CODEX MAXIMILLIAN

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Documentation for the

Codex Maximillian

by

THL Falko von der Weser

Shire of An Dun Theine

September 2003

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Introduction This book is a gift of the Shire of An Dun Theine to Their Majesties King Maximillian and Queen Lethrenn of Meridies on the occasion of their resignation on 13 September 2003. It contains 12 pages with illuminated miniatures of various scenes from their reign, which were painted by three members of the populace of An Dun Theine and bound into a book by a fourth. The miniatures are in the style of the German high medieval books “Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift” (The Great Heidelberg Songbook), also known as Codex Manesse and the “Weingartner Liederhandschrift” (The Konstanz-Weingarten Songbook), which were both written in the first half of the 14th century.

The Idea The idea to do this book was born a few weeks after Coronation in April 2003, when Baron Hywel ap Ieuan asked me if I could come up with a good German text for the county scrolls for Maximillian and Lethrenn. By then, those two had only just become King and Queen of Meridies, but it seemed wise to get an early start. During my research on the Internet, where I was trying to find out, how the other Kingdoms would word their scrolls (no need to reinvent the wheel …), I stumbled across an amazing project, that was once done by the people of Aethelmearc for their Majesties as a farewell gift:

The book contains 24 pages with text and illumination, which describe the achievements of the reign of Morguhn and Meirwen, 3rd King and Queen of Aethelmearc. A detailed description of the project can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/pa2/scribal/ . I discussed the idea to make something similar for Maximillian and Lethrenn with Baron Hywel, and we decided that it would be best if I did this separately from the county scrolls as a Shire project. So I brought it before the Shire and everybody thought it was a good idea. It became clear very quickly, however, that our project would have to be somewhat scaled down in comparison to the Aethelmearc book.

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They spent a lot of money on this ($125 on vellum alone), which the Shire just could not spare. We estimated that the extensive use of Gold leaf, real leather for the book covers, and all the other things Aethelmearc did, would bring the cost up to $250 – way beyond our reach. So it was decided to do it in a more humble way that fit our budget. And I decided not to burden the Shire’s budget at all, but to pay for the necessary materials myself as a donation to the Dream.

The Concept Because Maximillian’s persona is German, I thought that a typical German style would be appropriate for this book. Moreover, because I did not want to involve outside help, but keep this project in my Shire, I had to pick a style, which would accommodate the artistic abilities of the personal I had available. The Codex Manesse has always been one of my personal favorites when it comes to illustration and illumination, so the choice was rather obvious. Only in July, at RUM, did I learn that it was one of the favorites of our King Maximillian, too. What a lucky coincidence! The concept I finally developed for the book was 10 to 12 pages of important scenes from events they attended. It was clear from the beginning that to cover every event their Majesties were present, was an impossible task. So I chose those with significance to the Kingdom (like Coronation, A&S Faire, Crown List) and those with significance to my Shire (like occasions when members of my Shire got awards). The involved persons should be identifiable by their coat of arms and the scenes should be self-explanatory to a certain degree. The level of detail should be generally the same as in the original Codex Manesse, but the symbolism used would be adjusted to SCA standards. Today, nobody would recognize a man with crossed legs as a judge – however, a white belt would identify a man immediately as Knight to any SCAdian. Also, because Maximillian and Lethrenn were the 25th Majesties of Meridies, and Meridies had the silver anniversary of its creation this year, this should be indicated on at least one of the pages.

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The Materials The first choice to be made was the paper. I ordered a sample with a dozen sheets of different papers from an Internet store and tried them out by painting a small piece on them. It turned out that Arches Hot Press 90lbs paper for watercolors was the easiest material to work with and it also looks great. Just to be sure and because I never had done anything like this before, I tried it out by painting an illumination of myself in the required style for the book:

This also took care of the paint, which I had chosen by the criteria of “available at the local Michael’s store”. Also, I had taken a class at the Kingdom A&S Faire about illumination and there I learned that Gouache colors are the paint of choice for projects like these. So I went to the Michael’s store and bought three sets of “Reeves Fine Gouache Colours” – one set for each of the artists who would work on this project. This ensured a consistent color palette throughout the book. Being an engineer and thus having some experience in technical drawings with ink, I bought two Rotring ArtPens with different nib widths for the outlines of the paintings. I used Rotring ink pens for technical drawings before, so I had confidence in the quality I was getting from these pens. For the calligraphy, I bought a 1.1mm ArtPen with a straight nib. The cover material for the book I bought on ebay. I was looking for something in black and silver (the heraldic colors of Meridies) and although the fabric I got has some Celtic motif, it fits the intended purpose quite well.

