Safety:

1. Above all else, a herald or pursuviant should remember his or her own safety. Fighters may not be able to:

Hear –because of the padding in the helmet
See –some helms restrict field of vision
Move –armour may be heavy or awkward
Feel –anything else but shots from others

2. As Heralds, we are not in armour and can see more easily and can react to what is going on. Remember that it is easier for you to move that the person in armour.

3. Never turn you back on a fight in progress while still on the field. Wait until a HOLD, pause or end of bout and then move. Keep the fighters weapons at least 4 feet from you (move if you have to).

4. HOLD should be called if anyone is in danger or immediate danger. Normally this is not required if you have already left the field. Watch list ropes for close audiences and make sure that they are not over the ropes. If this becomes a problem contact the marshal-in-charge.

5. Remember that you are not a marshal. When acting as a herald, you are to be impartial non-combatant.

Historical Styles of Tournaments:

Pas de Arms
This popular style of tournament was mostly found in the late 14th and early 15th century. The object of the tournament was to bring out the chivalric virtues that were hidden within the knights and to reach for the "ideal" chivalry buried in the legends of history.

The pas d'armes came out of the popular tradition of personal challenges. First, the men would declare their intention either at feast or a knighting ceremony. They sent their squires and man of arms to spread the word of their challenge. Those who presented the challenge would wait upon the field for all comers.

Members of the gallery would choose who best fit this mould. That is the person who is chosen for the day,

William Marshal Tourney
William the Marshal was a prominent tournament competitor then solider serving in several campaigns. The Histoire Guillaume le Mareschal is a poetic verse of rhyming couplets details his success in Middle French.
He was most famous for fighting and holding material and persons in ransom. Melee fights were done this way and the losers had to pay off the winner.

Heralds and Pursuivants Role in Period:

The word herald is derived from the Anglo Saxon – here, an army and wald, strength or sway. Originally, every powerful leader had a herald who wore coats of arms of the leader they served. As a herald, they would be a non-combatant messenger.

When tournaments become popular, they needed someone to check the arms of those participating and their linage to announce those in the tournament.

Typical Types of Tournaments Done Here in Ealdormere:

Bear Pit Tournaments simulate some of the all comers tournaments done in period. One fighter stands in the list and fights the next one in line. Bear Pit Tournaments can be done as wounds retained (kept for each bout), or not. They may also allow double kills to be redone.

Round Robin is simple but may take many fights. Every one fights everyone else at least once. Often Round Robins are done in pools with the winner of each pool then fighting another round-robin/double elimination.

Double Elimination is not period but works well to quickly get to a winner. Elimination trees are normally drawn up a head of time and can be easily followed.

How to Read a Tourney Tree or How to Work with the List Minister:

Normally, heralds don't have to know how the tournament is run. Some list ministers provide cards with the combatant names on them. This depends on the type of tree or variant they are running. Try as much as possible not be involved how the list is being run since it is really the list minister's job. Learn how they want the cards back, where and when. Good communication between the heralds and the list makes the tournament go really smoothly.

Remember that the list minister is probably the best person to speak to about the timing (are we at the end of a round?, when is the best time for announcements?, etc). Not all announcements during the tournament are for the fighting only. Sometimes it's for the car lights left on or the number of unsold feast tickets. You must also work with both the list and the marshals to find the best time to conduct these types of announcements.

If they let you, look at how the tournament has been charted. The pattern is normally obvious, losers on the winner side moving to the loser side of the tree, the winners continuing on the winner side. Watch for the cross overs from the top of the tree to the bottom to reduce the number of repeated bouts (same people fighting again). Ask if you are not familiar.

Finally, I don't think heralds should also run the list trees. Get someone else to do it. We don't run very many "official" tourneys within Ealdormere so I don't think this is a problem.

What we do/should do for each Style

Pas d'Armes are normal challenge tournaments at a barrier, counted blows, etc. We as herald are part of the pomp and ceremony of the medieval flair. We boast of the combatants skill and prowess but also their chivalrous acts. We highlight and tell all the ability of those on the field. This type of tournament works really well when every one in to the whole thing. Having lots of heralds is fun and very worth while but in Ealdormere we only have these very infrequently.

William Marshal is a challenge tournament with the exchange of tokens/ransom. We occasionally have them here but unless a fighter wishes to charge a pursuivant or herald for the day, we don't often get used. We could be served with donations to the College of Heralds and would go over at a Crown Tournament very well. Our events don't often use this method because it limits fighting.

Bear Pit is the most popular in Ealdormere and the one that uses us the least. We only need to indicate how long until the next water break, or when there will be authorizations. We do need to figure out how to support the tournament better. We could provide the occasional announcement of who is winning the tourney and when a particular fighter keeps winning. This would let the audience to be more involved in this meat grinder type of tourney.

Round Robin and Double Elimination style uses the heralds the most. We provide the detailed listing of who is fighting, armouring, and preparing to arm. For each list, there should be at least 3 heralds to announce the fights. This gives everyone a chance, reduces voice burnout and allows the occasionally drink/bathroom run.

In all cases, we work with the list and the Marshals to figure out how best to support the overall tournament. I always feel that the salutes should be done at least once by all the competitors for any type of tournament. This can be done very quickly at the beginning and sets the stage for the whole tournament.

Occasionally, no matter what the style, we do a processional in the Order of Precedence. We as a heralds organize the fighters and consorts in Order. Caleygreyhound updates the Order of the March after each reign. The occasional changes will occur depending on what recent awards have been given. The fighter and consort then present themselves to the local Royalty after the herald announces them into court. (Crown, Lady Mary, and Day of the Troubadours do this). It's best to have at least 3 heralds to announce the people and preferably ones that have no problems with name pronunciation.

How to get Involved

Try it out at a local fight practice or here today. A non-threatening environment is best place to figure out what works and what doesn't.

Ask the Trillium Herald to help at Crown next time. Often I've been looking for people at the last minute. This includes people to organize the heralds, get water, find pens, etc.

Ask your local marshal to try a new tourney style (with a bearpit as a knockout). That way we can have some more "heraldic" events in Ealdormere.

Sources:

What is a Pas d'Armes?
by Brian R. Price AKA SCA Brion Thornbird ap Rhys, Earl & Knight, OL, July 11, 1996

http://www.chronique.com/Library/Tourneys/pasessay.htm

A Complete Guide to Heraldry by A.C. Fox Davies, 1978, Crown Publishers Inc.