Award text: Alana's Silver Crescent

I plan to start putting more and more of my texts, both past and ongoing, here, as well as talking about how I came to prepare them.

The text here was written by me for Alana O'Keeve's Silver Crescent.  For those playing along at home who may not be from the East, the Silver Crescent is our Kingdom-level service award.   The source for this one was a 15th century letter by Queen Margaret of England (Margaret of Anjou), which I found through www.archive.org.  This was a great source because it actually talked about rewarding someone for service done to the Crown and Kingdom.  The book containing this letter was particularly wonderful because it preserved the period spellings of the terms.  Where a specific term I wanted to use did not appear in the period source, I used the on-line Middle English Dictionary (http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/med/ ) to find spellings contemporaneous with the original source.

Because the original source was a letter, rather than a public charter, I opted to follow the source and address the text directly to the recipient.  So, instead of addressing the text to the public and speaking of Alana in the third person, it is written as if the Crown were speaking to Alana directly:

By the Kynge. By the Quene. Unto Alana O’Keeve, right trusty and welbelovyd, we grete you oft-tymes wele. It is wele knowen to oure wisdome, throwe the testimony of good and reliable personnes, that yowe have rendered suffissant, effectuel, and vailable service unto this oure Eastern reaulme, in which thinge yowe not onlye desserve of us ryght especial thankes, but further owght of law, right and good conscience be recognized in such wise as falls within oure lawfull authority.  Therefore, we, Gregor and Kiena, having consideracion unto the good service yowe do dayly and unto the rights and dewties belonging to us in suche matters, do by these oure lettres and befoure witnesses invest and endowe yowe with the Order of the Silver Crescent with all rights, dewties, privyleges and appurtenances thereto to be enjoyed by yowe hereafter and in perpetuity. And we do further instruct, wol and ordeyn that ye shal bear upon youre personne the emblem of the aforenamed Ordre in ryght tendre remembrance of oure good grace. Given at Owlsherst on 11 May, in the forty-eighth year of the Society.