Order of the Iron Chain
(By way of History and Introduction to the Order. This site is under construction by Laurin, and any errors should be addressed with her, and not blamed on the Order or the Kingdom of AnTir.)
The Order of the Iron Chain is an non-armigerous award given by the members of the order in recognition of courage in the face of real danger in the context of an SCA event. Created by Prince Manfred while An Tir was still a principality.
The Order of the Iron Chain, instituted in the late 70s by Manfred Kreigstreiber, then Prince of AnTir, was created to commemorate those who risked their life to save another, based on an incident that he witnessed (and participated in). Before creating the order, he checked with corpora and society standards before creating this order, since, at that time, the standards for knightly regalia consisted of the white belt, spurs, and gold chain. Skilled in iron work, Manfred created the first Iron Chains and awarded them during court to Draggi Kathigitis (known at the time as Morimoto Koryu) of the Barony of Madrone and Harold of Warrington of the Barony of Lions Gate.
The Order was registered with the College of Heralds in April 1982, during the time of transition of AnTir from principality to Kingdom.
In checking with Society standards, this was noted on the SCA Member Resources, the Newcomer Resources and Information--called *Forward Into the Past: an Introductory Guide to the SCA*, under the heading of *What to Wear and How to Behave,* “Necklaces of chain links without medallions or pendants are also worn by special groups. You should avoid them until you ask about local customs.”
The Known World Handbook states: "Knights swear fealty to the Crown upon entering the order, and to symbolize this bond they wear a chain about their necks--usually unadorned, although a Knight who is also a member of one of the other orders of great merit may incorporate the badge of that order. Almost any form of chain may be used, but the variety sold in hardwear stores as "lamp chain" is most common." (p.10) And in AnTir, silver chains are worn by some squires in token of the fealty they aspire to.
The Order of the Iron Chain enjoys no additional precedence, no armorial achievement. They wear a chain of iron that commemorates a meeting of situation and circumstance that inevitably brings out the highest standards of honor and chivalry and bravery. (It should be noted that those in mundane law enforcement or the medical professions don't necessarily qualify for the Order, because that is the nature of their mundane work.)
While it is appropriate to ask someone if they are wearing an Iron Chain, it is considered a lapse of courtesy to ask how one achieved this recognition because circumstances surrounding the awarding of such a chain may be such that lives were damaged or lost--and such things are not spoken of lightly. Likewise, Her Grace, Gabriel said that "hugs are healing", and may be welcomed by members of the Order.
This is an Order that does not seek out members (at this time, there are less than 20). Any who aspire to the Order and try to shape circumstance and action to qualify for the Order are automatically disqualified. It is a matter of discreet investigation before someone receives an Iron Chain, and it has been awarded posthumously.
While the Order of the Iron Chain is protected by Kingdom Law and remains unique to AnTir, the standards it represents are universal society-wide.