paul@morganucodon.cis.ohio-state.edu (Paul Placeway) (05/10/88)
{ Siobhan Medhbh O'Roarke wrote this introductory note, presumably for
the newsgroup. Since it has made it here in mail, but not in the
newsgroup, I am forwarding this to alt.sca. Hopefully someone will
set up a forwarder soon (I will if no one else does, so speak now...)
-- Tofi / Paul }
Date: Mon, 9 May 88 15:16:06 EDT
From: Pat_McGregor@um.cc.umich.edu
To: sca@ai.ai.mit.edu
Subject: An introductory note
(this is a note I wrote for a pamphlet a while back. I tried to pull the
blatently Middle Kingdom-specific stuff out of it, and I notice that there
is a dearth of information about heraldry, but.....
Life in the Current Middle Ages
_______________________________
SCA is the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is a group
dedicated to recreating the Middle Ages in the present. Many
groups meet weekly, and at these meetings we dance, talk, study,
learn, revel, and make plans. But first, let's get a little bit
of info about the SCA in general.
Where did the SCA come from?
___________________________
The avowed purpose of the SCA is the study and recreation of the
Middle Ages, its crafts, sciences, arts, traditions, literature,
etc. The SCA "period" is defined to be 600 AD to 1600 AD. Under
the aegis of the SCA we study dance, calligraphy, martial arts,
cooking, metalwork, stained glass, costuming, literature....
well, if they did it, somebody in the SCA does it (Except die of
the Plague!).
As you can probably guess, the thing that separates the SCA from
a Humanities 101 class is the *active* participation in the
learning process. To learn costuming, you design and build
costumes. To learn SCA infantry fighting, you make armor,
weapons, shields, etc., and put them on and go learn how it
feels to wear them when somebody is swinging a (rattan) sword at
you. To learn brewing, you make (and sample!) your own wines,
meads and beers.
You will frequently hear a SCA person describe the SCA as
recreating the Middle Ages "as they ought to have been." In some
ways this is true -- we have few plagues, indoor plumbing, few
peasants. In the dead of winter we have other things to eat than
King's venison, salt pork and dried tubers.
The SCA was invented (? discovered? begun?) in 1966 in Berkeley,
California by a group of Science Fiction and Fantasy fans who
wanted a "theme" party. Following the party, a group got
together to discuss the idea of a medieval re-creation and
re-enactment group. (which has ended up being much like the
Civil War, Revolutionary War or Buckskinning re-enactment groups
that were beginning to form in the US.) In Britain Medieval and
British Civil War recreation societies had existed for any
number of years. The Californians incorporated as a non-profit
educational society, started forming groups, and away they went.
Since 1966, the society has grown to include nearly 13,000
paying members in the US, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain,
Germany, Italy, France, Korea, Okinawa, New Zealand, Australia
and Greenland. Current demographic estimates indicate that for
every dues-paying member there are 4 non-subscribing members
active in local groups.
How is the SCA Organized?
________________________
The SCA is a feudal society. No democracies for us! The SCA
"Knowne World" is divided into twelve Kingdoms, each with a King
and Queen (who rule by right of arms), a Prince and Princess
(heirs to the throne), and a council or Curia of Great Officers
who handle the mundane, day to day details of running the
kingdom.
A feudal society takes its form from the idea of honor and duty.
A noble owes duty of service to his lord, a Baron or Knight.
Knights owe in return the duty of protection from danger and
food, money, etc. when times are bad.
On the next level up, the Knights owe fealty (the word that
encompasses this idea of reciprocal responsibilities) to the
King. In return for their service as good stewards of the land
and readily available warriors, the King owes the Knights and
barons protection, honor, and a return of money, food, etc in
times of hardship. It is something like the idea of a Pyramid
club, but the benefits are greater and the idea of personal
honor and mutual responsibility, not profit, tie the structure
together (or at least it did in Europe for nearly a thousand
years).
In the SCA this structure underlies our Society, although not
nearly as rigidly as in the medieval days. Our King, the head of
our Kingdom and our liege lord, has fought for the right to bear
the crown by fighting in a Crown Tourney for the right to make
his Lady Queen. <In the case of female fighters, she has fought
for the right to make her Lord King Consort.> In some Kingdoms,
like the West (middle California), the King's word is law, and
the people willingly obey his every whim. Of course, four months
later there is a new King, with different ideas. Life can get
interesting.
