This article was first written in 2011 for the Kingdom of Caid. This revised model was written for the Kingdom of An Tir, and is heavily revised to reflect the kingdom’s awards, honors, and traditions, to reflect developments in Society policy regarding same-sex Royal, Principal, and Baronial pairings, as well as the addition of the Order of Defense. For the previous Caid-centric version of the article, click here. This article is accurate as of November 2024.
The most common question an Order of Precedence clerk receives is some variation of “How does precedence order work?” This can be answered in two ways. The first is a detailed breakdown of the back-end formulas and coding that will make most people glaze over. The second is a more approachable plain-language overview of the ideas that guide precedence order. It is the latter option that I hope to provide to you, the reader, in this article.
Oh, and there will be pictures.
What is the order of precedence?
There are two answers to this question. First, the (capitalized) Order of Precedence (hereafter exclusively referred to as the OP) is a record of awards and honors bestowed in the SCA. OP databases are maintained by each kingdom, but records will frequently overlap when a person moves from one kingdom to another. Each kingdom has its own policies about what does and doesn’t appear in their OP, but all kingdoms track those awards which convey rank (awards/grants of arms, awards and order memberships which carry with them awards or grants of arms, court baronies, peerage orders, and royal peerages).
The (uncapitalized) order of precedence is a list of people, roles, or territories, organized by the rank they hold in the SCA. For individuals, placement in the order of precedence relies on the information contained in the OP. For territories, placement usually involves the date of establishment of said territory at its level. More on that later; for the moment, we will focus on individuals.
How is an individual placed in the order of precedence?
Organizing an order of precedence starts with dividing the populace into groups. In An Tir, these groups are, in descending rank order:
- Sovereign and Consort of An Tir
- Heirs of An Tir
- Sovereign and Consort of the Principalities (Summits, Tir Righ)
- Heirs of the Principalities (Summits, Tir Righ)
- Kingdom Champions, by order of establishment (Armored, Rapier, A&S, Archery, Bardic, Equestrian)
- Lions of An Tir
- Dukes and Duchesses
- Earls, Counts, and Countesses
- Viscounts and Viscountesses
- Landed Baronage by order of current investiture
- Bestowed Peers (Chivalry, Laurel, Pelican, Defense)
- Grant-Level Order Members (Goutte de Sang, Jambe de Lion, Hastae Leonis, Sable Gauntlet, White Scarf, Grey Goose Shaft, Lion et de la Lance)
- Grant-Bearers (bare grant of arms (GoA))
- Former Landed Baronage
- Court Barons and Court Baronesses
- Armigerous-Level Order Members (Sanguine Thorn, Griffe et du Lion, Esperon et du Lion, Sable Pheon)
- Armigers (bare award of arms (AoA))
If an individual holds multiple awards or positions across different levels, they are placed into the highest level for which they are entitled. So someone with an AoA, a Sanguine Thorn, and a Goutte de Sang would be placed into the Grant-bearing Order group. Those who do not have any awards or honors, or who hold only awards which carry no rank, are excluded from the order of precedence.
Within each group, gentles are organized by the date they attained that rank. A Duchess elevated in AS 5 outranks a Duke elevated in AS 6, a Pelican elevated in AS 37 outranks a Knight elevated in AS 48, and so forth. If two people attained the new rank on the same day (e.g. a Count and Countess), they are organized in alphabetical order by first name.
Once all of the groups are separated and organized, individuals are assigned a number, counting off from highest to lowest and continuing seamlessly from one group to the next. For example, in An Tir, if there are no current heirs to the kingdom or either principality, then the Crown, Coronets, and Champions would number 1-12, and the first person in the next tier (Lion of An Tir) would be numbered 13. If the Kingdom and Principalities all have heirs, their numbers swell to 18, and the first Lion would be numbered 19. This final numbered list is the order of precedence, and an individual’s assigned number in that list is their precedence number. (Note: not all kingdoms assign or publicly report this number.)
Wait… A grant of arms outranks a court barony?
By default, yes! Corpora requires that court baronies carry at least an award of arms, though kingdoms have the option to have them carry more. Most kingdoms, if they want to have a court barony carry a grant of arms, will bestow a grant of arms separately at the same time as the court barony; An Tir has no such tradition. So although court barons and baronesses wear a coronet which carries great prestige, and though they frequently hold awards which place them higher in the order of precedence, the coronet itself only places the bearer above the armigerous orders.
What happens when someone gets a new award?
It depends on whether it moves them into a new precedence group. If a Companion of the Sanguine Thorn is admitted to the Order of the Sable Pheon, they stay in the same group and in the same place in the order. If a Companion of the Sanguine Thorn is admitted to the Order of the Goutte de Sang, they jump to the end of the Grant-bearing Orders group and get a new number one greater than the person who joined the group just before them.
At the same time, the number of everyone they just jumped increases by one. Because of this, your precedence number is almost always going to increase. The higher you go in rank, the less often your rank will change, but unless you are a Lion of An Tir, there’s always a possibility that someone may move into the kingdom, or be elevated within the kingdom, with a higher rank than you, thus increasing your precedence number.
When does order of precedence matter?
In most circumstances, the order of precedence doesn’t affect the day-to-day experience of the SCA. There are certain situations where it comes into play, most notably at Crown Tournaments Championship Tournaments when organizing the presentation of consorts. And when certain peers argue about who should do the toast at a feast, the order of precedence is usually invoked.
At some point, the Crown might request a Grand March, a ceremony where everyone would process into court by order of precedence. Even many years ago, when there were fewer people in the SCA and such ceremonies were common, Grand Marches took a long time to coordinate and execute; these days, the amount of time and energy required to facilitate one is not typically considered worth the experience.
