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West Kingdom |
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Forms of Address
"My Awards Go Jingle, Jangle, Jingle ..." -- Master Gerhardt von Nordflammen
This page is to help explain how to address those of varying ranks in the SCA, with an emphasis on West Kingdom practice. It will be broken down by 'ranks'. Much of the information below is also in the award descriptions for the Kingdom-level awards.
Some of this is based on the SCA College of Arms' article on Titles -- these have been researched
over the years. For this page English (Early Modern English) titles are generally used. There are
quite a few alternate language titles that you may want to look at as well.
The List of Alternate Titles.
In order to be as complete as possible, this document will include descriptions of
Addressing: talking to people with titles,
Referring to: talking about people with titles (this can include introducing
someone who has specific titles),
Signing: if you have titles, signing documents/letters/email/social media posts.
Gender Neutral: is an attempt to provide acceptable titles/forms of address for those who
do not identify as male or female.
Note that most titles are gendered (assuming male/female). There are a few titles that are available for those who do not conform to the standard binary options, but at this time, not a lot. This is not intentional, just something that as the world and the SCA evolve, we are having to work out how to handle non-binary titles. Also keep in mind the periods and places the SCA studies and re-creates often did not acknowledge the concept of gender neutrality -- a person was either male or female. Where possible English gender neutral titles will be given.
In addition, it is possible, in the case of the Royalty and Royal Peers that there may be, at various points, same-sex couples, or cases where the sovereign is female and the consort is male. It is nigh on impossible to deal with every permutation. If something is mentioned in the text below, it is based on specific cases that have occurred, or the heralds have discussed ...
Notations in the text below -- in an attempt to be consistent for options ... Usually something in Parentheses means to "fill in the blank", such as (name). In some cases only the given name is used. Currently reigning royalty typically are considered as having one name (their given name) for the reign. When the reign is over, then use of their full name is okay -- in other words, King Fred the Lame is not okay, but King Fred, or King Fred of the West are both fine.
Otherwise, depending on how formal or informal you wish to be, you may use given name only, or full name. So, Duke Steven and Duke Steven the Bold are both acceptable. If there are two "Duke Stevens" then it might be necessary to use the full name to difference them.
If something is inside square brackets ( [ ] ), then there are options noted, for example: [King / Queen] means one or the other, not both. Finally, you may see a set of letters, such as "KSCA" or "MSCA", these are what is sometimes called "Alphabet Soup" -- because some people have a lot of recognitions and sometimes use all them. They are meant to be acronyms to qualify a person's titles. We'll come back to this concept later. Some recognitions don't have "alphabet soup", such as Duke or Duchess.
The Royalty have several different forms of address. These will be broken down starting at the top:
We often talk about "The Crowns of the West" when we are referring to the King and Queen, or if this happens, the Queen and King (it may happen someday), or however you need to deal with them. To simplify, you can also use the Sovereign (the individual who won the Tournament), and the Consort (the individual whose favor was carried by the Sovereign into the tournament).
Addressing: Your Majesty, Your Majesties, Your Royal Majesty, Your Royal Majesties, My Liege (if you are in fealty)
Referring to: His Majesty, Her Majesty, Their Majesties, Their Royal Majesties, [King / Queen] (given name)
Signing: (given name), [King / Queen] of the West; (given name), [Rex / Regina] Occidentalis; [King / Queen] (given name)
Gender Neutral: [Sovereign / Consort ]
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess are the heirs to the Crowns of the West, determined at a Crown Tournament.