Fighting in the SCA, or Why are those people hitting each other?
_______________________________________________________________
Fighting in the SCA evolved from what happened when two armed
knights were unhorsed and had to fight on the ground. It
resembles nothing so much as medieval infantry fighting. There
are two basic types of SCA fights: single combat, and group or
team battles, known as melees. SCA fighting does have rules. The
first, and most important rule, is that each and every fighter
on the field has honor. The fighter keeps faith with his honor
by accepting blows that would be killing or wounding (more about
this a little later).
The second is like unto it; A fighter keeps faith with his
brother fighters by acknowledging his opponent's word -- if he
says it was light, it was light. Since we prefer that no one get
hurt, SCA fighting is done with real armor (made with leather,
metal, padding, kydex, etc) and rattan swords. Rattan is that
bamboo-y stuff, only with a solid core, that furniture is made
of. Rattan, surprisingly enough, is springy enough to absorb
some of the force of the blow (although blows are *real solid*)
and light enough to approximate a real steel sword. Swords are
made by wrapping rattan staffs with strapping tape, covering
them with duct tape (known as silver tape) for esthetic reasons,
and attaching some sort of hilt or handle. Armor is much more
complex -- some armor, being made of steel, rivets, leather,
etc, can take more than 40 hours per piece of armor (for
example, a armored "glove" with moving fingers and joints can
take upwards of 75 hours to complete).
There are several essential and required pieces of armor --
helm, neck and cervical vertebrae protection, elbows and knees,
kidneys, hands, groin. After that, most SCA fighters wear chest,
leg, arm and forearm, and feet protection.
If a blow hits hard enough that a sword would have cloven mail,
it is "good". Beginning fighters, as they are being trained, are
taught blow calibrations. Fighters are trained, by the way.
Aspiring fighters attend some months of fighter practices where
they learn the rules and learn how to protect themselves on the
field. After some time, they attempt to "authorize" -- they go
before a panel of experienced fighters, fight a couple of
rounds, and if the panel decides the fighter is safe (not good,
you understand, but unlikely to hurt him or herself or an
opponent) they are authorized to fight in Tourneys. This process
(from starting to fight to being authorized) can take from a
couple of months to a year or more.
Fighting brings us to *the Chivalry.* The Chivalry is a group of
elite fighters -- those who have gotten very very good at
fighting, and who at the same time have absorbed the concepts of
Honor and Chivalry (they're basically good guys), have learned
something of basic Heraldry, Chess, something about the Arts and
Sciences, can behave well in public, and are generally good
examples for people everywhere.
(The word Chivalry comes from the Old French *chevalerie*
<related to the Spanish *caballeria*>, meaning horse-fighter,
cavalry, "knight". It came to French and Spanish from Latin
caballerius, horse rider. As only the wealthy could afford the
horse and trappings of a mounted warrior, it became the province
of the nobles to be mounted and fighters. Thus the elite status.
The word has come down to us from a different route as
*cavalry*. Oh, well!) <There are rank-equivalents to Knights in
the Arts and Sciences, called "Laurels", and in the Services,
called "Pelicans". I will discuss them later on!>
A King (if he is himself a Knight, and not all Kings are) can
knight a fighter if he (or she) thinks the candidate is
deserving. Usually the other Chivalry have agreed, or it doesn't
happen. (If the King isn't a Knight, another member of the
Chivalry can hold the sword with the King. Only a Knight can
make a Knight.) The Knights swear personal fealty to the Crown.
Since some people, for religious reasons, reasons of personal
honor, etc, feel that swearing fealty is inappropriate for them,
a branch of Chivalry has been created, called Masters, who do
not have to swear fealty. Upon receiving the accolade of
Knighthood, the candidate receives a Gold chain to wear about
the neck, a white belt, and gold spurs. Some receive a *real*
sword, as well.
Why Do you all have such funny names?
_____________________________________
Every person in the SCA picks a name to use in the Society. It
could be something simple (George of Wardcliff) or something
elaborate (Dughall Aislean nic mac Lathurna). Most people pick a
time period in the SCA "period" (between 600 and 1600) and a
country (any place that can documentably be proven to have had
trade with western Europe during the period), and choose a name
from that. Some people just pick a name and forget about it;
some have elaborate persona stories to go with their names.
