Collected Precedents of the S.C.A.: Conflict Rulings

This title does not conflict with Carolingian Rapier Company (Carolingia, Barony of, November 1989), Rapier Champion (Atlantia, Kingdom of, March 1994), or Baronial Rapier Champion (Ponte Alto, Barony of, April 2001) because these items are generic identifiers and are not actually registered items. Generic identifiers are "functional, generic, and thus not held to conflict standards" (Cover Letter for the January 1993 LoAR). They may optionally include a reference to the branch name, but such a reference does not negate the generic nature of the identifier. [Ansteorra, Kingdom of, 12/03, R-Calontir]

This conflicts with the already registered names Order of the Defenders of Mons Tonitrus and Order of the Defenders of the West. Also, while such order names have been registered in the past it is not clear that this construction follows real-world examples. [Darkwater, Barony of, LoAR 06/2000, Trimaris-R]

The reason for this conflict is clarified in the following ruling:

[Order of the Defenders of Andelcrag] This conflicts with Defenders of Mons Tonitrus. RfS V.2 deals with conflict of non-personal names. Clause V.2.a clearly says that branch names are not descriptive elements. The remaining clauses clearly imply that names must differ in their descriptive elements in order not to conflict. This therefore conflicts with Defenders of Mons Tonitrus: in terms of descriptive elements, they are identical. [Andelcrag, Barony of, LoAR 02/1997, Middle-R]

In actuality, the registered name for the West's order is Defenders of the West. It is listed incorrectly in the precedent noted above. Letters of permission to conflict from the Barony of Mons Tonitrus and from the West would allow Darkwater to clear this conflict. [Darkwater, Barony of, 09/2003 LoAR, R-Trimaris]

Unfortunately, this name conflicts with Elena Cordovera, registered in July 2003. The byname Cordovera is a descriptive term referring to a woman from Cordova. RfS V.1.a.ii.(b) states:

Locative Bynames - Two locative bynames need not refer to different places in order to be considered significantly different; they need only look and sound sufficiently different.

Der Brabanter is equivalent to von Brabant; such bynames were interchangeable in period. However, de Flandre is significantly different from le Flemyng because Flandre and Flemyng are significantly different in sound and appearance. York is equivalent to of York, Münstermann is equivalent to von Münster, and Undertheclyf is equivalent to del Clif and Cliff. Zum Roten Löwen 'at the Red Lion' is significantly different from zum Löwen and from zum Blauen Löwen 'at the Blue Lion'. Lion (from a sign name) is not significantly different from de Lyon because the bynames do not differ significantly in appearance.

The comparison between the bynames Cordovera 'Cordovan' and de Cordova 'of Cordova' is parallel to the comparison between the RfS example comparing Der Brabanter and von Brabant. In both cases, the particle are irrelevant to determining the difference between the names. The substantive elements have the same level of difference as the example Brabanter and Brabant. Cordovera and Cordova have the same level of difference as Brabanter and Brabant. Just as Der Brabanter and von Brabant conflict per RfS V.1.a.ii.(b), Cordovera and de Cordova also conflict.

A letter of permission to conflict from Elena Cordovera would allow the submitter to clear this conflict according to the level of difference set forth in the ruling:

She has written permission to conflict with the already-registered Mikael of Monmouthshire (her husband). As with armory, written permission to conflict with a registered name allows a lower standard of difference. A reasonable rule of thumb for names would be to require as much difference with a letter of permission to conflict as we require between mundane and SCA names. That standard has been set at roughly one syllable; by that rule of thumb the names here are sufficiently different to be registered. Mikaela of Monmouthshire, LoAR 05/1995, A-Ansteorra]

Alternately, the submitter may clear this conflict by changing one of the elements of her name. Another option may be seen in the names Garçi Fernandes de Cordova and Gonçalo Fernandes de Cordova cited above from Juliana de Luna's article "Spanish Names from the Late 15th Century" (http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/). These names have a patronymic byname, in this case Fernandes, before the locative byname de Cordova. If this option interests the submitter, she may be interested in the patronymic bynames listed in Juliana's article at http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/juliana/isabella/patronymic.html. [Elena de Cordova, 09/2003 LoAR, R-Meridies]

Branch references, such as of Drachenwald, are transparent for conflict purposes. Therefore, in normal circumstances, the order name Queen's Order of Courtesy of Drachenwald would conflict with the East Kingdom's Queen's Order of Courtesy, since no difference is given for the addition of of Drachenwald because it is a branch reference. Previous precedent has ruled that the addition of a branch reference, in conjuction with a letter of permission to conflict, is enough to clear conflict (Kingdom of Caid, The Order of the White Scarf of Caid, registered September 1997; Barony of Aneala, Order of the Golden Swan of Aneala, registered July 1999). [Drachenwald, Kingdom of, 01/2003 LoAR, A-Drachenwald]

Name Used by the Submitter Outside the Society - No name will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. This includes legal names, common use names, trademarks and other items registered with mundane authorities that serve to identify an individual or group. This restriction is intended to help preserve a distinction between a submitter's identity within the Society and his or her identity outside of the Society. A small change in the name is sufficient for registration, such as the addition of a syllable or a spelling change that changes the pronunciation. However, a change to spelling without a change in pronunciation is not sufficient. For example, Alan Miller could not register the name Alan Miller or Allan Miller but he could register the name Alan the Miller. Further, submitters may register either a name or armory which is a close variant of a name or insignia they use outside the Society, but not both.