Addressing: Your Royal Highness, Your Royal Highnesses, [Prince / Princess] (name), Crown [Prince / Princess]
(name)
Referring to: His Royal Highness (name), Her Royal Highness (name), Their Royal Highnesses (name and name),
Crown [Prince /Princess] (name), [Prince /Princess] (name)
Signing: (name), Crown [Prince / Princess] of the West
Gender Neutral: Crown Heir / Crown Heir Consort / Crown Heirs / Heirs to the Throne / Heir to the Throne / Heir Consort to the Throne
Addressing: Your Highness, Your Highnesses, [Prince / Princess] (given name) (optionally, "of Principality Name")
Referring to: His Highness (given name), Her Highness (given name), Their Highnesses (given name and given name),
[Prince /Princess] (given name) (for all of these, you can add "of [The] Principality Name")
Signing: (given name), [Prince / Princess] of [The] (Principality Name)
Gender Neutral: Sovereign / Consort / Sovereign Consort / (Principality Name) Sovereign / (Principality Name) Consort ...
Note that where "[The] Principality Name" is noted above, use the word "The" for "The Mists", but not for "Cynagua" or "Oertha", so "Their Highnesses (name and name) of the Mists", versus "Their Highnesses (name and name) of Cynagua".
Also, by default, the first person named when using both names, should always be the sovereign, the second should always be the consort. So in the example of the sovereign being female, Princess (given name) and Prince (given name) of (Principality name) is perfectly correct, and one listening should understand the first person named is the sovereign, the second the consort.
In addition, during a recent reign in the Mists, the Prince was the Consort, and insisted on using "Prince Consort" where it made sense to do so, rather than simply "Prince". If you're not sure, it is safe to use "Prince", but if you know there is a preference, you should use it.
To date, there was one case of a same sex couple on the Thrones of the Mists. At that time, the proper terms were "The Princes of the Mists" when referring to both, when referencing them individually they were "Prince of the Mists", although some folk addressed the consort sometimes as "Prince Consort of the Mists", which was perfectly acceptable. If you aren't sure, you should check with the royalty in question for Their preferences.
Each Principality uses different titles for the heirs of the Principality, so these forms of address are used after the Coronet Tournament, and before They are invested:
Mists:
Addressing: Your Excellency, Your Excellencies, [Lord / Lady] of the Mists (given name),
Lord and Lady of the Mists (given name and given name)
Referring to: His Excellency (given name), Her Excellency (given name), [Lord / Lady] of the Mists (given name),
Lord and Lady of the Mists (given name and given name)
Signing: (given name), [Lord / Lady] of the Mists
Gender Neutral: Mists Heir / Mists Consort / Mists Heir Consort
Cynagua:
Addressing: Your Excellency, Your Excellencies, [Lord / Lady] of the Swan (given name),
Lord and Lady of the Swan (given name and given name)
Referring to: His Excellency (given name), Her Excellency (given name), [Lord / Lady] of the Swan (given name),
Lord and Lady of the Swan (given name and given name)
Signing: (given name), [Lord / Lady] of the Swan
Gender Neutral: Swan Heir / Swan Consort / Swan Heir Consort (or substitute "Cynagua" or "Cynaguan" for "Swan")
Oertha:
Addressing: Your Excellency, Your Excellencies, [Lord / Lady] Borealis (given name),
Lord and Lady Borealis (given name and given name)
Referring to: His Excellency (given name), Her Excellency (given name), [Lord / Lady Borealis] (given name),
Lord and Lady Borealis (given name and given name)
Signing: (given name), Lord / Lady Borealis
Gender Neutral: Borealis Heir / Borealis Consort / Borealis Heir Consort (or substitute "Oertha" or "Oerthan" for "Borealis")
While Landed Barons and Baronesses are not in the standard "hierarchy" in many ways, they are the representatives of the Crown for their respective Baronies. As such, we should discuss forms of address for them as well.
Addressing: Your Excellency, Your Excellencies, [Baron / Baroness] (given name)
Referring to: His Excellency (given name), Her Excellency (given name),
[Baron / Baroness] (given name) of (Barony)
Signing: (given name), [Baron / Baroness] of (Barony)
Gender Neutral: At this time, there do not appear to be gender neutral titles ...
There have been a couple of cases of same-sex couples who were landed Baronesses. They can be called "The Baronesses of (Barony)" when referencing both of them, and depending on preferences, both the sovereign and the consort are "Baroness". There have also been cases where there was only one person (Baron or Baroness) on the throne of the Barony.