The Artists It should be a Shire project, but only few people dared to offer their services. My Shire is not known for it’s artistic prowess – we are just beginning to develop a core of illuminators and scribes. Also, I did not want to have too many cooks stirring the molasses, to keep a homogenous look throughout the book, so it became a four-people job. It was planned that Thorfinn would do most of the line drawings, and Catte and myself would then apply the color. That plan fell through however, because Thorfinn had to devote more time than expected into the preparation of our main event Unchained Doom in September. Also, Catte was tasked with doing some scrolls for Shire Awards, which were supposed to be given out at Doom. That left me doing most of the work – which I wouldn’t have minded so much, but I actually had not done anything like this ever before!

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So I was learning by doing and to avoid mistakes and frustration, I decided to do my illustrations in the style of the Weingartner Liederhandschrift. This meant simplified drawings and no shading. Later, after I gained some experience, I started to apply some shading, but only to a very moderate degree. Catte on the other hand is well versed in the art of shading and so her coloring is distinctively different than mine. That contradicts the goal of keeping a certain uniformity throughout the book, but it adds the distinctive feel of a group project, which is not a bad thing at all. Also, Thorfinn’s drawings were done free hand, whereas my drawings emerged with the aid of a light table. The bookbinding was quite nicely done by Diotima. She is an expert in this field and I am so grateful for her help!

The Originals Die große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift (The Great Heidelberg Songbook) or Codex Manesse This is the main representative of art of the high middle ages in Germany. On 852 pages in the format 35.5 x 25 cm (appr. 14 x 10 inches) it contains 137 miniatures of German Minnesänger with depictions of their typical clothes, accessories and environments, as well as the poems they wrote. The pictures show mostly scenes of every day life of the Minnesänger, be it at tournaments, in war, at court or with the female targets of their love lyrics. The Codex was written in the first quarter of the 14th century in the vicinity of Zurich (in modern Switzerland). It was commissioned by a group of nobles and church dignitaries, who wanted to assemble a complete collection of all Minnesänger and their poems between 1160 and 1330. The miniatures were painted by four different illustrators. The main portion of 110 paintings was done by the so-called “Grundstockmaler” (Basic Painter) between about 1300 and 1315. He used very bright colors, whereas the three painters, who illustrated an additional 27 miniatures between 1315 and 1330, used more subdued colors. They also decorated the frames with ornamental flowers, branches or spheres, whereas the original painter used mainly simple geometric patterns. The miniatures consist of the following main parts:

a) Title and Name of the Minnesänger; for instance the titles “Herzoge” (Duke), “Grave” (Count) or “Her” (Lord).

b) The framing; simple geometrical ornamentation in blue, gold and red or simple double or triple framing without ornamentation in the same colors; when the picture contains trees or flowers, the border ornamentation is sometimes also done with floral motifs.

c) The Minnesänger; he wears typical attire and has always blonde hair; very few have beards, but almost all have either a circlet or a crown (depending on their rank) on their heads (except the Knights who wear helmets and the Travelers, who wear travel attire).

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Many pictures have additional persons in it, depicting scenes from the life of the Minnesänger.

d) Symbol of Rank and/or Status; pictures of Knights have a sword in it, learned men and teachers hold tablets, judges sit with crossed legs, the Emperor holds a scepter and so on; many hold a scroll to depict their prominence as Minnesänger.

e) Artistic Details like trees, flowers, animals, benches, horses or mounds. f) The Coat of Arms of the Minnesänger; often with a crested helmet either on top of it

or beside the shield. Example:

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Die Weingartner Liederhandschrift (The Konstanz-Weingarten Songbook) This book is considered the “little sister” of the Codex Manesse. It consists of 179 pages in the format 15 x 11.5 cm (appr. 6 x 4.5 inches), with pictures of 25 Minnesänger and the texts of their poems. It was written in the same general time frame as the Codex Manesse, between 1315 and 1320 in the southern region of Germany in the vicinity of Lake Konstanz. The style of the illustrations is much more simple than in the Codex Manesse and lacks the artistic sophistication. Example:

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Differences and similarities between the two Liederhandschriften

Codex Manesse Weingartner Liederhandschrift Format 14 x 10 inches 6 x 4.5 inches Pages 852 179 Pictures of Minnesänger 137 25 Contents of Pictures Scenes from the Life of the

Minnesänger, many battle scenes (“comic strip” like)

Portraits of the Minnesänger; only a few scenes, no battles

Text of the Poem(s) On separate page opposite the illustration of the Minnesänger

