Barony
A barony (plural baronies) are the lands held by a baron. It could also mean the rank of a baron or his time in that office.
Baronies with the SCA
A barony within the SCA is a large branch within and subject to the administration of a Kingdom, or Principality if there is one. They have a Baron and/or a Baroness, the ceremonial representatives who are appointed by the Crown usually after a polling of some kind. Baronies can (and usually do) have their own baronial level awards.
Advancement to barony can only occur if the following are in place:
- 25 SCA members
- Set of officers acceptable to the Crown (and the Coronet, if applicable)
- A registered name and device
- Consensus favouring advancement by the population of the proposed barony, and the Crown.
- A baron and/or baroness must be selected at the time of application.
- A strong record of activity in a variety of fields of endeavour.
A Palatine Barony is unusual in that the ceremonial head is selected by some sort of competition, often a heavy weapons tournament, but sometimes an Arts and Sciences competition. The Baron/Baroness therefore change with some regularity.
Baronies may have regional subgroups, referred to as cantons, or institutional subgroups called strongholds, ports, or colleges.
Refer to Corpora at http://www.sca.org/docs/welcome.html for more information