Even our towns have new names. Lansing, MI, is Northwoods,
Toronto is Septentria, Boston is Carolingia, the San Francisco
bay area is the Principality of the Mists, etc.
Most folk in the SCA register their names and a heraldic device
that they design to represent them. Also, later in their SCA
careers, they may be given awards and rank, at which time their
devices become "Arms" and they are most properly called "Lord"
or "Lady So-and-So."
Rank in the SCA, or How Come She is Wearing a Crown?
____________________________________________________
There are two sorts of peers in the SCA; Royal Peers and Peers.
Royal Peers are folk who have worn the crown of a Kingdom or
Principality at least once. Ex-Princes are Viscounts,
Ex-Princesses Viscountesses, and from there it gets complex.
Those who have been King or Queen once are Counts/Countesses.
Those who have been King or Queen twice are Dukes/Duchesses.
Those who have been King or Queen more than that are generally
considered masochistic! (Small in-joke!) Seriously, there are
many who have reigned at least three times, and in the West
there is a legendary Duke who has been King eight times.
Other sorts of Peers are folk who, through dint of talent, hard
work, and long effort, are recognized for their contributions
and skills. We have already talked about the Knights. There are
also the Laurels (Talented craftsmen and artists, recognized for
having talents and being willing to teach and be gracious), and
the Pelicans (generally skilled bureaucrats -- somebody *has* to
do the hard paperwork of running a Kingdom with 3000 people in
it, and some people keep working at this sort of task for
years.). The Pelican was thought in medieval times to be the
most self-sacrificing animal -- it was thought a Pelican would
pierce her beast to allow her heart's blood to drip into the
mouths of her offspring when food was short. Peers are made by
the desire of the King and Queen in accordance with the
recommendations of the rest of the order.
Feasting, Dancing and Merrymaking
________________________________
One of the most interesting parts of the SCA is the Events --
the times when we put on our costumes, go out and dance those
dances we've been practicing, flirt, eat, talk, and generally
party. Events are held almost every weekend of the year
somewhere in the country. Most groups hold at least one event
per year; some larger groups will hold two or more.
At events there are often tourneys, art exhibits or
competitions, dance classes, workshops, and, later in the
evening, Royal or Baronial Court, and dancing. Many times there
will be a Feast in the evening. Other times, for smaller events
or if a newer group is holding the event, there will be a
dessert revel (People go out for dinner and then come back for a
dessert buffet).
The events are the most fun to most folk, because you get to go
and show off all the things you have been learning in the past
few months.
What Kind of Person Joins the SCA?
__________________________________
SCA folk tend to be people like you and me -- just plain folks,
but people who enjoy doing something more with their weekends. A
high percentage of SCA members are involved in high tech fields
-- Computers, Aerospace, high energy physics, etc. This has been
attributed to the fact that people who play all week with highly
complex, modern technology find it highly relaxing to spend
their leisure time working with a different kind of technology,
in a less modern setting. There are lots of people in all fields
in the SCA -- historians, writers, secretaries, law enforcement
personnel, teachers, programmers, insurance agents -- the appeal
of the SCA is widespread.
A housemate of a SCA person recently said: "From what I can tell
about these wild and crazy SCA people, they do more than just
this fighting thing. They really like to make and wear the
medieval clothes (garb), eat the medieval food, dance the
medieval dances to the medieval music, maybe even make their own
medieval music, and other medieval party type activities. They
also seem to like to be medieval so they can relax and have a
good time. They are quite willing to talk about SCA or invite
you to the SCA stuff or whatever."
How You Can Get Involved
_______________________
We welcome you to our local meetings and our events. You needn't
join the SCA, Inc, to attend and participate (although if you
decide to be with us regularly you may wish to join). The only
requirement to come to an event is that you make some attempt at
pre-1600 costume -- and most groups have "loaner" costumes for
people who want to come to their first event.
If you want more information about groups near you, you can call
our corporate office in Milpitas, CA, at (408) 262-5250, or send
a notice to this mailing list or newsgroup, or contact the
Society Chronicler (Pat McGregor) at (517) 351-4962 (email:
smor@um.cc.umich.edu)
Welcome to the current middle ages!
In service,
Siobhan Medhbh O'Roarke