Some SCA Terms Defined

There are a lot of "weird" terms we use in the SCA, almost all of which are either a period title or are an attempt to "Medievalize" something modern, like calling automobiles "unusual beasts of burden" or "dragons." (The latter is very fitting for one car I've seen: hard outside, loud, and sometimes belched fire.) Here are just a few of those terms as used in the Barony of Thor's Mountain defined. Alternate versions will appear with and after the main term. The document (in PDF format) "Good Grief, What Do They Mean by That?" located on the SCA web site at http://www.sca.org/officers/chatelain/jargon.pdf was instrumental in defining these terms and should be referred to as a higher authority. An attempt has been made to make all definitions gender inclusive. If, for any reason, the definition does not include one for or the other, both are to be understood as included.

For the titles given below, please see the Officers page for current officers.

Baroness (Baron) of <name of barony here>: The Baron(ess) of a group is a "landed" baron(ess). S/He is like a "chief of state" for the group, like Elizabeth II is for the United Kingdom and Horst Köhler is for Germany. His/Her say usually carries a lot of weight on what the group does.
Captain of the Thegns (Baronial Guard): Being dedicated to re-creating the Middle Ages, the Baroness has a guard, which our group call "thegns," and Old English word we roughly translate to "guard." The Baroness always has at least two, if not more, thegns. Their Captain is their leader, an honor for which we hold a local tournament each January.
Chirurgeon: The Chirurgeon is like a group first-aid officer. S/He has a medical file (allergies and whatnot) kept for doctors, EMTs, etc., and is the one responsible for calling the ambulance or putting on the finger bandage when you get hurt at an SCA function.
Chronicler: The Chronicler is basically the equivalent of a group secretary. S/He is responsible for taking meeting minutes and publishing the local newsletter. The Web Minister's office is a sub-office of the Chronicler.
Constable: The Constable is in charge of calling the local authorities, keeping up with event attendance records, and reporting any incidents at events or other SCA functions.
Consul: The Consul coordinates our demonstrations.
Dance Minister Saltare Minister: We love to dance. The Dance Minister organizes classes in period styles of dance, which we do often after feast at our events.
Farspeaker List: The Farspeaker List is the Baronial directory. A "farspeaker" is a telephone.
Herald (Pursuivant): The herald helps us out with research and registration of persona names, persona coats of arms, persona badges, group arms, group badges, and so forth. The herald is also responsible for making announcements and calling to court those that are requested, as well as arranging for field heralds who announce who is fighting in a tournament, who is getting ready to fight, and who should be wanding back in the general direction of their armor.
Gold Key: The Gold Key is where to go for loaner garb (clothing). The title of the office comes from the badge of office (a gold key), or vice versa.
Historian: The Historian is a records keeper and keeps files on the history of the group.
Hospitaller (Chatelaine): The Hospitaller is the one who extends the group's hospitality to newcomers and distributes information. The Consul and Gold Key are sub-offices of the Hospitaller.
Knight Marshal: The Knight Marshal is in charge of official fighting. It is his/her decision if, when, and mostly where fighting happens. Sub-offices include Youth Combat and Rapier Marshals. They are in charge of their respective fighting types, but the Knight Marshal may over-rule any of their decisions, should s/he chose to do so.
Librarian: It is important for a group that does historical research to actually own books on the subjects we study. The Baronial Library also has many such books, as well as copies of past group newsletters, kingdom newsletters, and The Compleat Anachronist, a quarterly published by the SCA. The Librarian is in charge of the library.
Minister of Arts & Sciences (MoAS): The SCA is dedicated to history education, as well as all the other fun stuff. Part of that is actually reproducting, from what we can find, period arts, sciences, and techniques (among other things). The MoAS helps to facilitate that as well as letting the upper levels know what we've been doing and studying. S/He can usually point you in the right direction if you're looking for something medieval to do.
Minister of Children (MoC): The MoC is in charge of children's activities.
Minister of the Lists (MoL): The MoL keeps track of the fighting trees at tournaments, which group wins in melees, etc.
Provost: The Kingdom of Merdies has a special organization in the Royal University of Meridies (RUM), which keeps track of classes and even hands out degrees. The Provost is our local contact person for the RUM.
Reeve (Exchequer or Treasurer): The group's treasurer.
Seneschal: The seschal is the group president or prime minister, depending on your point of view. If the group is a barony, think "prime minister." They run the meetings are are generally the one responsible for the group.
Warlord: The Warlord's chief duty is to lead the Barony's troops in melees and war. A tournament for this honor is normally held in April.
Web Minister (Web Monkey, Web Wrangler, Web Spinner): The Web Minister is the group's webmaster.
Yeoman: The Yeoman is in charge of archery.

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