Similarly, the current submission is clear of the submitter's modern name by addition of the syllable de. [Davis de Rowell, 09/2003, A-Atlantia]

Several elements of this name were submitted under the Legal Name Allowance. The submitted documentation states that the submitter's legal name is Pierre von Vorman Philosephales d'St. Germain. However, no photocopy of documentation (such as a driver's license) was received by the Laurel office supporting this as the submitter's legal name. Lacking such supporting documentation, this name must be evaluated without benefit of the Legal Name Allowance. [...]

Lacking support for the form RaKogscy, and lacking evidence that French, German, and Hungarian would plausibly be combined in a name in period, we have dropped this element in order to register this name.

The form Pierre Vorman de Saint Germain also avoids conflict with the submitter's possible mundane use name of Pierre von Vorman d'St. Germain by removal of the element von. [Pierre Vorman de Saint Germain, 08/2003 LoAR, A-Meridies]

As the submitter allows minor changes, we have changed the byname Clark to the Clark in order to clear this conflict. As a lower standard of difference is required between a person's SCA name and their mundane name (whether legal name, use name, et cetera), the addition of the is enough to clear this conflict (Administrative Handbook III.A.9). A parallel example is given in section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook, which states that a person whose name is Alan Miller may register the name Alan the Miller. [Jessica the Clark, 06/2003 LoAR, A-Caid]

Name Used by the Submitter Outside the Society - No name will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. This includes legal names, common use names, trademarks and other items registered with mundane authorities that serve to identify an individual or group. This restriction is intended to help preserve a distinction between a submitter's identity within the Society and his or her identity outside of the Society. A small change in the name is sufficient for registration, such as the addition of a syllable or a spelling change that changes the pronunciation. However, a change to spelling without a change in pronunciation is not sufficient. For example, Alan Miller could not register the name Alan Miller or Allan Miller but he could register the name Alan the Miller.

The level of difference between the submitted name Courtney de Houghton and the submitter's use name of Courtney D. Houghton is equivalent to the difference between David Kellahan and David Callahan addressed in the ruling:

Submitted as David Kellahan, this is too close to his legal name, David Callahan, which is a violation of III.A.9 Protected Names: Name Used by Submitter Outside of Society of the Administrative Handbook. (Jaelle of Armida, LoAR November 1997, p. 9)

Therefore, the submitted Courtney de Houghton conflicts with her use name Courtney D. Houghton, since there is insufficient difference in pronunciation. Since a small change in pronunciation is sufficient to clear a conflict between a Society name and a submitter's use name, this name would be registerable as Courtney of Houghton. As the submitter allowed no changes, we were unable to change de to of in order to clear this conflict. [Courtney de Houghton, 02/2003 LoAR, R-Atlantia]

Had documentation been found supporting the element Perdidas in a river name, a branch name Rio de Las Animas Perdidas would conflict with the current real-world location in the area of this branch. This issue was recently addressed in the precedent:

[T]he name may run afoul of section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook: No name or device will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name or device used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. Thus, in the present case, we would not have registered Tornio or Torneĺ, those being the currently used names for the town. The submitted name differs from each of these by one syllable, and that is generally considered sufficient difference for personal names. Again, we see no point in treating place names differently. [Torna, Canton of, LoAR 06/01, A-Drachenwald]

As the river Rio de Las Animas Perdidas is in the same area as this branch, it may not be used as the name of this branch. Removing the element Perdidas clears this conflict. [Rio de Las Animas, Shire of, 09/2002 LoAR, A-Outlands]

The submitter's legal name is Mari Alexander [surname]. Therefore, this submission contains the submitter's first two names in the same order as in her legal name. A similar submission was recently returned:

The submission consists of the given names, in order, of the submitter. As this is one of the possible common use names, we have to return this submission for conflict against the submitter herself, protected under section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook. [Mary Amanda, 09/00, R-Artemisia]

Therefore, just as Mari [surname] would be conflict with her legal name, so the submitted Mari Alexander conflicts with her with her legal name.

There was a typo in this ruling. The final line should have read "use name" rather than "legal name". As the appeal addressed the issue of Mari Alexander as a use name rather than as a legal name, the appeal was unaffected by the typo in the ruling. It is noted here for the sake of completeness.

Kingdom appealed the return, asserting that this ruling was not a proper interpretation of what is meant by a use name in the Administrative Handbook and that this interpretation was new with the current Pelican Sovereign of Arms.

In fact, the Mary Amanda return cited in the previous return of this name appeared in the September 2000 LoAR when Master Pietari Pentipoika was Pelican King of Arms.

Regarding the interpretation of a "use name", section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook, "Name Used by the Submitter Outside the Society", states:

No name will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. This includes legal names, common use names trademarks and other items registered with mundane authorities that serve to identify an individual or group. This restriction is intended to help preserve a distinction between a submitter's identity within the Society and his or her identity outside of the Society. A small change in the name is sufficient for registration, such as the addition of a syllable or a spelling change that changes the pronunciation. However, a change to spelling without a change in pronunciation is not sufficient. For example, Alan Miller could not register the name Alan Miller or Allan Miller but he could register the name Alan the Miller.