Like Codex Manesse, but with two pages containing both text and illustration

Coloring Use of shading Solid color without shading Minnesänger All 25 Minnesänger in the Weingartner Liederhandschrift are also

found in the Codex Manesse Symbolism The symbols used to depict the rank and class of the Minnesänger

are the same in both books Heraldic Devices Almost every page has the

coat of arms of the depicted Minnesänger in it

Almost no page has the coat of arms of the depicted Minnesänger in it

The Templates It is assumed that both books used the same basic templates for the illustrations. If placed the 25 illustrations in the Weingartner Liederhandschrift and their counterparts of the Codex Manesse next to each other, it becomes quite obvious, that this is true. Examples:

Weingartner Liederhandschrift Codex Manesse

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Weingartner Liederhandschrift Codex Manesse

Weingartner Liederhandschrift Codex Manesse The similarities are apparent and it is quite clear that for both books the same basic templates were used. The illustrations in the Codex Manesse however are much more elaborate and sophisticated and the attention to detail is much more distinctive. It almost seems that the Codex Manesse is the work of a master, whereas the Weingartner Liederhandschrift is that of an apprentice.

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I used the basic templates contained in the illustrations of the Codex Manesse, too. Usually, however, I combined various elements from different pictures. The page “Royal University of Meridies” is a good example. It contains the following separate elements from different pictures of the Codex Manesse:

- The King (in the original picture, it was a Herald) - The curtain - The first man (yellow-blue dress) - The second man (blue-brown dress) - The group of a man/a woman (in green-red and red dresses)

The following added elements are genuinely Meridian:

- Two comets - Two bronze headbands on the curtain - The scroll in the hand of the King - The badge of the Royal University of Meridies on the Throne - The banner of An Dun Theine

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The Customization 1) Framing

The original paintings of the Codex Manesse have in most instances triple frames, almost always in the colors blue-gold-red. Some frames are ornamented with geometrical patterns or floral motifs. Because this book was meant to be a commemorative gift for the King and Queen of Meridies, the two heraldic colors of Meridies were chosen for the framing – sable (black) and argent (silver). To not overcomplicate the paintings and because time constraints prevented a more elaborate design anyway, a simple pattern of black on the horizontal bars and silver on the vertical bars was applied.

2) Attire It is not known, whether the originals depict the Minnesänger in their actual clothes. One has to assume, that with the stylized depiction of the people, realism was not really a big goal. It was probably tough enough for the illustrator to gather all the different heraldic coats of arms of the Minnesänger, without having to care about the clothes additionally. In a few cases, we know that fantasy arms were used, probably because sufficient information about the real arms was not available. In the book, the colors and to a certain degree also the patterns of the actual clothes of the depicted people are used.

The King and Queen always wore a blue dress with gold/red trims; this was evidently their “official” attire, which they also wore during court – see official Coronation photo at left. To simplify the pictures and thus keeping them in line with the style of the originals, the elaborate red and gold ornamentation was actually reduced to just a gold trim. Wherever possible and depending on the available information, the other people in the pictures are shown in their typical colors, too.

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3) Symbolism The Kings in the originals wear golden crowns; the Knights are in armor; ordinary people are shown smaller than noble men and women; the King or Queen has an elevated position. These are some of the Symbols, which were used in the originals – and also in this book. The only real difference is, that the King or Queen in this book sometimes hand out symbols (awards) to some people: a branch (Order of the Bough), a golden Laurel wreath (Order of the Laurel), a green wreath (Arts and Science Champion). These are the symbols of the Kingdom of Meridies. Wherever possible, other symbols of the SCA are incorporated: the white belt of the Knights, the yellow belt of the Protégé etc.

4) Coat of Arms In the originals, some of the depicted Coats of Arms are fantasy arms, because the painter apparently did not know the real emblazon. The Coats of Arms in this book are all the actual arms of the people shown. It took some effort to research some of them, because not all are actually registered. But in the end, every Coat of Arms shown is the real thing.

The Calligraphy I tried to match the calligraphy of the original headlines of the Codex Manesse. Whereas the Codex Manesse has all headlines in red ink, I used black ink because it was available to me. In the Codex Manesse the headlines are, of course, in (middle high) German. I first thought about doing the head lines in this book in German too, but then decided against it. The language spoken in Meridies is English, and it would have been very awkward to translate such an event as “Dreamstone” into German. Moreover, this book is not a replica of the Codex Manesse, but an extension of it in our time, in our place – a distant cousin, if you like, not a twin. And because this cousin speaks English, the few headlines in the book are in his native language. Also, in the Codex Manesse’s headlines state the title and name of the depicted Minnesänger. Because this book does not focus on single persons, but on events, which involved the Majesties, the name of the particular event is given instead.