Founding Baron and/or Baroness
While rare, there are a few folk around who were the first Baron or Baroness of a Barony. These are called
"Founding Baron" or "Founding Baroness". However, when addressing them, the word "Founding" is not used.
This is a permanent title, whether or not they were granted the title of Court Barony upon stepping down
from reigning as Baron or Baroness.
Instead, in the cases where you see "of (Barony)" above, the word "of" is removed, and one can use
the full name or just the given name, depending on how formal they wish to be:
Addressing: Your Excellency, Your Excellencies, [Baron / Baroness] (name)
Referring to: His Excellency (name), Her Excellency (name) or (name), [Baron / Baroness] (Barony)
Signing: (name), [Baron / Baroness] (Barony)
Gender Neutral: At this time, there do not appear to be gender neutral titles ...
Royal Peers are those who have reigned as King and/or Queen, and/or Prince/Princess of a Principality, at least once. These are the highest permanent titles a person may earn within the SCA and the Kingdom of the West.
These are people who have reigned as King / Queen (Sovereign / Consort) twice or more.
Addressing: Your Grace, Your Graces, My [Lord Duke / Lady Duchess]
Referring to: His Grace (name), Her Grace (name), Their Graces (name and name),
[Duke / Duchess] (name)
Signing: [Duke / Duchess] (name)
Gender Neutral: At this time, there do not appear to be gender neutral titles ...
These are people who have reigned as King / Queen (Sovereign / Consort) once.
Addressing: Your Excellency, Your Excellencies, My [Lord Count / Lady Countess]
Referring to: His Excellency (name), Her Excellency (name), Their Excellencies (name and name),
[Count / Countess] (name)
Signing: [Count / Countess] (name)
Gender Neutral: At this time, there do not appear to be gender neutral titles ...
These are people who have reigned as Prince / Princess (Sovereign / Consort) at least once (there are no additional titles, despite many jokes over the years, for those who reigned as Prince or Princess more than once).
Addressing: Your Excellency, Your Excellencies, My [Lord Viscount / Lady Viscountess]
Referring to: His Excellency (name), Her Excellency (name), Their Excellencies (name and name),
[Viscount / Viscountess] (name)
Signing: [Viscount / Viscountess] (name)
Gender Neutral: At this time, there do not appear to be gender neutral titles ...
Each peer ranks at exactly the same level – the term “Peer” means “a person who is equal to another in abilities, qualifications, age, background, and social status.”
The Order of Chivalry is granted for prowess at SCA combat skills. This Order includes Knights and Masters at Arms. There are discussions all over the place about the differences between the two, let's not get into it here.
Addressing: [Sir / Dame / Domina / Lady / Master / Mistress] (name)
Referring to: [Sir / Dame / Domina / Lady / Master / Mistress] (name)
Signing: [Sir / Dame / Domina / Lady / Master / Mistress] (name)(, [KSCA / MSCA])
Gender Neutral: [Sir / Knight / Master] (Yes, "Master" is being shown as a gender neutral title ...)
Members of this Order are experts in at least one area of the Arts and/or Sciences practiced in the SCA.
Addressing: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)
Referring to: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)
Signing: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)(, [OL])
Gender Neutral: [Master / (name), Laureate] (Yes, "Master" is being shown as a gender neutral title ...)
If you use Laureate, the "alphabet soup" for "OL" shouldn't be used, as it's redundant. The title "Laureate" is reserved to members of the Order of the Laurel.
Members of the Order of the Pelican are recognized for outstanding service to the Kingdom, their local branch(es), the SCA at large, etc.
Addressing: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)
Referring to: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)
Signing: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)(, [OP])
Gender Neutral: [Master] (Yes, "Master" is being shown as a gender neutral title ...)
Members of this Order are recognized for their skills in Rapier / Cut and Thrust combat. Note that the name of the Order is “The Order of Defense”, not as is often used in Social Media “Masters of Defense” or MOD.