The key portion of sections III.A.9 as regards this submission is "common use names ... that ... identify an individual" and "This restriction is intended to help preserve a distinction between a submitter's identity within the Society and his or her identity outside of the Society." A use name can take many forms. Often, the common use name of a person is simply their given name. In other cases, it is a nickname. And in some cases, a use name contains more than one element. Use names containing more than one element fall into two basic categories: (1) two given names, and (2) a given name and what appears to be a surname.

Common examples of the first case in today's society are women who are known by both their given names (Jane Ann, Mary Jane, Rose Ann, Jeanne Marie, Mary Louise, etc.). An example of a man whose use name contains two given names is King Juan Carlos of Spain. His full name is Juan Carlos Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón (per http://cervantesvirtual.com/historia/monarquia/juancarlos1.shtml).

In the second case, a person may currently have multiple surnames in their legal name. A prominent example of this is Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In her will (http://www.courttv.com/legaldocs/newsmakers/wills/onassis.html), she gave her name as JACQUELINE K. ONASSIS. Being a will, it is certainly a legal document and indicates a legal representation of her name. In addition to her legal name, there are a number of use names that are instantly recognizable as referring to her, including Jacqueline Kennedy, which is a rendering of her legal name with only the final surname removed.

The amount of difference required between a person's SCA name and their mundane name is much smaller than any other type difference required to clear a conflict. The standard of difference set down in III.A.9 is:

A small change in the name is sufficient for registration, such as the addition of a syllable or a spelling change that changes the pronunciation.

This level of difference is neither overly burdensome nor unreasonable. In the case of this submission, the submitted name Mari Alexander contains the first two names of the submitter's legal name. Therefore, it is in conflict with Mari Alexander, a legitimate use name derived from her legal name of Mari Alexander [surname], and must be returned. [Mari Alexander, 09/2002 LoAR, R-West]

Name Used by the Submitter Outside the Society - No name will be registered to a submitter if it is identical to a name used by the submitter for purposes of identification outside of a Society context. This includes legal names, common use names, trademarks and other items registered with mundane authorities that serve to identify an individual or group. This restriction is intended to help preserve a distinction between a submitter's identity within the Society and his or her identity outside of the Society. A small change in the name is sufficient for registration, such as the addition of a syllable or a spelling change that changes the pronunciation. However, a change to spelling without a change in pronunciation is not sufficient. For example, Alan Miller could not register the name Alan Miller or Allan Miller but he could register the name Alan the Miller. Further, submitters may register either a name or armory which is a close variant of a name or insignia they use outside the Society, but not both.

Similarly, the current submission is clear of the submitter's modern name by addition of the syllable de. [Geoffrey de Montgomery, 06/2002, A-Æthelmearc]

The submission consists of the given names, in order, of the submitter. As this is one of the possible common use names, we have to return this submission for conflict against the submitter herself, protected under section III.A.9 of the Administrative Handbook. [Mary Amanda, 09/00, R-Artemisia]

Locations in period or modern literary works of all genres may be protected on a case by case basis. Such protection will be afforded if the College of Arms deems them worthy of protection

The change of one consonant cluster from <-nd-> to <-nst-> is not a sufficiently large change in sound to clear the conflict. [Griffon's Tor, Shire of, 03/2004, R-Drachenwald]

This name conflicts with William Morris, a noted artist who was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and the founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement in England. He has his own entry in the online 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

Mauricii is the Latin form of the name Morris or Morrisson. The change in pronunciation from Morris to Mauricii, caused by adding the -ii to the end of the name, is not sufficient to clear this conflict.

The submitter may wish to know that a fully Latinized form of the name would be Willelmus Mauricii. [William Mauricii, 09/2003, R-Meridies]

Ignoring of, there is the final syllable is different between Ambrose and Amber. The level of difference is similar to the difference between the given names Conor and Conan which were ruled clear in 1996 (Conan MacPherson, April 1996 LoAR). The Gaelic name Conán is pronounced approximately "KUHN-an", rather than "KOH-nan", the pronunciation of the hero of Conan the Barbarian. So the first syllable in the Gaelic Conán is pronounced the same as the first syllable in Conor, which means that the second syllables in these names contribute the significant difference necessary to clear these two names. The difference beween the second syllables in Conan and Conor is smaller than the difference between the second syllables in Ambrose and Amber. Therefore, the byname Ambrose does not conflict with the byname of Amber. [Corwyn Ambrose, 08/2003 LoAR, A-Meridies]

There are thus few comic characters that need to be protected: the aforementioned Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, possibly Mary Worth, Bart Simpson, Charlie Brown, perhaps a handful of others. Those conflicts are, unfortunately, valid -- but they will, in all cases, depend on whether the character's name has seeped into the public consciousness. We can't depend on finding these items in general references, our usual standard for importance. I'll try to be as objective as I can, but it'll still boil down in most cases to polling Yeomen on the Road to see who's heard of the name. (LoAR 10/92 - Cover Letter).