The Sources 1) Calligraphy and Illumination; Patricia Lovett; Harry N. Abrams Inc. 2000, New

York; ISBN 0-8109-4119-8 2) Gotische Buchmalerei – Minnesänger; R.Pieper & Co Verlag, München 1978;

ISBN 3-492-02393-2 3) Codex Manesse – Die Miniaturen der Großen Heidelberger Liederhandschrift; Insel

Verlag, Frankfurt 1988; ISBN 3-458-14385-8 4) A History of Illuminated Manuscripts; Christopher de Hamel; Phaidon Press Inc.

1994, New York; ISBN 0-7148-3452-1

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CODEX MAXIMILLIAN

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Book Cover

Material: Black and Silver brocade with a Celtic motif. Bookbinding: Diotima In search of a suitable material for the covers of the book, Diotima ran across this one at ebay. The Celtic motif was not exactly what we had in mind, but at least it was in black and silver, the heraldic colors of Meridies. So I bought it and it turned out to look very nice!

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Page 1: The Reign of Maximillian and Lethrenn

Drawing: Falko Coats of Arms: Falko Coloring: Falko Meridies was founded 25 years ago and Maximillian and Lethrenn were the 50th King and Queen of our Kingdom. And that is basically what I wanted to show here. The concept of this page is very simple, yet it proved to be extremely tough to get all the necessary heraldic information. Fact is, that while our King’s coat of arms is registered and readily available from different sources, our Queen has no registered name and device yet. So I asked around but nobody seemed to know whether she even used a device. Then, somebody remembered a submission by a woman named “Leofwynn of Leodridan”. Well, during my research on the Internet, I had found out that our Queen, before she became “Lethrenn Bikkisdottir”, was known by the name of “Eadowin of Leodridan”.

I was not at all confused – as a local Herald, I see such things all the time. So I contacted her local Herald, and he confirmed that this was indeed our Queen. And he even had a picture of her submitted device for me. But when I saw the device, my first thought was: aargh!@! Beautiful and easily recognizable – but complicated and a nightmare to draw and paint!! The King’s device took about ten minutes to paint. Her Majesty’s device took me two and a half hours! And then there was the dilemma of her name! She was announced everywhere as Queen Lethrenn. Her submitted and future “legal” SCA name was Leofwynn. What now? I decided to use the name she was known as during her reign: Lethrenn. Also, the SCA Armorial lists the King’s name as “Maximilian” with one “l”. He is written in the Popular Chivalry and anywhere else as “Maximillian” with two “l”. A minor difference, but here too it took me a while to decide to go with the “popular” form instead of the “correct” form. So what properly should have been “The Reign of Maximilian and Leofwynn” became actually “The Reign of Maximillian and Lethrenn” – because that is the form everybody will recognize. Explanation of the illustration: Very easy:

- Maximillian (Per bend sinister purpure and argent, two crosses formy fitchy counterchanged argent and sable),

- by right of arms (the two crossed lances behind the shield) - the 50th King (the golden crown on the lances with the Roman numeral “L” = 50) - and Queen Lethrenn (Lozengy gules semy-de-lys argent and argent, a lion

couchant Or), - of Meridies (the banner with the arms of Meridies: Argent, on a pale sable a crown

of three points, above each point a mullet argent, overall a laurel wreath counterchanged),

- which foundation was laid 25 years ago (the Roman numerals “XXV”=25 in the base).

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Page 2: Crown List

Drawing: Thorfinn Coat of Arms: Catte Coloring: Catte The first station for Maximilian to become King was of course his victory at Crown List. Here again, I had to ask several people who it was, he defeated in the tournament finales. Some friends of mine vaguely remembered that it could have been Sir William fitzHughe de Cambria, called GreenShield. After a little research on the Internet, I found confirmation for that and the rest was simple and easy. Fortunately, Sir William has a registered device (this should really be a prerequisite to becoming a peer!) and so all I had to do was to pick a suitable design for the illustration. The device on the shield of Sir William is not visible, so his arms are depicted separately. That arrangement is

found in the Codex Manesse in the illustration of Johann von Ringgenberg (190v). Explanation of the illustration: Sir William fitzHughe de Cambria (Vert, an antelope rampant contourny, in chief two round buckles Or) is defeated by Sir Maximilian Racheengel ((Per bend sinister purpure and argent, two crosses formy fitchy counterchanged argent and sable). Their ladies are shown on the battlement, both with dresses of the same color as their Knight’s surcoat. A lady on the right hands Lethrenn two golden crowns, as visible sign that her Knight just won the tournament and that they will be King and Queen soon.

