What is the Sergeantry?
The Sergeantry of Blatha an Oir is a service-oriented group of people who have each completed an exhaustive list of accomplishments in their chosen field: heavy fighting, rapier, archery, equestrian, medieval military science, service, or arts & sciences.
Each Sergeantry candidate has one year from the date of their declaration of intent in Court to complete their requirements. These requirements shall be signed off in their Journey Book (see the links below) at any point during that year, as each is completed. Each candidate will be presented with a copy of their Journey Book in Court when they declare their intention to become a member of the Sergeantry. It is their responsibility to have it to hand as they complete each of their requirements. Candidates must be present in Court no later than one year from their declaration (e.g. Harvest Feast to Harvest Feast, Candlemas to Candlemas, etc.) to complete their quest and be admitted to the appropriate Order. Written tests may be taken separately and may be re-taken once within the year. All candidates must be current paid members of the SCA.
The history of the Sergeantry
When An Tir was a Principality of the West, it was difficult for knights of the West to get to know the fighters up here. They could certainly see their fighting prowess on the field, but there was little to no way to get to know them to decide whether they had the necessary peer-like qualities that define a Knight. Thus, the Sergeantry was born as a means of displaying one’s all-around knowledge of one’s persona, the arts and sciences, the martiallate, and the other various pieces that knights are expected to know. This way, if a knight of the West saw someone from the Principality of An Tir fighting and noticed they had a Sergeant’s belt on, they knew immediately that their off-field skills were high, and it made the decision of whom to recommend for Knighthood easier.
Eventually, the other disciplines received their own Orders of the Sergeantry as well, so that those who are not heavy fighters could also explore their personas and demonstrate their skills to others.
The duties of the Sergeantry
Duties may include (but are not limited to):
- Be active in the barony and participate in your discipline in support of the Barony
- Act as baronial guard when needed. Offer to help where you see a need. Help make sure things get set up and taken down, and help run things at events.
- Contribute to the sanity of the Coronets.
- Assist in recruiting, testing, and training new Sergeantry.
- Act in a manner that exemplifies the best of SCA ideals.
- Be a resource for those who seek to learn more about the things in which you are skilled.
The Journey Books
Remember, you do not need to print this yourself if you choose to become a candidate; these are for your reference so that you can see the requirements.
Sergeant: Heavy Fighting
Gallant: Rapier Fighting
Yeoman: Archery
Lancer: Equestrian
Engineer: Medieval military science
Steward: Service focus
Artisan: Arts & Science focus
Feel free to contact any of the active Sergeants with questions if you would like to know more, or email the Sergeant-Major.