The comic book character Richard Dragon is nowhere near as well known as Peter Parker (Spider-Man), Bruce Wayne (Batman), or Clark Kent (Superman). In this case, Richard Dragon has not "seeped into the public consciousness" in the way that these characters, or even a number of secondary characters such as Dick Grayson (Robin), have. As Richard Dragon does not have the name recognition of these other characters, he is not important enough to protect.

Please see the Cover Letter for the October 1992 LoAR for a full discussion of "Comics culture conflicts". [Richard Dragun, 04/2003 LoAR, A-An Tir]

In December I noted that in period Latin inflections do not appear to have been used to change the gender of Welsh (and for that matter Gaelic) names. That is, such feminizations as Briana, Morgana, and Alana are, so far as we know, post-period inventions. The first of these has been declared 'SCA-compatible' on account of its great popularity. As I noted in December, the other two have enjoyed less popularity and are represented by significantly fewer registrations. I called for commentary on whether to continue to allow these and other similarly-formed names for which there is no evidence of period use. [...] [T]he question stimulated little controversy (or even discussion), so a decision is not difficult: the names Morgana and Alana, as well as any other similarly feminized masculine names for which there is no evidence of period use (and which have not already been declared 'SCA-compatible'), are not considered 'SCA-compatible'. In other words, the argument based on the Latin/Romance practice of using inflectional endings to change the gender of a name is not automatically valid; it must be supported either by evidence of period use of the specific name or by evidence that the practice was in general use in the linguistic culture of that name. [Talan Gwynek, Cover Letter to the June 1996 LoAR, p. 2]

Mona was documented as the Roman name for the island of Anglesey. However, no documentation was provided that de Mona is a properly formed Roman Latin locative byname. Lacking such evidence, this byname is not registerable.

There was some commentary regarding possible conflict of this name with the Arthurian character of the Lady of the Lake. Metron Ariston explains:

The given name is fairly obviously the Arthurian Niniane whose human origins are somewhat dubious. In some versions she is associated with the Lady of the Lake and in others is stated to be a powerful sorceress, possibly of Druidic origins, and is associated with the deceit of Merlin. A number of modern "romantic magic" sources associate her with Mona/Anglesey, possibly because of legendary associations between Anglesey and the "island in the west" and also with late survival of Druidic rites.

We are declining to rule on this possible conflict at this time. If this name is resubmitted in a form similar to the current submission (for example, Ninian de Mona), the new submission should address whether the Lady of the Lake would be referred as of Anglesey or as of Mona/de Mona. Such information would help the College evaluate whether or not the submitted name would or would not conflict with the Lady of the Lake. [Niniana de Mona, 09/2002 LoAR, R-Caid]

Some of the conflict calls this month (e.g. Order of the Black Widows, Order of the Opus) were against fictional characters in our popular culture -- specifically, comic strip characters. I dislike having to call conflict against such ephemeral characters; on the other hand, if someone submitted the name Clark Kent, I'd almost certainly return it for conflict. On what basis, then, should we judge such conflicts?

There are two categories in the List of Protected Items (Administrative Guidelines, pp.2-3) that would cover such conflict calls: Category D, Famous Characters in Literature, and Category H, Trademarked Items. Most comic book characters' names are copyrighted these days, as a matter of course, and many are trademarked as well: Marvel and DC are said to be particularly trademark-happy. Our problem lies in the fact that most superhero names are of exactly the same nature as many SCA Order and household names: an epithet or descriptive, taken as a personal noun. Storm, Valor, Swordsman, Ice, Guardian, Phoenix are typical superhero names -- and some of them, as you see, are direct conflicts with registered SCA names. (Heck, Marvel even managed to copyright Meggan, a common given name!)

If I understand rightly, the purpose of trademarks is to keep competitors in a field from manipulating or benefitting from one another's reputations. Trademarks don't infringe when the intended use of the products is so different as to make the chance of confusion negligible. Thus the Excel (the car from Hyundai) doesn't infringe on Excel (the software from Microsoft). The Apple Music Company had no objection to Apple Computers using their name -- until the latter started manufacturing music-making Macs.

If that's the case, then we only need to worry about infringing on copyrights or trademarks when the intended use of the SCA-registered item is too close to the use of the trademarked item. In practice, I suppose this means fighting groups can't call themselves the West Kingdom Avengers or the Justice League of Atlantia -- but I don't see that the Shire of the Storm really infringes on the superheroine Storm.

That leaves protection as Famous Literary Characters, and this is more subjective. I don't want to get into a debate as to whether comics are Literature-with-a-capital-L; it's the fame of the characters, not the quality of their scripting, that concerns us. Infringement requires the character's name to be well-known; unknown names, by definition, won't be recognized as comic book characters. (The issue is related, in a way, to that of intrusive modernity: if people recognize a name as a comic strip character, they automatically know it's not medieval.) Most people haven't heard of most comic book characters; and even well-known superhero names (Captain America, Wonder Woman, Batman, Spiderman) are usually returnable for non-period style as well.

There are thus few comic characters that need to be protected: the aforementioned Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, possibly Mary Worth, Bart Simpson, Charlie Brown, perhaps a handful of others. Those conflicts are, unfortunately, valid -- but they will, in all cases, depend on whether the character's name has seeped into the public consciousness. We can't depend on finding these items in general references, our usual standard for importance. I'll try to be as objective as I can, but it'll still boil down in most cases to polling Yeomen on the Road to see who's heard of the name. (LoAR 10/92 - Cover Letter).