Addressing: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)
Referring to: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)
Signing: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)(, [OD / OOD / Order of Defense])
Gender Neutral: [Master] (Yes, "Master" is being shown as a gender neutral title ...)
The last bit of "alphabet soup" is just to clarify, because "OOD" sounds odd (and a bit like an encounter from Dr. Who), and "OD" doesn't really have a good "feel" to it.
Membership in the Order of the Mark is given for excellence in ranged martial pursuits as practiced in the SCA (including: archery; thrown weapons; and/or siege weapons). This may include mounted or equestrian archery and/or thrown weapons.
Addressing: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)
Referring to: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)
Signing: [Master / Mistress / Dame] (name)(, [OM / OOM / Order of the Mark])
Gender Neutral: [Master] (Yes, "Master" is being shown as a gender neutral title ...)
Members of the Order of the Rose are those who have served as Queen at least once (or if it happens in the West, which it may someday, as King Consort …).
The Order of the Rose was created in the early days of the Society, before the titles of Duchess or Countess were used for those who had served as Queen. All Kings were, in those days, automatically made Knights, so it was felt that those who had served as Queen deserved recognition as well.
There is no specific address for a member of the Order of the Rose, as they are either a Countess or a Duchess, so that title should be used. However, when signing something, a member of this order may use the letters "OR" if they wish.
In the West Kingdom, these are the awards that give the person given them a Grant of Arms (if they didn't
already have one):
The Royal Missile Company (archers, javelineers, other distance weapons)
The Western Gold Scarf (equestrian arts)
The Scarves of Achievement:
A Grant of Arms may also be given by itself.
These recognitions do not have specific forms of address that are different from the Grant of Arms (see below), except that in place of any "Alphabet Soup" used (see again below), members of the Royal Missile Company may use: "Yeoman of the West"; and members of the Western Gold Scarf may use: "Rider of the West".
Addressing: [Lord / Lady / Your Lordship / Your Ladyship] (name)
Referring to: [Lord / Lady / The Honorable Lord / The Honorable Lady / His Lordship / Her Ladyship] (name)
Signing: [Lord / Lady / The Honorable Lord / The Honorable Lady]
(name)(, [Yeoman of the West / Rider of the West])
Gender Neutral: [Noble / (name), Armiger / (given name), Armiger ]
An individual could use for "Alphabet Soup", "GA" or "GoA" if they so desired, particularly if they used one of the first two titles listed as options above (Lord, Lady) or the gender neutral titles -- this would difference them from an Award of Arms. (Other alphabet soup might include: RMC, WGS, SoM, SoRL, SoAL ...)
There are several awards that carry, along with the award itself, an Award of Arms, if the recipient has not already received one.
These are: The Order of the Western Lily, The Orders of the Leaf of Merit / Rose Leaf / Ash Leaf, achieving one of the Kingdom Championship titles (Archery, Equestrian, Rapier), Court Baron or Court Baroness.
"Alphabet Soup" for these awards: The Order of the Western Lily is "OWL", the Order of the Leaf of Merit is "OLM", the Order of the Rose Leaf is "ORL", the Order of the Ash Leaf is "OAL", and an Award of Arms is "AA" or "AoA".
With the exception of the Court Barony titles, the others all use the exact same forms of address as someone with an Award of Arms:
Addressing: [Lord / Lady] (name)
Referring to: [Lord / Lady] (name)
Signing: [Lord / Lady] (name)
Gender Neutral: [Noble / (name), Armiger / (given name), Armiger ]
Court Barony -- This one is fun, because it provides a variety of methods of address:
Addressing: [Lord / Lady / Baron / Baroness] (name)
Referring to: [Lord / Lady / Baron / Baroness] (name)
Signing: [Lord / Lady / Baron / Baroness] (name) or (title)(name), [Baron / Baroness] of the Court of the West
Gender Neutral: Armiger (name)
In the bit about signing you will see: (title) (name), [Baron / Baroness] of the Court of the West. Note that if you use that, don't use "Baron" or "Baroness" before your name, it becomes redundant. Using something like: (name), Baron of the Court of the West works, or even Lord (name), Baron of the Court of the West, but Baron (name), Baron of the Court of the West doesn't really work.
