PROCLAMATION OF THE SECOND EMPRISE OF THE ERMINE STAR, KNOWN THIS YEAR AS THE EMPRISE OF THE WOLF AND BEAR
In the worship and in the name of Ealdormere our celestial lady and St. George, I, Nigel MacFarlane, King of Ealdormere without any reproach, hath required in the Royal Citie of Eoforwic of men and women of good cote to form a team of venans to face myself and a team of tenans in virtuous combat. And that we will accomplish the said arms on foot before le treshaulte et tres excellent et tres puissaunt Adrielle, Queen of Ealdormere, and the consorts of all the tenans and venans, who will be our judges that same day of these articles here ensuing. And this shall be done at the Feast of the Bear on the tenth day of September.
As the history of chivalry is long, and stretches back into the far past, to the days of Alexander the Great, so will we in this deed of arms pay homage to our ancestors and their valour by recreating the days of the Saxones. This we will do in honour of Mistress AElwyn of Laganwuda who will this day be sitting in contemplation of elevation into Our Order of Chivalry. I, Nigel, will gather to me a number of worthy people of good cote to number no more than seven, one for each of the knightly virtues, who will stand as tenans for this tournament. Others of good cote will in a likewise gather to stand as venans, and their host may be without limit. As this deed will recreate the days of our forebears, we ask that all those who are able to arm and clad themselves as did the Danes and the Norse and the English of old.
As before said, there will be seven tenans as there are seven knightly virtues. And these virtues shall take their inspiration from the heroic aspect of the Saxones, and they shall be Prowess, Reason, Prudence, Courage, Temperance, Sacrifice and Franchise. Her gracious Majesty and all the consorts so assembled shall bestow seven banners of silk to combatants who best exemplify these virtues.
And now are the aforesaid articles regarding this deed.
The first Article is that all combatants will gather for a procession and present themselves and their consorts before the Crown of the North. They will bear with them their helm and any articles that may feature their arms, device, achievement or badge. Their helms will then be placed upon display for all to see, and the Queen and the consorts will make study of the helms and accoutrements and will deliver onto the most striking their blessings. If a prospective combatant should not be armigerious, a petition can be made to Their Majesties, Their Highnesses and the King-of-Arms for permission to compete.
The second Article is that we shall be armed on foot in harness with 
weapons as it seemeth best to us. The venans shall then come before the tenans, alone, or with up to three sturdy comrades all, and make challenge of the tenans as to how many of my host they would face and with what weapons. The tenans will then choose from among their number those who will answer this challenge. So as that all in attendance will enjoy as much of the comraderie of combat as possible, each challenge is to be fought vigourously and without rest.
He that shall have engaged himself to fight with me, or any of the Tenans, and shall throw the other to the ground, the person so thrown shall be obliged to surrender himself a prisoner to the conqueror.
The person thus made prisoner shall pay for his immediate ransom, to whomsoever the conqueror shall direct, any sum that they come to agreement upon.
The third Article is that when the King of Arms has determined that honour has been met, the tenans and the venans will meet in a grand melee to recreate the famous Battle of Hastings.
The fourth article is that at the predetermined hour, Mistress AElwyn Laganwuda will emerge from her contemplation and will hold the field against all comers in a style of tournament known to our ancestors as a holmgang which was fought upon a hide or cloak.
Fighting will continue until Mistress AElfwyn has deemed honour has been met.
Based on the Challenge of Arms of Piers de Masse, 1438, from Landsdowne Ms. 285 (John Paston’s copy of the Grete Booke) fo. 15b, reproduced in Cripps-Day, F.H. The History of the Tournament (London, 1918; reprint New York, 1982). Appendix, p.xxxv
In modern parlance:
Any and all are welcome to come to this event.
A helm show and processional will be held before the tournament (you can read more about the helm show here).
The fighting will be Duke Sir Nigel and 6 other people holding the field against all challengers.
If either fighter can “throw” their opponent to the ground (remembering that grappling is illegal but grasping weapons is not) then the person that is bested must pay some sort of “ransom” to grant their safe passage and return to combat. The “ransoms” can be whatever you can some up with. It could be telling the “prisoner” to kiss the hand of your lady, gifting your “captor” with a coin or coins to “pay” your ransom, you might require them to recite a poem to the Crown or gallery. Be creative.
There will be a person that stands as the “king of arms” and will act partially as a marshal but also will coordinate some of the challenges and will make sure that all fighters are held to a standard of behaviour that I would expect them to as befits a tournament.
Around 2:15 a grand melee will be held. No more than four fighters per side may take the field at any time. Each fighter has four lives (three resurrections). Once a fighter is out of lives, they are out of the melee. The tenans, being out numbered, will represent the Saxons, while the venans will represent the Normans. Will history repeat itself, or will the Saxons carry the day?
At three pm, Mistress AElfwyn will hold the field for an hour in a 7’ x 7’ area (to mimic the size of an Anglo-Saxon cloak). AElfwyn as the defendant may arm herself as she sees fit. Challenger may arm themselves as they see fit as long as the defendant agrees. If a fighter places both feet outside of the marked area, they forfeit the match. Pushing a fighter out of the marked area with shield on shield contact is permissible (unless vetoed by the defendant). Each challenge may be fought to the first blood or until a normal killing blow occurs. Double kills shall be refought.
Other challenges and pick-up fighting can also occur on the rest of the field at this time.
Please do not think that this is a tournament that will be more about pomp and talk but will in fact be a day of some pomp, lots of pageantry and a lot of very ferocious fighting that will leave everyone, from fighters to spectators, with a smile on their faces.