[T]he (in)famous Lucrezia Borgia was Duchess of Ferrara. She lived in Ferrara for the last seventeen years of her life and played a leading part in the patronage and politics of the day. Her life (accurately or not) has been enshrined in historical works, fiction, drama and opera over several centuries. She not only has her own article in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, but also in the Columbia Encyclopedia and most on-line and printed encyclopedic works and is certainly familiar to most in our Society.

By precedent,

We have historically registered ' 'name' of 'Kingdom' 'so long as the given name was not identical to that of one of the rulers of 'Kingdom'. ( Da'ud ibn Auda, 5/91)

Given the fame and importance of the Italian city-states, we are extending this precedent to them and their rulers. [Lucrezia da Ferrara, 04/04, R-An Tir]

It turns out that this conflicts with the real-world town of Pähkinäsaari, later known as Pähkinälinna, that was founded in ca. 1300 by Tyrgils Knutsson, Marshal of Sweden, and conquered 1349 by Novgorod. It was the site in 1323 of the Treaty of Pähkinäsaari that defined for the first time the border between Sweden and Novgorod. Both names, Pähkinäsaari and Pähkinälinna, are found as headers in several Finnish general encyclopedias.

Additionally, there was considerable discussion whether Village was appropriate as a household designator. The overwhelming consensus was that Village was not an appropriate designator for a household name and, that, if Village should ever be allowed as a designator, that it should be used as an alternate of some level of branch designator. We are, therefore, disallowing use of Village as a designator for a household name. [Petrus Curonus, 03/2004, R-Drachenwald]

In the case of this name, there are two potential conflicts. The first is the conflict for which this name was previously returned:

This name conflicts with John Douglas (1721-1807), Scottish man of letters, who has his own entry in the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica (vol. VIII, p.446). [John de Duglas, 06/2002 LoAR, R-Æthelmearc]

The second potential conflict was found by Kraken during the commentary period for the current submission:

The 1975 Funk & Wagnalls also lists another John Douglas (1844-1900), 8th Marquis of Queensberry; he codified the rules of modern boxing which are today known by his title.

In the case of John Douglas (1721-1807), Scottish man of letters, he is known in English literary circles but is not generally known outside of that area. While his name would be recognizable to students of 18th and 19th C English literature, he is not recognizable to enough of the modern population, including those in the SCA, to warrant protection.

Regarding John Douglas (1844-1900), eighth Marquis of Queensberry, The boxing rules noted by Kraken are sufficiently recognizable to the common SCA member that their name is worthy of protection. However, it is important to note that is these rules are known as the Marquis of Queensberry rules, not the John Douglas rules. If you asked people who were familiar with these rules which Marquis of Queensberry created these rules, very few would be able to identify that it was the eighth Marquis of Queensberry or that his name was John Douglas. This is an indication that it is these rules, and so the title Marquis of Queensberry, that are notable. As a result, we would protect the title Marquis of Queensberry. However, lacking evidence that John Douglas, eighth Marquis of Queensberry, is generally recognizable on his own to members of the SCA, he is not important enough to protect. [John de Duglas, 02/2004, A-Æthelmearc]

Adding an element to create a placename such as Santa Elena de Losa would clear the conflict. Spanish placenames derived from saint's names often have a second element, such as Santa Eufemia de Pozancos, Santa Eugenia de Codouilla, San Martin de Losa, and San Martin de Felines (all from the "Indice de Toponimos" in Diez Melcon). [Stronghold Santa Elena, 02/2004, R-Atlantia]

[H]e gained the byname of lagab{oe}tir or law-mender from his sweeping reform of the Norse law codes in 1274. These law codes were widely observed for centuries even in lands now considered Scots: for instance, Orkney observed them until nearly the end of the fifteenth century (www.udallaw.com/chronology.htm).

Isabeau d'Anjou was returned 11/96 with the comment "This is being returned for conflict with Isabelle d'Anjou, who was Queen of Jerusalem and noted in the Encyclopedia Britannica." A number of French genealogy sites list her as Isabeau d'Anjou.

The submitted name Ysabeau d'Anjou also conflicts with the historical Isabelle d'Anjou. [Ysabeau d'Anjou, 10/2003, R-An Tir]

During the commentary on this issue, most indicated a preference for a simple criterion or concrete list that can be used by the local consulting herald as well as the College of Arms for identifying which names will be protected. Until recently, we were using the very existence of an entry in an encyclopedia as that criteron; that policy was amended in the January 2003 LoAR to be the starting point, thus allowing Laurel and the College of Arms to discuss the relative merit or prominence of each name.

Many have voiced concern that this is too arbitrary. Indeed, it does leave room for the Sovereign of Arms responsible for name decisions to register names that would have been returned simply because a 19th C statesman had an entry in an encyclopedia. This policy does add some uncertainty in favor of registration if the name has a similar entry in a general-use encyclopedia.

There were several creative ideas presented in answer to my request for methods of weighing the prominence of the people and names with an encyclopedia entry. The goal was a simple non-arbitrary formula that could be used by anyone. The range of suggestions showed that no formula will satisfactorily provide an answer.