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Page 3: Coronation

Drawing: Thorfinn Coloring: Catte The initial design for the Coronation page had not only the three peers shown here, but also members of the populace. I guess it was just not possible to incorporate those into the limited space below Their Majesties in the final drawing. One idea was to depict at least a few of the banners, many groups made for the heraldic display of Coronation/25th Anniversary. But this also fell through, due to time constraints – this would have been a most laborious task. Well, maybe I will do something like this as a separate painting some time.

Explanation of the illustration: The King and Queen sit under the Royal Meridian Pavilion, which has the Meridian banner on top. The peers of the Kingdom pay homage to them. Each is identified by the appropriate symbols: The Knight is in armor, has a white belt and a sword. He holds a shield with the heraldic colors of Meridies, which signifies his role as protector of the Kingdom. He holds a banner with a golden chain. The Pelican wears a yellow belt and feeds a pelican bird, the symbol of service and dedication. The Laurel wears a green belt and carries a violin as symbol for the arts and sciences and a laurel wreath.

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Page 4: Dreamstone

Drawing: Thorfinn Coat of Arms: Falko Coloring: Falko As we started this project, one idea was to show the elevation of a Laurel. The concept I had for this was pretty nonspecific, really only a vague idea, and soon I decided not to do it for various reasons. Unfortunately, I forgot to tell Thorfinn about this and so I was mildly shocked when he handed me over the drawing for exactly that. My first thought was, that he had needlessly wasted precious time on something futile. But the drawing turned out to be very nice and so I was tempted to use it anyway. But how? Who had been elevated by the King? So I looked up the Popular Chivalry’s of the past few months and in the June issue it struck me – rather, I struck Gold! Niccolo di Francesco had been elevated at Dreamstone,

an event we had not covered yet and, I must admit, had no intention to cover at all. He is from the Barony of South Downs, the same Barony our King is from, so they should know each other well and that adds a very nice and welcome level of personal relationship to the painting. And whereas with other illustration I had to search and literally fight for every tiny bit of information, this was a very appreciated change of luck: Google revealed that Niccolo had a website about his elevation! And that is where I found this photo:

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Here I had all the information I needed! His dress, his coat of arms, just everything – and so it turned out that Thorfinn had not wasted any time after all. Sometimes, the pieces of the puzzle just fall into place by pure luck. Explanation of the illustration: King Maximilian in his typical blue attire stands in the door of his castle and hands Niccolo the golden Laurel wreath. The King’s dress is decorated inside with fur, which is shown in the sleeves. Niccolo is kneeling in front of the castle in the dirt, but he is actually drawn the same size as the King, which indicates that he is on the same level (Peer), but not quite yet accepted as equal. The golden Laurel wreath, which the King offers him, is his official invitation into the castle, the inner sanctum of the Kingdom. Niccolo’s dress is modeled after the picture above. I depicted him with a beard, although it is not live-like, but in the stylized form found in the Codex Manesse. He wears the green belt of an apprentice, because he is not yet a Laurel. The coat of arms are those of Niccolo di Francesco: Per pale vert and sable, a cross of Jerusalem argent, on a chief Or three bunches of grapes purpure slipped vert. The Helm is decorated with a purpure chapeau to signify the status as a Peer. The crest is a man, dressed in Niccolo’s heraldic colors vert and sable, holding a wooden ladle. Judging by his website, which contains all kinds of recipes, cooking tips and cooking related information, I took a wild guess that he is indeed a cook and probably got his Laurel for this as well. So some reference to cooking seemed in order when I had to decide what to choose for the crest. My first impulse was two crossed ladles, or a cooking pot. Both of those things looked rather silly on top of the Helm, but than I had the idea to install some kind of medieval chef with a ladle in his hand on the Helm – and voilá, the meal was ready!

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Page 5: Crown List Drawing: Falko Coat of Arms: Falko Coloring: Falko Another Crown List – this time to determine King Maximilian’s successor on the throne of Meridies. That Gareth won the tournament was common wisdom – actually, even if I had not known this, it would have been a very good guess. It will be his sixth reign and there is this joke of two Laurel meeting each other and the one asks the other, who gave him his AoA. “Gareth”, was the answer. “And who gave you your GoA?” And the answer was “Gareth”, again. “And after the question “Who made you a Laurel?” was again answered with “Gareth”, the Laurel said: “You must be the greatest medievalist there is in the SCA, going from AoA to Laurel in only six months!”. Who his opponent in the finals had been was, as usual, not as

easy to find out. Finally, I found somebody who was present at that event and she told me who it was. A little comment from Falko, the Herald: it would be extremely beneficiary for projects like this, if the results of Crown Lists, A&S Faires and the like would be published either on the Kingdom’s WebSite or in Popular Chivalry or both. Explanation of the illustration: Duke Gareth le Bruin (Per chevron throughout azure and argent, a bear rampant sable within a double tressure counterchanged) wears a ducal crown on his helmet. He just has broken his lance on and thus defeated Sir Gunther van der Aachen (Quarterly vert and argent, a Latin cross fleury counterchanged, on a chief sable three fleurs-de-lys argent), whose horse falls down. His helmet already lies on the ground. King Maximilian is depicted on the battlement, pointing at Gareth and thereby acknowledging him as the rightful successor to the throne.

