The illuminated letter, based on Codex S 318, was done by Lady Ælfwynn Leoflæde dohtor. I composed most of the text on Jun. 14, drawing on a number of texts in the Avalon Project (The Gelnhausen Charter; April 13, 1180 A.D.; Laws of Richard I (Coeur de Lion) Concerning Crusaders Who Were to Go by Sea. 1189 A.D.; Magna Carta 1215; Peace of the Land Established by Frederick Barbarossa Between 1152 and 1157 A.D.; and The Establishment of the Duchy of Austria; September 17, 1156.). It reads:
In the name of all that is worthy and just. Sven and Siobhan, by favour of right of arms, royal kings of the Drachenwalders, to the princes, dukes, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, and to all bailiffs and liege subjects, greetings. Since human memory is short and does not suffice for a crowd of things, the authority of those who preceded us has decreed that those things were to be written down which the progress of fleeting time generally re moves from the knowledge of men. Inasmuch as we ascend the thrones of the royal majesty, it is right that in our actions we altogether celebrate those by whose gifts we are exalted. Therefore we, desiring the laws of the realm to remain in vigor, and endeavouring to exalt those persons who have served us well, do wish to preserve to all persons whatever their rights. Wherefore let the generality of the present as well as the future subjects of our kingdom know that Gabriele of Turmstadt, for the reason that she has gravely and soberly served our realm and on acco unt of the common counsel of many upright men, is hereby confirmed as a member of our ancient and honorable Orden des Lindquistringes, which we do upon the 20th anniversary of the founding of our kingdom, in the year of the Society 48. We further decree that no per son, small or great, may presume to constrain the same Gabriele in the displaying of the signs of the said order without the consent or permission of herself. By our hands witnessed:
That same evening, I sketched out the lines and did the calligraphy, only to find (after about two hours), that I still needed 2 1/3 lines of text. But my fingers were beginning to hurt, so I called it a day. Jun. 15 we went to Karlsruhe to go art-store shopping, so completing the text and calligraphing the rest of it had to wait until Jun. 16.
© 2013, Sara L. Uckelman.
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