Until such time as a list or other criteria can be defined, we will weigh each potential conflict with an encyclopedia entry on a case-by-case basis. We ask that commenters state whether or not they feel a person is important enough to protect when citing a potential conflict with an entry in an encyclopedia. Ideally, this statement would be provided early enough to allow other CoA commenters time to provide input to Laurel as comments on comments. [Cover Letter to the 08/2003 LoAR]

Therefore, Saint Ninian was known by a Latin name that meant Ninian of Man. As we protect historical personal names in all of the forms in which they commonly appear, this form of his name is protected as well. [Ninian of Man, 08/2003 LoAR, R-Caid]

This order name conflicts with three real-world locations, as noted by Argent Snail:

This conflicts with Santa Barbara, the city, which is found in Honduras, California, and the Santa Barbara Islands also found in California. Each of them has their own entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica hard copy, 1962 edition.

Since branch name references are transparent for conflict purposes, a name such as Order of Saint Barbara of Bright Hills would conflict with the same real world locations as Order of Saint Barbara. However, geographical references that are not the name of an SCA branch count for difference. Therefore, a name such as Order of Saint Barbara of the Hills would be clear of these real world locations. [Bright Hills, Barony of, 07/2003 LoAR, R-Atlantia]

Household names may not be the names of actual places, as that would imply the head of the household was the ruler of that place. Household names may not be the surnames of actual families or clans, as that would imply that the head of the household was the head of that family or clan. [...] WVS [71] [CL 18 Jun 82], pp. 2-3

In this case, the submitted household name claims rank in the same way as a name submission of [given name] MacLeod of MacLeod. Both imply the submitter is the head of Clan MacLeod.

Additionally, in the submitted household name MacLeod Keep, Keep is solely English and MacLeod is Scots. While Scots is a language closely related to English, they are not actually the same language. Therefore, the submitted MacLeod Keep violates RfS III.1.a, which requires linguistic consistency within a name phrase.

Changing the household designator from Keep to Clan (i.e. Clan MacLeod) would resolve the linguistic consistency issue, but does not resolve the presumption issue with Clan MacLeod. The submitter may clear this conflict by adding an element that explicitly indicates that this household name is not the real-world Clan MacLeod. For example, Clan MacLeod of [a Scottish placename] would be registerable so long as the placename specified was not associated with the mundane Clan MacLeod. [Simon MacLeod, 07/2003 LoAR, R-Meridies]

In this case, the submitted name conflicts with John, Duke of Northumberland, which is a common form used to refer to this man. RfS V.1.c reads:

Protected historical personal names are protected in all of the forms in which they commonly appear. Charlemagne, which becomes Carolus Magnus in Latin and Karl der Grosse in German, is protected in all three forms.

Longstanding precedent says that John, Duke of Northumberland would conflict with John of Northumberland, of which Iohne of Northumberland is a variant. [Iohne of Northumberland, 06/2003 LoAR, R-Trimaris]

The "From Laurel: Beyond the Encyclopedia" section of the Cover Letter for the January 2003 LoAR explains:

In order to bring the decision back within the College of Arms and to realign with our scope of protection, we are refining the process by which we decide which names to protect. Beginning with this letter, each name will be evaluated individually. The initial factor will continue to be an entry in a general-purpose encyclopedia. However, now we consider the prominence of this person (including when they lived and the length and contents of their encyclopedia entry) when determinining whether they are important enough to protect.

In accordence with this policy, since these two men named Johan Friederich have entries in the Encyclopedia Britannica, we considered whether or not they were important enough to protect. In this case, neither is well enough known among the general populace of the SCA to warrant protecting this name. [Johann Friedrich, 06/2003 LoAR, A-Atenveldt]

In order to bring the decision back within the College of Arms and to realign with our scope of protection, we are refining the process by which we decide which names to protect. Beginning with this letter, each name will be evaluated individually. The initial factor will continue to be an entry in a general-purpose encyclopedia. However, now we consider the prominence of this person (including when they lived and the length and contents of their encyclopedia entry) when determinining whether they are important enough to protect.

In accordence with this policy, since the singer Annie Louise Cary has an entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica, we considered whether or not she was important enough to protect. In this case, Annie Louise Cary is simply not well enough known among the general populace of the SCA to warrant protecting her name. [Anna Carye, 05/2003 LoAR, A-Atenveldt]

Sommelier notes:

Black (sn Tearlach, p. 764) notes "Teŕrlach is the Gaelic name with which Charles has been equated. There is no co[nn]ection between the two names, it being simply a case of adopting a name like or nearly like in sound to the Gaelic." Black also notes "In Irish as a forename it has been Anglicized Turlough and Terence (!)."

Black (p. 465 s.n. MacCarlich) shows that the association of these names and so similarity in their pronunciation, dates to period in Scots (a language closely related to English), when he states that "Tarlocht M'Ene V'Carlych, a witness in 1573, appears again in the same year as Charles M'Ane V'Tarlych and as Therlycht M'Ain W'Therlycht". Therefore, because of the similarity in sound between the names Charles and Tearlach, these names conflict.

The College noted other information regarding the given name Tearlach that the submitter may wish to consider when resubmitting this name.

