Bonwicke

Heraldic achievement for the Branch

The Barony of Bonwicke is located in Lubbock, Texas.

History

The Lubbock, Texas, chapter of the SCA began to organize in late 1981. Giles Hill contacted the Steward of the Society for information and directions on establishing a branch; he submitted a name ("Bonwicke", a Middle English construction meaning 'good town') to the Star Principal Herald. Shortly thereafter, Vallust Balstene contacted the Kingdom Seneschal of Ansteorra with a similar request. Giles and Vallust were put in contact, and an organizational meeting was held in February 1982. Those in attendance included Giles, Vallust, Johanna, Boris, Rhiannon, Ian, Penny, and Sherry. It was decided that Vallust would serve as Seneschal (since he was the only one that had ever attended an event), Giles would be herald, Rhiannon would be mistress of arts and sciences, and Johanna would be chronicler. Bonwicke was granted a Shire charter by Inman II and Arrowyn (??November 13, 1982).

Bonwicke became a Barony on January 4, 1991.

Meetings and Events

Bonwicke's first event, the "Bonwicke Bash" was held in July 1983.

Heraldry

• Badges Registered to the Branch

Giles' original design of the group arms was Gules, a pale indented Or. Vallust announced that he would not fight wearing a tabard with a yellow strip down the back. Giles counterchanged the arms per pale, and submitted the revised e arms. The device was registered in June of 1985: Per pale Or and gules, a pale indented counterchanged, overall a laurel wreath vert.

Western Cross of Bonwicke, Order of the
This order name was registered to Bonwicke, Barony of in June of 1993 (via Ansteorra).

Nobility

The following People have sat the Baronial Thrones of Bonwicke:

Hakon de Decker and Anna Mitrofanova	4 January 1992 - 11 January 1997
Alaric Drake and Kayleigh Drake	11 January 1997 - 24 October 1998
Maximillian Muhleisen and Anastasiya Feodorovna (Vicar & Vicaress)	24 October 1998 - 12 June 1999
Vallust Balstene and Ascelyn Balstene	12 June 1999 - 26 April 2003
Kainin Tepesa and Oriana Luisa della Francesca	26 April 2003 - 26 April 2008
Chiang Ti Lung and Li Xiao Wuya	26 April 2008 - 25 February 2012
Gerold von Drachenhole and Gianetta Malatesta de Montefiore	25 February 2012 - 23 June 2018
Gabriel Thomas and Alusch Annika Von Der Sterne	23 June 2018 - 1 February 2020
Alusch Annika Von der Stern	23 June 2018 - 8 February 2020
Crown	8 February 2020 - 22 August 2020
Alusch Annika Von der Stern and Eleanor Bonwicke	22 August 2020 - present

Awards

The Baronial Service Order is the Order of the Western Cross of Bonwicke.

There is a closed service order: Keepers of the Cross of Bonwicke.

Non-Armigerous awards include:

• The Crimson Tear of Bonwicke - entry level service award
• The Golden Spear of Bonwicke - martial arts award
• The Golden Needle of Bonwicke - arts and sciences award

The Golden Tower of Bonwicke is the Baronial youth Award.

Legends and Tales

The Bonwickian Bloody Haircut Oath

(As provided by Master Erasmus von Eisenwald uber Tauberbischofsheim)

The Year was 1997. Their Excellencies of Bonwicke (Alaric Drake and Kayleigh Drake) had taken a small entourage to the event of Candlemas as their first Kingdom event after being made the new Baron and Baroness. One if their members from the Barony had yet to take an oath of service and chose to do so at this event. His name was Lord Eisen von Tauberbischofshiem. He was the holder of the Queens Rapier under the reign of Queen Larissa.

Eisen was a long haired, thin courtier, cadet to Don Aubri and an apprentice to Mistress Muriel FitzLloyd. Eisen gathered around all the Bonwickieans, and other friends and family during the afternoon and asked for the Baron & Baroness to join them. Once all was gathered, Eisen took a knee and knelt before them giving his oath of service half in German and half in English. Before all who witnessed this oath, Eisen gave a gesture of faith of his oath by taking ahold of his long hair, wrapped in a silk ribbon in one hand, and pulled his dagger with the other. In one single cut, he removed from his head, the full length of his hair and laid it across the hands of his Baron and Baroness. Shock and awe filled the space around the witnesses, let alone his receivers if his oath and his hair. Tears ran through the crowd and quickly so did a voice of one witness who stated, "Was this supposed to be a blood oath too?"

Eisen looked down to his hands and saw the growing pool of blood coming from his knife hand. The blood was not just on the floor, but also on the front of the Baroness’s dress. When Eisen had prepared for his ceremony, he chose a double edge dagger and honed it to a razor’s edge on both sides, so regardless of how he held it, it would cut cleanly through the hair. When he held it to make the cut, he had placed his thumb on the dagger to get the leverage needed and forgetting how sharp it was on both sides, didn’t feel the bone deep cut! So, after such a show of loyalty and the sacrifice of his locks, this became the bloody haircut oath of the Bonwickian at Candlemas.

Contacts

• Website
• Mailing list
• The Oracle, Bonwicke's Newsletter
• Youtube Channel