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Page 6 : Arts and Science Faire Drawing: Falko Coat of Arms: Falko Coloring: Falko This one was a big headache from the get go. The Kingdom A&S Website only lists the Champions until 2002. I asked around, but nobody seemed to know who this year’s A&S Champion was. I sent e-mails to the Kingdom A&S officer, to the Heralds’s List, to the A&S Website Administrator and so on and so on. Nobody even cared to answer me. Finally, with time running out, I asked THL Bianca, who is our local Velvet Owl representative, and she submitted the question to the OVO’s list. A few days later I at least had a vague idea of a first name and a Group (“Could be a woman named Eleanor or so, from Seleone, I believe”). So I mailed the Seneschal of Seleone and asked him if he knew somebody “Eleanor” who is supposedly the A&S Champion.

Again, luck comes to those who are persistent. Lord Dmitri, the Seneschal of Seleone, knows our A&S Champion very well – he is married to her! Her full name is Eleanora of Gleann Isla, but she has no registered device yet. But at least she had a device submitted a few months ago – which, unfortunately, was rejected by the Kingdom’s Pennon Herald because of some color-on-color issues. Well, that was easy to fix and Eleanora accepted my suggestions – finally, I had a name and a device! Moreover, she also told me that her favorite dress is purple – this information was all I needed for the painting. This was a real ordeal and several times I was very close to the

decision to skip the A&S Faire for lack of information about the Champion. It really should not be that hard to get that kind of information! Explanation of the illustration: Eleanora of Gleann Isla (Per bend vert and barry engrailed argent and azure, on a bend Or three empty drop-spindles proper and in sinister chief, a mermaid with argent tail, maintaining a drop-spindle proper) is receiving a green laurel wreath from the Queen. The sheet of paper on the bookstand has the Arts and Science badge (Azure, a candle within an arch argent). On top of the battlement, two burning trumpets protrude out of the arches. This is a (subtle?) reference to the Order of the Burning Trumpets, the award for exemplary service in the Herald’s Office, which I received at this event.

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Page 7: Myths of the Forge

Drawing: Falko Coat of Arms: Falko Coloring: Falko This is, I have to admit, my favorite page. Why? Because it is so silly! Also, one of my dearest friends, THL Alys Wallas is depicted here, receiving the Bough of Meridies – a momentous event for our Shire. We are so proud of her! At first, I just wanted to draw an actual, generic and boring forge somewhere behind the figures. But then I had this idea of letting both Alys and the King stand right in the forge – with lambent flames around their feet and a gigantic bellows overhead. I do not know what she actually wore at this event, but I bet it was something green. She likes that color and I’ve seen her in various green dresses. And because I needed the

contrast for this illustration, I decided that green was the way to go. Also, it is her heraldic color, as apparent by a look at her device.

Explanation of the illustration: To signify the event (forge=>fire), the King and THL Alys Wallas (Sable, on a pile issuant from sinister base vert fimbriated, in bend a ferret statant and a ferret statant contourny Or ) stand in midst of lambent flames. A big bellows is hanging from a balcony; obviously it is used to kindle the fire. Both figures are apparently don’t mind the fire, which demonstrates their devotion to their Kingdom, for which they would go through burning flames – this is the spirit of real service for the Kingdom. The King hands Alys a branch, the symbol of the Order of the Bough Meridies, the highest service award of Meridies.

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Page 8: July Feast Drawing: Thorfinn Coloring: Catte This one was a mistake – and then it turned out to be a valuable addition. I suspect that Thorfinn misunderstood my instructions and so he painted the Coronation scene in two parts – the first part with the Peers, the second part with the populace. Originally, those two parts should have been together on one page. So I had this in my hands and was already thinking of deposing it, when I had an idea. Through the simple incorporation of a table and some mugs, plates and bowls, it became a feast! And haven’t been their Majesties present at the event named July Feast? This way, the accident could be turned into something useful – the purpose of the original idea, to show the King and Queen as benevolent rulers with their

populace was realized after all. And probably it is even better this way, because now the figures are roughly the same size as Their Majesties. Had we followed the original idea, they would have been as small as the three Peers in the Coronation picture. Why is that important? See explanation below. Explanation of the illustration: The King and Queen preside over a sumptuous feast. Their subjects are happy and the food is plenty. The populace is drawn roughly the same size as the Majesties, showing that they are considered to be equals. This shows that the King and Queen, although still above the normal populace, consider themselves as part of the populace, too. The King has a sword in his hand, which has two meanings:

1. He is the judge over the populace of his Kingdom 2. The populace wants to swear fealty; this seems to be the gesture of the man on the

right, who apparently requests the sword to be lowered; the King seems to be willing to grant that request, and signifies his approval by raising his arm

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Page 9: Royal University of Meridies Drawing: Falko Coat of Arms: Falko Coloring: Falko This years Royal University of Meridies was a very joyous occasion for my Shire – four people got awards! That happens not every day, especially for our Shire, which in the past had a relatively poor history in this area. So I had to put this in the book, of course. First I wanted to incorporate the different heraldic devices of the four people in the illustration. But those would have been either very small or randomly strewn over the open space on this page. Both solutions were not to my liking, so I decided to use only one device – that of our Shire. After all, I felt that it was more a recognition of our group than of single persons. Also, three of the four awardees have their devices pictured on the last page of this book anyway, so that would have been a little redundant anyway. I don’t think it is coincidental that

three of those people honored that day in July are involved in the making of this book. It is only proof that the right people got awards – those, who care and are committed to this Kingdom and to the SCA. And to quell any rumors right from the start: no, we did not do this book as a “Thank you” for those awards. We had already started with it, when this occurred. Although I have to admit that this book is of course meant as a “Thank you” – but for a really fantastic reign and not for “personal favors” of any kind. Explanation of the illustration: The King sits on his throne, which stands on a column with the badge of the Royal University of Meridies (Per pale argent and sable, a vol and in chief a mullet of seven points counterchanged) on it. He hands out a scroll to the four members of the populace of An Dun Theine, who are standing at his feet. They carry a banner with the coat of arms of that Shire (Argent on a flame proper between a chief embattled pean and a laurel wreath vert, a castle sable). They are dressed as they were in reality on that day – see picture below. Above the curtain are two silver comets, the symbol of the Order of the Argent Comet, the award for exemplary service for a Shire. Lord Thorfinnr Asbjornson Eirikssonar (the second from left, in blue and brown) and Lord Conor O’Bryan (third from left, in green and red plaid) both received one, although Conor almost missed his. Before court, he went to his cabin to get some sleep, not expecting any award because a couple of months ago he just had received his AoA. We had to literally drag him out of bed and carry him to court, where he appeared with wild hair and a somewhat hazy glance in his eyes.

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Below the middle suspension of the curtain, on the right side there is a small bronze headband, symbolizing the Award of Arms, which was received by Lady Catte MacGuffie (fourth from left, in red). She was basically in tears and very surprised that she got this award. But no one could have been more surprised as myself, THL Falko von der Weser (first from the left, in yellow and blue). I was totally shocked when I got the Grant of Arms, which symbol is on the left side below the suspension of the curtain (a medium width bronze headband). But at least there were some people around to hug. A few weeks earlier, when I got the Burning Trumpets, I was the only one from my Shire at that event and nobody to share the joy with.

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Page 10: Pennsic War Drawing: Falko Coats of Arms: Falko Coloring: Falko The big wars, Pennsic and Gulf, are certainly high points of each reign. It must be something very special to lead the Kingdom’s army into battle. But who is the opponent? I had to ask Baron Daniel, who is a Pennsic regular since Truman was President, which side we were on. Fortunately, he knew that we fought as allies of the East Kingdom against the Middle Kingdom. Now, that I knew what to look for, I went to the WebSite of the Middle Kingdom and found, that they have a whole section dedicated to their current King – his likes and dislikes, allergies, stories, heraldic items, pictures and so on. So, to make a gift for him would be very easy – all the information you need is provided.

I only needed his coat of arms this time. And then I stood before the dilemma how to apply all those little gold and black squares on the tiny shield in the illustration, so it would be identifiable. I decided not to try to reproduce it 1:1 but to simplify it just so much that the overall look still remained intact. This is a standard heraldic technique – if the elements become too small to recognize because of space limitation, certain distinctive features are promoted while the rest is simplified. Here, the distinctive feature is the checkerboard pattern on the cross. The size or number of the elements do not really matter, as long as the overall “checkerboardy” look is retained. I chose not to use the white colored surcoat he wears in the picture for the illustration. I wanted to have a more colorful look, and needed good contrast from the white background. Additionally, in the Codex Manesse the shields of the Knights in the battle scenes show the same coats of arms as on their banners. I thought it would be more appropriate in this context to show the Kingdom coat of arms on the banner and the personal device of the King on his shield. After all, our Kings have this job only for six months and not like in period for life. Thus, I felt that it should be clear, who the Kings were at that time. The banners then show the Kingdom they belong to. This should be an acceptable compromise between period practice and SCA reality. The three Knights on the right are generic figures. I really would have liked to have enough information, who was with our King at Pennsic. That would have given me the opportunity to even more customize this painting with their heraldic devices. But again, nobody knew the answer to that question and so I had to stay with the nonspecific look of the Knights.