Tearlach is a Modern Gaelic (c. 1700 to present) form of this name. Lacking evidence that it was used in Gaelic in period, it is not registerable. The Middle Gaelic (c. 900 to c. 1200) form of this name is Tairdelbach. The Early Modern Gaelic (c. 1200 to c. 1700) form of this name is Toirdhealbhach.

This name appears in Scots (as noted in Black, p. 465 s.n. MacCarlich, cited above) as Tarlocht and Therlycht in 1573.

Anglicized Irish forms of this name are found in indentures listed in footnotes in John O'Donovan, ed., Annals of Ireland, by the Four Masters, vol. 5. These indentures date the given name forms Tirlagh to 1578 (pp. 1710-1712), Tirlogh and Tirloghe to 1576 (pp. 1690-1691), Tirrelage to 1570 (pp. 1651-1652), and Tirreloghe to 1570 (pp. 1649-1650). [Tearlach McIntosh, 05/2003 LoAR, R-Atenveldt]

In order to bring the decision back within the College of Arms and to realign with our scope of protection, we are refining the process by which we decide which names to protect. Beginning with this letter, each name will be evaluated individually. The initial factor will continue to be an entry in a general-purpose encyclopedia. However, now we consider the prominence of this person (including when they lived and the length and contents of their encyclopedia entry) when determinining whether they are important enough to protect.

In accordence with this policy, since the poet Heinrich von Melk has an entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica, we considered whether or not he was important enough to protect. The article is brief (a single paragraph), and does not appear in such printed encyclopedias as the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. In this case, Heinrich von Melk and his poetry are simply not well enough known among the general populace of the SCA to warrant protecting his name. [Heinrich von Melk, 05/2003 LoAR, A-Atlantia]

This name is an auditory conflict with Dorchester, a market town and municipal borough and the county town of Dorsetshire, England. As Dorchester has its own entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica, it is protected. Since designators (Shire of in this case) are transparent for conflict purposes, the only difference between Dorchester and Darchester is in the initial vowel and does not give enough difference in pronunciation between these two names.

The appeal argued that the change in the vowel was sufficient to differentiate the two names. However, by long-standing precedent, the change of a single vowel is not a sufficient difference between two names.

This branch submitted a second branch name at the same time as this appeal. They asked that, if this appeal was not accepted, that their second submission be considered. That branch name (Shire of Darton) is registered in this LoAR. [Darchester, Shire of, 04/2003 LoAR, R-Caid]

In order to bring the decision back within the College of Arms and to realign with our scope of protection, we are refining the process by which we decide which names to protect. Beginning with this letter, each name will be evaluated individually. The initial factor will continue to be an entry in a general-purpose encyclopedia. However, now we consider the prominence of this person (including when they lived and the length and contents of their encyclopedia entry) when determinining whether they are important enough to protect.

In accordance with this policy, since the painter David Roberts has an entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica, we considered whether or not he was important enough to protect. In this case, David Roberts is simply not well enough known among the general populace of the SCA to warrant protecting his name. [Davyd Robertson, 04/2003 LoAR, A-Trimaris]

As this name was documented as Irish Gaelic, the submitter may also wish to know that while Clan Finn is an appropriate form for Anglicized Irish, the grammatically correct form of this name in Gaelic is Clann Fhinn. The submitter may clear this conflict by changing the name Finn to another name or by adding an element that would describe Finn. For example, if Finn had red hair, a clan named for him could be Clann Fhinn Ruaidh, literally 'children [of] Red Finn'. If Finn was a large man, the clan would be Clann Fhinn Mhóir, 'children [of] Big/Great Finn'. The corresponding forms of these names in Anglicized Irish would be Clan Finn Roe and Clan Finn More. Examples of this type of construction may be seen in bynames found in Woulfe (p. 348 s.n. Mac Dáibhidh Mór, p. 350 s.n. Mac Diarmada Ruadh, p. 477 s.n. Ó Conchobhair Donn). [William Guiscard, 04/2003 LoAR, R-Meridies]

Does this conflict with the Viscounts Northcliffe, at least one of whom appears in the Encyclopedia Britannica under Northcliffe (Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, Viscount Northcliffe, also called Baron Northcliffe of the Isle of Thanet)? Elsbeth Laurel wrote "Also, we wish to remind the College that for conflict purposes there are two kinds of names: personal and others. Household names, therefore, can conflict with place names, order names, or titles. [Conrad von Zuberbuehler, 02/01, R-Artemisia] ". Neither Northclyf or Northcliffe is a personal name so they may be considered a conflict.

