The Archery Craftsman Guild
of Ansteorra

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I. PURPOSE OF THE ARCHERY GUILD

The Archery Craftsman Guild of Ansteorra exists for the education and promotion of all archery crafts within the Kingdom of Ansteorra, Society for Creative Anachronism.

The guild’s primary purpose is to enhance the knowledge and skills of guild craftsman in the manufacture of period and modern equivalent archery equipment. This is accomplished through classes, hands-on training, demos, and mentorship to new guild members in order that these skills can be accurately taught and preserved.

The secondary purpose of the guild is to pass the knowledge and skills required for the manufacture of period and modern equivalent archery equipment to the populace of the Kingdom of Ansteorra through open classes and kingdom colleges, forums, events, and informal classes and instruction at other gatherings.

The tertiary purpose of the guild is to assist the populace by finding or providing the kingdom quality archery equipment, that meets or exceeds society and kingdom standards according to society and kingdom published regulations, by working with the kingdom archery marshals and other kingdom archers to ensure that there is an adequate supply of archery equipment, including arrows, bolts, targets, materials, and people to supply the kingdom in times of war and peace. To ensure that standards of the society and kingdom marshalship in regards to archery equipment, are met, individuals holding membership in the guild should, themselves, meet and exceed the basic requirements.

II. MEMBERSHIP

Membership in the Archery Craftsman Guild of Ansteorra is open to all citizens of the kingdom of Ansteorra who are manufacturing, on a regular basis, the equipment used by archers and are in serious pursuit of the archery crafts; and to those citizens of the kingdom who are interested in learning the manufacture of archery equipment.

Individuals involved in the manufacture, on a regular basis, of any type of equipment used by archers or have a sincere interest in pursuing any of the archery crafts, may apply to any member of the Guild for acceptance into guild membership. All petitioners to the guild must be willing to adhere to the guild rules and policies and be willing to recognize the rank of membership within the guild.

Membership in the guild is voluntary. An individual may terminate self membership and/or association with the guild at any time. Should actions of an individual continually reflect negative impact on the guild or substandard equipment continue to be produced, that individual may be asked to resign membership. Corrective actions are made only by a two-thirds majority vote of membership comprised of the Guild Principal, Guild Craft Masters, and Guild Members. The individual whose membership is in question must be present during deliberations and may have at least one impartial advisor present.

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III. CLASSIFICATIONS OF GUILD MEMBERS

Associates.
Associate are persons interested in the guild and guild activities but without guild privileges.

Patron.

A patron provides voluntary support but does not necessarily wish to become a member to pursue the crafts of archery.

Applicant.

Application has been made for membership, but membership has not yet been granted.

Honorary.

Crown and Landed Royalty only are able to become Honorary Members, with their consent.

Participants.
Participants are persons with privileges of guild membership.

Novice.

Membership has been accepted and craft has been declared; one to whom a Journeyman or Craft Master has been assigned for the purpose learning.

Journeyman.

An individual having demonstrated competence in his/her declared craft but has not yet obtained the excellence required to qualify as Craft Master. A Journeyman in a declared craft may also be a novice or Craft Master in another declared craft.

Craft Master.

Member have excelled in his/her declared craft with an understanding of other crafts and of how equipment is used by archers. A Craft Master in a declared craft may also be a novice or Journeyman in another declared craft.

IV. RIGHTS (of membership)

Craft Masters hold the sole right of inspection of equipment submitted for advancement in the guild and the bestowing the advancements of rank within the guild.

Novices, Journeymen, and Craft Masters hold all decision-making power other than that solely reserved for the Guild Principal.

Applicants and Patrons are encouraged to attend meetings and to express their views but have not yet achieved decision-making status.

Honorary members are encouraged and welcome to attend only open meetings to express their views but have no decision-making status. Invitations may be extended for closed meetings.

All participants have the right to petition the Guild Principal for decision or appeal on a decision regarding guild matters.

V. DUTIES

All participants must promote archery throughout the Kingdom of Ansteorra. All participants must hold the highest integrity for the Guild and their crafts by following all the principals of the society in mannerism and actions and providing as much assistance as possible to archers and those desiring to become archers of the kingdom. Should the assistance asked for falls outside a participants range of knowledge or skill, effort will be made to direct the question or concern to the appropriate member who can provide appropriate assistance.

VI. STRUCTURE

1. The Guild Principal. The Guild Principal is the head of the guild and is selected by consensus from among members having held status of Craft Master for a period of at least two years. Succeeding ones self in office is not permitted. Duties of Guild Principal are to ensure that guild functions, according to the charter, are carried out properly. This may be done by charging and discharging as many assistants as are necessary to accomplish the goals of the guild. It is recommended to limit the number of assistants to between 5 and 15. The Guild Principal may or may not appoint an assistant to each group or chapter as is necessary to ensure that groups or chapters function as per guild rules.
2. Chapters and Meetings. Two or more groups within the kingdom may have one or more chapters, depending on convenience and feasibility of the local area. (For example: Elfsea and Steppes may have one chapter for both areas, or may have several chapters within each area.)
3. Forming New Chapters. Individual participants forming a new group (as an acting chapter until formalized by the guild) must inform the Guild Principal of the participating membership and, upon approval, may form the chapter. Changes in chapter organization, not number of members, must also be reported to the Guild Principal. Chapter names may be chose with approval of the Guild Principal.
4. Any participant may call an open meeting at any time, providing at least one Journeyman or Guild Master is in attendance.
5. Meetings will be held by the following structure:
   • Meetings will be officiated by the Senior Participant, the person at that meeting with the longest guild membership.
   • The participant present with the second longest guild membership will record and report the meeting results to the Guild Principal, to be entered in the guild records by the Guild Principal or the designated assistant.
   • Meetings will be informal but courteous, with only one person speaking at a time.
   • Questions or issues that can be settled on a local level will be acted on locally.
   • Questions that affect the guild as a whole, will be marked in the minutes for the attention of the Guild Principal. These questions and concerns will then be distributed to all members for discussion. Decision on the questions/issues will be by consensus of Craft Masters.
   • The Senior Participant present will adjourn the meeting.

VII. CLASSIFICATION OF CRAFTS

The Guild Principal may, upon recommendations of guild members, alter classification of crafts at any time. Changes should be kept to a minimum. Current classifications are:

BOWYER

1. Stick bows (longbows, shortbows, recurves)
2. Laminated bows (longbows and short bows, including Mongol and recurves)
3. Modern materials where necessary (such as glues, etc)

CROSS BOW MAKER

1. Period crossbow
2. Modern materials

ARROW MAKER (Fletcher)

1. Target arrows
2. War (combat) arrows
3. Cross bow bolts

BRACERS & FINGER PROTECTION

1. Function
2. Materials
3. Decoration

STRINGS

1. Types
2. Materials
3. Construction

TARGETS

1. Period types
2. Range requirements including latest SCA rules

IX. START-UP PROVISION (from the date of charter)

Lord Artair Macmora and Lady Elizabeth Hawkwood will jointly preside over guild operation for the first six months after signing of this charter. This six-month service will not be counted as having served as Guild Principal. At the end of the six-month period, the first selection of a Guild Principal will be accomplished and the Guild Principal will serve for a term not to exceed one year and six months. At the end of that term, this provision will be voided and the selection provision according to Section VI, Part 1, will be in effect.

Signed at Elfsea Defender, September 27, 2000.

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