The following was originally published on Facebook on August 9, 2024. The spelling “Esperaunce” is left intact from the original post, though the name currently in process as of August 16, 2025, is “Esperance.” I tend to write more formally and evenly for this site than I do on social media or my opinion pieces hosted on the main Poore House site, so I hope that you will forgive the more playful tone I take here. -Cormac

Peerage Order Names. Let’s talk about them.

A number of people are dissatisfied with the name “Order of Esperaunce” because they feel it doesn’t reflect the identity of the ranged weapons community.

And they’re right, it doesn’t. And that’s because it hasn’t been used by the ranged weapons community yet. They haven’t wrapped their identity around the word and claimed it as their own.

Consider:

A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph from Ancient Greece. They were given to victors in the Olympics and were worn by commanders during Roman triumphal marches. Only in the SCA do we think of laurel wreaths as a symbol of Arts & Sciences, specifically.

A pelican in its piety is a symbol of death and resurrection. In early Christian semiotics, the pelican was described as killing her young, lamenting for three days, then reviving them with blood from her own breast, mirroring G-d’s wrath and Jesus’ sacrifice. Only in the SCA do we think of pelicans as a symbol of Service, specifically.

Historic rose symbology is all over the place, from being icons of both Aphrodite and the Virgin Mary to more modern associations; anything from love and passion to English nationalism and Socialism. As Umberto Eco said about his book The Name of the Rose: “the rose is a symbolic figure so rich in meanings that by now it hardly has any meaning left.” There’s a definite feminine association with roses from early history, but only in the SCA do we associate wreaths or chaplets of roses with former royal consorts, specifically.

(Yes, I am cribbing from Wikipedia. And if you noticed, you’re reading along with me, so hush.)

But those are three Orders with abstract names and symbols, and they’re not the martial orders. Perhaps those who don’t like “Esperaunce” want something closer to what the fighting peers have.

Now, Chivalry is certainly tied to both medieval warrior culture and fighting with swords in suits of armor, so the Order of Chivalry can certainly be said to have a name that had ties to its activity before it was chosen. But “Order of Chivalry” is a blanket group consisting of two different Orders, each with their own names. And…friends, the names are painfully on the nose.

First let’s talk about the Order of Knighthood. Chivalric orders in period all had names and symbols attached to them. The Order of the Garter, the Ordre de la Toison d’Or, the Order of the Star, the Knights of the Round Table, and so on.

What do we have in the SCA? The Order of Knighthood. Who are they? Knights. Knights of what, exactly? Uhhh, Knights of the Order of Knighthood! While the phrase “Knight of the Society for Creative Anachronism” is a protected phrase, in order to actually be a Knight of the SCA, the registered name would have to be “The Order of the Society for Creative Anachronism,” or at least “The Order/Society of/for Creative Anachronism.” But no, it was important enough to the knights in the early days of the Society that no one else in the SCA ever be known as Knights that they named their Order “Knighthood.” One could not imagine a more generic name for an order of armored combatants.

That is, until we get to the Order of Mastery of Arms. Literally “The Order of being the best at fighting with weapons.” There is no symbolism here, no poetry, no greater vision. Like the Order of Knighthood, the name Order of Mastery of Arms is bland and generic. More importantly, both of these names were chosen within the first year and a half of the Society, before there was a College of Arms and any sort of research into what Order names in period looked like.

And their blandness shows in how little anyone actually uses them. Despite having different titles, forms of address, regalia, and requirements for entry, the Order of Knighthood and the Order of Mastery of Arms are almost never referred to by name, but instead are always called “The Chivalry.”

The Order of Defense is a little bit more subtle in its naming than Knighthood or Mastery of Arms. The name is intended to evoke the Company of the Masters of Defence (commonly known as the London Masters of Defence), a group of fencing instructors in Tudor England who founded a guild to protect their livelihoods.

However, the choice of the phrase “Masters of Defence” by the Tudor Company followed not a chivalric order pattern, but instead a guild pattern, like the Worshipful Company of Grocers or the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers. It was a choice that was handed to the heralds by the Board of Directors, with no acknowledgment or understanding of the rules for Order names that the Board themselves approved in SENA. And the actual documentation for the name in the submission doesn’t mention the London Masters at all; it’s stunt-documented to follow the pattern of “Order of [the name of either the founder or inspiration of the Order],” with the name Elizabeth Defence (buried 1593, St. Botolph Aldgate, London, England) providing sufficient evidence that the Order could be called “Order of Defence.”

Several lessons were learned in the way that the Board handled the creation of the Order of Defense. And chief among them was “don’t tell the heralds what you want and then demand that they make it fit within their rules. Instead, trust them to be the subject matter experts that they are and come up with the best name they can.”

And so after careful deliberation, the heralds presented for consideration of the Society the “Order of Esperaunce.” It shares its name with the Ordre d’Esperance, a chivalric order from Bourbon founded in the 14th century. The Percys, Earls (and later Dukes) of Northumberland had Esperance Herald as the herald of their household, and “Esperance!” was the battle cry of their armies. Like the word chivalry, esperaunce has several meanings, including hope, confidence, and trust.

The heralds involved in this deliberation and decision are ones who care deeply about the success of this Order, and include target archers, combat archers, throwers, and siege engineers. We are a part of the ranged martial community.

Could we have found an Order name that followed our rules while better describing the skills, weaponry, or actions of the ranged weapons community? Possibly…but what? Nearly every iteration of “Order of the [weapon or piece of equipment]” was rejected because it excluded potential members. Order of the Arrow would exclude thrown weapons and siege engines, Order of the Target would exclude combat archers and siege engineers, and so forth.

And if the name wasn’t exclusive, chances are it was already taken. The College of Arms has registered ~60,000 items in its time, and has 20 kingdoms, 8 principalities, and 185 baronies who have all been trying to register names for their ranged martial artists over the course of 60 years. This is in addition to groups outside of the SCA whose name and fame (or infamy) are sufficient enough that we are obliged to protect them from presumption.

So, Esperaunce is the Order name on the table. It’s not the only name we considered, and there are backups in case the Board rejects the first.

But importantly, whatever name gets chosen will, through time and use in ceremony and culture, become as closely associated with ranged martial pursuits as the Pelican is to service and the Laurel is to arts and sciences.