For conflict purposes, non-personal names (such as branch names, heraldic titles, household names, order names, et cetera) do not conflict against personal names. The entry in the Encyclopedia Britannica mentioned by Sommelier is for a person, rather than for the title Northcliffe. Therefore, it is the person which is important, rather than the title. Titles which are important have their own entries. For example, the online version of the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica lists entries for ARRAN, EARLS OF and NORTHAMPTON, EARLS AND MARQUESSES OF. These entries address the titles, not an individual person. As the title of Northcliffe does not have its own entry in a general encyclopedia, it is not important enough to protect. [Bronzehelm, Shire of, 03/2003, A-Artemisia]

Additionally, no documentation was presented and none was found that the North is plausible as a period placename (as opposed to a simple direction, which could be part of - or an element in - a compound placename) as required by RfS III.2.b.i. Lacking such evidence, this name is not registerable. [North, Principality of the, 03/2003, R-An Tir]

The LoI stated, "If a holding name is to be used, the submitter wishes Charles the Clerk". However, no documentation was provided for the byname the Clerk. It is necessary for documentation to be provided for a submission (either by the submitter, his kingdom's College of Heralds, or the College of Arms) in order for a submission to be registered. A larger problem, though, is that a holding name is intended to be exactly that - a name that holds a submitter's armory while the submitter goes through the process of resubmitting his or her name. Generally a holding name is formed using the submitter's group name or using an abbreviated form of the submitted name. Charles the Clerk is neither of these and incorporates an element which is not present in the submitted name and for which no documentation was provided. It is, therefore, inappropriate as a holding name. The submitter is welcome to submit it in a name resubmission, if he wishes, as it is appropriate for a registered name. [Charles Fitz John, 03/2003, R-Ealdormere]

The College of Arms protects the names of people outside of the Society for two reasons: to limit sanctioned presumption and to limit names that "destroys any medieval ambience" when used. There have been many period style names that have been returned because they were also used by someone "in period" or since because they conflicted with a name with an entry in an encyclopedia. Few of these conflicting names would be considered significant by the average member of our Society.

The Administrative Handbook section concerning protection of names begins "Names of Significant Personages Outside the Society - Contemporary or historical personages will generally be considered significant if they appear in standard references such as an encyclopedia." The effect of using the encyclopedia as an indicator of the level of the person's importance is that we give the decision of who is significant to the encyclopedia's editor. To understand the implications of giving the decision to the editors of the encyclopedia, we must review the reasons we protect the names of people outside of the Society.

One of the tenets of our recreation is that we strive to be someone who could have lived during our period of study. There is no formal enforcement of this premise; rather, we let social pressure encourage compliance. The acceptance and registraton of a name by the College of Arms is an official recognition of the name. If someone submits the wonderfully period name "Elizabeth Tudor", we do not wish to be in the position of giving her official permission to "be" Elizabeth I, Queen of England.

We protect names and limit registration of names that would intrude upon our recreation by recognition or association with a famous person. Although a good period name, most people's first thoughts are distinctly modern when they hear the name Michael Jackson. Traditionally the College has worked to protect such intrusion by limits on the names we accept for registration.

An entry in a general-purpose encyclopedia is the defined method for determining whether a name is significant enough to protect. This method has the advantage of accessability so that most people can easily check for real-world conflicts before submitting a name. We can be assured the editors will include virtually everyone that we would consider significant. But the editors have a broader educational purpose that includes a wider scope than ours. This larger scope causes any general encyclopedia to include many entries for people that few in our society would recognize or consider significant.

Until recently, an editor was forced to balance the importance of a person with the cost associated with publication when considering including an entry. One effect of this balance is evidenced in the length of each entry. Typically, the more significant a person the larger the entry. The advent and proliferation of online and electronic publication has allowed the editors to widen the scope of entries with little or no additional costs. The reduced cost improves and broadens the usefulness of the encyclopedia as a general educational tool but does reduce its usefulness for our purpose.

In this letter you will find a name registered even though there is a conflicting encyclopedia entry. From the informal polling I have conducted, the name does not have the instant recognition that would be presumptuous or provoke thoughts outside the recreation to the average person.

In order to bring the decision back within the College of Arms and to realign with our scope of protection, we are refining the process by which we decide which names to protect. Beginning with this letter, each name will be evaluated individually. The initial factor will continue to be an entry in a general-purpose encyclopedia. However, now we consider the prominence of this person (including when they lived and the length and contents of their encyclopedia entry) when determinining whether they are important enough to protect.

In the future, we would ask that commenters state whether or not they feel a person is important enough to protect when citing a potential conflict in the form of a person listed in an encylopedia. Ideally this statement would be provided early enough to allow other CoA commenters time to provide input to Laurel as comments on comments. Until a metric can be developed for weighing the importance of an individual we will give the most weight to the existance of an entry in an printed encyclopedia.

I would appreciate your ideas for a consistent and repeatable method for determining if a person is significantly well known or significantly important historically to protect. Comments should be sent to the entire College of Arms. Please have your primary commentary complete by June and your responses to the primary commentary complete by July.

This name conflicts with Abraham ben David, sometimes called Abraham ibn David, the twelfth-century Spanish historian and philosopher. According to his header entry in Encarta 2000 he was "one of the first Jewish philosophers to introduce the Aristotelian system of knowledge to Judaism. [...] Under the alternate spelling of Abraham ibn Daud he also has a header listing in the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica which notes "Jewish historiographer and philosopher of Toledo.

As he has his own entry in general encyclopedias, he is important enough to protect. [Avraham ben David, 01/2003 LoAR, R-Calontir]

It is a close call, but the extra syllable is just enough to bring this name clear of Conn MacNeill, registered 8/88. [Conor MacNeil, LoAR 01/96, A-Atenveldt]

Based on this ruling, the bynames le Younger and Yonge have just enough difference in look and sound to be clear. [William le Younger, 01/2003 LoAR, A-Atlantia]