In the West, yes (see below) and no. However, we try to respect titles from other Kingdoms, so if someone introduces themselves to you with a title that isn't discussed here, it doesn't mean it's wrong. You may want to ask the proper form(s) of address if that happens.
Exceptions: Members of the Order of the Royal Missile Company may style themselves a Yeoman of the West, or collectively Yeomen of the West. Members of the (closed -- no new members) Order of the Western White Scarf may style themselves Royal Courtier or Companion of the Western White Scarf. Members of the Order of the Western Gold Scarf may style themselves a Rider of the West.
There are however, many other awards that may be granted, from Kingdom down to Baronial level. These are called "non-armigerous" awards, recognitions that do not grant specific titles. Some of these have specific "Alphabet Soup", like the Queen's Order of Grace, which is often referred to as the "QOG".
In addition, there are, what we are calling here in the West, "Temporary Honors and Titles"-- these are usually recognitions that have a duration. These can include "Queen's Champion", and so on. They can be for the duration of a reign, and they can go for a year (or until a new champion is determined, in the case of local champions). Some are codified as changing hands at specific events, and some may be at the whim of the royalty.
"The Lord" or "The Lady" is always acceptable. Remember that officially the SCA assumes that we are all nobility, even if we haven't been granted specific recognitions yet. So using "The Lord (name)" or "The Lady (name)" is acceptable.
Here's a simple rule of thumb: If someone is not wearing a coronet (typically a metal circlet), then "My Lord" or "My Lady" should always be acceptable. If someone is wearing a coronet (or Crown), "Your Excellency" is acceptable. Some people may correct you, but try not to take it as an insult -- if you don't know, you don't know.
If you have a persona that is not "English", which most of these titles are, there are heralds who have researched period forms. There is an approved list of titles that may be used if you wish, at the SCA College of Arms website: The List of Alternate Titles. You may use an appropriate title from that list in place of the ones given above.
As noted above, several awards have "Alphabet Soup" -- letters that may be appended to the end of a signature. One should be careful (see "Title Stacking" below), as one could start to sound cocky or even arrogant, which is of the opposite of "humble" ("humility" being a knightly virtue, after all). If you wish, you may add some of them, but it is generally not a good idea for someone with a lot of awards to try to load up everything they have.
Examples that can work:
Master (name), OL, ORL
Duke (name), Baron of the Court of the West
Examples of "a bit much":
Master (name), OL, OP, ORL, OLM, AA, QOG, QC, QC, QC
Duke (name), KSCA, OAL, QOQ, Baron of the Court of the West
As noted above under "Signatures", one should try to remember humility. "Title stacking" is a term used when someone signs something like:
Duke Count Viscount Sir (name), KSCA, OAL, QOG, Queen's Champion or
Master Master (name), OL, OP, ORL, OLM, Baron of the Court of the West, QOG, QC2
This comes across really poorly. If you have a LOT of awards and recognitions, good for you. It means that various royalty have come to believe you are worthy of these honors. However, if you show off in this fashion when signing a letter, or a social media post, it sounds like you're bragging. Or, in some cases, it can come across as bullying someone ("I'm more important than you, see all this?") -- even if that's not what you were trying to do.
Simpler and more humble versions of the examples above:
Duke (name), KSCA, Queen's Champion or
Master (name), OL, OP, Baron of the Court of the West or
Baron (name), OL, OP
They carry a lot of weight behind them, but they don't look like you're trying to overwhelm your reader.
What if I am an Officer?
If the letter or social media post relates to your office, then sure, go ahead and use your title. For example:
Master (name), OP, Seneschal of the West
However, if the post has nothing to do with your office, it is best to leave the office off -- if it is not germane to the topic, don't use it.
Well, that's about it. This topic is of course covered in various places, but it seems like it should be in the Award List as well. -- HvH/July 2022