An example of an Award of Arms. The rights listed, aside from the right to bear arms, are taken from Middle Kingdom Sumptuary Law and Custom. Both are online and may be viewed by checking out the Kingdom Law and the Heraldry: Ministry of Protocol Links at the Middle Kingdom's web site.

Henry, by right of arms King of the Middle Kingdom and Anne, by grace Our Queen, to Our Dukes, Counts, Barons, and all Our officers and faithful subjects, greetings.

Know that for the love we bear him and his service as our Seneschal in our Shire of Lincoln, we have given and granted and by this our present charter confirmed to Daniel Askew an award of arms.

Wherefore we wish and firmly order that the said Daniel should have and hold the rank of lord fully, honorably, peacefully, and freely with all the appurtenances, rights, privileges and responsibilities which belong to said status including the right to bear such arms as he shall register with the College of Arms, to display said arms in achievement in accordance with the customs of the Middle Kingdom, to wear upon his head a circlet of gold not greater than one inch thickness, and to be addressed in all places as a Lord within the Society for Creative Anachronism.

By the hand of Our scribe Merouda Pendray in Our Barony of Caer Anterth Mawr on this the 24th day of February, Anno Societatis 34, being the 4th month of Our reign.

Note: Illuminated heraldic documents granting arms often contain a phrase like "as more plainly appeareth in the margin." Thus, if the recipient has registered arms, replace the phrased "bear such arms as he shall register with the college of arms" with the description of the arms and, if the scroll will be illuminated with the arms (and, as an Award of Arms, the registered Arms really should be on the scroll), the phrase "as more plainly appeareth in the margin." If Merouda Pendray were receiving an award of arms, then, the phrase would be "to bear: per pale sable and Or, a gryphon segreant countourne within an orle of feathers counterchanged, as more plainly appeareth in the margin."

An example of the Order of the Willow; remember to use the Queen's name first when doing those awards that come from the Queen--the Willow, the Oak, the Grove, the unnamed GOA level A&S award, and Doe's Grace (although it is often written as given from the King).

Mary, by grace Queen of the Middle Kingdom and Patroness of the Arts and Sciences, and Phillip, by right of arms Our King, greet Our Companions of the Laurel, the Willow, the Silver Oak, the Grove, and all our loyal subjects throughout Our realm.

For her great skill in costuming, know that we have granted and confirmed by this Our charter unto Edith Head membership in our Order of the Willow.

Therefore we wish and firmly order that the said Edith shall have and hold the status of a member of said order fully, freely, and peacefully, with all the appurtenances, rights, privileges, and responsibilities which belong to members of this order, including the right to bear the badge purpure a willow tree eradicated Or and to style herself a Companion of the said Order.

By the hand of our scribe Ruby Tuesday in Our Shire of Spire on the 28th day of June, this 34th year of the Society, being the third month of Our Reign.

An opening for the Award of the Purple Fret. This particular opening is based on the style used with Mary I after her marriage to Phillip.

Charles and Eleanora, by right of arms King and Queen of the Middle Kingdom, to our Companions of the Pelican and the Dragon's Heart, Our Great Lords and Ladies of State, and all our faithful subjects, greetings. (Etcetera)

An example of a Principality Award; the Prince and Princess of Northshield give all kingdom awards as Regents for the Crown. Thus, Kingdom wordings should be used for Kingdom awards and the signature block should be "prorege/proregina" rather than "princeps/princepessa." As all Non-Principality awards are not in TSH's power to give, they should not be cited in the greeting phrase.

Ferdinand, Prince of Northshield by right of arms, and Isabella, Our Princess and Inspiration, to Our members of the Orders of the Sheriffs and Constables, Our officers, and all our faithful subjects, send greetings!

For her valor on the field and in the service of Northshield, we have given and granted and by this letter give and grant unto Mary McIlvene the Award of the Norbandr.

We wish and strictly order that the said Mary should have and hold the estate and honor of this award fully, freely, and peacefully with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities as are accorded to recipients of this award, including that of displaying the token of said award.

By the hand of our scribe Christopher Columbus in our Barony of Castile on this third day of March, anno societatis 34, in the 3rd month of our reign.

Scribes wishing to use medieval formulary for other awards should be able to do so by altering one of the above texts as needed. However, do be extremely careful in listing specific rights granted with a particular award. Check the online listing of which titles are granted by which award through the Min. of Protocol Page--you'd be surprised by what things in use are not actually titles. Check the sumptuary customs. Check Kingdom Law. Other than that, have fun! :-)

I've picked up bits and pieces about documents from all kinds of places. The things I looked at specifically while writing the above were:

Charter to the Monastery of Westminster, 1556. Facsimile publication in Mary I, Rosalind Marshall, London:HMSO, 1993.

Grant of Arms to Thomas Cathorne 1553. Facsimile publication in The Art of Heraldry, Peter Gwyn-Jones. New York:Barnes & Noble

Grant of Arms to Sir Nicholas Bacon 1578. Facsimile publication in British Heraldry: From its Origins to 1800, R. Marks & A. Payne, London:British Museum Publications Limited.

Eyestone, David (Edwin atte Bridge). Parts of the Medieval Formulary. Unpublished paper. 1998. I am particularly indebted to this work; much of the above is based upon it.

Helm, Catie (Therasia von Tux), Translations of and notes on three letters patent, two of which grant arms. Unpublished paper. 19 October 1998.

Roylance, Steve (Thorfinn ????). Personal communication containing notes on period documents 25 Jan 98.

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