Note to newcomers: some may try to convince you that shower lines are organized by precedence. Do not believe them unless they are in a kingdom tabard with the Crown in attendance.
The other time that order of precedence matters is during court, particularly for Royal processions and placement of thrones on the dais. But it’s not individuals that matter there, so much as the heads of territories.
How do territories fit into the order of precedence?
Just as the order of precedence for individuals depends both on what ranking group they’re in and when they were elevated to that level, so too do territories (and their representatives) get placed in precedence order by the type of territory and when they were established at that level. The ranks of territories, in descending order, are:
- Kingdom
- Principality
- Barony/Province
- Shire
- Dependent Subgroup (Canton/College/Stronghold/Port/Riding)
Each of the 20 kingdoms derives its precedence from the date of its establishment as a kingdom. At the head of the kingdom list is the Kingdom of the West, founded in AS 1. At the end of that list (as of this writing) is the Kingdom of Avacal, founded in AS 50.
Principalities are ordered by the date of investiture of their first Coronets. Baronies are ordered by the investiture of their first Baronage. Provinces and Shires are organized by the date they were established at their respective levels, as are dependent subgroups within those territories. Baronies and provinces rank equally with one another, followed by shires. Independent territories under the Crown of An Tir are ordered as follows:
- Kingdom of An Tir (AS 16)
- Principality of the Summits (AS 30)
- Principality of Tir Righ (AS 38)
- Barony of Madrone (AS 5)
- Barony of Three Mountains (AS 8)
- Barony of Adiantum (AS 10)
- Barony of Lions Gate (AS 11)
- Barony of Wastekeep (AS 17)
- Barony of Blatha An Oir (AS 18)
- Barony of Terra Pomaria (AS 27)
- Barony of Glymm Mere (AS 27)
- Barony of Dragon’s Laire (AS 30)
- Barony of Wealdsmere (AS 30)
- Barony of Aquaterra (AS 31)
- Barony of Seagirt (AS 33)
- Barony of Stromgard (AS 34)
- Barony of Vulcanfeldt (AS 40)
- Barony of Dragon’s Mist (AS 46)
- Barony of Wyewood (AS 47)
- Barony of Glyn Dwfn (AS 56)
- Shire of Thornwold (AS 12)1
- Shire of Appledore (AS 15)
- Shire of Coeur du Val (AS 16)
- Shire of Southmarch (AS 16)
- Shire of River’s Bend (AS 17)
- Shire of Briaroak (AS 22)
- Shire of Ramsgaard (AS 23)
- Shire of Hartwood (AS 26)
- Shire of Fire Mountain Keep (AS 28)
- Shire of Cold Keep (AS 29)
- Shire of Corvaria (AS 30)
- Shire of Mountain Edge (AS 30)
- Shire of Krakafjord (AS 32)
- Shire of Tir Bannog (AS 35)
- Shire of Coill Mhor (AS 37)
- Shire of Danescombe (AS 37)
- Shire of Lionsdale (AS 37)
- Shire of Myrtle Holt (AS 39)
- Shire of Tymberhavene (AS 43)
- Shire of Hauksgarðr (AS 49)
Each territory follows the same organizational principles as the individual order of precedence. However, within its own lands each territory takes top precedence among its class. For example, at an event held in the Barony of Lion’s Gate in the Principality of Tir Righ within the Kingdom of An Tir, the King of An Tir outranks the King of the West, the Prince of Tir Righ outranks the Princes of the Mists (West) and the Summits (An Tir), and the Baron of Lion’s Gate outranks all other territorial barons.
So how do the territorial ranks fit together with the permanent order of precedence?
Some kingdoms have rigid definitions of how Royalty and Landed Nobility fit within the permanent order of precedence for the duration of their tenure, while others consider the roles separately from the permanent ranks, if at all.
It is generally accepted that the Sovereign and Consort of a kingdom are at the top of the precedence order for their kingdom, with Royal Heirs below them, followed by Territorial Coronets of Principalities (if any), Heirs to Principalities (if any), and Territorial Baronage and their heirs (if any).
However, the relative rank and precedence order of, say, a Territorial Baron vs. a Duke is a matter for Inter-Kingdom Anthropology, and the answer is usually “it depends on the circumstances.”
In An Tir’s Crown Tournament Lists, the role and authority of a Territorial Baron or Baroness is generally disregarded; within this context, the individual is an entrant in a tournament and not an agent of the Crown, so only their personal precedence order would be taken into consideration. However, if a Territorial Baron or Baroness is within their own Barony acting as Regent on behalf of the Crown, then within that context they would outrank any individual precedence order.
Some kingdoms also include Kingdom officers, ambassadors, and other people acting on behalf of the Crown into their role-based order of precedence. However, the varied practices are too numerous to go into any great detail here. Suffice to say that, should you be called upon to act as ambassador for your monarchs in a foreign court, be sure to check with that court’s herald to find out where that places you on the pecking order. You may find yourself outranking the heirs to the realm, pressed into giving the toast at a Royal feast with five minutes notice2!
The order of precedence is a useful tool to arrange people in an objective manner, paying respect to their rank and relative position in the kingdom. It helps dictate protocol and ceremony when needed, and prevents confusion and upset among the landed nobility. I hope that this overview of the order of precedence helps you better understand its importance to the kingdom.
Footnotes:
- The dates for Shires are based on information compiled from the archives of An Tir’s newsletter, The Crier, without which this task would have been impossible.
- True story, happened to me as Caid’s ambassador to the East at their 12th Night 2013