Order of Defense

The Order of Defense is an SCA polling order of peerage that rewards members for their prowess in SCA rapier and cut and thrust combat, commonly termed as SCA fencing.

History

In 2014, the SCA Board of Directors conducted a survey amongst SCA members relating to various proposals on new SCA-wide martial-based awards. This included whether fencing should be included within the martial skills considered for new members of the Order of Chivalry or whether a new peerage should be created for fencing or any other non-rattan martial art. On Jan 17, 2015, they announced that fencing could no longer be considered an ancillary activity in the SCA, but fencing was not a valid path to the Order of the Chivalry. Nor would they create an additional "non-rattan" martial order.

On Feb 2, 2015, the BOD approved the creation of the Order of Defense and asked the Laurel Sovereign of Arms to register a name and device for the order. The SCA corpora still needed to be altered. The intention was for the order to be started on May 1, 2015.

External links

• http://sca.org/BOD/announcements/rapierpeerage.html - Jan 17, 2015, BOD announcement disapproving fencing being included in any martial peerage order.
• http://socsen.sca.org/advisory-opinion-regarding-the-possible-inclusion-of-non-rattan-fighters-into-the-order-of-the-chivalry/ - Jan 29, 2015, BOD announcement about non-rattan combatants and the Order of Chivalry
• http://socsen.sca.org/creation-of-the-order-of-defense/ - Feb 2, 2015, BOD announcement creating the order.