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Explanation of the illustration: The King of the Middle Kingdom, Pieter van Doorn (Argent, a cross crosslet countercompony sable and Or, within a bordure sable) is chased by the armies of Meridies (Argent, on a pale sable a crown of three points, above each point a mullet argent, overall a laurel wreath counterchanged) and the East Kingdom (Purpure, within a laurel wreath vert fimbriated Or, an eastern crown of three grand points tipped with pearls and two lesser points, all Or). He wears a golden crown on his helmet, as is his opponent, King Maximilian Racheengel (Per bend sinister purpure and argent, two crosses formy fitchy counterchanged argent and sable) of Meridies. King Pieter tries to reach his castle, from which the banner of his Kingdom (Argent, a pale gules, overall a dragon passant vert, in chief an ancient crown Or within a laurel wreath proper) is displayed. As he turns to fend off the pursuers, he is stabbed in the arm by the sword of King Maximilian.

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Page 11: Count and Countess Drawing: Thorfinn Coats of Arms: Falko Coloring: Falko This may seem a little bit redundant, because it is the same basic concept as the first page “The reign of Maximillian and Lethrenn”. The differences are subtle, but they are there! After the reign ended, the former Queen is made a Countess and a Companion of the Order of the Rose. The former King however is only made a Count. There we had a dilemma – I wanted to focus on the “Non Count/Countess” side of it, because they already will get a beautiful county scroll from Mistress Stephanie. For the Queen, it was easy: rose trees (not bushes!) are found in the Codex Manesse on several pages. That left us with the decision what to do with the King. Thorfinn

had the idea, because Maximilian’s persona is German, to use the most German of trees, the Oak, as his tree. The headline reads “Count and Countess”, and that is the only reference to their new status on this page. Then, of course, there was the same drive-you-up-the-wall drawing and coloring of the Queen’s device again. By now, I had enough practice to finish it in just one and a half hours. Explanation of the illustration: The Oak tree holds Count Maximilian’s coat of arms (Per bend sinister purpure and argent, two crosses formy fitchy counterchanged argent and sable). The Rose tree holds Countess Lethrenn’s coat of arms (Lozengy gules semy-de-lys argent and argent, a lion couchant Or). There is no reference to Meridies anymore. They are just Maximilian and Lethrenn again, the German Oak and the Companion of the Rose.

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Page 12: The Artisans Drawing: Falko Coats of Arms: Falko Coloring: Falko Originally, I wanted to do the “credits” in a more inconspicuous way. Maybe just the names of the four people who worked on this book under the coat of arms of An Dun Theine. But during the work on the paintings, I realized what an effort this really was and so I decided to show the credits in a more prominent way, which gave more attention to the individual artist. It made this page a real part of the book, not just a supplement. The design is very simple – and not found in this form in the Codex Manesse. But at least the (few) elements I used are from the Codex: the arches and the bookstand. And there was the problem of Diotima – although she has been in the SCA for several years, she never got around to

get herself a coat of arms. So we sat down and I designed one for her. It is very unique – there are only fourteen other devices in the SCA, which have a monkey in them! I also designed Catte’s device and she already registered it. Thorfinn’s device is his own creation and he will submit it … whenever. My own device is of course registered. Explanation of the illustration: The coats of arms of the artists, who worked on this book, are shown. Left upper corner: THL Falko von der Weser (Or, between three fox masks gules, on a chevron azure, a double arched bridge Or) Right upper corner: Lord Thorfinnr Asbjornson Eiriksonnar (Sable, between three annulets 2 and 1, a winged lion rampant or, armed and langued gules) Left lower corner: Lady Catte MacGuffie (Per fess sable and gules, a cat rampant guardant within an orle argent) Right lower corner: Diotima Fiovaranti (Purpure, a monkey, collared and chained statant between three increscents argent) She is the bookbinder, without whom we would not have able to finish this project. On the piece of paper on the bookstand the arms of the Shire to which we all belong, An Dun Theine (Argent on a flame proper between a chief embattled pean and a laurel wreath vert, a castle sable)

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And here is how we look like in real life:

Falko Thorfinn

Catte Diotima