 1978 and 1979, and any member of those recognized households was entitled to display the PilA chord, a black and gold braid. At the foundation of the kingdom, there were only 240 Ansteorrians, and the eleven households that had been recognized by the principality to that point likely constituted nearly a third of the total kingdom population.

Since the foundation of the kingdom, households have continued to serve in various roles across the spectrum of service, combat and art through the years.

House Wolfstar has, on several occasions fielded enough fighters to constitute a substantial heavy cavalry force at Gulf Wars, and was employed to devastating effect in several battles at Gulf War IX for example. During a later war, The Barony of Elfsea employed House Iron Lance as an adjunct fighting force to their own Arthurian Company, nearly doubling their numbers, and devastating enemy lines on multiple occasions in direct, head on fights that would have traditionally favored the Trimaran numerical advantage. At one point, The Black Company’s fighting arm joined the Liondragon guard for several engagements at Gulf Wars, fighting with both determination and devastation in several pitched engagements.

Off of the battlefield, House Halfiras had been constantly represented in Ansteorra by Lady Zubeydah in the aspect of water bearing for several years. Water bearing is also one of the many, many roles that the household of the Foxtails can be seen eagerly contributing to, as well as general labor, cleaning, and event support. The Black Company, on top of its fighting unit, was also known to hosts several household bardic competitions a year during its heyday, and was an active supporter of the performing arts. Households have also sponsored hospitality tables at events, cooked feats and sideboards, managed heraldry, list-mistressing, scroll painting tables, setup, and after-event cleanup.

Historically, households have both influenced, and been influenced by local groups. The first Wolfstar event, held during in the early nineteen eighties, was underwritten by the then Shire of Mooneschadowe, partially to assure that the activity would be advertized in the Blackstar Newsletter, and also in accordance with the fact that households are not represented by SCA inc. liability protection, where has local groups are.

Conversely, the concept of a household was invoked as a tool of unity by the seneschal of Mooneschadowe during what is widely considered one of the dark periods in northern history. With conflict brewing from without, Lord Alexandros stated at a Mooneschadowe populace meeting that he wished to see the shire stop acting like a then-traditional SCA group, and more like a household. “There is only one household in Mooneschadowe, and that is the household of Mooneschadowe.” In retrospect, this is generally considered by those who were there to be the earliest groundwork for the attitudes and philosophy that lead up to the foundation of the kingdom’s first province.

Socially, households represent a very different balance of power than might be traditionally found in a canton, shire, barony or province. Where local groups are required by policy (and law) to deal with the social and political pressures of multiple people who may, or may not, universally like each other, households have the implicit option of selecting their membership based, in part, on how well a member works within their group. This level of cohesion can mean (but by no means requires) that members of households might also share opinions on a number of subjects. At the same time some households are just as well known for their colorful internal differences of opinion. The fact of the matter is that while households represent a greater range of possibilities in terms of interaction and membership than a local group, the only way to say what the specific characteristics of a household are is to evaluate that household on a case by case basis, much like one would have to evaluate a person.

The household as an SCA concept is a compromise between historical accuracy and SCA policy. Deliberately broad in definition in order to give the widest possible flexibility, the variety of groups that openly identify themselves as households within the SCA represent a plethora of  different organizations that can have more differences between them than commonalities.

Examples include The Dark Horde & its various offshoots, as well as Rolling Thunder, two of the larger households who’s memberships cover several kingdoms at one time. Smaller households, organizations active at the kingdom or just the local level include Casa de Morada, House Winecrest and the Ravens just to name a few.

Some are openly political; others can hardly be bothered to even acknowledge that questions of policy exist. Some live for solely for the thrill of combat, and others can’t be pulled away from the kitchen long enough to be thanked half the time. Some adhere to rigid military structure in their makeup, while others could quite accurately be described as a “bunch of drinking buddies” who wanted a neat looking sign to hang over their camp. So in between these extremes, or possibly sitting next to them in some cases, exist the remainder of all the households in the society, each one nearly as unique as a person in their own right.

In the end, the “household” is perhaps one of the most poorly defined entities within the society, yet also one of the more potentially influential. The result of this, however, is a set of options that makes any broad summary statement about households almost instantly erroneous. The potential for harm or good, encouragement or derisiveness is the same for any collection of friends, households or otherwise. Only on a case by case basis can the merit and character of a SCA household be determined with any accuracy.