This scroll was created for Lady Brunissende Dragonette de Brocéliande's Award of Arms. Brunissende is mundanely a student from France who has gone from a newbie to a valuable member of our Barony in the space of a year. I couldn't decide whether to do her scroll in English or French, so I compromised and did my first Latin scroll ever! The text is courtesy of the Ealdormere scribes' website, and because my space was so limited, I abbreviated the heck out of it, to the point that it's not really readable unless you have a good familiarity with both Latin and the style of abbreviations used in period.
The text reads:
Darius iustis armorum rex Orientalis atque Roxane nostra regina princibus, ducibus, comitibus, magistris pelicani, laureaeque, euitibus, baronibus, nobilibus et omnibus fidelibus. Salutemus: Auditis bonis rebus de Brunissende Dragonette de Brocéliande quae laboraverat longissime durissimeque in terris nostris; eae iusta ferre [space for blazon] ab armis intra Societatum prop Tempora Mixta Creativa sine impedimento conferimus atque iures officiaque quae transcribuntur elatione eius ad hanc ordem per omnia saecula saeculorum. Factum ab nobis illa dies Mercurii id. Augustus, anno societatis xxxviij, sedendis in sellis regilis in regnum AEthelmearcae belli Pennsici in testimonio in quo ponemus namus et signum nostra.
Which translates as:
Darius by right of arms, King of the East and Roxane our Queen to Princes, Dukes, Counts, Masters of the Pelican and Laurel, Knights, Barons, nobles and all faithful people, greetings: Having heard good things about Brunissende Dragonette de Brocéliande who has labored very long and hard in Our lands; We confer upon her the right to bear [blazon] as arms within the Society for Creative Anachronism without hindrance and We confer the rights and duties which are conveyed by her elevation to this order forever and ever. Done by Us this day, Wednesday the ides of August, Anno Societatis XXXVIII, sitting in Our royal chairs in the Kingdom of AEthelmearc at the Pennsic War in testimony whereof We have set our hands and seal.
The abbreviations are mostly correct; the only one I really messed up is the use of the line over the 'v' in "laboraverat" -- that would normally make it read "laboravit", and I didn't catch that I'd done it until later. Oh well -- if anyone else catches it I'll just have to fess up. ;)
The illumination is based on Bodleian MS Lat. liturg. e. 47, f. 30 v., from the second half of the 15th century in England. I think most of the acanthus came out wonderfully; I learned a lot about shading while making this scroll!
